VENICE (The Beach)
A Musical Tragi-Comedy
by G. F. Mlely
| Venice
is about homelessness and opposition to its presence, resulting in an
unintended tragedy. Yet, there is hope in that people can change
for the better. The play opens during darkness before dawn. We hear a homeless group, in silhouette - we can’t make out who they are - singing aggressively, “The homeless are a bunch of drunks, they say; mentally disturbed castaways..,” in a sardonic parody of their situation. “Unable or unwilling, it’s all the same, you’re guilty if broke in the U.S.A., and you should be so ashamed. Opportunity’s been proclaimed...” The song is rendered several times throughout the play, each time with an altered lyric commenting on a different scene. This initial rendition segues into another, much more plaintive, song by another silhouetted figure standing apart. We are still unclear as to who he might be as he sings “Is there truth, a single truth that lasts forever...” until he (Gable, bi-polar actor) and the group are revealed by the rising sun to be homeless. We are in Venice, California, circa 1990, where the homeless find conflict and support, laughs and grief. What happens when you outlaw homelessness? Where do you go once you've reached the “edge of a vast crevasse by... the edge of a sea”? Even though "the cops and robbers will be by any day," two can still find love, if only briefly. There is Bard, a songwriter with some small success, affording only to live in a housetrailer that he moves from neighborhood to neighborhood; Reb, blue collar homeless always calling for action; Lovely Cassie, tarot-card reader, not homeless, Gable’s significant other; the popular and philosophical Philo, voluntarily homeless with spiritual responses to life’s quandaries; Rhea, “mother” to a doll she carries about as her infant; Verna, owner of the upscale Shangri-La restaurant, who, divided in her feelings for the homeless, protests their gathering by her business. Local property and business owners protest loudly against the presence of the homeless. Despite the imminent breakup between Gable and Cassie, caused by her inability to accept his homelessness, and a false arrest of the group of homeless including one almost homeless, leading to Philo's murder, the homeless can still sing a song in jail called "Hope." And after all that, who wouldn't want to join in singing "Stay Out Of Hell!" |
Characters
Songs
| FIRST
READING At Rosalie & Alva's Performance Gallery in San Pedro, CA |
Rehearsing
the music [l - r] G. F. Mlely (author-composer), LizBeth Lucca (Shrangri-La Owner), Bruce Rise (Gable), Kerr Lordygan (Reb), Wren Taylor (Cassie), Jennifer G. Smith (various characters), Jason C. Decker (Philo), Kathy Bell Denton (Rhea), Stephen Coates (Otus). The Reading  (far left at table) Yvis Cannvale (Momus) and previously id'd participants Dramaturge and actors  (l - r) Wren Taylor (Cassie), LizBeth Lucca (Shangri-La Owner), Stephen Coates (Otus), Cindy Marie (Fulchino) Jenkins (Dramaturge/Bookshop Theatre Group) Working it out Cassie (LizBeth Lucca) sings "What Are You Doing Here?" NOT SHOWN Weston Blakesly (Bard), Sudro Brown II (various characters), Bradley Spann (Wayne). |
Order of Songs
| CHARACTERS & PLAYERS (of any ethnicity) |
THE BAND
Minimum 3 jazz musicians, piano, bass, percussion.
CHORUS
Various players
THE HOMELESS:
GABLE (Male 35, major role, featured soloist) good-looking unemployed actor, bi-polar. RANGE: midBb-hiF.
PHILO (Male 40, major role, minor ensemble singing) the "Philosopher" with spiritual answers to life. RANGE: midD-octD.
REB (Male 40, major role, supporting soloist) unemployed blue-collar, contentious, with earthly answers to life. RANGE: midC-octC.
MOMUS (Male 40, supporting role, minor ensemble singing) unemployed blue-collar, ever with the wise crack.
RHEA (Female 25, supporting role, soloist) loving "mother" of prop infant she sees and treats as real. RANGE: lowA-octC#
OTUS (Male 30, supporting role, soloist) none-too bright, Rhea's attentively loving companion. RANGE: lowA-octBb.
CHRIS (Male, young-ish, supporting role, minor ensemble singing) bible-bearing Christian. RANGE: midD-octD.
BOY or GIRL 10.
