WESTERN SKIES
A musical written by Maurice Mattei
Guitar & Vocals - Maurice Mattei
Vocals - Korin Mattei


Characters

Voice-Over Narrator
Justin - Surfer
Wendy - Justin's girlfriend
The Vagrant
Stripper
Client at strip club
Ringmaster
Cindy - Band member/drummer
Suzy - Band member/guitarist
Cindy's boyfriend
Jimmy - Record company A&R man
Miss Clara - Jimmy's girlfriend
Dionysian figure
Missy
Missy's husband
Housewife from swinger's club
Stagehands 1, 2, 3, & 4
Refugee
Godfigure

Various Dancers and Singers, Strippers, Strip Club Clients, Stagehands, Rock Band Members, Party Goers, Swinger's Club Clients, Refugees, Angels

Scene: Somewhere in the United States

Act One

Scene One

[Slow, hypnotic music plays softly in the darkened theater. After several minutes, a voice-over narration begins. The narrator sounds vaguely like a 1960s Top 40 DJ.]

Narrator:
Time is passing and all seems as it once was. The pleasures of the daily jog, the picnics and hayrides and mid-winter sleigh rides continue unabated. Those in the West are living as they have always lived. No one would suspect anything had changed. There are, however, individuals who sometimes take pause to notice odd, unexplainable occurrences. Disquieting moments give way to reflection. So it is with young Justin, confronted by an uneasy feeling while relaxing in his girlfriend's beach house in California.

[As the music continues to play, then slowly fades, the curtain rises on a dilapidated beach house (A bedroom and a front room divided by a partition. Second-hand furniture, travel poster of Maui and shots of surfers taped to the walls.) Justin - blonde surfer, wearing oversized boxers and shirtless - is sitting on a sofa in the front room watching television. His girlfriend, Wendy, is in the bedroom on her phone. The set is bathed in a pale blue light and there is a dim white light coming into the front room from a picture window. The beach, which extends to the apron of the stage, appears to be deserted (the beach house {up and centerstage-right to left} sits in back of the beach {downstage-right to left} and is designed so that the audience sees both a partial view of the inside and the outside of the structure.) Introductory music begins to play. Justin gets up, walks around the front room, picking up magazines and various items. He seems lost in thought. He then walks to the window and sings:]

"Justin's Blues"      
(Slow tempo)

I didn't do what I was asked to do
I let my guard down and the wolves slipped through
I was leaning on the whipping post
Surfing the rip tide on the Western Coast
I wasn't where I said I'd be
When the graveyard met the bow
I wish I'd done things differently
But I can't think about that now

I don't like this place anymore
Something's changed, that's for sure
Look at me, what I'm wearing, baby
Dressed in black and green, I think maybe
I should go where the palm trees sway
Riding whitecaps, chasing foam
About a million miles away
From my Ensenada home

And over at Redondo Beach
All the golden boys and girls
Are walking up and down the streets
Far from the breaking curls

The clubs are empty, baby, it's no fun
I'd like to leave but there's nowhere to run
The talk is filled with GI thrills and spills
Crossfire searches, rebels in the hills
My day's coming, what can I do?
Except to wait my turn in line
Pretty soon they'll be coming 'round for you
It's just a matter of time


[A brief musical interlude. Justin paces the room and addresses Wendy who is still talking on the phone.]

Ricky Sunset and his girlfriend, Dee
I heard they moved down to Peru
Looking back, that's where you and me
Should'a gone if we'd of thought it through


[She doesn't acknowledge him. As he turns facing the audience and continues to sing, a vagrant - wearing frayed dark dress pants (style circa 1950), a stained white shirt and a dirty gray overcoat - enters {downstage-left} and stands at the side, on the beach, staring at the sky.]

The waves are pounding outside my front door
I'm looking out the window at the shore
A bum is stumbling, walking through the mist,
Staring at the sky, shaking his fist

At vapor trails as the jets go past
Just some flyboys heading home
I call my baby, "Wendy, come here fast"
But she's talking on the phone


[The music continues. Justin paces around the beach house and the set fades slowly to black as the curtain is lowered behind the vagrant who is now standing on the left apron of the stage. The music ends and is replaced by the sound of waves breaking on the beach and seagulls screeching. A single white spotlight shines on the vagrant.]


