Black Swan
A stage musical adaptation of Black Swan, with choreography by Sonya Tayeh, music and lyrics by Dave Malloy, and a book by Jen Silverman.
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A stage musical adaptation of Black Swan, with choreography by Sonya Tayeh, music and lyrics by Dave Malloy, and a book by Jen Silverman.
The story is told by four storytellers who portray multiple characters. It spans seven centuries and does not take place in any chronological order. The musical begins with the storytellers introducing themselves ("I Don't Know"). A Photographer enters a camera shop to buy a new camera, having broken her old one. The Camera Shop Owner shows her a fiddle that belonged to her great-grandmother, Rose, that was made from the breastbone of Rose's sister, Pearl, and tells the story of the two sisters. Rose falls in love with an Astronomer and writes him poetry about the stars. The Astronomer, the editor of a prestigious astronomy journal, steals her work and publishes it under his own name before leaving her for Pearl. Furious, Rose asks a Bear to maul the astronomer and turn Pearl into a crow. In return, the Bear asks for one pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost. It is revealed that Rose performed the baptism in the sea on a baby she abducted from a teenage mother ("The Camera Shop"). Starchild, the baby that Rose abducted and baptized, reflects on being blessed by a stranger and the impact it had on her life ("Starchild"). On a subway station, a Victim is pushed onto the tracks ("Subway"). In 1873, the Usher family is at the side of their teenage daughter, Roxie. Roxie's child, Starchild, has been stolen from her. As a result, Roxie has fallen deathly ill ("Usher, Part 1"). A Soldier reflects on her yearning for death. Rose arrives and seduces the Soldier to take her honey. The Soldier promises not to haunt Rose when she becomes a ghost ("Soldier & Rose"). The four storytellers sing about ghosts ("Any Kind of Dead Person"). The Astronomer introduces his character ("The Astronomer"). In the House of Usher, Edgar Usher, Roxie's father, calls a meeting to discuss Roxie's imaginary friend, the revived memory of Roxie's sister who died as a baby. Roxie's parents urge her to forget about her imaginary friend, but Roxie refuses and screams at them ("Family Meeting"). The four storytellers sing a song that personifies four types of whiskey ("Four Friends"). Edgar Usher encourages his son, the Fool, to leave home. The Fool makes plans to do so and leaves, leading his own life in the world ("Fathers & Sons"). In the House of Usher, Roxie cries out for her lost daughter, but is told by her family that she is gone. As a result, Roxie dies. Lady Usher vows to lock the corpse in a vault underneath the bedroom for a fortnight ("Usher, Part 2"). In the Astronomer's treehouse, Rose recites poetry about the stars and the Astronomer writes down her words. Later, the Astronomer and Pearl profess their love for one another ("The Telescope"). Rose searches for Scheherazade, an ancient storyteller. Rose asks for a piece of stardust and Scheherazade gives it to her, telling Rose the story of her life ("Tango Dancer"). Long ago, when Dunyazad, the sister of Scheherazade, was still alive, Scheherazade tells the story of David, the piano player and the ghost of Thelonious Monk living behind a hidden door. It is revealed that Dunyazad remembers nothing but her sister ("Monk"). In the House of Usher, a young Roxie asks her mother to read her Arabian Nights ("Lights Out"). It is revealed that the Photographer lost her camera after taking a photo of the Victim in the subway instead of saving her, leading her to throw her camera on the ground in disgust ("The Photograph"). Scheherazade finishes a story and proceeds to talk with her husband, Shah Zaman. Rose discovers the relationship between the Astronomer and Pearl and vows to take revenge. Later, Rose brings the Bear one pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost. The Bear reveals that he never intended to kill the Astronomer and turn Pearl into a crow and tells Rose to take revenge herself ("Bad Men"). In the House of Usher, Lady Usher has gone mad following Roxie's burial. Edgar Usher reads her the story of the subway station to calm her. While he reads, they start to hear noises coming from Roxie's burial vault. Before Edgar can finish the story, Roxie breaks out of the vault, having been accidentally buried alive. She attacks and kills Lady Usher. On the subway station, the Victim, now revealed to be Pearl, is distracted and is pushed onto the tracks. The Photographer, now revealed to be Rose, has to make a decision whether she should save the Victim or take a photo of the ghost to give to the Bear. Rose chooses to take the photo and the Victim is killed ("Usher, Part 3"). The four storytellers vow to forgive themselves for their mistakes ("Prayer"). Rose laments about her mistakes and understands that she is not a hero ("Hero"). Rose and the Camera Shop Owner talk. The Camera Shop Owner reveals that she is the reincarnation of Pearl, the Soldier, and Lady Usher and reveals to Rose who she is the reincarnation of. Rose leaves the camera shop with the phone number of the Subway Driver written on her arm. Rose and the Subway Driver dance and have two daughters together ("Midnight"). The four storytellers tell the story of how Rose took revenge on Pearl and how Pearl's breastbone was turned into a fiddle ("The Wind & Rain").
