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LUCKY MAN a musical play for small theatre or dinner theatre written by John Brownrigg (c) 1978 revised 2005
Band in position in silhouette only: Everyone is in silhouette until they perform:
SONG ONE: - QUESTION (band & vocalist only)
John enters and sits during song: Performance lights on during action otherwise off.
JOHN: I’ve often thought about life and death, love and loss but until yesterday the reality, the finality of things hadn’t really got to me. It had gotten close… but yesterday ... well.
SONG 2 - ONLY LOVERS KNOW (There can be more) (band & vocalist only)
Dancers enter after song: INCIDENT LM 01 / with DANCERS into and during narrative:
JOHN: I was just another lad growing up in post War Liverpool. The Korean War was over. Elvis was still at school and the Quarry men hadn’t yet formed. It was my first day at Primary school ... "Oh I don't wanna go in" "It'll be alright son, off you go now". As Mum pushed the door open it creaked so loud I almost didn't make it. I felt everyone stop and turn to look at me. ‘I hope they don't notice my fly’s kept together by a safety pin or my cows lick’s plastered down with chip grease’. God I was scared. "Good morning Miss Shepherd". Teacher was definitely my first crush. I remember commenting on how red her long legs were. Some of the older boys later told me she was ‘doing it’ with the Art teacher. I didn't believe that stuff. Grown ups wouldn't, couldn't do anything like that. Someone even said my mum and dad did it to get me. Ha! Imagine me coming out of my mum's tummy. She's not much taller than me, I'd never of fit in. I was introduced to the rest of the class, not that I can remember much but it was there I met Peter. Now Peter was bigger than me, good with his fists. He and I became great friends. In fact it was because of him I eventually met Dusty.
SONG 3 - LET ME IN (band & vocalist with female dancer only – Spanish style dance)
JOHN: "Your hair's hopeless, with that cows lick you'll never hold a crew cut". It was 1961 and Peter and I were 13 years old. He had that thick wiry hair you needed to make a great crew cut, like Tony Curtis had. Mine was too fine and kept falling flat. "Oh lay off. Maybe I could use some of my mothers hair spray". "Oh really, give us a kiss" Peter was always the humorist. Anyway we went to the local Barbers. We all went there because Rory, the local Rock star, worked there for his Dad. In I went and out again. "What's wrong with you?" Asked Peter. "You've gone bright red" "Who was that, that girl in there? I can't go back in, she'll laugh at me" "Oh for Gods sake. That's Dusty, Rory's girlfriend. Come on". So we went back in. Now Miss Shepherd may have been a crush but Dusty was open lust. "Come back and see me when you're a few years older Johnny" Dusty was saying to me. I couldn't believe it. Come back when I'm older! I took off like an arrow from a bow. I could hardly breath, I didn't know where to hide. I just ran...
INCIDENT LM 02 / plus DANCERS into continuing narrative:
JOHN: What happened to you the other day?" Peter asked while we walked to school. "Oh I don't know. Did Dusty say anything after I left?" "No, her and Rory got engaged you know. But her mother said she was too young" "But she's getting on. She was 17 last week" "Yeh" "Hey Pete, how about, you know, you and me forming a band?" "Like Rory's you mean?" "Yes but better. I mean there’s Dennis the Menace at school, his Dad plays drums in the Sally Army so he’s got a bass drum and there's Geoff Mac from the Catholic school, his old man's got a piano in their front room. Well what do you think?" "What would I play?" Asked Peter. "You play Bass and I'll play guitar. Come on, what do you say?" "It sounds great. Let's do it"
SONG 4 - GIVE PEACE A 2nd CHANCE (All perform dance & sing)
JOHN: For the next few years we played a little and fantasised a lot, until we heard about this fantastic club downtown. It was there I first heard The Beatles. The place was the Cavern. Wow! Could those guys play, and the girls ... Long hair, tight mini skirts, polo neck jumpers, black stockings and leather coats. Beatniks they were called. And once again I fell in love. Her name was Francine and she had the biggest set of maracas I'd ever put my hands on. The only problem was, she'd only go with the guys in the group. So even though we had a great time rubbing up against each other on the dance floor, that was as far as it went. After discussing this with Peter I found he was having the same trouble. So we decided to get serious about the band…
Continue NARRATIVE: plus INCIDENT LM 03 / with male DANCER only:
JOHN: … "Dad, I need an electric guitar with an amplifier. I'm going to form a proper band and play at the Cavern". "Oh yes" He said. "We'll see". Fortunately for me he did do something. He brought home my first amplifier, a Selmer 10 watt amp and a Framus guitar. Well that did it. Francine wouldn't leave me alone. In fact I found that while I had Francine in the audience, I had Gloria in the back room and Sharon in the car. Man what a life. Somewhere during this time we actually learned to make music and did in fact play at the Cavern many times.
