The Cow Show is a collection of songs and stories about cows—a moosical revue. It’s also a history of the cow and her world.

The Creation
The first scene is an adaptation of an ancient Norse creation myth. In the beginning was the cow, living alone on an empty plain that was covered with ice. Then the cow was hungry. She licked the ice, and it melted, revealing a world of colours. This is represented by the gradual unfolding of a huge, handmade quilt. Other animals join the cow: a bear, rabbits, a deer and a unicorn. These animals, and their babies, fill the forests. We have a birthday cake to celebrate, and the audience helps us to make a wish and blow out the candles.

People discover the cow
The next scene is about cave people. A primitive person discovers the cow, and shares his happy discovery with another. Their joy is interrupted by a third person, a much rougher one, who steals the cow away for himself. Thus, the cow becomes domesticated. She gives us meat, milk, leather, help with farming, and, as a result, civilization. But she must go to market.

The Cow Sold Three Times
The first Europeans to settle in Canada were from France, so the next story in the show is a French Canadian folk tale, The Cow Sold Three Times. Armand is a farmer, an habitant who, one day sells the same cow to three different people: M. Courtemanche, the notary, M. Hamburger, a lawyer, and M. Le Docteur, the Doctor.

By the time that they realize they’ve been tricked, Armand has already spent his money. He must go to court, to be judged by the seigneur. On the advice of his sneaky lawyer, his reply to every question is “Moo”. The seigneur declares him insane, and not guilty. But when the lawyer wants his fee, Armand’s answer to him is also “Moo”.

Milking a Cow
In the next scene, we milk the cow. At first it doesn’t work, but a special nursery rhyme breaks the spell, and sure enough, real milk is produced. (How? Don’t worry. The audience is bound to ask in the question period.)

The Future
The last scene takes place in the future. The world is a modern city, covered with buildings and pavement. The ozone layer is gone, and the people are blind. There are no parks, no farms, no animals, no cows. And the people are running out of food.

A husband and wife team of scientists, Dr. Zaran and Dr. Boomboom, are working to save the world with a time machine. They hope to be able to go back in time and convince people not to make the same mistakes that they made. But they need a living animal to lead them through the time warp. Their children, Rendar and Diane, discover an ancient nursery rhyme, “Hey Didddle Diddle”, which summons a cow from the past.

The Cow Jumps over the Moon
The cow leads the people back in time, back to nature, back to where they can all see again. And there, a wonderful thing happens. The cow really does jump over the moon.