My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scene 1: Summer Highland Falls. Post Election Company Number

Leyna: 

They say that these are not the best of times

But they’re the only times I’ve ever known

And I believe there is a time for meditation

In cathedrals of our own

Tony: 

Now I have seen that sad surrender in my lover’s eyes

And I can only stand apart and sympathize

For we are always what our situations hand us

It’s either sadness or euphoria

James: 

So we’ll argue and we’ll compromise

And realize that nothing’s ever changed

For all our mutual experience

Our separate conclusions are the same

Johnny: 

Now we are forced to recognize our inhumanity

A reason coexists with our insanity

Though we choose between reality and madness

It’s either sadness or euphoria

Laura: 

How thoughtlessly we dissipate our energies

Perhaps we’ll help fulfill each other’s fantasies

And as we stand upon the ledges of our lives with our respective similarities

It’s either sadness or euphoria

My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scene: Don’t Ask Me Why: Rosalinda has her very last class at Colby. She takes one last visit to the Colby Museum of Art and grapples with the notion that it’s time to go.

My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scene: She’s Right On Time For Me: Assuming Laura will be late for their dinner at the Italian Restaurant, James is pleasantly surprised to find Laura already awaiting at the restaurant and sings the opening of She’s Right On Time For Me upon arrival.

James

She’s just in time for me

She’s right on time

She’s right where she should be

She’s right on time

Laura’s Jacket

My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scenes of an Italian Restaurant: Laura and James run into Brenda and Eddie, both on the girls and boys hockey teams. Instead of lamenting over their respective cancelled seasons, they have organized an exhibition match where the boys and girls hockey teams play each other. Laura proclaims she wouldn’t miss the match for the world. Brenda gifts Laura a Colby Mules Hockey patch for her jean jacket, highlighting how one of the best parts of going to a school as small as Colby, is befriending people totally different from you. 

My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scene: Say Goodbye To Hollywood: The college enters into code orange, leaving Foss dining hall closed for the remainder of the semester. Bobby lobbies to keep the exhibition up longer, but is met with little success. Tony, finally getting involved on campus, helps him sell the rest of the masks and they manage to raise a thousand dollars selling masks outside the exhibition, in the last week before the dining hall closes. Tony takes a drive through town and reflects on the end of the semester.

Tony

Bobby’s driving through the city tonight

Through the lights

In a hot new rent a car

He joins the lover in his heavy machine

It’s a scene down on Sunset Boulevard

Johnny’s taking care of things for awhile

And his style is so right for troubadours

They got him sitting with his back to the door

Now he won’t be my fast gun anymore

Moving on is a chance that you take every time

You try to stay together

Say a word out of line and you find

That the friends you had are gone

Forever, forever

So many faces in and out of my life

Some will last, some will just be now and then

Life is a series of hellos and goodbyes

I’m afraid it’s time for goodbye again

My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scene: Miami 2017: Sung by Laura solo at Bixler Piano. After James’s advice to modify her musical, Laura laments over the lights being off on Broadway and how the world is both exhilarating and terrifying and commits to writing her Billy Joel musical about her life.

Laura

I’ve seen the lights go out Broadway

I saw the Empire State laid low

And life went on beyond the Palisades

They all bought Cadillacs

And left there long ago

They held a concert out in Brooklyn

To watch the island bridges blow

They turned our power down

And drove us underground

But we went right on with the show

I’ve seen the lights go out on Broadway

I saw the ruins at my feet

You know we almost didn’t notice it

We’d seen it all the time on Forty second street

They burned the churches down in Harlem

Like in that Spanish civil war

The flames were everywhere

But no one really cared

It always burned up there before

I’ve seen the lights go out on Broadway

I saw the mighty skyline fall

The boats were waiting at the battery

The union went on strike

They never sailed at all

They sent a carrier out from Norfolk

And picked the Yankees up for free

They said that Queens could stay

And blew the Bronx away

And sank Manhattan out at sea

You know those lights were bright on Broadway

That was so many years ago

Before we all lived here in Florida

Before the Mafia took over Mexico

There are not many who remember

They say a handful still survive

To tell the world about

The way the lights went out

And keep the memory alive

My Life: Act 8: As We Stand Upon the Ledges of Our Lives

Scene: We Didn’t Start the Virus: Laura’s version of We Didn’t Start The Fire, recounting the pandemonium of 2020, her first step in telling the tale of what it’s like to go to college during Covid, all to the songbook of her favorite musician.

My Life: Act 7: Just The Way You Are

Scene: Captain Jack: Tony decides to quit school frustrated with how things worked out with Leyna, thinking he wasn’t good enough. Goes into Zanzibar for a drink.

Tony

Saturday night and you’re still hangin’ around

Tired of living in your one horse town

You’d like to find a little hole in the ground

For awhile

Captain Jack will get you high tonight

And take you to your special island

Captain Jack will get you by tonight

Just a little push, and you’ll be smilin’

Your sister’s gone out, she’s on a date

You just sit at home and masturbate

Your phone is gonna ring soon

But you just can’t wait

For that call

So you stand on the corner in your New English clothes

And you look so polished from your hair down to your toes

Ah but still your fingers gonna pick your nose

After all

So you got everything, ah, but nothing’s cool

They just found your father in the swimming pool

And you guess you won’t be going back to school

Anymore

So you play your albums, and you smoke your pot

And you meet your girlfriend in the parking lot

Oh but still you’re aching for the things you haven’t got

What went wrong

And if you can’t understand why your world is so dead

Why you’ve got to keep in style and feed your head

Well you’re 21 and still your mother makes your bed

And that’s too long

My Life: Act 7: Just The Way You Are

SCENE Goodnight Saigon: Scene between Tony and John at the bar who gives him some much needed advice

Tony

Hey Serg. How about a long island iced tea?

Sergeant O’Leary

Seems a little early for that. 

Tony

I’m in a New York State of Mind.

Sergeant O’Leary 

Shouldn’t you be in school?

Tony

Nah I’m not going back. College is a scam anyways.

Sergeant O’Leary

Is that so? 

Tony

Yeah I guess I’ll just move home. Davy made a good case for setting off at sea.

Sergeant O’Leary

Seems like you got it all figured out. 

Tony 

I just don’t want to end up like my old man stuck in this town. Just to end up face down in the swimming pool.

Sergeant O’Leary

This place ain’t so bad. 

Tony

I’d like to be just about anywhere but here right about now .

Sergeant O’Leary

I probably would’ve done anything to get to go home when I was your age.

Tony

You were my age? 

Sergeant O’Leary 

Ya wiseguy. Ever been to Saigon

Tony

I didn’t know you fought in the war? 

