Laurence O'Keefe · aftercurtain

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Bat Boy: The Musical

Music and Lyrics · Musical · 1997

In the fictional town of Hope Falls, West Virginia, three teenage spelunkers, Ron, Rick and Ruthie Taylor, discover the Bat Boy, a deformed humanoid creature. Bat Boy attacks Ruthie and is taken captive by Rick and Ron ("Hold Me Bat Boy"). Ruthie is taken to the hospital, and the Bat Boy is placed in the care of Sheriff Reynolds who brings him to the home of local veterinarian Dr. Parker. Meredith, Dr. Parker's wife, agrees to take him in ("Christian Charity"). Shelley, the Parkers' teenage daughter, is repulsed by the Bat Boy and infuriated by his constant screaming, but Meredith pities him and christens him with a new name: Edgar ("Ugly Boy"). Rick Taylor, Shelley's boyfriend, arrives and, infuriated by Edgar's presence, threatens to kill him with a knife ("Whatcha Wanna Do?"). This upsets Shelley, and Meredith makes Rick leave. Meredith attempts to comfort Edgar ("A Home For You"). Meanwhile, the Mayor of Hope Falls and the local ranchers are worried by their cattle which are dying inexplicably. The rumours of the discovery of a Bat Boy lead them to believe he must be preying on the cattle ("Another Dead Cow"). Dr. Parker returns home and is about to euthanize Edgar when Meredith intervenes. Meredith begs Dr. Parker not to kill Edgar, and he consents when she agrees to sleep with him. Dr. Parker celebrates what he sees as an upturn in his failing marriage and feeds Edgar animal blood ("Dance With Me Darling"). At the hospital, Ruthie is delirious from her injuries, but her mother promises the Sheriff will kill the Bat Boy or be fired ("Mrs. Taylor's Lullaby"). With the help of Meredith's patient teaching and Dr. Parker's secret feedings of blood, Edgar learns speech, etiquette and how to dress and obtains a high-school equivalency diploma ("Show You A Thing or Two"). The town council implore Dr. Parker to prevent the reviled Edgar from attending the upcoming revival meeting. Dr. Parker protests, insisting Edgar is not a threat to anyone, but is pressured into giving his word that Edgar will not attend the revival ("Christian Charity (Reprise)") Edgar begs the Parkers to let him go to the revival ("A Home For You (Reprise)"), and Meredith eventually relents. Incensed by Meredith undermining his word, Dr. Parker grabs her aggressively, and Edgar instinctively attacks him. Meredith runs to comfort Edgar over her husband, leaving Dr. Parker humiliated and furious. Dr. Parker begins to devise a way to destroy Edgar and save his marriage to Meredith; he taunts a hungry Edgar with a live rabbit, and Edgar struggles with his feral urges to kill. Just as it seems Edgar is overcoming his hunger, Dr. Parker draws blood from the rabbit and Edgar eats it. Dr. Parker gives Ruthie Taylor a lethal injection in her hospital room, intending to blame her death on Edgar ("Comfort and Joy"). At the revival meeting Reverend Hightower offers a faith healing ("A Joyful Noise"). Meredith, Shelley and Edgar arrive, and Edgar volunteers himself for the faith healing. The town are disgusted by his presence, but Edgar implores them to accept him ("Let Me Walk Among You"). The townsfolk are won over by Edgar's eloquence and civility and embrace him ("A Joyful Noise (Reprise)"). Dr. Parker arrives at the revival and reveals Ruthie has died, blaming her death on Edgar. The townsfolk are furious and once again turn on Edgar. In the ensuing struggle Edgar attacks Rick Taylor; under the pretense of tending to his wounds, Dr. Parker administers Rick with a lethal injection to serve as further proof that Edgar is dangerous. The townsfolk form a mob, led by Dr. Parker, and pursue Edgar into the woods. In the woods Shelley and Meredith look for Edgar. Together they decide that they will run away from Hope Falls and Dr. Parker. Shelley tells Meredith she is falling in love with Edgar, and Meredith's horrified response causes Shelley to run away deeper into the woods ("Three Bedroom House"). There she meets Edgar, and the two comfort each other and confess their love for each other. The Greek God of nature Pan arrives to preside over the union of Edgar and Shelley, with the help of the woodland creatures ("Children, Children"). Ron Taylor, determined to get revenge for his brother and sister, searches the slaughterhouse for Edgar. The mob mistake the noise coming from the slaughterhouse as a sign of Edgar's presence, and Mrs. Taylor sets fire to the slaughterhouse, inadvertently burning her remaining child to death. The Sheriff asks Dr. Parker to placate the mob but, instead, he whips them into a bloodthirsty frenzy, and the hunt for Edgar resumes ("More Blood/Kill The Bat Boy!"). Back in the woods Edgar is hungry for blood and begs Shelley to leave him for her own safety. Instead Shelley offers her arm to Edgar for him to feed on ("Inside Your Heart"). Just as he is about to bite, Meredith arrives and reveals she is Edgar's mother. Overcome with grief and shame, Edgar kills a cow and runs away to the cave where he was discovered. Incensed at Dr. Parker's betrayal and Meredith's deceit, Edgar pledges to kill the pair of them and embrace his inner beast ("Apology To A Cow"). The mob arrives at the cave as do Dr. Parker and Meredith. Together they reveal to the town that Edgar was the result of an experiment gone wrong; a young Parker accidentally spilled a prototype pheromone on Meredith which caused him to go mad and sexually violate her. As Meredith ran home in tears, the pheromone also attracted a colony of bats that violated her as well. Nine months later she gave birth to Shelley and Edgar. Repulsed by the deformed Edgar, Meredith asked Parker to kill him, but he could not and instead left him at the mouth of the cave where the bats adopted him. Edgar begs Dr. Parker to kill him, but he cannot; so Edgar reveals that he slept with Shelley. Furious and overcome with grief, Dr. Parker slits his own throat, causing Edgar to leap upon him and feed, whilst Dr. Parker stabs him in the back. Meredith tries to intervene but is stabbed as well, and the three fall to the ground, dead ("Finale: I Imagine You're Upset/I Am Not A Boy"). In the aftermath, Shelley and the townsfolk reflect on the tale and the lessons they have learned ("Hold Me Bat Boy (Reprise)").