•
NOT HOMELESS
CASSIE (Female 25-35, major role, featured soloist) good-looking tarot card-reader, striking dresser. RANGE: lowBb-hiC.
BARD (Male 25-35, major role, featured soloist) striving composer-lyricist, occasionally employed to some small success. RANGE: midB-hiEb.
SHANGRI-LA OWNER (Female, indeterminate age, major role, featured soloist) touch absurd in manner of protest, against her grain of sympathy towards the homeless. RANGE midBb-hiF.
SAX PLAYER (Male, indeterminate age, supporting role) street jazz musician, mainstream player, sometimes joins The Band.
WAYNE (Male 30, supporting role) violent gangster leader, martial art expert.
NAMELESS DOUBLED ROLES:
Shangri-La Patrons
Citizen Passerby
Male Thieves (2)
Cops (2)
Jailers (2)
Yuppie Couples (4)
Citizens (5)
Homeless Drunk
Homeless Older Man
Jail Types (2)
Wayne’s gangsters (2)
Homeless Extras
| WARNING Most any interface except Internet Explorer will play the mp3s These demos are in the order of the songs as they would be presented in the play. |
ACT 1
Scene 1
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (1st A) Chorus [sung by Kerr Lordygan & Greg Franklin & Sissy Wooden & Kate Palmer]
• IS THERE TRUTH? Gable (confronting life's occurring issue) [sung by Bruce Rise]
• ASCAP REGRETS Bard (a songwriter sings the quandary of his life) [sung by Anon]
COME GET YOUR READING HERE Cassie (Tarot reader hawks her wares) [sung by Wren Taylor]
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (2nd A) Chorus [sung by Sissy Wooden & Greg Franklin & Kerr Lordygan & Michael Laurino & Kate Palmer & Anon]
• RHEA’S SONG Rhea, Otus, Chorus [sung by Sheri Cyrkin & Greg Franklin & Anon]
• WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? Shangri-La Owner, Chorus [sung by Kate Palmer]
Scene 2
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (1st B) Chorus [sung by Greg Franklin & Kerr Lordygan & Michael Laurino]
• LA LA SAMBA CALIFORNIA Gable, Philo, Cassie, Chris, Chorus (Gable gets Cassie to sing and dance with him) [sung by Bruce Rise & Wren Taylor]
Scene 3
• FIND MYSELF Gable (an unemployed bi-polar actor sings of his quandary) [sung by Bruce Rise]
• BY THE EDGE OF A SEA Gable, Cassie, Chorus (lovers merge with the environment) [sung by Wren Taylor & Bruce Rise]
Scene 4
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (3rd A) Chorus [sung by Michael Laurino & Kerr Lordygan & Greg Franklin & Sissy Wooden & Kate Palmer & Anon]
Scene 5
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (4th A) Reb, Momus, Gable, Rhea, Chorus [sung by Sissy Wooden & Michael Laurino & Kate Palmer & Kerr Lordygan & Greg Franklin & Anon]
• THE CARDS HAVE FALLEN Cassie, Reb, Chorus [sung by Kate Palmer & Patrick Leveque]
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (2nd B) Momus, Otus, Rhea, Reb [sung by Greg Franklin & Michael Laurino & Kerr Lordygan]
Scene 1
• IS THERE TRUTH? Gable [sung by Bruce Rise]
ACT 2
Scene 1
• WEIRD, YOU SAID Gable, Chorus (Cassie walks) [sung by Bruce Rise]
• IN THE LAND OF FAT CHANCE (5th A) Reb, Momus, Gable, Otus, Rhea [sung by Kate Palmer & Michael Laurino & Greg Franklin & Sissy Wooden & Kerr Lordygan]
Scene 2
• HOPE Gable, Reb, Philo, Momus, Chris, Chorus [sung by Patrick Leveque & Greg Franklin & Anon]
Scene 3
• MAN ALONE IS NOT ALONE Cassie, Gable, Ensemble [sung by Kate Palmer & Bruce Rise]
• STAY OUT OF HELL, IF YOU CAN (Finale) Ensemble [sung by Greg Franklin & Kate Palmer & Kerr Lordygan & Sissy Wooden & Michael Laurino & Anon]