Sergeant O’Leary

I don’t know how you’d really call it a war. We were a bunch of kids, just about your age, who didn’t know what we signed up for.

Tony

You enlisted in Vietnam?

Sergeant O’Leary

We didn’t sign up to murder Vietnamese people if that’s what your asking.

Tony

They call it Ho Chi Minh City these days. 

Sergeant O’Leary

See this is why you go to college.

Tony

College isn’t for everyone.

Sergeant O’Leary

You know how many people come in here tell me their problems every goddamn day. 

Tony

You’re wise beyond your years Srg.

Sergeant O’Leary

Wait till you’ve been disappointed a few more times in your life. 

Tony

Why is this such a big deal to you? It’s not like you went to school.

Sergeant O’Leary

We sent our friends home in body bags. We would’ve given anything to go to school.

Tony

Why are you telling me this?

Sergeant O’Leary

Because you’re wasting it Tony! A lot of people are losing their lives.

Tony

To COVID? 

Sergeant O’Leary 

You’re a fool if you waste a minute of time.

My Life Act 7: Just The Way You Are

Scene: Goodnight Saigon: Sergeant John O’Leary’s response to Tony quitting school. He talks about Vietnam and all his friends that didn’t come back. He reassures Tony that these are just patterns and processes through history.

My Life: Act 7: Just The Way You Are

Scene: Tell Her About It: Tony runs into Johnny and Bobby at the bar who tell him to get his act together to win Leyna back and that they might be able to finagle it such that Colby will pay for his MBA if he finishes his work study. 

My Life: Act 7: Just The Way You Are

Scene: Just The Way You Are: Tony returns to school running straight to the post office telling Leyna about the MBA program and to his surprise she’s just happy he’s back. She’s content collecting knowledge and doesn’t even know what she wants to be when she grows up anyways! Duet sung by Leyna and Tony

Leyna

Don’t go changing to try and please me

You never let me down before

Tony

Don’t imagine you’re too familiar

And I don’t see you anymore

Leyna

I wouldn’t leave you in times of trouble

We never could have come this far

I took the good times; I’ll take the bad times

I’ll take you just the way you are

Tony

Don’t go trying some new fashion

Don’t change the color of your hair

Leyna

You always have my unspoken passion

Although I might not seem to care

Tony

I don’t want clever conversation

I never want to work that hard

I just want someone that I can talk to 

Leyna

I want you just the way you are

Tony

I need to know that you will always be

The same old someone that I knew

What will it take till you believe in me

The way that I believe in you?

Leyna

I said I love you and that’s forever

And this I promise from the heart

I could not love you any better

I love you just the way you are

My Life: Act 7: Just The Way You Are

Scene: Christie Lee: Rosalinda’s Graduation Party

Josephine

We couldn’t be prouder of you Rosalinda 

Leyna

A covid graduation is memorable if anything.

Rosalinda 

It means the world that you guys would pull something like this together.

Leyna

I bet you won’t miss the paper thin walls. 

Laura

What’s she on about?

Josephine

There’s this guy who practices his saxophone each night. 

Rosalinda

There’s this one song that he plays that Leyna can’t get enough of. 

Leyna

It’s true we’ve decided to embrace it. 

Laura

What’s the song called? 

Rosalinda

It’s called Christie Lee!

My Life: Act 7: Just The Way You Are

Scene: I’ve Loved These Days: Leyna laments over her friends leaving. While Rosalinda is graduating, Leyna still has time left. In spite of the pandemic, Leyna finds she has loved these days.

Leyna

Now we take our time

So nonchalant

And spend our nights

So bon vivant

We dress our days

In silken robes

The money comes

The money goes

We know it’s all a passing phase…

We light our lamps

For atmosphere

And hang our hopes

On chandeliers

We’re going long

We’re gaining weight

We’re sleeping long

And far too late

And so it’s times

To change our ways

But I’ve loved these days

Now as we indulge

In things refined

We hide our hearts

From harder times

A string of pearls

A foreign car

Oh we can only go so far

On caviar and Cabernay

We drown our doubts

In dry champagne

And soothe our souls

With fine cocaine

I don’t know why I ever care

We’ll get so high

And get nowhere

We’ll have to change our jaded ways…

But I’ve loved these days

So before we end

And then begin

We’ll drink a toast to how it’s been

A few more hours to be complete

A few more nights on satin sheets

A few more times that I can say…

I’ve loved these days

My Life: Act Six: She’s Got A Way

Scene One: My Life testing number

Map of Colby

My Life: Act Six: She’s Got A Way

SCENE TWO: A Matter Of Trust: Duet between James and Laura deciding to stick it out.

James

One, two, one, two, three, four

Some love is just a lie of the heart

The cold remains of what began with a passionate start

Laura

And they may not want it to end

But it will it’s just a question of when

I’ve lived long enough to have learned

The closer you get to the fire the more you get burned

James

But that won’t happen to us

Cause it’s always been a matter of trust

I know you’re an emotional girl

It took a lot for you to not lose your faith in this world

I can’t offer you proof

But you’re going to face a moment of truth

Laura

It’s hard when you’re always afraid

You just recover when another belief is betrayed

James

So break my heart if you must

It’s a matter of trust

You can’t go the distance

With too much resistance

I know you have doubts

But for god’s sake don’t shut me out

Laura

This time you’ve got nothing to lose

You can take it, you can leave it, whatever you choose

I won’t hold back anything

And I’ll walk away a fool or a king

James

Some love is just a lie of the mind

It’s make believe until its only a matter of time

Laura

And some might have learned to adjust

But then it never was a matter of trust

James

I’m sure you’re aware love

We’ve both had our share of believing too long

When the whole situation was wrong

Laura

Some love is just a lie of the soul

A constant battle for the ultimate state of control

After you’ve heard lie upon lie

There can hardly be a question of why

James

Some love is just a lie of the heart

The cold remains of what began with a passionate start

But that can’t happen to us

Cause it’s always been a matter of trust

Laura

It’s a matter of trust

It’s always been a matter of trust

James

It’s a matter of trust

Cause it’s always been a matter of trust

My Life: Act Six: She’s Got A Way

She’s Got a Way: Duet between Rosalinda and girlfriend Josephine

Musical Stylings: Sam Lee and Sydney Ku

SCENE THREE: Rosalinda and her girlfriend Josephine celebrate their success. 

Rosalinda

I’m sorry about the mix up with your absentee ballot. I had to clear something up at Zanzibar with this kid from the concert.

Josephine

It has been total pandemonium as of late, so I don’t blame you for the mixup. ColbyVotes made voting in person exceedingly easy with the shuttle outside the Spa all day: chock full of snacks and hand warmers

Rosalinda

We can use those for skating on Johnson Pond before climbing night!