The musical starts in 1812, Moscow, Russia, by introducing the characters ("Prologue"). The audience is then introduced to Pierre Bezukhov, a depressed, unhappily married man who feels he is wasting his life ("Pierre"). He is a good friend of Andrey Bolkonsky, who is away fighting in the war. Andrey has recently become engaged to Natasha Rostova. Natasha and her cousin, Sonya Rostova, arrive in Moscow to visit Natasha's godmother, Marya Dmitrievna, and wait for Andrey to come home ("Moscow"). Natasha is to meet her future in-laws, Andrey's sister, the lonely Mary Bolkonskaya, and his father, the old Prince Bolkonsky, who are trapped in a hateful co-existence ("The Private and Intimate Life of the House"). However, their meeting ends in disaster, as Natasha finds Mary cold and Mary finds Natasha vain, with Bolkonsky behaving bizarrely and dismissing Natasha ("Natasha And Bolkonskys"). Natasha leaves, missing Andrey more than ever, and recalls the time they first met ("No One Else"). The next night, Natasha watches an opera with Sonya and Marya. Natasha catches the eye of Pierre's brother-in-law Anatole Kuragin, a notorious rogue and womaniser ("The Opera"). Anatole visits Natasha in her box to flirt and leaves her with feelings she has never experienced before ("Natasha And Anatole"). Anatole arrives home after the opera and goes out drinking with his friend, Fedya Dolokhov, and Pierre. They are met by Hélène Bezukhova, the unfaithfully promiscuous wife of Pierre and shamelessly suggestive sister of Anatole. Anatole lusts for Natasha, although it is revealed he is already married. Hélène flirts with Dolokhov, who taunts Pierre by raising a toast to "married women and their lovers". A drunk Pierre finds Dolokhov's behaviour insulting and challenges him to a duel. Pierre accidentally wounds Dolokhov, and Dolokhov, despite being a renowned crack shot, miraculously misses him. Before they all leave, Anatole asks Hélène to invite Natasha to a ball that evening, and she agrees ("The Duel"). They leave Pierre, who reflects on his near-death experience and realizes that despite wasting his life, he wishes to live and find love ("Dust And Ashes"). The next morning, as Natasha prepares for church, she is confused about her feelings for Anatole at the opera and questions whether they mean she has betrayed Andrey, fearing that something may prevent them from being together ("Sunday Morning"). Later that day, Hélène visits Natasha and invites her to the ball, praising her beauty, and Natasha agrees to attend. Hélène privately revels in the scandalous idea of her brother and Natasha getting together ("Charming"). That night at the ball, Natasha is met by Anatole, and they dance. Anatole professes his love to Natasha, who tries to tell him that she is already engaged. Ignoring this, Anatole kisses Natasha, leading her to fall in love with him in return ("The Ball"). After his duel with Dolokhov, Pierre begins studying to search for enlightenment. Natasha is further torn between her feelings for both Andrey and Anatole ("Letters"). Sonya discovers letters between Natasha and Anatole, learning of their relationship. She confronts Natasha and desperately explains her distrust of Anatole, but Natasha bursts out in anger at her and leaves. Natasha writes to Mary and breaks off her engagement with Andrey ("Sonya And Natasha"). Alone, Sonya reflects on her love for her cousin and her determination to save her, even if it means losing her closest friend ("Sonya Alone"). That evening, Anatole and Dolokhov prepare for the former's elopement with Natasha. Dolokhov attempts to change Anatole's mind, but is unsuccessful ("Preparations"). Balaga, their troika driver, arrives to take them to Natasha's house, where they will retrieve her before departing ("Balaga"). However, when they arrive at Natasha's house, their plan is thwarted at the last moment by Marya, who has discovered the plot ("The Abduction"). Marya scolds Natasha, who then reveals to Marya and Sonya that she broke off her engagement with Andrey