Scene Two

[New introductory music begins. The vagrant starts to walk slowly toward the center apron of the stage as the spotlight follows him. He stops and stands in the spotlight, looking up, muttering. He faces the audience and begins to sing:]

"Love's Been Good to Me"      
(Medium/upbeat tempo)

I walk with my head held high
Come, my darling, you will see
And this is the reason why
Because love's been good to me
Though I've had my share of falls
And my share of misery
In the end, all in all
I think love's been good to me


[He moves slowly across the front of the stage as the song continues:]

If you want to stay, well, it's alright
I've been out all day but I'll be back tonight

My lover comes and goes
She steals my heart away
She's gone but heaven knows
Her love is here to stay

Seems somehow, she's been away too long
Tell me now, do you know where my good friend's gone?

And if you call on me
Keep those bells a-ringing
It ain't a bird you see
It's just my baby in the front room singing


[A musical interlude as he dances erratically then resumes singing:]

But if my songbird flies
Into another's tree
My girlfriend won't deny
The love she gave to me


[Music continues as he dances off stage-right and the spotlight fades. When the music ends it is again replaced by the sound of waves and seagulls. The stage lights fade to black.]


Scene Three

[A gradual fade of ambient noise as introductory music begins. The curtain rises on the interior of a strip club {centerstage-right to left}, dimly lit in blues and reds, circa 1975 American midwest. Provocatively dressed female dancers are placed randomly throughout the room. The dancers begin to sensuously weave their way between male clients who are sitting at tables. One of the women walks away from the nightclub toward downstage-left, joining a seated male figure in the shadows. A dim green spotlight follows her. The male figure is dressed in a dark business suit. She is young, he is middle-aged. She stands next to him, putting her right hand on his shoulder and brushing his face soothingly with her left hand as she begins to sing:]

"Newport, by the Bay"      
(Slow tempo)

If you're restless or you're tired
There's something that I found
I can offer you a chance
To find a new romance
And turn your world around
If you want to follow me
It's not too far away
And I think that once you see
You might want to stay
In Newport, by the bay


[The seated man rises and follows the woman into the nightclub. She continues:]

Madam sets the atmosphere
Dims the lights and walks the floor
If your heart is on your sleeve
They may ask you to leave
Your troubles at the door
It's not much of a request
For what you had to pay
After all, you're just a guest
Inside the cabaret
In Newport, by the bay

The ladies want to talk about their working week
And these fine gentlemen listen when they speak
Perhaps, before the night is over, they'll be dancing cheek to cheek


[A brief musical interlude during which the dancers dance along with the music as the clientele observe. The dancers retain their poses after the two central figures return to the table, downstage-left, the man sitting, the woman standing as before and she resumes singing:]

...In a place not far from here
Where there's always one or two
Who await with open arms
Seduce with tender charms
For a pittance which is due
On debts that are incurred
While held in passion's sway
Tell me, have you ever heard
And do you know the way
To Newport, by the bay?


[As the music continues, the scene fades to black: the nightclub fading first, then the two figures at downstage-left. Music ends as the characters leave the stage and stagehands appear.]


Scene Four

[As the nightclub set from scene three is being disassembled by the stagehands and another set is taking its place, a new musical intro begins. A white spotlight shines on a catwalk above centerstage. The vagrant from the first scene reappears on the catwalk. A scrim unfurls from above the catwalk to downstage-right to left (obscuring the stagehands) and a video begins to play on the scrim. The video is comprised of scenes from old home movies; birthdays, holidays, vacations, etc.. These are mixed with vintage clips of American cityscapes and factories. After pacing back and forth a couple of times to the intro music, the vagrant stops in the center of the catwalk and begins to sing:]

"Western Skies"      
(Medium/upbeat tempo)

Everything is blood soaked under western skies
Everyone I look at stares back with empty eyes
My pockets are full of money, I don't even know why
All day long I'm watching cars go by
Climbing the steps to get up to the roof
Those young men must think that they're bulletproof
Don't tell me, I don't want to know the truth
All I want to hear are lies
You look good under western skies

Thought I was living right but I was wrong
I think I've been around here way too long
Some people stay a while and then they're gone
Me, I don't go nowhere, I just hang on
Until there's nothing left for me to do
Except to trail behind someone like you
Everything's different now but nothing's new
And I can't say that I'm surprised
I'm living under western skies


[A brief musical interlude as the vagrant walks back and forth on the catwalk.]