SONG 5 - AND YOU MAY SAY ( band & vocalist only)
JOHN: One day Peter showed up with this gorgeous lady in tow. "My God it's Dusty" I ran up to her and gave her a kiss, and for the first time in many years I went pink with embarrassment. "Well look at you now, all grown up" "Yes" I said, "I'm 18 now" "More like 16 you mean" She said, giving me the most beautiful smile I'd ever seen. Peter quickly interrupted. "Dusty and me are going together. We'll see you around" "Oh, oh all right" I stammered. I was hopelessly in love with my best friends girlfriend. I couldn't sleep, couldn't eat, and lost all interest in music, the telly, and the footy. Christ it was such an all-consuming feeling. Dusty and Peter went together for a couple more weeks, but I could tell she was becoming more interested in me than Peter and I didn't know what to do about it. Anyway, when Peter walked in and found me kissing Dusty that was it. He knocked me flat and quit the band all in the same instant. "Oh Christ, what'll we do now?” "Never mind him" Said Dusty as she closed the door and took off her jacket and for the rest of that night and most of the next day, I didn't mind anything. Dusty and I became a thing after that. I was the youngest guest at her 21st birthday. I was glad I'd introduced Peter to Francine when I did. We were all good friends again and life looked pretty sweet.
SONG 6 - IT’S ONLY LOVE (band & vocalist)
JOHN: "What's wrong Peter? You're shaking" "It's Franny, she's dead!" "What the hell are you talking about? I saw her yesterday, she was as well as you or me" "Was it an accident?" "Yeh, pills" "Oh Jesus"
INCIDENT LM 04 / with DANCERS into and during narrative:
JOHN: We'd all dabbled in pills. Uppers, downers, purple hearts, Dexedrine, Methedrine. They were all so easy to get, especially 'Hearts' or 'Mothers little helpers'. Any Doctor would prescribe them. There effects were devastating. I remember well, you dropped a pill and you loved the world and everyone in it. Everything was rosy. The worst of enemies were the best of friends. But then the comedown. Oh hell the emptiness, your gut ached from the hollow feeling in your heart and head. You just wanted to scream. You became defeated, utterly useless and dejected. It was during a downer that Franny had run out of the house she was sharing with Peter and had gone straight under a double decker bus… We were all at the funeral, Pete, Dusty and me. The rest of the band even played. All the local kids put flowers on the grave and in their hair and recited their favourite poems over her. The whole thing turned in to a love-in. With everyone getting stoned and loving everyone else. "It's time to get out" I said to Peter. "Let's leave the country, go somewhere else and start again" But Pete was the true diehard Englishman. "No, not me Johnno, I'm giving up the band and taking a job with me Dad on the railways. I think you should go though. How about Dusty?" "Yeh Dusty" Well I was confused.
SONG 7 - SHE DON’T CARE (band & vocalist)
JOHN: It didn't take me long to organise my move. "Where will you go?" Asked Dusty as I was leaving. "Well London's the first stop. Then who knows”? Dusty was very much a true beautiful person of the flower power set. She understood when I said I wanted to leave, in fact I think she was slightly relieved. You see there'd been this older, smooth looking cat, who I believed was a Doctor. I'd noticed him hanging around talking to Dusty, so I thought, 'That's the way the wind blows', and left.
INCIDENT LM 05 / with DANCERS:
JOHN: Time was passing by. I’d been in the merchant navy for four years. In fact I had my 21st birthday party smack bang in the middle of the Atlantic, half way between Liverpool and New York, on the weekly run I was on for The Blue Funnel Line. The Vietnam War had become a real thing during this time and like most people of my age I thanked God I was living in England and not America or Australia. National service did not appeal to me. Oh not that I minded the confinement of the army, I was used to that in the merch, but because I didn't relish the thought of killing someone I didn't know in a place I'd never heard of for reasons I didn't understand. Then, in 1970, the Beatles officially disbanded. I really felt a sinking in my heart. It was through their success that so many lads like me, from Liverpool, had been able to hold their heads up a couple of inches above anyone else's… But then that's an unfair pressure to lay on the shoulders of the four mop tops from the Cavern.
SONG 8 - BLUES IS A FEELING (band & vocalist )
JOHN: About that same time I landed back in Liverpool and was invited to a party. Believe it or not, Dusty was there. She was very married, at least 6 months worth and to her Doctor. 'Oh well cheap medical bills' I thought. "Have you seen Peter?" She asked, like I'd never been away. “Peter?” Then as though he'd heard, he came in to the room. "Johnno”. “How’ve you been?" “I got married. Wife two kids. Working on the railways and livin’ in Uncle Dicks old house round the corner from me mums. How about you?" "Oh I've been around, you know, in the navy" "Yeh I heard. Do you remember Dennis?” “You mean The Menace?” “Yeh. He’s dead. Drunk himself to death…choked in his own vomit”! …
Continue NARRATIVE: plus INCIDENT LM 06 / with DANCERS:
JOHN: … That was the last time I visited Liverpool. I decided to try a new country. Australia was still taking immigrants and rather than wait I landed a job as an AB on a Japanese Freighter bound for Botany Bay and jumped ship.