and reaffirms her love for Anatole, whom she still believes is unmarried. Natasha screams at Marya and Sonya, bursting into tears as she waits all night for Anatole ("In My House"). Marya calls on Pierre in the middle of the night and explains the situation to him, begging him to handle the crisis. Pierre tells Marya that Anatole is already married ("A Call to Pierre"). Pierre, outraged, searches Moscow for Anatole while Marya and Sonya tell a grief-stricken Natasha that Anatole is already married. Pierre eventually finds Anatole at Hélène's house ("Find Anatole"). Pierre, close to violence, orders Anatole to leave Moscow and burn all his correspondence with Natasha. A terrified Anatole agrees, but manages to squeeze travelling money out of Pierre in the process ("Pierre And Anatole"). Natasha attempts to take her own life by poisoning herself with arsenic, but lives ("Natasha Very Ill"). The next day, Andrey returns home from the war and is disoriented about the refusal of marriage he received from Natasha, which he asks Pierre about. Pierre explains the scandal to him and pleads with him to be compassionate, but Andrey is unable to forgive Natasha and cold-heartedly tells Pierre that he will not ask for her hand in marriage again ("Pierre And Andrey"). Pierre visits a shattered Natasha, meeting her for the first time, and comforts her. During their conversation, he expresses that if he were the best man on Earth and were free, he would gladly marry her, giving her hope ("Pierre And Natasha"). After their meeting, Pierre experiences a moment of enlightenment as he watches the Great Comet of 1812 soar across the night sky ("The Great Comet Of 1812").
In a "drab church basement on a rainy night", a group of eight meet as part of an internet addiction support group ("The Forest"). Paula, the group leader, apologizes for the absence of the founder, "Saul", and lays out the agenda for the meeting: the members will share their personal experiences in song, interspersed with a few hymns and group rituals. Jessica shares first, explaining she was cancelled after a public meltdown, and mourns her loss of privacy ("Refresh"). Henry shares his addiction to tile-matching video games focused on candy, expressing fear that the amount of time he wastes reflects a total lack of care for his own well-being ("Candy"). Another member, Karly, reminds the group they agree to avoid explicitly naming particular websites, apps, or platforms that are part of "The Monster" (the term the group uses to refer to the internet). Paula shares her own issue, describing how mindlessly scrolling on their phones comes between any intimacy for her and her husband in bed ("Glow"). The group then gathers for "Fugue State", where they stay quiet for a minute before sharing any thoughts that come up: during this, the group describe various internet activities such as sharing funny jokes or videos, expressing outrage over current events, vapid shows of solidarity on social media, playing 2048, and engaging in arguments ("Fugue State"). During a coffee break, Henry compliments Velma, the newest member, on her singing and the two discuss their relationship with technology: Velma recently went offline but still texts a friend she met online. She diagnoses Henry as having a "Recreational" addiction to his candy game, listing out the different addictions people have: "Recreational, Financial, Social, Sexual, and Informational", and that all of the group's issues fall into these categories. The two then discuss with the group how they were recruited by the elusive Saul, who not only lacks any kind of internet presence but only Paula and Marvin have met in real life. Velma expresses some fear that the group is a front for a cult, and launches into a rant about the tarot community, which she joined to escape a toxic niche community of which she was a previous member only to find just as much discourse, bemoaning that all she really wants is something pure and good. After the break, Paula leads the group in another hymn describing