THE LEADING LADIES - OUR BROADWAY
Valley Musical Theatre, July 7, 2006
ACT I
Band enters.
CD plays pre-record as lights dim:
GOOD EVENING AND WELCOME. PLEASE TAKE THIS TIME TO TURN OFF ALL CELLPHONES AND PAGERS, AND REMEMBER THAT THE USE OF PHOTOGRAPHY AND PERSONAL RECORDING DEVICES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED. PLEASE NOTE THAT THE PERFORMERS YOU’RE ABOUT TO SEE ARE PROFESSIONALLY TRAINED; ATTEMPTING ANY NOTE HIGHER THAN A B-FLAT WITHOUT SUPERVISION IS NOT RECOMMENDED, AND COULD LEAD TO SERIOUS INJURY. PROLONGED EXPOSURE TO SOPRANOS COULD CAUSE SIDE EFFECTS WHICH MAY INCLUDE: DIZZINESS, RINGING IN THE EARS, HEART PALPITATIONS, MINOR ITCHING AND OCCASIONAL SWELLING. FOR SYMPTOMS LASTING LONGER THAN FOUR HOURS, CONSULT YOUR PHYSICIAN. THANK YOU.
Stage goes completely dark. Band plays intro. LLs sing from off stage as lights build slowly:
ALL
YOU’RE OUT OF THE WOODS, YOU’RE OUT OF THE DARK, YOU’RE OUT OF THE NIGHT
STEP INTO THE SUN, STEP INTO THE LIGHT
KEEP STRAIGHT AHEAD FOR THE MOST GLORIOUS PLACE
ON THE FACE OF THE EARTH OR THE SKY
HOLD ONTO YOUR BREATH, HOLD ONTO YOUR HEART, HOLD ONTO YOUR HOPE
MARCH UP TO THE GATE AND BID IT OPEN – AH!
OPEN – AH!
AH-----------
As band starts intro to SOMETHING’S COMING, v/o announcer says or pre-record:
LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, PLEASE WELCOME -- THE LEADING LADIES!
The Ladies enter, and they sing:
SOMETHING'S COMING/I CAN SEE IT (trio)
LEADING LADY 1
Thank you all for coming out tonight to support Valley Musical Theatre! My name is LEADING LADY 1.
LEADING LADY 2
I’m LEADING LADY 2.
LEADING LADY 3
And I’m LEADING LADY 3. Together, we’re The Leading Ladies.
LEADING LADY 1
And you may know that we all have one special role in common.
(John plays scary intro chords to “Phantom”. All look at him.)
LEADING LADY 1 (cont)
Yes, thank you, John. Everyone, this is our music director, John Sawoski. We’ll get to that a little bit later.
Now we all know that there are certain groups of women who traditionally do NOT get along.
LEADING LADY 2
Beauty pageant contestants.
LEADING LADY 3
Mothers of cheerleaders.
LEADING LADY 1
And Leading Ladies. (Have you ever BEEN outside an audition studio with nine women who were auditioning for the same part? Oooooh)
LEADING LADY 2
But, we are here tonight to dispel that myth!
LEADING LADY 3
Yes, you see before you three women with practically the same resume, and we’re friends.
LEADING LADY 1
We are.
LEADING LADY 2
Really! And now we get to sing together and we love it. So – let’s have some fun!
IT'S A GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING (trio)
FALLING OUT OF LOVE CAN BE FUN (trio)
LEADING LADY 3
To the naked eye, LEADING LADY 1, LEADING LADY 2 and I look very different from each other, don’t we? But in the musical theatre world we look exactly the same! When I said earlier that we have practically the same resume, I wasn’t kidding. We’ve done lots of the same roles including that role from that CERTAIN show --
(John plays the “Phantom” chords again, with more commitment)
LEADING LADY 3 (cont.)
Yep, that’s it! But there’s always that special role and that song you’ll never tire of singing. For me it happened in my very first show in
TIL THERE WAS YOU (LEADING LADY 3)
IF I WERE A
TONIGHT (LEADING LADY 1)
LEADING LADY 2
So, I turned 40. And I’m taking my afternoon nap and I wake up thinking “Hey, I’ll call LEADING LADY 1 and see what she thinks about…”
LEADING LADY 1
Meanwhile, just across town, I’m on the treadmill at the gym…
LEADING LADY 2
Do you see the dichotomy here?
LEADING LADY 1
And I’m thinking, “I’ve got the most fantastic idea!” Fade out, Fade in. our first meeting at Aroma Café, that cute little place on Tujunga and Moorpark –
(LEADING LADY 1 and LEADING LADY 3 set up stools during this next speech.)
