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Revision as of 22:46, 24 January 2007

This is a musical I am writing; it is the text of the script so far. Please do not use any part of this in anything else. Thank you.

j o h n n y

Dramatic Personae: [In order of appearance]

St. Jimmy – A mobster with a conscience and an obsession with disco. He takes his own hits on his enemies instead of hiring hitmen. He enjoys killing, but begins to feel guilty about it. He loves disco dancing, disco clothing, disco music, and his Luger, which he has named Betty. He wears a white disco suit, with a black disco shirt, a heavy gold cross medallion, and a white hat. Sometimes a fedora, sometimes a (bucket hat?). He has a bulletproof umbrella. He helps out homeless people and people who want his help and don’t get on his nerves. He asks a price, however.

Johnny – A young man (around 19 or so) out for vengeance. He was going to the local community college, but dropped out when his family was killed by the mob. He wore a lot of black even before his family died. His favorite color is red. He likes mushrooms and beef stew.

Ferguson – An old friend and business partner of Johnny’s father. He likes to drink and he’s a bit absentminded. He’s a relatively cautious guy, likes to mind his own business.

Jenny – A nice girl, about Johnny’s age. She likes knives. She also likes Johnny. She doesn’t like St. Jimmy.

[play Dead Man’s Party, roll credits, opening name-image]

FAMILY DEATH SCENE

[Cut to shot of white jacket, with wide lapels, open to show a black wide-lapel shirt and a big gold cross medallion on a chain. The shirt is also open a bit. A hand with a white sleeve enters from the left side of the screen and pulls a pistol (an old Luger) from the jacket.]

St. Jimmy: [singing along with the music]

[Shot of horrified family: mother, father, daughter, infant. They are standing in front of a wall in what looks to be a living room. The walls are a pale green. There is a blue couch behind them, and what looks to be a family portrait.]

[Show St. Jimmy (side camera). He busts a move, moonwalks, shoots, spins, shoots, does the “Running Man,” shoots, does the “Rocket Man,” and shoots. Does a final move, then (front camera, straight-on) stands erect and poses, hands on his hips.]

St. Jimmy: My work here is done!

[Shot of a boombox, still playing. St. Jimmy’s hand reaches down and presses “Stop.” Music stops. Side view of St. Jimmy; he picks up the boom box and walks out the door, closing it behind him.]

[Black screen, text: THREE HOURS LATER:]

JOHNNY FINDS HIS FAMILY

[knocking]

Disembodied voice: Hello? Mom? Dad? Jessie? Anybody home?

[sound of keys, show doorknob turning. Door opens, to reveal…]

[Enter Johnny, looks inside; gets a shocked look]

[shot of family portrait on the pale green wall, with blood spattered across it. It shows the family we saw earlier, plus Johnny.]

Johnny: HOLY-

THE FUNERAL I

[cut scene abruptly. Go to black. Fade in to funeral. Johnny is there, watching as the three normal coffins and one tiny coffin are buried next to each other. St. Jimmy is there too, standing a distance away from the gathering. Johnny stares at him. St. Jimmy doffs his hat, bows, replaces his hat, and walks away with a spring in his step. Johnny stares after him, hatred in his eyes. He leaves, storming off in the direction that St. Jimmy went, forcing his way through the crowd. He breaks free of the crowd- and St. Jimmy is nowhere to be seen. Johnny, feeling impotent and powerless, hangs his head and turns back to the funeral. An older gentleman, also attending the funeral, sees Johnny, and misinterpreting his mood:]

Ferguson: You know, funerals aren’t exactly my kind of thing either, Johnny.

[Johnny looks at him quizzically.]

Ferguson: My name’s Michael Ferguson. I’m an old friend of your father’s. I know you from the pictures he carried with him. He always used to talk about his family, before… well, you know. Come on, I’ll buy you a drink and we can talk about it.

[cut to bar scene. They’re both at the bar with a bottle of beer.]

JOHNNY GETS A CLUE

Johnny: I just wish I knew who did it. Then at least I could do something about it.

Ferguson: Do what? Go charging off to avenge your family? You’d probably get shot up just like them. Or worse, you wouldn’t be able to find the courage to face whoever did it, once you find out, and have to live with the shame of that. [shakes his head] Don’t bother with that. It’s a waste of time. I doubt your father would want you risking your life for some crazy idea of ‘honor.’

