This Time Tomorrow Lyrics — Adventures of Tom Sawyer, The

Song Overview

Review and Highlights

Quick summary

• What it is: A lullaby-pledge from Aunt Polly that tries to outsing fear.
• Who sings it: Aunt Polly.
• Where it appears: Act II, early, in Tom's bedroom after he panics about Ol Man Joe returning.
• What changes: The show stops running on town energy and narrows to one guardian and one scared child.
• Why it matters: It makes the moral stakes domestic: bravery starts at home, not in the courtroom.

The Adventures of Tom Sawyer (2001) - stage musical - non-diegetic. Act II placement: after the Act II opener, Tom refuses to go to the picnic because he is convinced Ol Man Joe has come back. Aunt Polly reassures him, tells him Joe is in Mexico, sends him to bed, and then sings him down. MTI's synopsis is unusually specific about the mechanics: Polly puts him to sleep with the lullaby, Tom wakes from a nightmare, and she comforts him again in a reprise. That is not decorative business - it is the show admitting that fear does not obey daylight.

In terms of theatre craft, this is a high-wire pivot. You just opened Act II with town-wide sunshine, and now you are in a dark bedroom with a child who cannot shake what he saw. The number works when it is plainspoken, almost conversational, with melody doing the soothing rather than the actor pushing sentiment. TheaterMania, reviewing the Broadway production, singled out Linda Purl's rendition as something worth holding onto, which tells you the song can land even when the critic is not buying the whole package.

Creation History

Ken Ludwig conceived and wrote the book, with music and lyrics by Don Schlitz, and the Broadway production opened April 26, 2001 at the Minskoff Theatre. The song sits inside a score that often uses Americana snap and ensemble bustle, so a lullaby is a deliberate gear change. CurtainUp's review name-checks the number as a notable solo for Linda Purl, and that context is useful: the show needed a grown-up anchor, and this is one of the places it gives her real stage time instead of only discipline duty.

Song Meaning and Annotations

Plot

Act II opens with summer celebration, but Huck warns Tom that Ol Man Joe has returned. Tom spirals. He tells Aunt Polly he will not go to the annual picnic, and she tries to convince him, then shifts tactics: reassurance, routine, bedtime. She claims Joe is far away, tucks him in, and sings. Tom falls asleep, then jolts awake from a nightmare and needs her again, which leads to a reprise in the MTI synopsis.

Song Meaning

The meaning is simple and stern: love is not only affection, it is steadiness. Aunt Polly cannot fix the town's danger by herself, but she can give Tom one night where the world feels held together. The song is also about the lies adults tell to keep children breathing - the claim that the monster is "elsewhere" when the monster might be closer than anyone wants to admit. That is not hypocrisy; it is triage.

Annotations

Lullaby as strategy: Polly does not argue Tom out of fear, she sings him through it.

This is a staging note as much as an interpretation. If you play the scene as a debate, you miss the point. The song is a tool, used in real time.

Truth and comfort do not always match: The reassurance about Joe being in Mexico is meant to calm, not to prove a fact onstage.

Let the actor carry a hint of worry under the comfort. That undercurrent keeps the moment human, and it sets up the nightmare beat without turning it into a gimmick.

The reprise is the reveal: The return of the lullaby after the nightmare shows fear is cyclical.

Musically, a reprise can be shorthand. Dramatically, it is a second attempt, and that second attempt is where the audience believes the relationship.

Rhythm, color, and emotional arc

The arc runs from reassurance to surrender to relapse. Keep the phrasing unforced, and treat silence as part of the orchestration. A lullaby is not a speech with notes - it is a repeated act of care. The best versions leave space for breath, for a hand on a forehead, for the room to settle.

Technical Information (Quick Facts)

• Song: This Time Tomorrow
• Artist: The Adventures of Tom Sawyer - licensed stage score
• Featured: Aunt Polly
• Composer: Don Schlitz
• Producer: Not publicly listed as a standalone commercial single
• Release Date: April 26, 2001 (Broadway opening date for the production that defined the score)
• Genre: Musical theatre
• Instruments: Pit orchestra supporting a lullaby-style solo
• Label: Not publicly listed
• Mood: Protective, nocturnal, calming with a nervous edge
• Length: Not consistently published in major public listings
• Track #: Act II, early (bedroom scene) with a reprise later in the same sequence
• Language: English
• Album (if any): Licensed show materials; circulating performance uploads exist
• Music style: Lullaby-driven character solo
• Poetic meter: Mixed (speech-forward theatre lyric setting)

Frequently Asked Questions

Who sings the song in the Broadway record listing?

Aunt Polly.

Where does it sit in Act II?

Early in Act II, in Tom's bedroom, after he refuses the picnic because of fear about Ol Man Joe.

What is the dramatic purpose of a lullaby here?

To narrow the story from town spectacle to private survival, and to show how fear lives in a child after daylight scenes end.

Is there a reprise?

Yes. MTI's synopsis describes a reprise after Tom wakes from a nightmare and Polly comforts him again.

Should Aunt Polly be played as certain that Joe is gone?

Not necessarily. The scene often reads stronger if she offers comfort first, certainty second.

What is the core acting objective for Polly?

Get Tom asleep and get him safe, even if only for the night.

How does the number connect to the cave story later?

It establishes that danger is already inside Tom's imagination, so the later cave panic does not arrive out of nowhere.

Does it have pop chart history or certifications?

No. It functions as a stage score selection, not a commercial single tracked on major charts.

Awards and Chart Positions

This stage number is not tied to a singles marketplace, so chart peaks and certifications are not the relevant yardsticks. The Broadway production has documented awards recognition in official records, including Tony nominations for Scenic Design (Heidi Ettinger) and Lighting Design (Kenneth Posner), plus Drama Desk nominations including Outstanding Orchestrations (Michael Starobin). The song itself is often noted in reviews for the strength of the original performance: TheaterMania pointed to Linda Purl's rendition as a highlight.

Additional Info

There is a neat structural rhyme in the Act II sequence: the town sings summer confidence, then Polly sings private reassurance, then the plot marches everyone toward McDougal's Cave. You can feel the score tightening a net. CurtainUp, not exactly swooning over the show, still singled out this solo, and that is telling. A lullaby can be a soft spot in a book musical, but it can also be a pressure point. Here it is both, because it is sung by the person who has been trying to raise a hurricane in a small house all evening.

Key Contributors

Sources

Sources: Music Theatre International show page and print synopsis, Internet Broadway Database production song list, TheaterMania Broadway review archive, CurtainUp Broadway review, Wikipedia plot and Act II song list