Josephine

Speaking of climbing: The pants are finally coming out!

Rosalinda

Ruggette: Strong gear for strong womxn

Josephine

It just feels as if womxn have been traditionally excluded from the outdoor industry.

Rosalinda

We’ve always had to shop in the men section for better gear options

Josephine 

Ruggette was founded with the goal of promoting gender equity in the outdoors by providing gear for every kind of womxn.

Rosalinda

It’s as if women who love the outdoors have been pushed to turn away from traditional norms of femininity, in order to be accepted as rugged. 

Josephine

Ruggette has a better ring to it anyways 

Rosalinda

And you can’t beat that new charcoal color.  

Josephine

I can’t believe you managed to release the pants amidst the pandemic.

Rosalinda

I couldn’t have done it without you

My Life: Act Six: She’s Got A Way

SCENE FOUR: All For Leyna: Sung by Tony after being stood up by Leyna at Zanzibar. He returns back home in frustration.

Tony

She stood on the tracks
Waving her arms
Leading me to that third rail shock
Quick as a wink
She changed her mind
She gave me a night
That’s all it was
What will it take until I stop
Kidding myself
Wasting my timeThere’s nothing else I can do
‘Cause I’m doing it all for Leyna
I don’t want anyone new
‘Cause I’m living it all for Leyna
There’s nothing in it for you
‘Cause I’m giving it all to LeynaWe laid on the beach
Watching the tide
She didn’t tell me there were rocks
Under the waves
Right off the shore
Washed up on the sand
Barely alive
Wishing the undertow would stop
How can a man take anymoreThere’s nothing else I can do
‘Cause I’m doing it all for Leyna
I don’t want anyone new
‘Cause I’m living it all for Leyna
There’s nothing in it for you
‘Cause I’m giving it all to LeynaI’m failing in school
Losing my friends
Making my family lose their minds
I don’t want to eat
I don’t want to sleep
I only want Leyna one more timeNow I’m in my room
Watching the tube
Telling myself she still may drop
Over to say
She’s changed her mind
So, I wait in the dark
Listening for her
Instead of my old man saying stop!
Kidding yourself
Wasting your timeThere’s nothing else I can do
‘Cause I’m doing it all for Leyna
Don’t want anyone new
‘Cause I’m living it all for Leyna
There’s nothing in it for you
‘Cause I’m giving it all to Leyna
All for leyna
All for leyna

My Life: Act Six: She’s Got A Way

SCENE FIVE: The Entertainer: After Johnny and the band complain to Mister Cacciatore on how hard it is to get a gig, he agrees to let them perform at Zanzibar over the weekend.

Mister Cacciatore

I am the entertainer

And I know just where I stand

Another serenader

And another long haired band

Today I am your champion

I may have won your hearts

But I know the game, you’ll forget my name

And I won’t be here in another year

If I don’t stay on the charts

I am the entertainer

And I’ve had to pay my price

The things I did not know at first

I learned by doin’ twice

Ah, but still they come to haunt me

Still they want their say

So I’ve learned to dance with a hand in my pants

I let ’em rub my neck and I write ’em a check

And they go their merry way

I am the entertainer

Been all around the world

I’ve played all kinds of palaces

And laid all kinds of girls

I can’t remember faces

I don’t remember names

Ah, but what the hell

You know it’s just as well

‘Cause after a while and a thousand miles

It all becomes the same

I am the entertainer

I bring to you my songs

I’d like to spend a day or two

I can’t stay that long

No, I’ve got to meet expenses

I got to stay in line

Gotta get those fees to the agencies

And I’d love to stay but there’s bills to pay

So I just don’t have the time

I am the entertainer

I come to do my show

You’ve heard my latest record

It’s been on the radio

Ah, it took me years to write it

They were the best years of my life

It was a beautiful song

But it ran too long

If you’re gonna have a hit

You gotta make it fit

So they cut it down to 3:05

I am the entertainer

The idol of my age

I make all kinds of money

When I go on the stage

Ah, you’ve seen me in the papers

I’ve been in the magazines

But if I go cold I won’t get sold

I’ll get put in the back in the discount rack

Like another can of beans

I am the entertainer

And I know just where I stand

Another serenader

And another long haired band

Today I am your champion

I may have won your hearts

But I know the game, you’ll forget my name

I won’t be here in another year

If I don’t stay on the charts

My Life: Act Five// The Stranger

Scene One: Bobby launches a mask initiative selling masks to support refugees in the Greek Islands of Lesvos.

My Life: Act Five// Sometimes a Fantasy

Scene Two: Laura caves and calls James

Laura

I didn’t want to do it but I got too lonely
I had to call you up in the middle of the night
I know it’s awful hard to try to make love long distance
But I really needed stimulation
Though it was only my imaginationIt’s just a fantasy
It’s not the real thing
It’s just a fantasy
It’s not the real thing
But sometimes a fantasy
Is all you needWhen am I gonna take control get a hold of my emotions
Why does it only seem to hit me in the middle of the night
You told me there’s a number I can always dial for assistance
I don’t want to deal with outside action
Only you can give me satisfactionIt’s just a fantasy
It’s not the real thing
It’s just a fantasy
It’s not the real thing
But sometimes a fantasy
Is all you need

My Life: Act Five//Laura

Scene Four: Sung by James lamenting over the lame parts of being on campus and caught in between wanting to see her.

My Life: Act Five//She’s Always a Woman To Me

Scene Five: While lamenting over Laura, James finds that he has all the while walked all the way to her dorm room. He is met with Laura asleep on the floor whilst making a 2020 version of We Didn’t Start the Fire. Remembering why he liked her in the first place, James carries Laura into bed and sings She’s Always a Woman To Me.

James

She can kill with a smile, she can wound with her eyes

And she can ruin your faith with her casual lies

And she only reveals what she wants you to see

She hides like a child but she’s always a woman to me

She can lead you to love, she can take you or leave you

She can ask for the truth but she’ll never believe you

And she’ll take what you give her as long as it’s free

Yeah she steals like a thief but she’s always a woman to me

Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants

She’s ahead of her time

Oh, and she never gives out and she never gives in

She just changes her mind

And she’ll promise you more than the garden of Eden

Then she’ll carelessly cut you and laugh while you’re bleeding

But she brings out the best and the worst you can be

Blame it all on yourself ’cause she’s always a woman to me

Oh, she takes care of herself, she can wait if she wants

She’s ahead of her time

Oh, and she never gives out and she never gives in

She just changes her mind

She is frequently kind and she’s suddenly cruel

But she can do as she pleases, she’s nobody’s fool

And she can’t be convicted, she’s earned her degree

And the most she will do is throw shadows at you

But she’s always a woman to me

My Life: Act Five//And So It Goes

Scene Six: Laura wakes up back in her bed and responds to James’s She’s Always a Woman To Me with And So it Goes.