Heathers

Book, Music and Lyrics · Musical · 2019

In 1989, seventeen-year-old Veronica Sawyer despairs at Westerberg High School's hellish social hierarchy, where students like the heavyset Martha Dunnstock, Veronica's best friend, are tormented by jocks Ram Sweeney and Kurt Kelly, and the school is ruled by a clique called "the Heathers"; weak-willed cheerleader Heather McNamara, bulimic and petty Heather Duke, and "mythic bitch" Heather Chandler. When Veronica's talent for forgery gets the Heathers out of detention, they give her a makeover and elevate her to their inner circle ("Beautiful"). Three weeks later, Chandler orders Veronica to forge a love letter from Ram to Martha, threatening to return her to being a nobody when she hesitates ("Candy Store"). The mysterious, poetry-quoting new kid, Jason "J.D." Dean, criticizes Veronica for betraying her friend. After J.D. wins a fight against Ram and Kurt, Veronica finds herself unexpectedly attracted to him ("Fight for Me"). Veronica's parents express their disapproval over her friendship with the Heathers, but Veronica insists on staying with them so she can survive high school ("Candy Store (Reprise)"). Veronica flirts with J.D. at a 7-Eleven, leading J.D. to open up about his struggles and explain how he intentionally gives himself brain freezes to numb his grief ("Freeze Your Brain"). At Ram's homecoming party, Veronica gets increasingly drunk ("Big Fun"). When the Heathers cruelly prank Martha, Veronica angrily resigns from the group and vomits on Chandler's shoes. Chandler then vows to destroy her reputation. With nothing left to live for, Veronica breaks into J.D.'s bedroom and has sex with him ("Dead Girl Walking"). After being tormented by Chandler in a nightmare, Veronica, with J.D. in tow, heads to her house to apologize. While mixing a hangover cure for her, J.D. adds toxic drain cleaner to a mug and tries to convince Veronica to serve it to Chandler instead. Veronica refuses, but accidentally grabs J.D.'s mug anyway, with him noticing this and only wishing Veronica "good luck." Chandler refuses to accept Veronica's apology and drinks the drain cleaner, only to drop dead. Veronica panics, but J.D. convinces her to forge a suicide note, which paints Chandler as more complex and misunderstood. This fictionalized version of her wins everyone's sympathy and she becomes even more revered in death than she was in life ("The Me Inside of Me"). McNamara summons Veronica to a cow pasture, where she and Duke are stranded with a drunk Kurt and Ram. Upon Veronica's arrival, Duke reveals Kurt and Ram would only leave them alone if they brought Veronica, and the Heathers abandon her. Kurt and Ram unsuccessfully try to rape Veronica, though she manages to embarrass them and escape ("You’re Welcome"). The next day, Chandler's ghost appears to Veronica, warning she kept Kurt, Ram, and the other Heathers in check, and that with her gone, things would only get worse. Duke assumes Chandler's status and symbolic red scrunchie, becoming even more of a tyrant than Chandler was, while Ram and Kurt tell everyone they had a threesome with Veronica ("Never Shut Up Again"). Veronica is branded as a slut, and when J.D. attacks the jocks to defend her, they savagely beat him. J.D. and Veronica comfort each other and plan a vengeful prank: she will lure the jocks to the cemetery with the promise of a real threesome, then together they will shoot them with ich lüge (German for I lie) tranquilizer bullets to knock them out. Then Veronica and J.D. will leave another forged suicide note confessing Ram and Kurt were gay lovers and humiliate them in front of the school. When