A New Brain
Lisa, a homeless woman, asks the audience for change. Songwriter Gordon Schwinn works at his piano to meet a deadline for a children's television show, hosted by Mr. Bungee, whom he resents ("Prologue: Frogs Have So Much Spring (The Spring Song)"). Gordon takes a break from writing The Spring Song to meet his best friend Rhoda at a restaurant, who encourages him to keep working on the song. The waitress at the restaurant overhears them talking, and tells the pair about her love for the Mr. Bungee T.V. show and the specials at the restaurant. ("Specials"). During lunch, Gordon falls unconscious unexpectedly. Rhoda calls him an ambulance ("911 Emergency"), and Gordon is taken to the hospital. Gordon's greatest fear is dying with his greatest songs still inside him ("I Have so Many Songs"), to which he ponders about what makes a song ("Heart and Music"). Gordon's mother, Mimi, tries to reassure Gordon and herself that everything will be alright ("Mother's Gonna Make Things Fine"). Shortly after, a neurosurgeon, Dr. Jafar Berensteiner, explains that an MRI is necessary to find out what is afflicting Gordon ("Trouble in His Brain"). Gordon snaps at Mimi for underestimating his condition and not listening to the Doctor, to which a hallucination of Mr. Bungee appears to lecture Gordon about being rude ("Be Polite to Everybody"). Gordon awaits his boyfriend, Roger Delli-Bovi, who sings a song about his love for sailing ("Sailing"). The nurses, Nancy D., "the thin nurse", and Richard, "the nice nurse" appear to request a family history from Gordon, to which he states that he has only inherited the worst traits of his parents ("Gordo's Law of Genetics"). Thinking of his parents, Gordon sings about his father's horse betting addiction and his parents' eventual divorce ("And They're Off"). Rhoda announces that Roger is finally back from his sailing trip ("Roger Arrives"), and Roger and Gordon spend time together, though Gordon tells him to leave due to his own weak condition ("Just Go"). Richard enters to give Gordon a sponge bath in preparation for his MRI ("MRI Tomorrow"). During the sponge bath, Richard complains about being unsuccessful, causing Gordon to hallucinate a Mr. Bungee, who berates him. ("Poor, Unsuccessful, and Fat"). Gordon is visited by a minister, who tries to impose his Protestant beliefs on Gordon, who is Jewish. Gordon asks him to leave, and goes to sleep. Gordon is woken by Nancy, who tells him that it's time for his MRI ("MRI Day"). To cope with his claustrophobia, he imagines that he is on a sailing trip with Roger ("Sitting Becalmed in the Lee of Cuttyhunk"). Dr. Berensteiner tells Gordon that he has an arteriovenous malformation, and that Gordon needs a craniotomy ("Craniotomy"). Nancy D. informs him of the risks - if he doesn't go through with the operation, he could die, however, if Dr. Berensteiner is not exact with his surgery, he could also die. Gordon, given the choice by the Doctor, decides to go through with the operation, and Roger offers to sleep with Gordon that night. Rhoda arrives with news that Mr. Bungee needs a new song by the next morning, so Gordon declines Roger's offer and decides to write instead, as it may be the last song he ever writes ("An Invitation to Sleep In My Arms"). He then hallucinates about Lisa, who he encountered earlier on his way to lunch with Rhoda. Lisa implores the audience for both social change and change in the form of money ("Change"). Gordon sends his new song, to Mr. Bungee, who hates it, storming off to have his son write the song ("Yes"). Gordon, dejected, argues with his mother, as she still insists to him that everything will be perfectly fine ("In the Middle of the Room"). Mimi cleans Gordon's apartment, and in a rage, throws out all of his books ("Throw It Out"). Gordon waits anxiously as his surgery is delayed ("In the Middle of the Room (Reprise)") before the operation starts. Roger, distraught about the surgery, encounters Lisa, who consoles him ("A Really Lousy Day in the Universe"). In a coma, Gordon hallucinates a surreal mini-opera featuring people from his life ("Brain Dead", "Whenever I Dream", "Eating Myself Up Alive", "The Music Still Plays On"), concluding with a friendly Mr. Bungee telling Gordon to wake up ("Don't Give In"), leading him back to consciousness. Dr. Berensteiner celebrates the successful surgery ("Craniotomy (Reprise)"). Gordon and Roger fool around in the hospital shower, with the permission of Richard ("You Boys Are Gonna Get Me In Such Trouble!"). Content, Gordon expresses his new appreciation for life ("Sailing (Reprise)"). Months later, Gordon has recovered and is enjoying a new, more fulfilled life with Roger. They run into Lisa, who is selling Gordon's books that Mimi threw out. Gordon and Roger ask for them back, but she refuses ("On the Street (The Homeless Lady's Revenge)"). She flees with the books, leaving Gordon upset, but Roger calms him, telling him that they're "just books" ("Time"). Gordon has apparently overcome his fear of dying with his greatest songs inside him ("Time and Music"). With his life at last in balance, he is able to write again and finishes the spring song ("I Feel so Much Spring").