how the "monster" occupies the peace of their "Forest" ("Monster"). Karly and Ed share next, where the both of them find their sexual and romantic life is affected by their relationship to technology: Karly finds herself on a mindless string of dating app matches and dates with horrible men, yet fears lashing out or rejecting them could lead to violence; meanwhile Ed feels the pull of the incel community as a solution to his loneliness. The two agree that pornography has played a role in both of their issues, due to its ease of access and potentially catastrophic affect on brain chemistry ("Solo"). Toby suggests the problem goes much deeper, describing how easy access to violent content such as beheading videos and hate groups will affect the next generation, and that the internet is a tool to keep everyone distracted while those in power take from them. Conversely, he reaches the conclusion it is futile to try to fight against it, giving into nihilism ("Actually"). Marvin is the last to go. He elects to refrain from singing and instead describes a bizarre encounter with an entity claiming to be God who challenged him and his research team to prove its existence: the team instead had a complete existential crisis as they discovered every seeming miracle the entity performed could be brushed off through hypotheses and theories, leaving Marvin to realize his commitment to rationalism and skepticism also means he can explain away any sense of love, responsibility, or morals ("Little God"). Velma suggests he is "The Hanged Man" in a tarot deck, offering that he needed to go through this trial in order to get to "the really good stuff". Lastly, Paula leads the group in the Tower Tea Ceremony, where they end the session by ingesting "a powerful group psychedelic that induces a 5-minute coma, in which your consciousness is transported back to its original, pure, pre-technological limbic state" ("Tower Tea Ceremony"). All participate except Velma, who elects not to drink her tea and instead shares her own story in the silence: that through her participation in the "lonely ugly chaos of the internet"—the only time the word is used instead of "monster"—she was able to meet a girl just like her, making her realize she was not alone ("Beautiful"). Paula then leads the group in a final, hopeful hymn ("The Field").
Preludes is a musical fantasia set in the mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff, written and composed by Dave Malloy. The music is a combination of compositions by Rachmaninoff, Malloy, hybrids of the two, as well as music and lyrics from other related compositions.
Three Houses is a chamber musical with music, lyrics, book, and orchestrations by Dave Malloy, and direction and choreography by Annie Tippe.
A stage musical adaptation of Black Swan, with choreography by Sonya Tayeh, music and lyrics by Dave Malloy, and a book by Jen Silverman.
The story is told by four storytellers who portray multiple characters. It spans seven centuries and does not take place in any chronological order. The musical begins with the storytellers introducing themselves ("I Don't Know"). A Photographer enters a camera shop to buy a new camera, having broken her old one. The Camera Shop Owner shows her a fiddle that belonged to her great-grandmother, Rose, that was made from the breastbone of Rose's sister, Pearl, and tells the story of the two sisters. Rose falls in love with an Astronomer and writes him poetry about the stars. The Astronomer, the editor of a prestigious astronomy journal, steals her work and publishes it under his own name before leaving her for Pearl. Furious, Rose asks a Bear to maul the astronomer and turn Pearl into a crow. In return, the Bear asks for one pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost. It is revealed that Rose performed the baptism in the sea on a baby she abducted from a teenage mother ("The Camera Shop"). Starchild, the baby that Rose abducted and baptized, reflects on being blessed by a stranger and the impact it had on her life ("Starchild"). On a subway station, a Victim is pushed onto the tracks ("Subway"). In 1873, the Usher family is at the side of their teenage daughter, Roxie. Roxie's child, Starchild, has been stolen from her. As a result, Roxie has fallen deathly ill ("Usher, Part 1"). A Soldier reflects on her yearning for death. Rose arrives and seduces the Soldier to take her honey. The Soldier promises not to haunt Rose when she becomes a ghost ("Soldier & Rose"). The four storytellers sing about ghosts ("Any Kind of Dead Person"). The Astronomer introduces his character ("The Astronomer"). In the House of Usher, Edgar Usher, Roxie's father, calls a meeting to discuss Roxie's imaginary friend, the revived memory of Roxie's sister who died as a baby. Roxie's parents urge her to forget about her imaginary friend, but Roxie refuses and screams at them ("Family Meeting"). The four storytellers sing a song that personifies four types of whiskey ("Four Friends"). Edgar Usher encourages his son, the Fool, to leave home. The Fool makes plans to do so and leaves, leading his own life in the world ("Fathers & Sons"). In the House of Usher, Roxie cries out for her lost daughter, but is told by her family that she is gone. As a result, Roxie dies. Lady Usher vows to lock the corpse in a vault underneath the bedroom for a fortnight ("Usher, Part 2"). In the Astronomer's treehouse, Rose recites poetry about the stars and the Astronomer writes down her words. Later, the Astronomer and Pearl profess their love for one another ("The Telescope"). Rose searches for Scheherazade, an ancient storyteller. Rose asks for a piece of stardust and Scheherazade gives it to her, telling Rose the story of her life ("Tango Dancer"). Long ago, when Dunyazad, the sister of Scheherazade, was still alive, Scheherazade tells the story of David, the piano player and the ghost of Thelonious Monk living behind a hidden door. It is revealed that Dunyazad remembers nothing but her sister ("Monk"). In the House of Usher, a young Roxie asks her mother to read her Arabian Nights ("Lights Out"). It is revealed that the Photographer lost her camera after taking a photo of the Victim in the subway instead of saving her, leading her to throw her camera on the ground in disgust ("The Photograph"). Scheherazade finishes a story and proceeds to talk with her husband, Shah Zaman. Rose discovers the relationship between the Astronomer and Pearl and vows to take revenge. Later, Rose brings the Bear one pot of honey, one piece of stardust, one secret baptism, and a photo of a ghost. The Bear reveals that he never intended to kill the Astronomer and turn Pearl into a crow and tells Rose to take revenge herself ("Bad Men"). In the House of Usher, Lady Usher has gone mad following Roxie's burial. Edgar Usher reads her the story of the subway station to calm her. While he reads, they start to hear noises coming from Roxie's burial vault. Before Edgar can finish the story, Roxie breaks out of the vault, having been accidentally buried alive. She attacks and kills Lady Usher. On the subway station, the Victim, now revealed to be Pearl, is distracted and is pushed onto the tracks. The Photographer, now revealed to be Rose, has to make a decision whether she should save the Victim or take a photo of the ghost to give to the Bear. Rose chooses to take the photo and the Victim is killed ("Usher, Part 3"). The four storytellers vow to forgive themselves for their mistakes ("Prayer"). Rose laments about her mistakes and understands that she is not a hero ("Hero"). Rose and the Camera Shop Owner talk. The Camera Shop Owner reveals that she is the reincarnation of Pearl, the Soldier, and Lady Usher and reveals to Rose who she is the reincarnation of. Rose leaves the camera shop with the phone number of the Subway Driver written on her arm. Rose and the Subway Driver dance and have two daughters together ("Midnight"). The four storytellers tell the story of how Rose took revenge on Pearl and how Pearl's breastbone was turned into a fiddle ("The Wind & Rain").