they arrive, J.D. shoots Ram but Veronica misses Kurt. As Veronica realizes that Ram is dead and the bullets are actually real, J.D. shoots Kurt dead and proclaims his undying love to a horrified Veronica ("Our Love Is God"). At Ram and Kurt's double funeral, a distraught Veronica reflects that they could have outgrown their immaturity ("Prom or Hell?"). Grief-stricken, Ram's Dad chastises Kurt's Dad for remaining homophobic, until the latter suddenly kisses the former, revealing their own secret love affair. Ram and Kurt are turned into martyrs to homophobia ("My Dead Gay Son"). Convinced that the murders are for the greater good, J.D. urges Veronica to target Duke next. When she refuses, he complains about doing nothing in the face of injustice. J.D. reveals he witnessed his mother's own suicide as a young boy, straining his relationship with his father and causing their constant moving around. Veronica gives him an ultimatum: give up violence and live a normal life with her or lose her forever ("Seventeen"). J.D. agrees and they reconcile. Martha tells Veronica she suspects J.D. of murdering the jocks, believing Ram's "love note" to her is proof. Veronica, urged by Chandler's ghost, confesses that she was actually the one who wrote it. Martha is heartbroken and runs off in tears. Ms. Fleming, one of the teachers, holds a televised therapy assembly, where she publicly breaks up with Steve, cutting off their affair ("Shine a Light"). She urges everyone to reveal their fears and insecurities, but only McNamara comes forward; admitting to experiencing grief and suicidal thoughts after losing Kurt and Chandler ("Lifeboat"). Duke mocks her and whips the students into a frenzy, and McNamara runs off crying. Veronica lashes out and blurts out a confession to the murders, but everyone believes she is only desperate for attention. Shortly after, McNamara tries to kill herself by overdosing in the bathroom, while Duke taunts her in her subconscious ("Shine a Light (Reprise)"), but Veronica stops her. J.D., carrying a gun, tries to persuade Veronica to kill Duke once more. Realizing how unstable he is, Veronica breaks up with him ("I Say No"). Furious, J.D. blackmails Duke into making the student body sign a petition to support a school holiday to honor the "suicide victims". Martha, mourning Ram, tries to commit suicide by jumping off a bridge ("Kindergarten Boyfriend"), but survives. Distraught, Veronica rushes home, only to find that J.D. has told her parents she is suicidal. She hides herself in her room as she is taunted by the ghosts of Kurt, Ram, and Chandler, while J.D. breaks in through the window ("Yo Girl"). Veronica barricades herself in her closet as J.D. reveals the petition was actually a mass suicide note, and explains his plans to stage the pep rally as such—using his demolition expertise. He breaks open the closet to find Veronica dangling from a noose. Grief-stricken, J.D flees to the school to enact his plan ("Meant to Be Yours"). Veronica, having faked her death, races to stop him. While the school pep rally is going on, Veronica confronts J.D in the boiler room, but in their struggle, he is shot ("Dead Girl Walking (Reprise)"). Unable to disarm the detonator, Veronica carries it to the empty football field to detonate the bombs out of range of the school. J.D. convinces her to let him take the detonator instead; it explodes, killing him ("I Am Damaged"). Returning to school, Veronica takes Chandler's scrunchie away from Duke, ending the era of social ridicule. Veronica then invites Martha and McNamara to hang out, rent a movie, and "be kids" before childhood is over ("Seventeen (Reprise)").