It took me too long to make up my mind
It's no good thinking I got left behind
It's my own fault so please don't waste my time
I've got a lot to do, can't you see that I'm
On my way out the door, I got a date
With Miss Dupree over on 8th and State
I'm in a hurry now, I can't be late
But I'll be back before sunrise
Somewhere under western skies


[The spotlight is switched off but both the music and the video continue for several minutes]


Scene Five

[The music ends and the scrim slowly rises as new introductory music begins. The stage has been transformed into a facsimile of a two-ring circus. In each ring there is a separate, though related, set. The sets are backlit and appear as silhouettes. A green spotlight is directed on the first set {upstage-right to centerstage-center} leaving the second set in total darkness. Set one is comprised of several women in their late 20s and early 30s wearing trendy second-hand clothing. They are playing musical instruments - guitar, drums, bass - in a run-down, early 20th century vacant warehouse area. A man, dressed as a circus Ringmaster, walks onto the right-side apron of the stage. As the women engage in a mock band rehearsal, he glances at them, turns to the audience and begins to sing:]

"15 Minutes From Nowhere"      
(Slow tempo)

Suzy lost her looks somewhere on the road
Between Cleveland and Kokomo
She broke a string trying to tune her guitar
On the way to another show
She thought she had a backup but she hadn't packed it
In her cobra skin makeup case
The one she found in Dayton at a place called
Dewana's Second-Hand Face The Face
Cindy says...


[Sung by Cindy / band member/drummer:]

"What ya gonna do? You can't play 'Don't Love Me'
If your E-string is gone"


[Sung by Suzy / band member/guitarist:]

"I'm gonna do my best
Anyway, you know
I never even liked that song

Dressed in rags and hand-me-downs
Broken bootstraps in my hair
Can it be I see the lights of town
15 minutes from nowhere?"


[As the music continues, a blue spotlight slowly moves from first to second ring {centerstage-center to downstage-left}, revealing a scene in a shabby makeshift bedroom - mattress on the floor, wooden box used as a night stand - where a couple is lying in bed. The woman - Cindy, from the first ring who has moved into the second ring as the spotlight shifted - is looking at a music magazine while her boyfriend lies next to her, half-asleep. The Ringmaster continues:]

Cindy sleeps in an empty warehouse
In front of Juice Boy's Wishing Well
Her old man delivers papers and cleans the floors
At the Fulton Hotel
Sometimes he's late 'cause he can't find a ride
Sometimes he doesn't show up at all
The next day he's got to work twice as hard
'Cause they leave the trash piled up in the hall
"I'm gonna take you away from all this"
Cindy says as she's reading the trades


[Sung by Cindy:]

"If we can hook up with Jimmy in Portland
We're gonna have it made in the shade"


[Sung by Ringmaster:]

Like a dead weight with a wig hat on
Tumbling down a flight of broken stairs
She thought she saw a light but she was wrong
She's 15 minutes from nowhere


[The characters - except for the Ringmaster - exit centerstage-right. While music drones in the background (turning into white noise) and the lights darken to red and purple-bluish colors, the sets are rearranged, forming a dual set from upstage-right to downstage-left. As the lights become brighter, they reveal a painted backdrop {upstage-right to left} of a residential urban environment (duplex movie theaters, split-level ranch homes, billboards) and at centerstage-right to center, a city street. A posh hotel room (bed, oriental rugs, wet bar, wide-screen TV) is in the downstage-center to left portion of the stage. The two environments are separated by a transparent, diagonally placed partition with a door in the middle. A man is in the city street setting. He is well dressed and he is doing an interpretive modern dance. This musical interlude is approximately 5 to 10 minutes in length after which the Ringmaster, who has been standing innocuously in front of the hotel set {stage-left apron}, begins again:]

Strange sparrows huddled on the rooftops
Flying in with the new Brighton Sound
Duplex movies playing up the street
Where Jimmy is walking around
"One hand washes the other," he says


[Jimmy - the dancer from the city street setting - dances into the hotel room through the door and sings:]

"There's no place on the turnpike for you
Give me a minute, let me check my watch
I got a couple of things left to do"


[Sung by Ringmaster:]

He's waiting on his girlfriend,
Riding down a shady grove in Aliston Heights
They've got a room lined up at the Regency
They're gonna be staying the night
With Blood Simple and the Three Ton Chains ...