Laura

In every heart there is a room

A sanctuary safe and strong

To heal the wounds from lovers past

Until a new one comes along

I spoke to you in cautious tones

You answered me with no pretense

And still I feel I said too much

My silence is my self defense

And every time I’ve held a rose

It seems I only felt the thorns

And so it goes, and so it goes

And so will you soon I suppose

But if my silence made you leave

Then that would be my worst mistake

So I will share this room with you

And you can have this heart to break

And this is why my eyes are closed

It’s just as well for all I’ve seen

And so it goes, and so it goes

And you’re the only one who knows

So I would choose to be with you

That’s if the choice were mine to make

But you can make decisions too

And you can have this heart to break

And so it goes, and so it goes

And you’re the only one who knows

My Life: Act Five//Allentown

Scene Seven: Realizing she has snoozed through her West Wing alarm and is almost late for work, Laura makes a mad dash across campus! She is relieved her boss isn’t angry, in spite of her perpetually running three minutes late. Virginia invites her and James over to her home to make pumpkin bread and tells Laura about what Waterville was once like back as a mill town. 

Virgina

Well we’re living here in Allentown

And they’re closing all the factories down

Out in Bethlehem they’re killing time

Filling out forms

Standing in line

Well our fathers fought the Second World War

Spent their weekends on the Jersey Shore

Met our mothers in the USO

Asked them to dance

Danced with them slow

And we’re living here in Allentown

But the restlessness was handed down

And it’s getting very hard to stay

Laura:

Well we’re waiting here in Allentown

For the Pennsylvania we never found

For the promises our teachers gave

If we worked hard

If we behaved

James

So the graduations hang on the wall

But they never really helped us at all

No they never taught us what was real

Iron and coke

And chromium steel

And we’re waiting here in Allentown

Virgina

Every child had a pretty good shot

To get at least as far as their old man got

But something happened on the way to that place

They threw an American flag in our face

James

Well I’m living here in Allentown

And it’s hard to keep a good man down

But I won’t be getting up today

And it’s getting very hard to stay

And we’re living here in Allentown

My Life: Act Five//Where’s The Orchestra

Scene Eight: Discouraged about her musical and the future of Broadway, Laura daydreams about the show to empty, socially distanced seats.

Laura

Where’s the orchestra?

Wasn’t this supposed to be a musical?

Here I am

In the balcony,

How the hell could I have missed the overture?

I like the scenery

Even though, I have absolutely no, idea at all,

What is being said, despite the dialogue,

There’s the leading man

The movie star who never faced an audience

Where’s the orchestra?

After all, this is my big night on the town

My introduction to the theatre crowd

I assumed that the show would have a song

So I was wrong

At least I understand

All the innuendo and the irony

And I appreciate,

The roles the actors played

The point the author made

And after the closing lines,

And after the curtain calls,

The curtain falls

On empty chairs,

Where’s the orchestra?

Act Four: Pressure

Zoom Scene with Mister Cacciatore

Mister Cacciatore

Hello class, welcome to GO131. I’d like to start today’s lecture a little differently. I’m sure you’ve all received the email from the dean’s office and it seems as if you’re taking the notion of collective action seriously. Even though the future may seem daunting , I’d encourage you all to keep in mind these words from CS Lewis

“In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. ‘How are we to live in an atomic age?’ I am tempted to reply: ‘Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation. Believe me, dear sir or madam, you and all whom you love were already sentenced to death before the atomic bomb was invented: and quite a high percentage of us were going to die in unpleasant ways. We had, indeed, one very great advantage over our ancestors—anesthetics; but we have that still. It is perfectly ridiculous to go about whimpering and drawing long faces because the scientists have added one more chance of painful and premature death to a world which already bristled with such chances and in which death itself was not a chance at all, but a certainty.

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds.”

-CS Lewis

We’ll explore a number of case studies this semester from the rise of ISIS in the Middle East, to the global trade in human body parts. Your first assignment will be a critical analysis on the Siege of Leningrad

From The Archives

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene One: Zanzibar: Tony preparing for his date with Leyna on the way to Zanzibar (Bar in town owned by Mister Cacciatore, who is also a professor at Colby. 

Saxophone: Danny Little

Sergeant O’Leary

Ali dances and the audience applauds

Though he’s bathed in sweat he hasn’t lost his style

Ali don’t you go downtown

You gave away another round for free

Tony

Me, I’m just another face at Zanzibar

But the waitress always serves a secret smile

She’s waiting out in Shantytown

She’s gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me

I’ve got the old man’s car

I’ve got a jazz guitar

I’ve got a tab at Zanzibar

Tonight that’s where I’ll be, I’ll be

Sergeant O’Leary

Rose, he knows he’s such a credit to the game

But the Yankees grab the headline every time

Melodrama’s so much fun

In black and white for everyone to see

Tony

Me, I’m trying just to get to second base

And I’d steal it if she only gave the sign

She’s gonna give the go head

The inning isn’t over yet for me, for me

I’ve got the old man’s car

I’ve got a jazz guitar

I’ve got a tab at Zanzibar

Tonight that’s where I’ll be

Tell the waitress I’ll come back to Zanzibar

I’ll be hiding in the darkness with my beer

She’s waiting out in Shandytown

She’s gonna pull the curtains down for me, for me

I’ve got the old man’s car

I’ve got a jazz guitar

I’ve got a tab at Zanzibar

Tonight that’s where I’ll be

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Two: Zanzibar: Johnny, Bobby and James arrive at Zanzibar. Tony shows them around the local watering hole and introduces them to characters at Mister Cacciatore’s.

Johnny

Hey there’s Mister Cacciatore!

Bobby

Wow the whole campus really is at bar night

James

No he owns Zanzibar

Bobby

I thought he was an IR professor at Colby?

James

Doesn’t that sound like exactly what an international relations professor would name a bar?

The boys go to order a drink at the bar, but the waitress is amidst a political discussion

Waitress

I don’t know how election day turned into election week. I mean, I swear it’s as if the media circus is gonna milk every last second of this never ending election. Blue and Red! Two Sides of the same coin!

The boys try to get her attention as Tony spots them across the bar

Tony

Hey there fellows

Bobby

Tonight’s your date with Leyna? 