Johnny: Then what should I do?

Ferguson: Move on with your life. Get yourself a job, find yourself a girl, settle down somewhere, have a few kids.

[Johnny muses over this for a while.]

Johnny: There was this weird guy hanging around at the funeral. He looked like some kind of disco dancer. When he saw me looking at him, he bowed and left. Any idea who he was?

Ferguson: Hmm… He sounds like St. Jimmy. Odd character. Dangerous to people who aren’t on his good side. I’d stay away from him if I were you.

Johnny: Did he know my father?

Ferguson: Yeah… we both did. Did a little business with him. It went bad; we got out. Sent someone over with a gift and our apologies, haven’t heard from him since.

Johnny: Do you think maybe he’s the one who killed my family?

Ferguson: Well, may- [stiffens, looks at Johnny sideways.] Say, you aren’t planning on rushing off and trying to snuff him, are you? Didn’t I tell you not to try to avenge your family, that it’d be foolish, et cetera?

Johnny: [does his best to look innocent] Of course not! I just want to know more about my father’s life, that’s all. I never really knew him too well; he wasn’t home often. Was always off on ‘business.’ I want to know what kind of business he was doing that got him involved with a guy like this St. Jimmy character. Ferguson: [gives some kind of back story involving something illegal but with good intentions that I’ll make up later]

JOHNNY GETS A JOB [He tries to move on, and gets himself a job working at a bookstore. He’s still depressed, understandably.]

JOHNNY MEETS JENNY [Johnny meets Jenny at the bookstore. They start talking, and end up going out on a date.]

TALKING ‘BOUT ST. JIMMY [Johnny tells Jenny about his family while they are on a cliff overlooking the bay at night. Jenny has heard of St. Jimmy, but mostly about the good that he has done. She never did trust him. Says so. Et cetera.]

JENNY’S ENCOUNTER WI/ THE SAINT [Jenny meets St. Jimmy at the knife and gun shop. St. Jimmy is getting his Luger cleaned, fixed, etc. Something wrong with the trigger, it jams sometimes. Jenny is getting some knives. They start talking. Jenny brings up Johnny’s family, St. Jimmy doesn’t like her. He talks about business. Jenny storms out, St. Jimmy buys some ammo.]

JENNY’S DEATH [Jenny dies for saying what she said to St. Jimmy. Johnny finds her dead body, much like ha found his family. Also finds a note on a table, that Jenny had written, saying that she might be in danger, had talked to St. Jimmy, etc.]

JOHNNY MOURNS; DECIDES [Cops come, question Johnny. He mourns for Jenny. He walks away, and makes up his mind to find St. Jimmy and kill him.]

JOHNNY JOINS THE MOB [Johnny asks around and finds out where the mob can be found; where St. Jimmy helps out the homeless who want help. He goes there, finds the Saint, and offers to join him. Says he wants to help, and has a keen eye for business matters. St. Jimmy doesn’t trust him, but allows him to join. Johnny doesn’t let St. Jimmy know who he is or who his family is, gives a false identity.]

JOHNNY GETS ON THE SAINT’S GOOD SIDE [Johnny saves St. Jimmy’s life; he wants to kill him himself. St. Jimmy sees this as Johnny risking his own life to save his, and decides he can trust Johnny.]

THE FIRST JOB [Johnny goes on his first job in the employ of St. Jimmy. Does well to impress St. Jimmy and convince him that Johnny has nothing but good intentions.]

TALKING WITH SAINT JIMMY [Johnny talks with St. Jimmy. St. Jimmy likes him more and more. Johnny still hates him, but pretends to like him. The power of the mob tempts him, but he refuses. He sees the mob as small, and his family’s death and vengeance as huge. He has begun to go insane already, and begins to have delusions.]

ST. JIMMY TALKS WITH GOD [St. Jimmy is starting to feel remorse, has for a while. Talks with his God, tries to atone. Et cetera.]

