The first of a new season of documentaries celebrating the musical. 1. Stories with Songs: Sian Phillips asks why so few musicals have an original story.

Twelve selected adventures of Robin Hood and his outlaw band who stole from the rich to give to the poor.

A comedy play. Robin, with the help of a Merry Man wannabe simply known as the Town's Guy, turns this once-simple legend into a hysterical trip through Sherwood Forest with surprises at every turn. Our charming-but-egotistical hero leads his band of familiar wood-dwellers as they battle the delectably evil Prince John and his haughty henchman, the Sheriff of Nottingham. Roboin's one and only love, the Lady Marian, remains true to her champion as she assists his crusade by wishing the prince and sheriff a rash of various skin afflictions. Incredibly, our model good guy Robin discovers that even heroes have a few important life lessons to learn.

The Newbery Medal–winning author of The Hero and the Crown brings the Robin Hood legend to vivid life. Young Robin Longbow, subapprentice forester in the King’s Forest of Nottingham, must contend with the dislike of the Chief Forester, who bullies Robin in memory of his popular father. But Robin does not want to leave Nottingham or lose the title to his father’s small tenancy, because he is in love with a young lady named Marian—and keeps remembering that his mother too was gentry and married a common forester. Robin has been granted a rare holiday to go to the Nottingham Fair, where he will spend the day with his friends Much and Marian. But he is ambushed by a group of the Chief Forester’s cronies, who challenge him to an archery contest . . . and he accidentally kills one of them in self-defense. He knows his own life is forfeit. But Much and Marian convince him that perhaps his personal catastrophe is also an opportunity: an opportunity for a few stubborn Saxons to gather together in the secret heart of Sherwood Forest and strike back against the arrogance and injustice of the Norman overlords.

Ho for the good green wood! Ho for brave Robin Hood! The adventures that flowed from the pen of Alexandre Dumas are well loved. Less known today are his tales of Robin Hood. It is our pleasure to provide these two old works to a new public: readers of the 21st Century. English versions of "The Prince of Thieves" and "Robin Hood the Outlaw" have virtually disappeared from bookshelves; they are now edited, corrected, and made accessible to the world in print and e-formats, by the Reginetta Press. This volume continues the story begun in "The Prince of Thieves." Read more of Robin and Marian's romance, and learn of Robin's unlucky betrayal by a woman; of Robin's valiant leadership of the Merrie Men including Little John, Will Scarlett, and Friar Tuck; their battles against the Sheriff of Nottingham ─ and the craven Prince John. Outwitting crafty ecclesiastics along the way, Robin at last bows to King Richard Coeur-de-Lion. Retold in Alfred Allinson's lush translation from the original French, the hero's adventure winds to a stirring conclusion.