SONG 9 - YOU’VE GOT TO LISTEN (All perform)
JOHN: Australia, what a shock! I expected kangaroos hopping in the centre of town, chain gangs working on dirt roads, no telly, and no rock music. Boy was I ever wrong. The life was so different. Everyone was so healthy. Girls with long brown legs, sun bleached hair, sunshine, surf, it was fantastic, especially for a lost little boy from Liverpool. The distance between places was astonishing. I mean John O Groats to Lands End might be the length of Great Britain but here it's just the distance you travel to go to a Bar-B-Que. This wonderful continent won my heart and it didn't take long for me to make the local scene. What with my lily-white skin and loud scouse accent. I was soon the local novelty. A ‘necessary invitee’ to all the ‘St. Lucia’ parties. The successful ones that is. It was at the annual debutants ball at the Royal Golf club, the same one as the Queensland Governor attended and Prince Phillip played at during his last visit to the colonies, it was there I first met Bonnie.
SONG 10 - I NEED YOU ( band / vocalist / female dancer)
JOHN: I was singing with a band and we were 'The' band for that special party. As the gig was the Queensland Governors daughter’s 21st do, we were booked to perform. Now when you've been brought up working class Liverpool and then AB on a merchant ship, you know absolutely nothing about dinner suits, etiquette, debutants Balls and Golf Clubs. So I rolled up in my usual. Jeans, check shirt, hair down to my waist, black nail polish and earring, ready to sing rock and roll. I soon realised 'The Shadows' were welcome but 'Woodstock' was a dirty word. I didn't know 'Flinglebunt' so I sang ‘My Generation’ and 'A whole lot of shakin' and believe it or not the whole place did shake. Especially when I hit the footpath after being physically ejected by a most irate father of a certain Priscilla who had been shaking her charms in front of the stage and of course I'd helped her remove the obstructing keepers just to allow her more room to breath... Fortunately, though it didn't seem that way at first, Bonnie was leaving at the same time as I got chucked out. She thought it was very funny. I liked this girl instantly. You know that happens sometimes, just like your cat takes to your new Golden Hamster. But Bonnie was very sophisticated. She understood me before I understood myself and all of a sudden my life seemed to have a purpose. So rather than seek life long ambition 'To win the pools'. I got a proper job. Machine operator on a production line making wire fencing. My God. Work! What a drag. The place was a sweatshop. It stank, was roasting hot, had open toilets, no doors and paid lousy money. If this was the norm, I didn't want it. So once again the wanderlust that was my life took hold and I headed up the bush towards Cairns. Bonnie was pretty upset but she knew I was too immature to accept any responsibilities like a wife and kids. So she told me she loved me and asked me to write.
SONG 11 - LOVE ME LIKE A WOMAN (band vocalist & dancers)
JOHN: Cairns and the Reef were fantastic. The sun, the beach, the laid-back life style. I landed a job as on a Marlin boat, combination chef and in-house entertainer. After several months of this very invigorating and rewarding life I'd saved enough money to buy a decent sound system and an old Holden ute so I headed back to civilization and Bonnie… Well that was yesterday and today … well.
Continue NARRATIVE: plus INCIDENT LM 07 / with DANCERS:
JOHN: Bonnie had taken ill not long after I'd left town. They said she's been asking for me, but no one knew where I was. She was 3 months pregnant and her heart couldn’t cope... Anyway she’d died not knowing I loved her. I always will and if I can ever forgive myself for leaving her when I did. I might someday smile again. But that seems a long way off at this time in my life. That's the end of this story but not of my life … I get to live on. Oh Lucky man that I am.
SONG 12 - MY ISLAND HOME (Dancers interact with John. John walks off at end of song) Lights to black. End of play:
Original Songs: QUESTION ONLY LOVERS KNOW LET ME IN GIVE PEACE A 2ND CHANCE AND YOU MAY SAY ITS ONLY LOVE SHE DON’T CARE BLUES WITH A FEELING / I NEED YOU YOU’VE GOT TO LISTEN I NEED YOU / MY FINEST HOUR LOVE ME LIKE A WOMAN MY ISLAND HOME
The story is told by the narrator as if he is simply letting his mind speak aloud. He is sitting on a stool with overhead light flooding down over him (an unshaded light bulb). He’s unshaven and unkempt having not slept in 24 hours.
Band and vocalist sitting besides but behind him / one male and one female dancer are opposite the band. Band, singer and dancers are in silhouette until they perform.
Black and white lighting only is used so the piece is seen as in a dream. Incident music and dance is directly related to the spoken story. At times interacting with the actor as it happens. This helps pin one piece to another. The music and songs reflect the mood and the times of the piece more so than directly telling more of the story…although this does happen with ‘Island Home’ in the finale.
The set is stark, using light only. Dress is black and white.
The dancers dance in ‘modern ballet’ style. Dramatically acting out in movement the spoken word, helping to graphically explain a particular event after or sometimes during the spoken word.
The band is unplugged and performs live all music, melody and incident pieces.
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A ROCK MUSIC OPERA OF THE NEW MILLENNIUM |