JOHNNY PLANS [Johnny, in the midst of his madness, becomes more and more manipulative, and schemes and plots St. Jimmy’s demise. Finds evidence that his father was a murderer, thief, etc., and that St. Jimmy is more moral than his father, but is set on avenging his family anyways. He hears voices. They tell him to kill St. Jimmy, and how to do it.

ST. JIMMY DIES [In this scene, Johnny’s plan is about to come to fruition. He and St. Jimmy are at the edge of the bay, and St. Jimmy is talking, facing the bay. Johnny has a garrote hidden in his coat. He is not listening to St. Jimmy, he is listening to the voices in his head. As he is about to pull out the garrote and kill St. Jimmy, St. Jimmy turns, and says to Johnny: “Goodbye, Jonathan. You’ve been a good friend.” He pulls out his Luger, puts it under his jaw, and shoots himself. His brains fly out into the bay. The voices in Johnny’s head fall silent and he stands there, shocked and stunned, agape. St. Jimmy’s bodyguards rush past him to grab St. Jimmy’s dead body, a commotion ensues. Johnny leaves without saying a word.

JOHNNY WALKS AWAY [In this scene, Johnny walks through the alleyways of the city, and hears the homeless talking about St. Jimmy in glowing terms. He announces what has just happened, and keeps walking. He walks to an abandoned warehouse and hangs himself, having no purpose left.]

THE FUNERAL II [Johnny’s funeral. His friends are there. They weep for him. Denouement-type stuff. This scene not necessary, could be deleted. Could instead end with the instant of Johnny’s hanging.]

END CREDITS

Katie's Demon A screenplay by Brian Pait

Dramatic Personae:

Katie: A weird green-haired girl with no friends. She has odd interests and is lonely. Other people make fun of her or avoid her. She tries to summon a demon to be her friend.

Kent: A nyx, summoned by Katie, who takes a very long time to arrive

Rolf: An art student who Katie meets at art school.

Popular girls: Popular girls. They dress alike and make fun of Katie.

Katie’s dad: Katie’s dad. Duh.

Teacher 1: Katie’s Ancient World History teacher.

ACT I

Scene 1

School. Katie, walking. She is wearing a black shapeless hat and a faux army jacket wi/zippered pockets. The jacket is closed. She has black cargo pants on. She has hair that is naturally a rather dark brown, but it is dyed green from just above the bottom of the hat downwards. She has brown eyes and glasses with black rectangular frames. Her hair is just a bit shorter than shoulder-length and untied.

She walks into class, sits down. Nobody talks to her, or even looks at her. She looks at other students, says nothing. Gets out her supplies. Class starts.

Teacher 1: Alright class, let’s begin. Today we are continuing learning about the Sumerians. Can anybody tell me what kind of religion they had?

Katie: (hand shoots up) They had ziggurats for temples, each of which was controlled by an Ensi associated with each divinity. The various deities were part of a pantheon known as the Anunaki, which translates to “Heaven and Earth.” The main gods were An, Enlil, Enki, Ninhursag, Ashur, Ninlil, Ninurta, Marduk-

Teacher 1: (interrupting Katie) That’s enough Katie. I wasn’t looking for a lesson on theology. All I wanted was to see if you all remembered that the Sumerian religion was polytheistic.

Several students snicker; a group of like-dressed girls laugh at Katie. She slumps in her chair as the class continues, lowering her eyes to her desk. [Show desk, with paper sticking out of binder with the title Demonology: A Complete Practical Guide to (the rest is covered)].

Scene 2

Cut to scene in hall, students exiting class. Katie is shoved aside by the “popular girls,” and she drops her books. The printout on demonology falls out. A blonde girl sees it.

Blonde girl: (sarcastically/patronizing) Are you going to summon a demon to bite me, um… whatever your name is?

Other girls laugh as Katie snatches up the printout, and they continue walking as she glares at them. Nobody helps her pick up her books. Cut to Katie walking out of school, then to her on the bus, then entering her home.

Scene 3

Katie’s dad: Hi, Katie! How was school?

Katie: (irritated) Fine, Dad. I’m gonna go study in my room, okay?

Katie’s dad: Okay. Just holler if you need anything.