[Jimmy's girlfriend and other female and male figures enter from downstage-left into the hotel room. Some are dressed similarly to the musicians in the first set, others are in business casual garb. Jimmy's girlfriend is wearing pleather hot pants and a halter top. As Jimmy dances through the room, one of the business people wheels in a huge birthday cake from downstage-right. The crowd of characters enact a party scene, celebrating Spiderpuppy's birthday and his return engagement at Portland's Royalton Arms Theater. The Ringmaster continues:]

...Spiderpuppy and His Gentlemen
And word is the Six-Pence From Sunday
Are coming into town with them
Last time they played the Royalton Arms
Jackie Finch blew a hole in the stage
I heard talk that in West Hollywood
Puppy's Spiderwalk is all the rage


[The party activities become more heated. Confetti begins to fall from above the stage onto the sets. While Jimmy's girlfriend (Miss Clara) cuts Puppy's birthday cake, the party guests start demolishing the furniture in the hotel room. The Ringmaster sings:]

"Leave a little for me," Jimmy says
As Miss Clara passes out Puppy's cake


[Sung by Jimmy:]

"I think I got room for one more piece
I hope I didn't get here too late"


[Sung by Ringmaster:]

Unloading in the alleyway
Bumming quarters on Washington Square
I been thinking I might have to stay
15 minutes from nowhere


[Music continues for several minutes and tufts of smoke are pumped from both sides of the stage. The party goers have demolished the entire set. Everyone, except for the Ringmaster who exits stage-left, begins to dance around the debris as the music becomes more cacophonous. The curtain slowly comes down as the music ends and the lights fade to black.]

End of Act One



Act Two

Scene One

[The theater is dark. The curtain has not yet risen. Soft, hypnotic Pop music plays over the P.A. Extras dressed as art students and young hipsters slowly dance down the aisles throwing rose petals on the audience. They gather in a line in front of the stage. After several minutes, a voice-over narration begins. The narrator now has the voice of a classical English thespian: ]

Narrator:
Clothe me, Ariel. Clothe me in the pulse of our wildest desires. My cheeks are wet and heavy from jostling the crowds as play ended and I was sent home. The military academy, the accidental choir rehearsals and you, my child of Mars, in your silk schoolgirl dresses - always so like love...

       Would that those days should return
                               and yet,
          perhaps in the dance we can remember,
                  perhaps in the dance we can forget...........


[Pop Music ends abruptly and is immediately followed by an extended segment of upbeat introductory music. With the beginning of the music a Dionysus-like figure, lit by a white spotlight, appears on the left-side apron of the stage, in front of the curtain. He is wearing only fig tree leaves and branches around his waist and crotch. His skin is chalk white and his hair is bluish black. He dances wildly, provocatively, to the music as the extras in front of the stage throw rose petals at him. He moves with great speed from stage-left to stage-right and then back again several times. After several minutes of dancing, he begins to sing:]

"Strange New Dance"      
(Upbeat tempo)

Well, there's a strange new dance
That I only do for strangers
You better call the ambulance
'Cause I don't mind the dangers
You know, it makes me want to laugh
When I hear people talking
'Cause when a black cat cross my path
I just keep on walking

I wanna go somewhere I've never been
Hey, Miss Lady, let this stranger in
I'll pay you in advance
Let's do a strange new dance


[He jumps from the stage into one of the aisles of the theater, dancing wildly. The spotlight follows him as he continues singing:]

If I get hit by lightning
Or cut in two with a butcher knife
It might be a little frightening
But, you know, I'll still feel all right
They hung me down at the old town square
But I kept on kicking
When I got loose I started dancing there
I guess I just wasn't thinking

I wanna see something I've never seen
Hey, Miss Lady, do you know what I mean?
Gimme another chance
Let's do a strange new dance


[Musical interlude during which the dancer entices the flower throwing extras to join him. They dance in frenzied merriment. He returns to the stage for the final verse:]

Come watch me pirouette
Between the bombs and the bullet trails
Please excuse my bloody epaulettes
I'll be here waiting while you do your nails
Underneath a tidal wave
Under a landslide, watch me disappear
You might think that I am brave
But, really, I'm just tired of standing here

I wanna do something I've never done
Hey, Miss Lady, no, I'm not gonna run
Not while I'm in a trance...