Tony

Yeah so long as she doesn’t change her mind 

Johnny

Are you kidding? After our performance at the Chapel, I bet she’s smitten

Bobby

You just need a little liquid luck 

James

That might be harder than expected. We were trying to get the waitress’s attention since we arrived

Tony

Don’t worry about it. John at the bar is a friend of mind. Gets me my drinks for free

The boys approach the bar 

Davy

Well look who it is 

Tony

Guys, this is pal my Davy 

Davy

You know I actually went to Colby back in my day! Class of 71 before I became a seal

James

You were in the Navy?

Davy

Still am, young man! 

Tony

Excited to hear Mister Cacciatore play tonight?

Davy

Oh sure, he’s the Piano Man.

Tony

I haven’t seen Ali? 

Davy

Oh he’s almost surely with the rest of them outside of the bar. That reminds me I have some business to attend to. Cheers mates.

Srg

What’ll it be for you boys

James

I’ll have what Davy’s having 

Srg

Coming right up

Mister Cacciatore

Welcome to Zanzibar folks. Even with the masks it means the world we can surround ourselves with sound and good company.  I’m gonna start off our open mic. I spy some of my students who I’m hoping might share a song. Feel free to sign up for a slot at the bar

Tony

She’s still not here yet.

James

I’m sure she’ll be here any minute Tony!

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Three: Mister Cacciatore plays the harmonica and performs Piano Man at Zanzibar.

Mister Cacciatore

It’s nine o’clock on a Saturday

The regular crowd shuffles in

There’s an old man sittin’ next to me

Makin’ love to his tonic and gin

He says, “son, can you play me a memory?

I’m not really sure how it goes

But it’s sad and it’s sweet and I knew it complete

When I wore a younger man’s clothes”

La, la, la, di, dee, da

La, la, di, dee, da, da, dum

Company

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

Tony

Now John at the bar is a friend of mine

He gets me my drinks for free

And he’s quick with a joke or to light up your smoke

But there’s some place that he’d rather be

He says, “Bill, I believe this is killing me”

As the smile ran away from his face

“Well, I’m sure that I could be a movie star

If I could get out of this place”

Oh, la, la, la, di, dee, da

La, la, di, dee, da, da, dum

Tony

Now Paul is a real estate novelist

Who never had time for a wife

And he’s talkin’ with Davy, who’s still in the Navy

And probably will be for life

And the waitress is practicing politics

As the businessmen slowly get stoned

Yes, they’re sharing a drink they call loneliness

But it’s better than drinkin’ alone

Company

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you got us feelin’ alright

Mister Cacciatore

It’s a pretty good crowd for a Saturday

And the manager gives me a smile

‘Cause he knows that it’s me they’ve been comin’ to see

To forget about life for a while

And the piano, it sounds like a carnival

And the microphone smells like a beer

And they sit at the bar and put bread in my jar

And say, “man, what are you doin’ here?”

Oh, la, la, la, di, dee, da

La, la, di, dee, da, da, dum

Company

Sing us a song, you’re the piano man

Sing us a song tonight

Well, we’re all in the mood for a melody

And you’ve got us feelin’ alright

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Four: Everybody Loves You Now: Mister Cacciatore encourages Laura to play a number from her musical. Leyna calls and decides not to come. She says she’s swamped with work, but someone says they just saw her at the post office. Tony is crushed and James goes after him calling for Laura who is stuck because she’s just committed to performing for the bar. She asks James to play the piano, but he brushes her off and leaves. 

Laura

This is from an independent study I’ve been working on this semester. It’s a great piano song, but it seems my piano player has fled the scene, so we’ll give it a go on the guitar. 

Big Shot

Bass: Johnnie Gilmore

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Scene Three: Big Shot: James turns back to play the piano for Laura, but by the time he arrives, she’s gone on without him. Frustrated about college amidst Covid and how Laura’s made along fine on her own, he storms off. 

James

Well, you went uptown riding in your limousine

With your fine Park Avenue clothes

You had the Dom Perignon in your hand

And the spoon up your nose

And when you wake up in the morning

With your head on fire

And your eyes too bloody to see

Go on and cry in your coffee

But don’t come bitchin’ to me

Because you had to be a big shot, didn’t you

You had to open up your mouth

You had to be a big shot, didn’t you

All your friends were so knocked out

You had to have the last word, last night

You know what everything’s about

You and to have a white hot spotlight

You had to be a big shot last night

They were all impressed with your Halston dress

And the people that you knew at Elaine’s

And the story of your latest success

Kept ’em so entertained

Oh, but now you just don’t remember

All the things you said

And you’re not sure you want to know

I’ll give you one hint, honey

You sure did put on a show

Yes, yes, you had to be a big shot, didn’t you

You had to prove it to the crowd

You had to be a big shot, didn’t you

All your friends were so knocked out

You had to have the last word, last night

So much fun to be around

You had to have the front page, bold type

You had to be a big shot last night

Well, it’s no big sin to stick your two cents in

If you know when to leave it alone

But you went over the line

You couldn’t see it was time to go home

No, no, no, no, no, no, you had to be a big shot, didn’t you

You had to open up your mouth

You had to be a big shot, didn’t you

All your friends were so knocked out

You had to have the last word, last night

So much fun to be around

You had to have a white hot spotlight

You had to be a big shot last night

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

Big shot

My Life: Act Four// Pressure

Election Scene

Leyna

Have other elections felt like this before Mister Cacciatore?

Mister Cacciatore

While I have to admit that between the onslaught of picketing and pointless posters that are by and large a huge waste of paper, I’ve never come across an election cycle quite like this one.  Though no matter the year it does seem as if we’re driven to detest the other candidate.

Rosalinda

 Maybe this struggle  for the soul of the nation is just a strategy that’s been used one time too many

Leyna

It’s true, either way we’re electing the oldest candidates in the history of the presidency in an increasingly multicultural nation 

Laura

I’m most worried about trust in the democratic process. Of the fifteen million people who became eligible to vote in this past election. If after this national mobilization to vote in spite of the pandemic and everything he’s done. What if we still lose?

Mister Cacciatore

Can you imagine a world without the social contract?

Rosalinda

I don’t know what incentive we’d have to uphold the social contract when we’re practically behaving like a failed state and our vote might not even count for anything

Mister Cacciatore

Roads? Schools? Private Property? Leviathan!

Leyna

“Man was born free, and he is everywhere in chains”

Mister Cacciatore

That’s actually Rousseau

Laura

I cannot imagine what society would devolve into if he were to be re-elected 

Mister Cacciatore

He who must not be named? 

Laura

I’m just tired of hearing his name

Leyna

I know what you mean about this notion of the newsreel. We’re all so overwhelmed by news, the misdoings start to blend together

Laura
Sure when I start to go through it all: pulling out of the Paris agreement, pulling troops out of Syria 

Leyna

The border wall. The Muslim ban!

