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Airtop
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Posted: Mon Mar 31st, 2008 07:51 am |
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The Golden Rose
_______________
A Musical Adventure in Two Acts
By
Aaron Holland
Email: Aaronholland1@gmail.com
6M 6F
Cast of Characters
Chris: A young businessman with a degree in writing that he doesn't use. Late 20's Barit-tenor w falsetto to D
Roshon: A yoga teacher who resides near a park. Doubles as The Golden Rose. 20's Barit-tenor. w falsetto to D
Clio: Chris's live-in girlfriend. A rough talker. Doubles as Rosalita- 20's Mezzo to G
The Golden Rose: An off- the- cuff, outspoken deity who has found his own way into Chris's book/life. He changes forms and can pop up anywhere; His powers and wild zany need for drama move the story.
Rosalita: A princess/Damsel-in-distress descended from nymphs. A spunky nightclub singer as well, Rosalita waits for the perfect man to save her from her life.
DANIELLE: Rosalita's Diary. *A fairy princess that is secretly in love with Rosalita* A puppet for half of the show. Mezzo belter to E 20's-30's.
Derek Jacobs: The Biggest, baddest, dino of them all. Rosalita's bodyguard. Also Chris's Childhood bully. Baritone w/Falsetto to G. 20's-30's
David: A living statue of Michelangelo's David. A Dynamic and fun representation of Art. Belt Tenor to C. Played by a dino.
Muga-Puga1: The official leader of the Dinos. A loving singer and storyteller. Man or Woman; any age.
The DINOS: The group of people that have fallen under Rosalita's spell; ruled by animal instincts. They provide music, harmony, sound FX, and set pieces to the show. They play multiple characters. 21 and up. 2 of each S, A, T, B.
Setting
This play takes place in three places: A park near an office building, Ro's Room, and in Chris's book/mind. The set should allow for extreme fluidity between places.
Entrances for the show should be in as many different places as possible.
Time
The present
"Obsession led me to write. It's been that way with every book I've ever written. I become completely consumed by a theme, by characters, by a desire to meet a challenge." -Anne Rice
I felt a Funeral, in my Brain,
And Mourners to and fro
Kept treading--treading--till it seemed
That Sense was breaking through--
And when they all were seated,
A Service, like a Drum--
Kept beating--beating--till I thought
My Mind was going numb--
And then I heard them lift a Box
And creak across my Soul
With those same Boots of Lead, again,
Then Space--began to toll,
As all the Heavens were a Bell,
And Being, but an Ear,
And I, and Silence, some strange Race
Wrecked, solitary, here--
And then a Plank in Reason, broke,
And I dropped down, and down--
And hit a World, at every plunge,
And Finished knowing--then--
Emily Dickinson
THE GOLDEN ROSE-
AT RISE: (The Stage is dark. We hear the sound of a low, rumbling tone. A Chorus of angels sings as lights rise to reveal THE GOLDEN ROSE.)
THE GOLDEN ROSE
Fools deride me when I descend in the human form! They do not know my transcendental nature as the Supreme Lord of all that be!
(Snaps, sings)
OH THE GOLDEN ROSE,
THE LEGEND HAS FORETOLD
A WISH IT WILL GRANT YOU
WISH AND IT MAY COME TRUE
ANYTHING YOU ASK OF ME, IT WILL BE.
ANYTHING YOU ASK OF ME. YEAH!
(CHRIS, a twenty something, slightly disheveled businessman, enters Carrying a yellow pad. He paces about the stage searching for a perfect spot to sit, He finds a spot under a tree.)
THE GOLDEN ROSE(Cont'd)
OH AND JUST SUPPOSE,
YOU HAPPEN TO BE IN TROUBLE
AND YOU NEED A COMPANION
IT'S I WHO'LL COME HELP YOU
I WILL DO ANYTHING...
ANYTHING YOUR LITTLE HEART DESIRES
YOU COULD SCREAM AND LIGHT A MILLION FIRES
AND JUST AS A RIVER ALWAYS FLOWS
ANYTHING YOU NEED JUST CALL THE G-G-G-G GOLDEN ROSE!
THAT'S MY NAME, MUTHAFUCKA! THE GOLDEN ROSE!
I WILL DO ANYTHING. HOLLER AT THE GOLDEN ROSE!
(Lights shift to focus directly below THE GOLDEN ROSE to CHRIS sitting under a tree. A warm, windy mid-morning. An outdoor yoga class is taking place next to him.)
CHRIS CLASS
TODAY'S A BRAND NEW DAY! TODAY'S A BRAND NEW DAY!
I NEED INSPIRATION! I NEED INSPIRATION!
A NEW IDEA! A NEW IDEA!
(THE GOLDEN ROSE, Now ROSHON the yoga teacher, enters revealing a golden rose as a prop. The rose floats before him at first.)
ROSHON
Mmm.
AN IDEA IS LIKE A ROSE.
IT STARTS OUT AS A SEED FLOATING ON THE WIND,
NEVER KNOWING WHEN ITS LIFE BEGINS.