Legally Blonde

Music and Lyrics · Musical · 2007

The members of UCLA's sorority Delta Nu congratulate their president, Elle Woods; Elle is expecting her boyfriend, Warner Huntington III, to propose marriage to her later that night. Led by Margot, Serena, and Pilar, the girls help Elle find the perfect dress for the occasion ("Omigod You Guys"). However, when Elle goes on her dinner date with Warner, he tells her that he needs to date someone more "serious" to boost his reputation and achieve his dream of becoming a Senator, and breaks up with her ("Serious"). He also tells her that his brother is at Yale Law along with his new wife, who is a Vanderbilt. Elle is devastated and stays in her room for twelve days ("Daughter of Delta Nu"), but decides to follow Warner to Harvard Law School to prove that she can be serious. With help from her Delta Nu sister Kate, Elle studies for the LSAT. Instead of writing a personal essay, Elle bursts into the Harvard admission offices backed up by a squad of cheerleaders and frat boys. She is accepted after revealing she is motivated by love ("What You Want"). At Harvard, Elle's highly-achieved classmates disapprove of her attire and personality, and the only person who is willing to help her is teaching assistant Emmett Forrest ("The Harvard Variations"). Following a suggestion from Elle's classmate, Vivienne Kensington, the conniving Professor Callahan kicks Elle out of his class because she did not read the case he assigned, and Emmett is unable to help her ("Blood in the Water"). Afterwards, Elle finds out that Vivienne is Warner's new girlfriend. This "tragedy" summons the apparitions of the sisters of Delta Nu who, acting as a Greek chorus visible and audible only to Elle, encourage her to stay positive ("Positive"). Elle, believing that being blonde is the problem, decides to become a brunette. At the nearby Hair Affair salon, Elle meets beautician and Hair Affair owner, Paulette Buonufonte. Paulette tells Elle that all bad hair decisions are motivated by love and reveals her dreams of meeting a handsome Irishman. Paulette encourages Elle not to give up or downplay her personal qualities ("Ireland"). At the salon, Vivienne, who is discussing a party planned for next Friday, unexpectedly gives Elle an invitation, telling her it is a costume party. Paulette gives Elle a costume for the party and more words of encouragement ("Ireland (Reprise)"). Walking into the party dressed as a Playboy Bunny, Elle soon realizes that she was tricked by Vivienne, as no one else is wearing a costume. Despite this, she still seeks out Warner in an effort to win him back, but he remains unimpressed, only caring about her looks ("Serious (Reprise)"). Elle runs from the party, only to meet Emmett, who struggles to understand Elle's romantic problems. Emmett helps Elle assess her priorities, and she realizes her obsession with Warner is preventing her from gaining his respect. Freed from her need to please Warner, she defeats him in a classroom debate ("Chip On My Shoulder"). Elle helps Paulette get custody of her dog back from her ex-boyfriend, using legal jargon and demonstrating that she is beginning to understand law ("Run Rufus Run / Elle Reflects"). Warner, Vivienne, and Enid win three of Callahan's four coveted internship positions. Warner proposes to Vivienne on the spot in front of Elle, and Vivienne accepts. Elle is devastated, but Emmett shows her the internship list, revealing Elle got an internship position as well. Elle realizes that she does not need a man to feel accepted in the world, and that all she needs is to believe in herself. Overjoyed, she celebrates, and eagerly anticipates the trial ("So Much Better"). Callahan, Elle, Emmett, Vivienne, Warner, and Enid watch a workout video made by fitness queen Brooke Wyndham and her fitness team, while Callahan tells the legal team that Brooke is accused of murdering her billionaire husband ("Whipped Into Shape"). At the jail, the legal team is unable to get Brooke to tell them her alibi and she refuses to plead guilty. Upon learning that they were both Delta Nu members ("Delta Nu Nu Nu"), Brooke then privately tells Elle her alibi; Brooke was getting liposuction, and she believes revealing the truth could ruin her reputation as a fitness guru. Brooke makes Elle promise not to tell anyone. Because of Elle's loyalty to her client and refusal to state the alibi, both Elle and, consequently, Emmett, are shunned by the group. To cheer Emmett up and to increase his chances of impressing Callahan, Elle gives him a makeover ("Take It Like a Man"). Back at the salon, Elle