Laura

I never would have imagined he’d win in 2016

Rosalinda

I  never would have imagined he’d be worse than we thought he was gonna be 

Mister Cacciatore 

Ah so it seems we’ve begun to tackle the conundrum of a civil war? 

Rosalinda

What would that even look like in the US anyways? Whoever’s in control of the military would win? If no other nation could challenge the global hegemon, what makes a militia think they could? 

Mister Cacciatore 

It wouldn’t be the first time in the history of the United States

Leyna

I still can’t get over that pie chart on our defense spending

Laura

Whilst we arm the rest of the world. 

Rosalinda

Yeah, it’s like in Monopoly, the banker isn’t a real player. Imagine if the banker could build hotels and earn 200 each time past go. The game would be totally rigged? 

Mister Cacciatore 

You pose an interesting question.

Pressure

Scene Five: Election number. Sung by Leyna. Mailroom scene with all the absentee ballots. Turns into a company tap dance number.

Musical Stylings: David Mansfield Tap: Sydney Ku

Act Three: River of Dreams

Scene One: Suspended Step Exhibition illustrating Europe’s Refugee Crisis

Bobby

Well I’m on the Downeaster Alexa

And I’m cruising through Block Island Sound

I have charted a course to the vineyard

But tonight, I am Nantucket bound

We took on diesel back in Montauk, yesterday

Left this morning from the bell in Gardiner’s Bay

Like all the locals here, I’ve had to sell my home

Too proud to leave, I worked my fingers to the bone

So I could own my Downeaster Alexa

And I go where the ocean is deep

There are giants out there in the canyons

And a good captain can’t fall asleep

I got bills to pay and children who need clothes

I know there’s fish out there, but where? God only knows

They say these waters aren’t what they used to be

But I got people back on land who count on me

So if you see my Downeaster Alexa

And if you work with the rod and the reel

Tell my wife I am trolling Atlantis

And I still have my hands on the wheel

Now I drive my Downeaster Alexa

More and more miles from shore every year

Since they tell me I can’t sell no stripers

And there’s no luck in swordfishing here

I was a bay man like my father was before

Can’t make a living as a bay man anymore

There ain’t much future for a man who works the sea

But there ain’t no island left for islanders like me

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh

Yeah, yeah, yeah, oh

SUSPENDED STEP SOLIDARITY SCENE:

Bobby (Ciaran McEnroe) Leyna (Hana Tatsutani) James (Thomas Phelps) Laura (Eshani Chakrabarti)

Bobby

I guess it’s hard to wrap my brain around. Thousands are met with these violent conditions and left stranded to struggle for their lives.

Leyna

To my understanding after the EU signed that deal with Turkey, it effectively ended the summer of migration and allowed the state to reclaim its monopoly on violence. 

James

They collectively punish thousands of economic and political refugees whose only crime is trying to reach safety in Europe.

Bobby

 I mean the camps are practically prisons for migrants.

Laura

 In our class on Mobility and Mutual Aid with the Oak Fellow, we’re interviewing activists and refugees and organizing materials for an online archive. It’s tag taught by my Global Studies professor, who also moonlights as a documentary filmmaker, and The Oak fellow this semester. 

Leyna

He’s an Afghan-Greek refugee/activist who helped found City Plaza Hotel.“No Pool, No Minibar, No Room Service, But Still the Best Hotel in Europe” . 

James

It was a hotel?

Leyna

 Activists and refugees squatted the hotel and turned it into a refugee accommodation space, housing thousands of stranded people from 2016 to 2019. 

Laura

My favorite professors have always been the ones who led interesting lives and decided a teaching stint was in the cards in place as magical as Maine. Plus, it’s really refreshing to have an in person class. 

James

The walls of the Dining Hall were totally bare before the political cartoon exhibition. Hopefully it will start a conversation in the community on the crisis 

Bobby

I guess I just wish that we could do something more. I think Suspended Step really got people thinking after the fires in Moria.

James

 My professor put it really well in class, he said the tragedy is not that Moria has burned again; the tragedy is that places like Moria exist at all. 

Laura

I just wish there was something tangible we could do. 

Leyna

We could sell tshirts in the dining hall?

James

I don’t know how inclined students would be to invest in another tshirt. 

Bobby

Why don’t we make masks? 

Laura

I am perpetually running out of masks. 

Leyna 

Selling something that everyone needs supporting refugee solidarity. Seems like a really meaningful way to show our support amidst social distancing. 

James

Maybe we could get Colby to match the money we make from masks?

Laura

Sure! This is a student led initiative inspired by the Oak Fellow. I’ve increasingly begun to think we make the college look good anyways 

Leyna

Sure and with ten million dollars committed to Covid it feels as if there are funds to be found.

Bobby

How much should we charge for the masks?

James

We should charge at least 12 so we break even.

Leyna

That’s too high. The double digits will dissuade people from buying.

Laura

What about $9 a mask?

James

That’s less expensive than the masks in the bookstore. 

Bobby

We’ll table in Foss outside the exhibition and send all the proceeds to solidarity efforts in Lesvos.

Leyna

We’ll send along a google doc to sign up for different collectives dedicated to tabling, mask masking and promotion.

Laura

Excellent work team! 

My Life: Act Three River of Dreams

Scene Two: Sung by James. He picks up a letter at the post office with Leyna, from a friend who has taken the semester off to drive across the country. It makes James question if he’s made the right decision returning back to school. He reads the letter aloud.

James

James, we were always friends

From our childhood days

And we made our plans

And we had to go our sep’rate ways

I went on the road

You pursued an education

James, do you like your life?

Can you find release?

And will you ever change?

Laura

Hey tune in Still Rock and Roll To Me WMHB 89.7FM!

James

Back in the booth? 

Laura

My electric chair.

 James 

Last week was the best of the british invasion? What have you got in store for us this week?

Laura

Wow you tuned in?

James

Well I actually heard it playing the shuttle

Laura

That’s so exciting! In theory my show should play in the dining halls too. 

James

You are single handedly spreading the rock and roll gospel through the college! 

Laura

This week I’m going track by track through Act One of my Billy Joel Musical.

James

How’s the musical coming?

Laura

There are so many great characters in his songs, it practically writes itself. 

James

Well what’s it about?

Laura

What do you mean? It’s about Billy Joel

James

Gotta jet. Best of luck in your electric chair.

James

When will you write your masterpiece?

Do what’s good for you

Or you’re not good for anybody

Are you still in school?

Living up to expectations?

James, you were so relied upon

Everybody knows how hard you tried

Hey – oh, look at what a job you’ve done

Carrying the weight of family pride

James, you’ve been well behaved

You’ve been working hard

But will you always stay

Someone else’s dream of who you are?