THEN IT LANDS TAKES ROOT
THEN IT BEGINS TO GROW:
AND IT GROWS
AND IT GROWS
AND IT GROWS
THE ROOTS ARE THE CONNECTION TO THE EARTH
THE FLOWER IS THE CONNECTION TO THE SKY
AND I
AM LIKE THAT FLOWER
CONNECTING EARTH TO SKY
I AM THE GREAT IDEA.
I AM THE GREAT CONNECTION.
La la la la la la...
AN IDEA, ONCE THOUGHT, HAS A LIFE OF ITS OWN
YOU MAY THINK YOU'RE IN CONTROL,
BUT REALLY, IT'S GROWN
BIGGER THAN YOU. IT'S BIGGER THAN YOU!
AND BEFORE YOU EVEN THINK IT ALL THE WAY THROUGH-
(CHRIS'S cell phone rings and interrupts the lesson. CHRIS scrambles to find it. The lesson resumes while CHRIS answers his phone.)
CHRIS
Hello Clio.
(CLIO enters on Bluetooth, busy at work. SONG: Where the Hell are You #1)
CLIO
WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?
WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU?
I'M NOT GONNA COVER FOR YOU ANY MORE.
YOU'RE ON YOUR OWN.
CHRIS, YOU CAN'T KEEP DOING THIS.
YOU'RE GONNA LOSE YOUR JOB.
AND WHAT IS WORSE?
HOW WILL YOU PAY YOUR BILLS?
CHRIS
Look, I'm fine. My head hurts a little, and I have a little phlegmy thing going on, but I'm fine.
Clio
Bullshit.
CHRIS
I just needed today off. I'll be back in tomorrow. Bright n early. I promise okay baby? I've just been going and going, you know? I need today to relax. Hang out with myself. Maybe work on my book.
CLIO
That book again. Chris, what are you gonna do if you ever do finish it? You've already revised it out of existence...
CHRIS
I want it to be perfect.
CLIO
You waste so much time with her.
CHRIS
Who?
CLIO
Rosa. Lita. That girl.
CHRIS
She's not even real. She's a character.
CLIO
I know. And sadly, truthfully, I'm starting to get jealous. Even if you do make some money from this, it'll never be as much or as steady as the job you have now. Well, barely have. You're no Harry Potter.
CHRIS
Well I've got to try.
(SONG- A Beautiful Sight)
CHRIS (Cont'd)
...You know me; I can't just start something and not complete it. It's very important to me.
Clio
Even if no one ever publishes it.
Chris
Especially if no one publishes it. You don't get it;
(sings)
IT'S NOT ABOUT THE MONEY
OR THE FAME OR WHATEVER.
IT'S MY NEED TO EXPRESS MYSELF.
IF I DON'T MAKE MY ART,
THEN IT'S GONNA GO...UNMADE.
IT'S THE ITCH IN MY FINGERS.
IT'S THE THING THAT WAKES ME UP IN THE MORNING,
like an alarm clock. And if I don't write down what I'm thinking or illustrate what I see in my head then it's like I haven't done anything to effect the world. I've been selfish. Keeping something to myself that may evoke someone someday to do some thing. You see? It wont let me go and I'm not gonna fight it.
CLIO
What is wrong with you?
CHRIS
The voices that keep telling me to write it...
CLIO
Voices talk to you?
CHRIS
...Take control of me and get my heart excited.
CLIO
They're controlling you?
CHRIS
IT WONT LET ME GO AND
IM NOT GONNA FIGHT IT YOU SEE...
AND IT WON'T MATTER IF ONE IS SOLD.
IT'S STILL A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD.
So you see I've got to finish it.
Clio
Voices. Uh-huh. Is that why you didn't come to work today?
Chris
No I told you, my head hurts. And the phlegmy thing.
CLIO
Right the phlegmy thing. Can't forget about the phlegmy thing...
CHRIS
(Interrupting)
...And besides, I'm starting to feel...creative.
Clio
(Laughs)
You're starting to feel creative? Right now?
Chris
The itch.
IT'S A DIFFERENT PART OF ME THAT IT COMES FROM
Clio
An itch? Well put some cream on it and come back to work.
Chris
SOMETHIN DEEP WITHIN TURNS ON
AND IT WON'T LET ME GO
IT WON'T LET ME GO
NO IT WONT LET ME GO!
CLIO
You're serious.
Chris
IT'S WHEN MY FINGERS START ITCHING
AND MY MIND STARTS TO BURN
WHEN THE DOORS TO REALITY START TO TAKE A WEIRD TURN.
AND THE WALLS START A CRUMBLIN'
AND THE WINDOWS ARE SMASHING
AND THE WORDS ARE JUST COMING in As
MY BRAIN TURNS TO ASHES.
Then IT COMES THROUGH LIKE THE LIGHTNING
AS IT GOES FLASH IN THE DARK.
I LIKE THE MAN THAT I TURN INTO
WHEN I FIN'LY GET THAT SPARK, YOU SEE.
IF MY HAND COULD CAPTURE MY SOUL.
I'D BE A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD!
A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT TO BEHOLD!
A BEAUTIFUL SIGHT ...TO Behold!
(CLIO tries to speak)
CHRIS
BE! HOLD!