[Music builds to a crescendo.]

Let's do a strange new dance

[The Dionysus figure dances more and more frenetically. Rose petals continue to be thrown on stage as lights swirl around the theater. The music ends and the dancer stands on the right-side apron of the stage with his left arm extended, pointing to the curtain rising as the musical introduction for the next scene begins.]


Scene Two

[The set (which is still unlit) is constructed of two scenes, arranged diagonally from upstage-right to downstage-left. They are separated by a shear curtain partition. The first set is that of a living room in a suburban home circa 1984 - sofa, coffee table, television, etc. The second set is the interior of a sex club - leopard skin chaise lounge, mirrored walls, heart-shaped beds, etc. A single red spotlight shines on the first scene (the second scene remains in total darkness) and reveals a couple in the living room. They are in their mid-30's. The woman (Missy) is lying on the floor. She is wearing panties, a bra, a yellow floppy hat and she is holding a harpoon. The man is sitting on the sofa. He is wearing a tiara and a red bath robe. As the dancer exits from the stage's right-side apron and reappears on the catwalk above the stage, the man in scene one faces the audience and begins to sing:]

"Westwood Sex Club"      
(Slow tempo)

It was a beautiful evening
The stars were shining
Through the blinds in my living room
I was staying with Missy
She was talking to me
And polishing her harpoon
When all at once Missy dear looked up
And she asked me


[Sung by Missy:]

"Whatever became
Of Mr. Chan with the wandering hands
In his filthy tea shop
On the corner of 5th and Main?"


[Sung by the man:]

Well, it's there
But they changed the name


It's called the Westwood Sex Club now

[He helps Missy stand up, puts his arm around her and he continues:]

It's called the Westwood Sex Club now

[They both sing:]

It's called the Westwood Sex Club

[As the music plays, Missy once again lies on the floor and immediately falls asleep while the lighting changes to a softer red. The man stands over her and begins the second verse:]

I remember that morning
The leaves were falling
From a hole in the roof above


[The dancer, who is still on the catwalk, throws leaves onto the couple below. The man continues:]

Missy lay at my feet
Talking in her sleep
And I was trying to listen because
I thought I heard her saying something about
How her daddy, a long time ago
Had taken her down
To a place in town
Where the lights were bright
Like the ones in a carnival show
When she woke up
She said she wanted to go...


[Missy awakens, stands up and is once again held by the man. They sing the second chorus:]

To the Westwood Sex Club now
To the Westwood Sex Club now
To the Westwood Sex Club


[During the musical interlude, the couple walk slowly towards the second set which, as the first set fades into darkness, is lit with a blue spotlight. There are 10 or so people in the sex club. All the figures are in various stages of undress. The man from set one begins the third verse as couples slow-dance in the background:]

I remember that Tuesday
After Missy got ready
We headed out to the Sex Club scene
When we walked inside
We saw a couple of housewives
Selling razors and shaving cream


[The referred to characters are highlighted by an additional spotlight.]

Mrs. Smith was there and so was Mrs. Ray
They were such a pretty pair


[The spotlight moves to this second grouping which is acting out the following:]

Dressed like doves
Wearing rubber gloves
Dancing a jig
And throwing Mr. Smith in the air 
If you go
They may still be there


[As the dancer on the catwalk continues to throw leaves onto the stage below and as the sex club clientele continue dancing, they begin to sing as a chorus:]

They're at the Westwood Sex Club now
They're at the Westwood Sex Club now
They're at the Westwood Sex Club


[With the music slowly fading, a woman from the sex club moves towards the front edge of the stage. The lights fade on the background scene and a single yellow stage light is focused on the approaching woman. She is wearing only a white apron with red trim and red pumps. She has dark shoulder-length hair which is in a 60's style perm. The curtain comes down behind her as she reaches the center of the stage's apron.]


Scene Three

[A new musical introduction begins and she starts to sing:]

"The Daily Riot"      
(Medium tempo)

The common standard is too hard to keep
I fell below that line some time ago
I do my best work when I'm half asleep
At least my darling tells me so
I thread the needle as he walks the floor
Stares at the ceiling from behind the door
Waiting for...