LEADING LADY 2
A little coffee, a little lemon cake… Have you had their lemon cake? Mmm. Anyway, no matter how we get our ideas, at that first meeting it was clear that together we were better than ever. It’s all about teamwork. And you know what they say, three heads are better than one. Right girls? Hey, what’s…
(As she realizes there’s no stool for her, music starts.)
LONELY GOATHERD (trio)
LEADING LADY 3
This next song is from the musical TITANIC. It’s one of our favorites, well, because it’s about three women, it’s about hope, and we just think it’s beautiful.
LADY'S MAID (trio)
COME TO MY GARDEN (LEADING LADY 1 and LEADING LADY 3)
(During applause, LEADING LADY 2 and LEADING LADY 3 bring mic stands out to center)
LEADING LADY 1
We have a question for you. What would a three-girl act be without a little ANDREWS SISTERS?
BEI MIR BIST DU SCHON (trio)
(LEADING LADY 1 and LEADING LADY 2 take mic stands off)
LEADING LADY 3
It is time for Final Jeopardy. Category is: Hit Broadway Musicals. The answer is: T.S. Eliot, Victor Hugo and Robert Lewis Stephenson. (John plays theme.) Time is up. LEADING LADY 2?
LEADING LADY 2
Who were the three tenors? (buzz from John)
LEADING LADY 3
I’m sorry, that is incorrect. LEADING LADY 1?
LEADING LADY 1
Who were the three authors who penned classic writings about feline follies, the French Revolution and man’s inner turmoil of good versus evil, which in turn were conscripted by fame-seeking composers, whose music made them into the wildly popular Broadway theatrical experiences of “Cats”, “Les Miserables”, and “Jekyll & Hyde”?
(LEADING LADY 2 and LEADING LADY 3 do slow take to audience)
LEADING LADY 2
This next medley of songs comes from those musicals, starting with “Aspects of Love”. We put them all together… and they fit! They fit so well that we decided to put them on our CD… Did I mention that we have a CD? Well, we do! It features our original cast, and it’ll be available in the lobby at intermission and after the show. So no more talking, just singing – here are some highlights from our CD.
LOVE/DREAM/OWN (trio)
MEMORY (trio)
SING FOR YOUR SUPPER (trio)
(John and band enter. After house lights dim, they start high hat intro to THREE LITTLE MAIDS. Ladies enter on high hat.)
THREE LITTLE MAIDS (trio)
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A DAME (trio)
LEADING LADY 3
Hi, welcome back! You know, I have to say, there are two great things about being the Leading Ladies. First of all, we get to wear fabulous gowns! What do you think of these?
(all twirl)
And the second thing is: See how we got to sing that tune just now from “South Pacific”?--There are no men on stage to steal all the great songs!
LEADING LADY 1
Oh, how true. It happens all the time! For instance, in that certain show we talked about before,
(ALL do quick look to John -- don’t even think about it!)
LEADING LADY 1 (cont)
We’ve all heard that “The Music of the Night” was originally written for Christine. Hmmm… somehow, it got given to Michael Crawford.
LEADING LADY 2
And you know what WE got to do in that number? Well, we got to do a lot of this:
(Everyone stands looking straight forward)
LEADING LADY 3
A little of this:
(Everyone closes their eyes and tilts their head sideways)
LEADING LADY 1
And at the end, we got to fall on the floor!
LEADING LADY 3
Well, we’re getting our revenge here tonight. Because it’s OUR show, we can sing anything we want to – even songs typically sung by MEN.
STANDING ON THE CORNER (trio)
IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU (LEADING LADY 1)
HEY THERE (LEADING LADY 3)
IMPOSSIBLE DREAM (LEADING LADY 2)
LEADING LADY 2
Now that I have you all to myself… there’s something I’d like to tell you. You know LEADING LADY 1? She has cats: Miracle, Boo and Harley. LEADING LADY 3… likes to name the animals in her yard. It’s not quite right. I have a daughter. Not that that makes me superior. She’s ten years old, she’s going to be in fifth grade and her name is Maddy. Madison Claire Parks. And she’s really, really, really smart and funny and she’s so beautiful… I’ve put together a little slide show.
LEADING LADY 1 (entering with LEADING LADY 3)
Uh, LEADING LADY 2…
LEADING LADY 3
We thought you were going to introduce the next song.
LEADING LADY 2
Oh, I was just getting to that. Kirk?
(Kirk begins playing)
LEADING LADY 2 (cont)
Kirk Smith on bass, everybody! This song has been sung to Maddy at bedtime every night since she was a baby. After ten years, it’s harder to get the girls to come over every night…
MOONSHINE LULLABY (trio)
LEADING LADY 1
INGENUE. Noun. French derivation, from the Latin, “ingenuus”. An ingenuous or naïve young girl or young woman, or an actress representing such a person.