The musical starts in 1812, Moscow, Russia, by introducing the characters ("Prologue"). The audience is then introduced to Pierre Bezukhov, a depressed, unhappily married man who feels he is wasting his life ("Pierre"). He is a good friend of Andrey Bolkonsky, who is away fighting in the war. Andrey has recently become engaged to Natasha Rostova. Natasha and her cousin, Sonya Rostova, arrive in Moscow to visit Natasha's godmother, Marya Dmitrievna, and wait for Andrey to come home ("Moscow"). Natasha is to meet her future in-laws, Andrey's sister, the lonely Mary Bolkonskaya, and his father, the old Prince Bolkonsky, who are trapped in a hateful co-existence ("The Private and Intimate Life of the House"). However, their meeting ends in disaster, as Natasha finds Mary cold and Mary finds Natasha vain, with Bolkonsky behaving bizarrely and dismissing Natasha ("Natasha And Bolkonskys"). Natasha leaves, missing Andrey more than ever, and recalls the time they first met ("No One Else"). The next night, Natasha watches an opera with Sonya and Marya. Natasha catches the eye of Pierre's brother-in-law Anatole Kuragin, a notorious rogue and womaniser ("The Opera"). Anatole visits Natasha in her box to flirt and leaves her with feelings she has never experienced before ("Natasha And Anatole"). Anatole arrives home after the opera and goes out drinking with his friend, Fedya Dolokhov, and Pierre. They are met by Hélène Bezukhova, the unfaithfully promiscuous wife of Pierre and shamelessly suggestive sister of Anatole. Anatole lusts for Natasha, although it is revealed he is already married. Hélène flirts with Dolokhov, who taunts Pierre by raising a toast to "married women and their lovers". A drunk Pierre finds Dolokhov's behaviour insulting and challenges him to a duel. Pierre accidentally wounds Dolokhov, and Dolokhov, despite being a renowned crack shot, miraculously misses him. Before they all leave, Anatole asks Hélène to invite Natasha to a ball that evening, and she agrees ("The Duel"). They leave Pierre, who reflects on his near-death experience and realizes that despite wasting his life, he wishes to live and find love ("Dust And Ashes"). The next morning, as Natasha prepares for church, she is confused about her feelings for Anatole at the opera and questions whether they mean she has betrayed Andrey, fearing that something may prevent them from being together ("Sunday Morning"). Later that day, Hélène visits Natasha and invites her to the ball, praising her beauty, and Natasha agrees to attend. Hélène privately revels in the scandalous idea of her brother and Natasha getting together ("Charming"). That night at the ball, Natasha is met by Anatole, and they dance. Anatole professes his love to Natasha, who tries to tell him that she is already engaged. Ignoring this, Anatole kisses Natasha, leading her to fall in love with him in return ("The Ball"). After his duel with Dolokhov, Pierre begins studying to search for enlightenment. Natasha is further torn between her feelings for both Andrey and Anatole ("Letters"). Sonya discovers letters between Natasha and Anatole, learning of their relationship. She confronts Natasha and desperately explains her distrust of Anatole, but Natasha bursts out in anger at her and leaves. Natasha writes to Mary and breaks off her engagement with Andrey ("Sonya And Natasha"). Alone, Sonya reflects on her love for her cousin and her determination to save her, even if it means losing her closest friend ("Sonya Alone"). That evening, Anatole and Dolokhov prepare for the former's elopement with Natasha. Dolokhov attempts to change Anatole's mind, but is unsuccessful ("Preparations"). Balaga, their troika driver, arrives to take them to Natasha's house, where they will retrieve her before departing ("Balaga"). However, when they arrive at Natasha's house, their plan is thwarted at the last moment by Marya, who has discovered the plot ("The Abduction"). Marya scolds Natasha, who then reveals to Marya and Sonya that she broke off her engagement with Andrey and reaffirms her love for Anatole, whom she still believes is unmarried. Natasha screams at Marya and Sonya, bursting into tears as she waits all night for Anatole ("In My House"). Marya calls on Pierre in the middle of the night and explains the situation to him, begging him to handle the crisis. Pierre tells Marya that Anatole is already married ("A Call to Pierre"). Pierre, outraged, searches Moscow for Anatole while Marya and Sonya tell a grief-stricken Natasha that Anatole is already married. Pierre eventually finds Anatole at Hélène's house ("Find Anatole"). Pierre, close to violence, orders Anatole to leave Moscow and burn all his correspondence with Natasha. A terrified Anatole agrees, but manages to squeeze travelling money out of Pierre in the process ("Pierre And Anatole"). Natasha attempts to take her own life by poisoning herself with arsenic, but lives ("Natasha Very Ill"). The next day, Andrey returns home from the war and is disoriented about the refusal of marriage he received from Natasha, which he asks Pierre about. Pierre explains the scandal to him and pleads with him to be compassionate, but Andrey is unable to forgive Natasha and cold-heartedly tells Pierre that he will not ask for her hand in marriage again ("Pierre And Andrey"). Pierre visits a shattered Natasha, meeting her for the first time, and comforts her. During their conversation, he expresses that if he were the best man on Earth and were free, he would gladly marry her, giving her hope ("Pierre And Natasha"). After their meeting, Pierre experiences a moment of enlightenment as he watches the Great Comet of 1812 soar across the night sky ("The Great Comet Of 1812").
