June, 2009 When Carl, a teenager, wants to run away from home, he applies for a job with the mysterious Professor Pinecone and his traveling magical marionette puppet show. He quickly discovers, however, that the position comes with all kinds of strings attached. Once he feels the magical jolt in Professor Pinecone’s handshake, he embarks on the audition of his life. In this play-within-a-play, Carl becomes Pinocchio and improvises his way through the story, meeting some familiar characters—including a cricket with an attitude (“I’m Gonna Bug Ya”), the devious fox and cat (“Easy Money”) and the memorable Blues Fairy (“Blues Fairy Mama”)—as well as some new ones. With the help of this eclectic cast, Carl stumbles upon life’s lessons as he’s forced to make important decisions. After a string of poor choices (which makes his nose grow and ultimately leads him to make a donkey of himself), he finally does something good for a change by saving Geppetto from the mouth of a giant shark.