[Two men dressed in beige corduroy pants, light blue shirts, buttoned cardigan sweaters and smoking pipes, appear at either end of the stage and assist the woman singing the chorus:]

The daily riot
The daily riot


[Sung by the woman alone:]

Would it be true, should I admit
That I will leave if I can't quit
The daily riot


[She dances across the stage while singing:]

My head is spinning from the altitude
I've thrown it all away and it's a shame
If you were in my place you'd love the view
But I can't say I feel the same
A gang of two receives polite applause
For giving orders and amending laws
Finding cause...


[Again, she is joined by male figures:]

For the daily riot
The daily riot


[Sung by the woman alone:]

A plot uncoils from where I sit
The curtain rises bit by bit
On the daily riot
The daily riot


[She is joined by male figures:]

We counter to a counterfeit
Contract that does not permit
The daily riot
The daily riot


[The men join the woman dancing. They continue, back and forth across the stage until the music ends and they exit stage-right. Lights fade to almost darkness. A small spotlight shines on the stage. Soft ambient music plays over the speakers. This goes on for an inappropriately lengthy amount of time. Suddenly, the music ends and the single spotlight is turned off.]


Scene Four

[The introduction to the next number begins as the curtain slowly rises. Dimmed stage lights reveal a half completed set. The scrim is being lowered and, dancing drunkenly downstage-right to down-center, is the vagrant from prior scenes. He is now wearing a tattered business suit and a trilby. On the screen the video shows newsreels from the 1940s interspersed with contemporary videos of dance clubs and parties. The man appears as a silhouette in front of the screen. He begins to sing:]

"Let Me Know"      
(Upbeat tempo)

If your good ol' friends fill you full of lead
And drop you to the bottom of a river bed
Howling at the moon while you're sinking down
Gimme a call, maybe I'll come around


Let me know
Let me know
Let me know


If the man you love turns his back on you
And throws you in a dungeon, cuts you half in two
Burns your house down, robs you blind
Pass the word along if you find the time

Let me know
Let me know
Let me know

Well you may be hungry, you may be poor
You may be crawling from door to door
Looking for a handout, a place to sleep
Selling your wares on a downtown street

Let me know
Let me know
Let me know


[Green stage light shines on the vagrant.]

Swallow the poison, Satan's on the loose
Stick your head in a hangman's noose
It doesn't matter darling where you run
You're gonna have to pay for what you've done

Listen for the bloodhounds, keep a low profile
Move down the line if someone tells you, "Stay a while"
Locked inside the tombs across from Hudson Bay
Trying to hitch a ride down the lost highway

Let me know
Let me know
Let me know

Pray for deliverance, pray for release
The salvation you bought, well, it might be fleece
Swing down chariot, swing down low
It doesn't matter, darling, where you go

So if your good ol' friends fill you full of lead
And drop you to the bottom of a river bed
Howling at the moon while you're sinking down
Gimme a call, maybe I'll come around

Let me know.
Let me know.
Let me know.


[Music continues to play. The vagrant walks off downstage-left. The scrim is drawn up while images are still being projected.]


Scene Five

[The images and music stop and stagehands walk out from either side of the stage which is evenly lit in yellow light. They are carrying additional segments of the set which they start assembling and, paying no attention to the audience, three of the workers begin a dialogue with each other:]

Stagehand 1:  I never saw the plans 'til 'bout a minute ago. I don't think...
Stagehand 2:  Don't worry about it. They're all the same...same shit. Just put it up one way or another. It'll work."
S1:  I ain't worried...I'm just sayin...
S2:  Glad you ain't worried.
Stagehand 3:  That right?
S2:  Yeah

[Pause as they continue to work]

S1: Hey, You see that dancin' girl in scene...
S3: I know the one. Saw you enjoyin' the scenery.
S1: Saw me right? Listen to you, like you weren't thinkin' the same thing.
S3: Gotta think about somethin'. Ain't nothin' else to do. Hell, I don't think I ever saw such a load of bullshit in my life....
S1: Maybe you ain't got the book-learnin' for this kind'a.....
S3: Book learnin'?
S2: Hey, one of you got a phillips...I can't seem ta...
S3: You don't need no book-learnin' to know a load of crap when you see it. Here you go....