Katie walks into her room, tosses her bookbag onto a bed (really just a mattress, some blankets and some pillows on the floor). Shot of the demonology thing sticking out, then shot of the room. There is a poster of Anton Szandor LeVay on the wall, one of Einstein sticking his tongue out, etc. The room is messy. There is a filing cabinet, a desk with a computer, a cheir by a window, random other things. Shot of Katie from the door as she sits down at the computer and starts clicking and typing. Shot of computer screen: Shows an article on Satanic Spellcasting: Hurling Curses and Hexes For Beginners. Shot of Katie’s face from the side. She mutters to herself.

Katie: Stupid girls. They wouldn’t even know an Allu from Asag. I bet the worst thing they have to worry about is how to decide which boy to say ‘yes’ to first. Types furiously for a few more seconds, glances at bed, looks back at computer screen and looks at bed again. Shot of the demonology printout sticking out of her bookbag. Shot of Katie’s face, looking thoughtful.

Scene 4

Cut to scene of same room, but cleaned up and darkened. It is lit by a bunch of black candles and one white candle. Katie is dressed in black and holding a piece of paper with writing on it.

Katie: (in a confident, commanding voice) Ilasa micalazoda olapireta ialpereji beliore: das odo Busadire Oiad ouoaresa caosago: casaremeji Laiada eranu berinutasa cafafame das ivemeda aqoso adoho Moz, od maoffasa. Bolape como belioreta pamebeta. Zodacare od Zodameranu! Odo cicale Qaa. Zodoreje, lape zodiredo Noco Mada, hoathahe Saitan! Come forth spirit, and guide me! Aid me in my plight! Be to me as I would to you! Hail Satan! Shemhamforash!

She lights the paper with one of the black candles and drops it in a dish, then watches it burn. She waits. Nothing happens for a while. She looks around. Nothing happens.

Katie: Hello? (Pause.) Hello? Any… spirits around here? (Waits for an answer. None comes. She sighs.) Oh, well. I guess it didn’t work.

Katie blows out a candle, and scene ends abruptly.

END OF ACT I

ACT II

Scene 1

Begin with Katie going to school again. She's wearing an outfit similar to the one she wore the previous day, but the faux military shirt is a reddish color today instead of greenish. The popular girls talk in whispers, all look at Katie, and laugh. Katie glares at them and continues walking. Cut to art class. Teacher 2 is taking roll. One guy up near the front of the class [Rolf] keeps looking back at Katie. Katie begins staring at him, wondering why he keeps glancing back at her. He is looking at her when the teacher calls his name.

Teacher 2: Rolf? Rolf? (knocks on Rolf's desk; he turns with a start and looks at the teacher) Pay attention, Rolf. I almost marked you absent.

Rolf: Y-yes ma'am.

The teacher continues to take roll. Rolf glances back at Katie again, gives her a shy smile, then turns back and does not look at her again.

Essay (practice) for AcaDeca

Why does Wang Lung become so infatuated with Lotus in The Good Earth? In a well-organized essay, explain what this says about the development of his character over the course of the novel.

Response to Prompt 3

In Pearl S Buck’s The Good Earth, Wang Lung becomes infatuated with a prostitute named Lotus at a tea house, showing that he has grown tired of O-lan, become bored with his life, and become complacent in his position as a land owner. When Wang Lung looks at O-lan after seeing the pictures of the women at the tea house, it is as if he is “seeing her for the first time.” He notices her distinct lack of beauty, and sees that she is a hard worker and a good wife, but he is no longer attracted to her- in fact, he is disgusted by her. Also, Wang Lung has become a wealthy land-owner, and so no longer needs a wife who is only good for work; he can afford the luxury of having a beautiful wife who will not do work. For these reasons and because it is considered acceptable and normal in Chinese society, Wang Lung becomes infatuated with Lotus and takes her as his wife. During the period in which Wang Lung becomes infatuated with Lotus, he is bored because floods will not allow him to work and so he has nothing to do. Furthermore, he realizes that he has become bored with his way of life. He has a “mid-life crisis,” and instead of buying a new sports car as American men do, he buys a younger, more beautiful wife to bring some excitement into his life. Wang Lung owns more land than any other man in the area that he lives in, and seems to be richer. He is often called “Lord Wang,” or the “New Lord.” His infatuation with Lotus is also partly due to this.