ROSHON
(Bows)
Namaste`.
(The class bows back. All exit but CHRIS. He notices ROSHON'S flower on the ground. He picks it up and examines it.)
CLIO
Chris. I'm sorry to always have to be the one to say this, but soon, very soon you are going to have to accept the fact that you are a grown man. Hopefully Before you're thirty. Now I think it's wonderful that you like to write. It's a nice hobby. But Nowadays- in the real world, you've got bills to pay. And I'm sick of paying them for you... and if you don't come to work tomorrow you're gonna be fired.
CHRIS
So you'll cover for me?!
CLIO
You have 24 hours to think about this. Hang out witcha self. Do what you need to do. But you need to make a decision about what you wanna do with your life. Seriously. Okay, I love you. Bye.
(Hangs up/exits)
CHRIS
I know. Hello? Oh.
(Hangs up his phone. Looks at the flower, Sings)
Y' KNOW, I'VE NEVER SEEN A ROSE LIKE THIS BEFORE.
(He sniffs it. Magic wind chimes play)
IT SMELLS SO DELICIOUS.
Like chocolate and raspberries.
(He looks around)
I WONDER WHAT IT TASTES LIKE.
(Takes a small bite of a pedal)
MMM!
(CHRIS eats the flower whole, stem and all.)
I can't believe I ate the whole thing.
ROSHON
Hey! Excuse me.
CHRIS
Me?
ROSHON
No, the disheveled looking business man standing next to you. Yeah you! You didn't happen to see a rose around here did you? A golden rose?
Chris
A golden rose?
ROSHON
Yeah, the one I was using earlier, they're very rare. You haven't seen it lying around here anywhere?
Chris
Oh! Um NO! I haven't seen anything.
ROSHON
Obviously. Say man, you alright?
Chris
Who? Me?
ROSHON
Yeh.
Chris
I'm fine. Completely fine.
ROSHON
Alright...You sure you don't need some kind of help in any way?
Chris.
No. I'm good.
ROSHON
Alright. Well... thanks anyway.
(Starts to walk away)
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Mary Alice
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Posted: Sat Apr 5th, 2008 04:10 pm |
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Airtop,
I find this wonderfully funny, but have no constructive comments to offer. It made me laugh!
Mary Alice
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Airtop
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Posted: Sun Apr 6th, 2008 01:09 am |
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| Hey Thanx! You know, even that helps me alot.
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Deirdre
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Posted: Sun Apr 6th, 2008 03:15 pm |
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Hi Aaron,
Well this is a fun looking start to something! Not sure what.
Chris is writing a book and the characters are coming to life? Is that right?
It's so hard to get a handle on something from just the beginning, but so far so good.
May I make a few comments?
Without a full play to look at, the reader does tend to rely more on all available clues to make sense of things.
This is where I think your character list serves to confuse rather than illuminate.
For example: you say Chris has a writing degree that he doesn't use, yet right off the top it seems that he actually is using it. (Besides, that kind of information is not for the character list, but if important will be developed in the play itself.)
Dinos are people who have fallen under the spell of Rosalita, but her character description gives me no indication of any special powers, rather the opposite, a passive type, damsel in distress. So not sure.
Danielle: Rosalita's diary. (Huh?)
Would it be helpful to know from the list which of the characters are 'real' and which from Chris' book? If I'm on the right track, that is.
Enjoyed the scene with Clio.
And eating the Golden Rose is good, then someone showing up looking for it works really well, that could be played even more perhaps.
The lyrics sound good too, though maybe a bit repetitive with Clio in the first? I'm not sure how quickly that will play. We do get the point without the repeat.
The other thing, do you mean Harry Potter, or J.K. Rowling?
Other than that, I really enjoyed this. I'm not sure if you've written a complete draft yet, but from the character list I can hardly imagine how you're going to tie this together coherently, so good on you if you've already done it, and if not, then good luck! I know how hard it is to lay down on paper the tenuous threads of a plot with so much going on.
Also, one more thing, the Emily Dickinson poem, are you moving into the arenas of madness? Not sure why you have two quotes and how they interact. Just a thought, like I said before, when we have so little to read, we look to everything for clues.
Enjoyed!
Hope this helps a bit. Sorry if I've misread, it happens/
Deirdre
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Airtop
Member
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Posted: Sun Apr 6th, 2008 09:50 pm |
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Hey,
I've been struggling with Chris's character description and had decided to let it go and come back to it. I completely missed that! Thanx! It's true, and all of your guesses are correct. IN this show we do descend into madness through obsession and all kinds of crazy things happen. The Emily Dickinson poem is also sung in the show, so I wanted to make sure it was referenced.
Also- great advice about the Real/ Book Character delineations!
There was a draft in which Chris Corrected Clio When She said "Harry Potter". In The reading, The 'Harry potter' line got the laugh, and the correction killed it. So I cut the correction. I figure J.K Rowling Maybe too specific of a reference for the Gen Pub. I'd rather more people get what she's trying to say. It feeds into the type of person she is, and also foreshadows the magical journey we're about to embark on.
I hope this helps. Thank you so much for actually reading it!
Aaron
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