[Hands screwdriver to S2]

S1: Still glad I got this job...been lookin' for work for 6 goddamn months...
S3: 6 months? You need to get yourself hooked up with Henry. He's got in's on all the union jobs in town. Can't get shit anymore without Henry.
S1: Is he that headhunter from Chicago...came in about a year ago?
S3: Yeah
S1: How'd he get hooked up so quick?
S3: Some people just got a way...just like you don't...you ain't got a way.
S1: You got a way? 'Cause I see you doin' the same bullshit as everybody else.
S3: I got steady work, fuckhole.
S1: You can fuckhole this, fuckin' candy ass.

[S1 starts walking aggressively towards S3 but S2 stops him and interjects:]

S2: You two jerkoffs want to get this crap done or do you want to crawl up each other's ass all night long? This fuckin' job is bad enough without havin' to hear your bellyachin' horse shit. Let's just get this done. Fuck."

[The stagehands return to where they were working and after a pause:]

S1: How 'bout you boss, you know anything about Henry?

[A short pause as a spotlight is directed on stagehand 2. He continues to work and then answers:]

S2: Quiet guy...keeps to himself. You look at 'im and it looks like you could knock 'im down by starin' at 'im. Always dressed in a suit and tie. Sittin' all day long in that shitty office on 33rd street. I think he's the only tenant in the building. I went down there once to pick up a contract. It was late day...winter...maybe around 6 at night...already dark. The elevator's out so I had to take the stairs. Can't hardly see what I'm doin', half the hall lights been busted out by bums and gangbangers. Trash all over the place, trippin' over my own fuckin' feet. I get to the top and walk to the door but it's locked. I see a light through the glass so I knock. Nothin'...but I'm hearin' voices on the inside. I can't make out what they're sayin' though. So I knock again, nothin' again so I knock a third time and I'm about to leave when I hear somebody walkin' toward the door. It opens up...some guy I never seen before..not from around here...some stranger. He lets me in, doesn't say shit and points to a chair...the only thing in the fuckin' room. I start to say somethin' but he just walks away, goin' into Henry's office, closin' the door behind him. More talkin'...I hear somethin' about a shopping mall in Des Moines, a chain of jewelry stores along the West coast...crazy shit. I'm sittin' there like half an hour and I make up my mind to get the hell out when I hear chairs movin' around, sounds like the meeting breakin' up. A couple of minutes later two guys walk out. One of 'em is the stranger who came to the door an' the other is Danny Logan from the Lounge. Crazy as hell. Word is, back in the day, this Danny ran half the bookie joints in the Midwest. I did work for him years back, treated me good. I know he recognized me but he didn't say shit. He came out of there lookin' like he'd got a death sentence...sweatin', shakin'...that stranger behind 'im. Both of 'em walkin' out the door I came in. Soon as they was gone, out comes Henry, real slow, standin' in the doorway with the contract in his hand. No hello, no how are ya, just lookin' at me with those cold dead eyes. He hands me the paper, I sign it and I'm gone. Couldn't wait to get outta there. Fuckin' place was all wrong. A couple'a weeks later I hear somebody found Danny hangin' from a rope in the basement of his chop shop over on Franklin and 45th. Never heard a thing about it after that...like it never even happened.

[A long pause as they continue to work. Another stagehand enters {centerstage-left} and addresses the workers.]

S4: You boys finishin' up? We gotta move.
S2: Yeah, we're done over here.
S1: What next?
S3: One more tear down an' we're outta here.

[Stagehands walk off centerstage-left. The set they have assembled is a facsimile of a dilapidated suspension bridge. The bridge, with a river flowing beneath it, diagonally spans {from upstage-right to downstage-left} the length of the stage which is lit in a yellow light. The backdrop of the stage, which was lowered as the stagehands were working, is a painting of a generic American city skyline.