Do what’s good for you

Or you’re not good for anybody

James

I went on the road

You pursued an education

James, how you gonna know for sure?

Everything was so well organized

Hey, oh now everything is so secure

And everybody else is satisfied

James, do you like your life?

Can you find release?

And will you ever change?

When will you write your masterpiece?

Do what’s good for you

Or you’re not good for anybody

Angry Young Man

Angry Young Man: Musical Stylings Will Oliver

My Life: Act Three// Downeaster Alexa 

SCENE 3: James returns back to his room lamenting over being stuck in rural Maine, rather than recognizing the best parts of being on campus during Covid. Prelude/Angry Young Man sung by all the men in the show.

Tony

There’s a place in the world for the angry young man

With his working class ties and his radical plans

He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl

He’s always at home with his back to the wall

And he’s proud of his scars and the battles he’s lost

And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross

And he likes to be known as the angry young man

James

Give a moment or two to the angry young man

With his foot in his mouth and his heart in his hand

He’s been stabbed in the back, he’s been misunderstood

It’s a comfort to know his intentions are good

And he sits in a room with a lock on the door

With his maps and his medals laid out on the floor

And he likes to be known as the angry young man

Mr Cacciatore

I believe I’ve passed the age of consciousness and righteous rage

I found that just surviving was a noble fight

Sergeant John O’Leary

I once believed in causes too

I had my pointless point of view

And life went on no matter who was wrong or right

Bobby

And there’s always a place for the angry young man

With his fist in the air and his head in the sand

And he’s never been able to learn from mistakes

So he can’t understand why his heart always breaks

James

But his honor is pure and his courage as well

Tony

And he’s fair and he’s true and he’s boring as hell

Bobby

And he’ll go to the grave as an angry old man

Mister Cacciatore

There’s a place in the world for the angry young man

With his working class ties and his radical plans

He refuses to bend, he refuses to crawl

He’s always at home with his back to the wall

And he’s proud of his scars and the battles he’s lost

And he struggles and bleeds as he hangs on the cross

And he likes to be known as the angry young man

My Life: Act Three River of Dreams

Scene Four: Mary Low Coffee House Scene exploring how students have navigated the campus culture amidst Covid. With New York City about to enter a second lockdown, Josephine is still in a New York State of Mind.

Musical Stylings: Sydney Ku

My Life: Act Three// Suspended Step 

Scene Five: All You Want To Do Is Dance. James hears Laura on the radio and visits her in the booth. Show glimpses of different places the show is playing on the radio on campus (Brenda and Eddie driving around with the radio on/ Leyna Dancing)

My Life: Act Three

Scene Six: River of Dreams: The gang (James and Laura/Johnny and Bobby) run into Johnny after he realizes Rosalinda has a serious girlfriend. They are going to Moxie Falls and encourage him to tag along and enjoy the magic of Maine.

Percussion (NKS) Vocals (Eshani, Anisha and Manny Fresh)

Johnny

I’m so embarrassed 

James

What did you expect you never spoke to her 

Bobby

But ohhhh Rosalinda! 

Johnny

I don’t know if there’s anyone right for me at this school 

Laura

There are 15 people at this school 

Bobby

I’ve had just about enough of these Covid couples 

James

Bitter Bobby!

Laura

This is a small enough school that you can meet everyone and decide who your people are

James

Tag along why don’t ya?

Johnny

Where to?

Laura

 to the River of Dreams!

Bobby

Or Moxie Falls rather and experience the magic of Maine

James

It is one of the best part of going to school in this part of the country and I didn’t notice until senior year 

Johnny

Why not?

Group Number

In the middle of the night

I go walking in my sleep

From the mountains of faith

To the river so deep

I must be looking for something

Something sacred I lost

But the river is wide

And it’s too hard to cross

Even though I know the river is wide

I walk down every evening and I stand on the shore

I try to cross to the opposite side

So I can finally find out what I’ve been looking for

Act Two: You May Be Right, I May be Crazy

SCENE ONE: Tony begins his work study as a custodian. He notices Leyna working at the post office. 

Tony

Hey I think I got a package.

Leyna

Sure! Class year? 

Tony

There should be something there for Tony.

Leyna

Excuse me? We sort the packages by class year.

Tony

I’m not entirely sure off the top of my head.

Leyna

We have been getting in a thousand packages a day since the pandemic! Do you at least know your mailbox number or your class year perhaps?

Tony

My apologies. I can imagine with these lines out the door.

Leyna

It has been pandemonium 

Tony

 I’m on a work study for the semester, so I’m not sure if there’s a class year on the package, but I’ve got this concert I”m playing at in a little with some friends and there’s a guitar strap in the package that I’ve been trying to track down.

Leyna 

Let’s investigate. What’s the name of your band? 

Tony

It’s a work in progress. Somewhere in between the Goonies and Raiders of the Lost Ark.

Leyna

That’s a great name!

Tony

Like in Indiana Jones.

Leyna

Please. I was Indian Jones for Halloween. 

Tony

That’s pretty clever. Excuse me Professor Jones.

Leyna

My favorite’s gotta be Last Crusade. 007 as Indiana Jones’s father! He’s already like a fusion of James Bond and the Man With No Name but to have Sean Connery! 

Tony

You’re a Sergio Leone fan as well? 

Leyna

Sure! I’m a sucker for spaghetti westerns.

Josephine

Hey Leyna, I lost my mailbox key can you grab my ballot for me?

Leyna

Yes absolutely! 

Laura hands Tony his package from the top of the pile, clearly having capitalized on the chance to chat

Tony

What are the odds you’d want to go to this concert? 

Leyna

Why not?

Tony

You call that a yes?

Leyna 

I wouldn’t miss it for the world! 

My Life: Act Two// You May Be Right, I May be Crazy: Uptown Girl

SCENE TWO: Sung By Tony about Leyna. Backup guys are Johnny and Bobby mirroring The Longest Time and Say Goodbye To Hollywood, singing on the way to the Interfaith concert.

My Life: Act Two// You May Be Right, I May be Crazy: Only The Good Die Young

SCENE THREE: Interfaith Fellow Community Candle Lighting and Concert. Held at the top of Lorimer Chapel Hill

Laura

Welcome to the Interfaith Fellow Community Candle Lighting and Concert. Thank you for joining us for some songs in a spiritual setting, in a moment of togetherness amidst social distancing. After our student performers we’re going to light our candles in celebration of community and the chance to live and learn together. Up first we have “The Good, The Bad and The Ugly”!

Johnny

Who told Laura that was our name?

Tony

Leyna likes Leone movies 

Johnny

We might as well be the Band With No Name 

Bobby

I’ve been through the desert on a Horse with No Name 

Johnny

That’s not even a good one by America 

Tony

Do you see her 

Laura

Any day now fellas? 