In a "drab church basement on a rainy night", a group of eight meet as part of an internet addiction support group ("The Forest"). Paula, the group leader, apologizes for the absence of the founder, "Saul", and lays out the agenda for the meeting: the members will share their personal experiences in song, interspersed with a few hymns and group rituals. Jessica shares first, explaining she was cancelled after a public meltdown, and mourns her loss of privacy ("Refresh"). Henry shares his addiction to tile-matching video games focused on candy, expressing fear that the amount of time he wastes reflects a total lack of care for his own well-being ("Candy"). Another member, Karly, reminds the group they agree to avoid explicitly naming particular websites, apps, or platforms that are part of "The Monster" (the term the group uses to refer to the internet). Paula shares her own issue, describing how mindlessly scrolling on their phones comes between any intimacy for her and her husband in bed ("Glow"). The group then gathers for "Fugue State", where they stay quiet for a minute before sharing any thoughts that come up: during this, the group describe various internet activities such as sharing funny jokes or videos, expressing outrage over current events, vapid shows of solidarity on social media, playing 2048, and engaging in arguments ("Fugue State"). During a coffee break, Henry compliments Velma, the newest member, on her singing and the two discuss their relationship with technology: Velma recently went offline but still texts a friend she met online. She diagnoses Henry as having a "Recreational" addiction to his candy game, listing out the different addictions people have: "Recreational, Financial, Social, Sexual, and Informational", and that all of the group's issues fall into these categories. The two then discuss with the group how they were recruited by the elusive Saul, who not only lacks any kind of internet presence but only Paula and Marvin have met in real life. Velma expresses some fear that the group is a front for a cult, and launches into a rant about the tarot community, which she joined to escape a toxic niche community of which she was a previous member only to find just as much discourse, bemoaning that all she really wants is something pure and good. After the break, Paula leads the group in another hymn describing how the "monster" occupies the peace of their "Forest" ("Monster"). Karly and Ed share next, where the both of them find their sexual and romantic life is affected by their relationship to technology: Karly finds herself on a mindless string of dating app matches and dates with horrible men, yet fears lashing out or rejecting them could lead to violence; meanwhile Ed feels the pull of the incel community as a solution to his loneliness. The two agree that pornography has played a role in both of their issues, due to its ease of access and potentially catastrophic affect on brain chemistry ("Solo"). Toby suggests the problem goes much deeper, describing how easy access to violent content such as beheading videos and hate groups will affect the next generation, and that the internet is a tool to keep everyone distracted while those in power take from them. Conversely, he reaches the conclusion it is futile to try to fight against it, giving into nihilism ("Actually"). Marvin is the last to go. He elects to refrain from singing and instead describes a bizarre encounter with an entity claiming to be God who challenged him and his research team to prove its existence: the team instead had a complete existential crisis as they discovered every seeming miracle the entity performed could be brushed off through hypotheses and theories, leaving Marvin to realize his commitment to rationalism and skepticism also means he can explain away any sense of love, responsibility, or morals ("Little God"). Velma suggests he is "The Hanged Man" in a tarot deck, offering that he needed to go through this trial in order to get to "the really good stuff". Lastly, Paula leads the group in the Tower Tea Ceremony, where they end the session by ingesting "a powerful group psychedelic that induces a 5-minute coma, in which your consciousness is transported back to its original, pure, pre-technological limbic state" ("Tower Tea Ceremony"). All participate except Velma, who elects not to drink her tea and instead shares her own story in the silence: that through her participation in the "lonely ugly chaos of the internet"—the only time the word is used instead of "monster"—she was able to meet a girl just like her, making her realize she was not alone ("Beautiful"). Paula then leads the group in a final, hopeful hymn ("The Field").
Preludes is a musical fantasia set in the mind of Sergei Rachmaninoff, written and composed by Dave Malloy. The music is a combination of compositions by Rachmaninoff, Malloy, hybrids of the two, as well as music and lyrics from other related compositions.
Three Houses is a chamber musical with music, lyrics, book, and orchestrations by Dave Malloy, and direction and choreography by Annie Tippe.