The theater is quiet as the stage lights dim slightly. After a minute or so figures appear, crossing the bridge slowly from the rear of the expanse {upstage-right} to the front {downstage-left} and proceeding off stage-left. It is a constant line of people carrying their belongings in backpacks, carts and shopping bags. They are talking about incongruous things like football games, TV shows, and Pop Music. The number of people increases. Out of the crowd, crossing the bridge, emerges Wendy, Justin's girlfriend from scene one. She is wearing a t-shirt and faded jeans and she walks toward the front of the stage {downstage-center.}

The introduction to the final song begins quietly and increases in volume slowly. As the music becomes louder a red spotlight gradually shines more light on the woman standing alone at the front of the stage. When both music and lighting reach appropriate levels, Wendy begins to sing:]

"Where Worlds Collide"      
(Medium tempo)

I talk to strangers but I don't aim to please
Sometimes they say things I don't understand
Ain't nothing moving but the morning breeze
At least that's how it looks from where I stand


[A few other people step out of the procession and begin to dance behind Wendy]

I better look around before I go
I can't forget my partner's walking cane
He's out there waiting on me and I know
I saw him waving from the passing lane


[The dancers freeze in position and look up to the sky. Above the stage on the catwalk, that is now lit with a white spotlight, is a choir of angels with a Godlike figure standing in the middle. The angels are wearing sheer iridescent white robes and pink wings. The Godfigure is wearing a golden carnival mask and a flowing golden robe. The Angels open their arms and begin to sing:]

Just a step away
From where we stood
Yesterday
Beyond the Great Divide
Beneath the tide
Where worlds collide


[The catwalk spotlight is switched off and attention is once again directed towards the characters on the stage. The dancers resume dancing as Wendy sings:]

The traffic's heavy on the Portsmouth Bridge
It's all backed, it's like we're standing still
My partner's stuck this side of Governor's Ridge
Now, I guess he'll be waiting there until...


[The angels on the catwalk start to drop what appears to be flaming confetti onto the stage below. The dancers act as if nothing is happening and Wendy continues:]

...We start to move but that may take a while
Ain't that a cruiser? I see flashing lights
It's stopping up ahead, about a mile
I hope things loosen up before midnight


[Once again, the dancers freeze, looking up as the Angels, spotlighted in white, sing:]

Just a moment from
A place where we
Had once begun
Beyond the ocean side
Where lovers hide
And worlds collide


[Musical interlude during which both the catwalk and stage groups are featured - the catwalk is bathed in white light, the stage is now in red. The angels throw confetti onto the stage with greater and greater rapidity. The dancers finally take notice, trying in vain to shield themselves from the confetti. In the backdrop, the city skyline turns dark, the sky turning shades of yellow, orange and deep red. On the bridge, people begin to panic and stampede over each other. In the midst of the chaos, Wendy resumes singing:]

Say, what's that? Lightning? Is the sky on fire?
I hear a rumble underneath the ground
Between the flooding banks and flaming wires
Am I mistaken, can you hear the sound?


[Some of the dancers run away. People begin attacking each other, stealing what they can and running off the stage. Wendy sings her final lines...]

I should have taken Hoffner Road, I guess
Or Phaedra Lane onto the motorway
Over the Langtry Turnpike, heading west
I could have been home by the break of day


[She walks off downstage-left. The scene on the stage is now entirely chaotic. The catwalk is lowered to several feet above the figures on the stage. The angels dispense gold dust from scepters and ornate bowls that they are now holding in their hands. The Godfigure opens its arms and sings in a powerful, though childlike, voice the final chorus; the angels serving as accompanying vocalists:]

Just a little more
Of what we both
Were looking for
Our eyes were open wide
Side by side
Where worlds collide


[As the singing continues, smoke engulfs the stage. White light now fills the entire theater. The music, singing, and free form dancing proceed for another ten minutes or so. As the music hits a crescendo, it shifts abruptly to the first musical figure of the closing number. With this shift the theater is once again plunged into darkness and with the ending of the music the house lights are switched on, revealing a lowered curtain.]

End


The songs were engineered and recorded by Jack Henderson at Bulldog Farm.
The backing vocals were recorded at the Mattei Home Recording Mobile (MHRM).
Thank you to Martin Speed for transferring the digital sound files. Very much appreciated.


Song List   (Click the title to go to the song above.)

  1. Justin's Blues
  2. Love's Been Good to Me
  3. Newport, by The Bay
  4. Western Skies
  5. 15 Minutes From Nowhere
  6. Strange New Dance
  7. Westwood Sex Club
  8. The Daily Riot
  9. Let Me Know
10. Where Worlds Collide


All songs can be downloaded via my Bandcamp site at the following:
https://mauricemattei.bandcamp.com/album/western-skies


© 2024 by Maurice Mattei. All rights reserved.