My Life: Act Two// You May Be Right, I May be Crazy

SCENE THREE: Interfaith Fellow Community Candle Lighting and Concert. The band performs Only the Good Die Young. Held at the top of Lorimer Chapel Hill.

Johnny, Bobby and Tony

Come out Virginia, don’t let ’em wait

You Catholic girls start much too late

Aw but sooner or later it comes down to faith

Oh I might as well be the one

Well, they showed you a statue, told you to pray

They built you a temple and locked you away

Aw, but they never told you the price that you pay

For things that you might have done

Only the good die young

That’s what I said

Only the good die young

Only the good die young

You might have heard I run with a dangerous crowd

We ain’t too pretty we ain’t too proud

We might be laughing a bit too loud

Aw but that never hurt no one

So come on Virginia show me a sign

Send up a signal and I’ll throw you the line

The stained-glass curtain you’re hiding behind

Never let’s in the sun

Darlin’ only the good die young

Woah

I tell ya

Only the good die young

Only the good die young

You got a nice white dress and a party on your confirmation

You got a brand new soul

Mmm, and a cross of gold

But Virginia they didn’t give you quite enough information

You didn’t count on me

When you were counting on your rosary

(Oh woah woah)

They say there’s a heaven for those who will wait

Some say it’s better but I say it ain’t

I’d rather laugh with the sinners than cry with the saints

The sinners are much more fun

You know that only the good die young

I tell ya

Only the good die young

Only the good die young

Well your mother told you all that I could give you was a reputation

Aw she never cared for me

But did she ever say a prayer for me? oh woah woah

Come out come out come out Virginia don’t let ’em wait

You Catholic girls start much too late

Oh sooner or later it comes down to faith

Oh I might as well be the one

You know that only the good die young

I’m telling you baby

You know that only the good die young

Only the good die young

Only the good

Only the good die young

My Life: Act Two// You May Be Right, I May be Crazy: Lullabye (Goodnight My Angel)

SCENE THREE: Rosalinda sings Goodnight My Angel (Lullaby) at the Interfaith Fellow Concert. with Pastor Burns on the keys.

Rosalinda

Goodnight my angel, time to close your eyes

And save these questions for another day

I think I know what you’ve been asking me

I think you know what I’ve been trying to say

I promised I would never leave you

Then you should always know

Wherever you may go, no matter where you are

I never will be far away

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to sleep

And still so many things I want to say

Remember all the songs you sang for me

When we went sailing on an emerald bay

And like a boat out on the ocean

I’m rocking you to sleep

The water’s dark and deep, inside this ancient heart

You’ll always be a part of me

Goodnight my angel, now it’s time to dream

And dream how wonderful your life will be

Someday your child may cry, and if you sing this lullaby

Then in your heart there will always be a part of me

Someday we’ll all be gone

But lullabies go on and on

They never die

That’s how you and I will be

My Life: Act Two// You May Be Right, I May be Crazy: You May Be Right

SCENE FIVE: Duet between Laura and James. The Interfaith Concert is supposed to end with a community candle lighting where everyone celebrates making it through the semester, but it is hijacked with fireworks set off by James to spice up the event. The commotion causes a small fire, ending the concert and creating a flirty fight between Laura and James.

James:

Friday night I crashed your party

Saturday I said I’m sorry

Sunday came and trashed me out again

I was only having fun

Wasn’t hurting any one

And we all enjoyed the weekend for a change

Laura: 

You may be right

James: 

I may be crazy

But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for

Laura:

 Turn out the light

Don’t try to save me

You may be wrong for all I know

But you may be right

James: 

Remember how I found you there

Alone in your electric chair

I told you dirty jokes until you smiled

You were lonely for a man

Laura:

 I said take me as I am

‘Cause you might enjoy some madness for a while

James

:  Now think of all the years you tried to

Find someone to satisfy you

I might be as crazy as you say

Laura: 

If I’m crazy then it’s true

That it’s all because of you

James: 

And you wouldn’t want me any other way

Laura:

 You may be right

I may be crazy

James: 

But it just may be a lunatic you’re looking for

Laura:

 It’s too late to fight

James:

 It’s too late to change me

Laura:

 You may be wrong for all I know. But you may be right

Laura and James ride off and resign to give it a try..couldn’t go back to the Greasers, best they could do was pick up their pieces. We always knew they would both find a way to get by….

You may be wrong but you may be right

You may be wrong but you may be right

You may be wrong but you may be right

You may be wrong but you may be right

You may be wrong but you may be right

My Life: Act Two// You May Be Right, I May be Crazy: Innocent Man

Scene Six: Johnny goes to knock at Rosalinda’s door and is met with the surprise that Rosalinda has a serious girlfriend. Humiliated, he laments over his single status amidst a sea of Covid couples in college.

Johnny

Some people stay far away from the door

If there’s a chance of it opening up

They hear a voice in the hall outside

And hope that it just passes by

Some people live with the fear of a touch

And the anger of having been a fool

They will not listen to anyone

So nobody tells them a lie

[Bridge]

I know you’re only protecting yourself

I know you’re thinking of somebody else

Someone who hurt you

[Verse 2]

But I’m not above making up for the love

You’ve been denying you could ever feel

I’m not above doing anything

To restore your faith if I can

Some people see

Through the eyes of the old

Before they ever get

A look at the young

I’m only willing to hear you cry

Because I am an innocent man

[Chorus]

I am an innocent man

Oh, yes I am

[Verse 3]

Some people say they will never believe

Another promise they hear in the dark

Because they only remember too well

They heard somebody tell them before

Some people sleep all alone every night

Instead of taking a lover to bed

Some people find that it’s easier to hate

Then to wait anymore

[Bridge]

I know you don’t want to hear what I say

I know you’re gonna keep turning away

But I’ve been there

[Verse 4]

And if I can survive I can keep you alive

I’m not above going through it again

I’m not above being cool for a while

If you’re cruel to me, I’ll understand

Some people run from a possible fight

Some people figure they can never win

And although this is a fight I can lose

The accused is an innocent man

[Chorus]

I am an innocent man

Oh, yes I am

An innocent man

[Bridge]

You know you only hurt yourself out of spite

I guess you’d rather be a martyr tonight

That’s your decision

[Verse 5]

But I’m not below anybody I know

If there’s a chance of resurrecting a love

I’m not above going back to the start

To find out where the heartache began

Some people hope for a miracle cure

Some people just accept the world as it is

But I’m not willing to lay down and die

Because I am an innocent man

[Chorus]

I am an innocent man

Oh, yes I am

An innocent man