is getting a manicure when Kyle, a sexy UPS courier, walks into the salon to deliver a package to Paulette. Paulette is in awe of Kyle, but her low self-confidence prevents her from making a move. When he leaves, Pilar, Serena, and Margot are summoned by Paulette's amazing "Bend and Snap" when picking up the package. The sorority girls tell Paulette to use the "Bend and Snap" dance move on Kyle to turn him on, but when she does, she accidentally breaks his nose ("Bend and Snap"). At the trial, Brooke's pool boy Nikos claims to have been having an affair with Brooke, giving her a motive for murdering her husband. After doing the "Bend and Snap" in front of Nikos and getting no response, Elle suspects that Nikos is gay. With the exception of Brooke, Elle's teammates and Callahan are not convinced and debate whether his perceived flamboyance is because he is homosexual or because he is European. Emmett successfully makes Nikos slip and state that his boyfriend's name is Carlos, although Nikos claims that he misunderstood "boyfriend" for "best friend". Carlos, fed up with the closeted nature of his gay boyfriend, appears from the gallery and proclaims Nikos's homosexuality. Nikos confesses that he is indeed gay and European ("There! Right There!"). Later that night in Callahan's office, the interns celebrate Elle's skill. Callahan dismisses Emmett and the other interns but requests Elle to remain for a few moments. After telling Elle she has instincts, Callahan forcibly kisses her, leading her to slap him. Warner and Vivienne both see the kiss through the door, but only Vivienne sees the slap. Elle asks Callahan if he only gave her the internship because he wanted to seduce her. Callahan fires Elle. After Callahan leaves, Warner re-enters the office and mocks Elle for allegedly sleeping with Callahan, but Vivienne tells him to shut up and they both leave. Elle becomes distraught and prepares to go home, and tells Emmett what Callahan did. Emmett asks her to stay, but before he can admit his love for her, she leaves ("Legally Blonde"). Elle heads to the Hair Affair to say goodbye to Paulette, but before she can leave, Vivienne and Enid convince Elle otherwise. Elle discards her lawyerly navy suit, dons a pink dress and leads a parade back to the courtroom. Elle's parents, as well as Delta Nu, arrive, having come to visit her. They all meet Kyle on the way, who has taken a liking to Paulette, and reveals himself to be Irish, prompting everyone present to Irish dance. Back at the trial, Brooke fires Callahan and hires Elle ("Legally Blonde Remix"). Brooke's stepdaughter Chutney goes to the witness stand and her testimony is damning, stating after she got out of the shower she saw Brooke covered in her father's blood. After Chutney states she received a perm the day of the murder, Elle realizes a flaw in Chutney's alibi and suggests that the entire court should be moved to the scene of the crime—the bathroom where the murder took place ("Scene of the Crime"). As a demonstration, Elle asks Paulette to give Enid a perm and asks Enid to step into the shower upon entering the crime scene. Relying on her knowledge of hair maintenance, Elle's demonstration is successful as Enid walks out of the shower with completely flattened hair, revealing that Chutney could not have possibly showered immediately after getting a perm because her perm was still intact. Under Elle's intense questioning, Chutney confesses that she killed her father, thinking that she was killing Brooke. Chutney is arrested and Brooke is set free. Brooke accidentally admits she had liposuction, but doesn't lose any fans ("Omigod You Guys (Reprise)"). Warner proposes to Elle, having been dumped by Vivienne. Elle gently refuses, claiming to have been changed by the experience. Three years later, Elle ends up as the valedictorian of her class. Paulette tells the audience that Elle is not one to brag about her valedictorian status, so she decided to allow Paulette to play "Where Are They Now" during her speech. Paulette says that Enid practices family law, Vivienne is training for the Peace Corps, and Warner dropped out to pursue a modeling career. Callahan ran for governor but was defeated, and his wife hired Emmett to handle their divorce. Paulette married Kyle, had two kids and is pregnant with a third. They live in Worcester, Massachusetts (Later replaced with their third child being named Seamus), and Paulette bought a new salon ("Find My Way"). At the end of the graduation, Elle proposes to Emmett, who happily accepts ("Finale").

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