LEADING LADY 2
You know, we haven’t JUST played Christine. We’ve done hundreds of roles among us. However, I’d say a good 80% of them have been ingénues.
LEADING LADY 3
INGENUOUS. Adjective. Artlessly frank, open, candid, naïve.
LEADING LADY 1
(topping her) NAÏVE. Adjective. Having unaffected simplicity.
LEADING LADY 2
What we’re TRYING to say is: After having successfully INGENUOUS careers, we’ve reached a point where we just need to be a little jaded and bitter.
LEADING LADY 1
Is that bad?
THE GLAMOROUS LIFE (trio)
PERPETUAL ANTICIPATION (trio)
PRETTY WOMEN (trio)
YOU COULD DRIVE A PERSON CRAZY (trio)
LEADING LADY 1
I have a story.
LEADING LADY 3
Tell us, LEADING LADY 1.
LEADING LADY 1
Awhile back, I was driving down the road, listening to my favorite radio station, when an ad came on for some big concert event that was about to happen here in town. The announcer guy TALKED LIKE THIS and he says, THIS BAND IS PLAYING, and then plays a snippet of their stuff. And he says, SO COOL! AND THIS BAND WILL BE THERE, and another piece of music… TOTALLY COOL! And then, he plays a piece of Julie Andrews singing “The hills are alive..” and then the sound eeekkkkk – of a needle being scratched across the record, and he says, NOT COOL! Och! I nearly had to pull over. What’s THAT about? I grew up wanting to BE Julie Andrews. I LOVE Julie Andrews, and I’m cool. At least I like to think I’m cool sometimes. I have … a tattoo and a toe ring. I drive a Prius! I, I…
LEADING LADY 3
Yes, LEADING LADY 1, of course you’re cool! Absolutely!
LEADING LADY 2
You wanna sing something now to show how cool you are?
LEADING LADY 1
Oh yeah, that’s a great idea! Let’s see, I could… Well, there’s…. (sigh) I got nothin’. I’m not cool.
LEADING LADY 2
Aw, honey. You wanna just sing something pretty?
(LEADING LADY 1 nods)
LEADING LADY 1
Could we at least have a guitar?
LEADING LADY 2
Of course we can! Is there a guitar player in the house? (She calls Corey onto the stage.)
HERE THERE AND EVERYWHERE (trio)
LEADING LADY 3
Corey Yaktus on guitar, everybody! Thanks so much!
One thing that is so amazing about art is that you just never know when something’s going to really move you. You could be at the opera, the ballet, or an art gallery, and suddenly something just touches you deeply. Just this past January that happened to me – it happened to all of us with THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA on Broadway. We knew we just had to put something from that into our show. So please indulge us – here’s a selection from THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA.
STATUES AND STORIES (trio)
LEADING LADY 2
Okay. “The Phantom of the Opera”… Each one of us has had the pleasure of playing the role of Christine on Broadway and all over the country – even in
LEADING LADY 1
Combined, I think we’ve played the role more than 4,000 times! And we’ve played opposite 32 different Phantoms.
LEADING LADY 3
4,000 times! Do you realize that means we’ve played the role for 19 years? It’s like the Hotel California.
LEADING LADY 1
You can check out anytime you like.
ALL
But you can never leave!
LEADING LADY 1
We all found ourselves back on stage at the Majestic Theatre in January, when PHANTOM broke the CATS record of longest running show in Broadway history. 7,486 performances!
LEADING LADY 3
It was an incredible night! A specially orchestrated and staged ending to the show that brought back most of the original cast, including Michael Crawford, plus several other Phantoms, a slew of Raouls and a bevy of Christines.
LEADING LADY 2
It was an emotional experience – the end of the show with all of us on stage, confetti flying, balloons dropping, people hugging… And to top it all off: a masked ball at the Waldorf.
LEADING LADY 1
It was TOTALLY COOL! It’s a role that’s meant a lot to us over the years, so we’d like to close tonight with a little bit of “Phantom”.
(Get into place, awkward pause…. All look at each other, then slowly at John. He just looks at us.)
ALL
John…
JOHN
What?
ALL
Now!
JOHN
Oh! (starts intro)
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA MEDLEY (trio)
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA (trio)
ANGEL OF MUSIC (trio)
THE MUSIC OF THE NIGHT (trio)
WISHING YOU WERE SOMEHOW HERE AGAIN (LEADING LADY 2)
ALL I ASK OF YOU (LEADING LADY 3)
THINK OF ME (LEADING LADY 1 and trio ending)
LEADING LADY 3
We'd like to thank Kirk Smith on bass, Steve Pemberton on drums, Corey Yaktus on guitar and, of course, our music director John Sawoski on piano.
LEADING LADY 1
Thank you, Ronn Goswick, Steve Donner, and everybody here at the El Portal and Valley Musical Theatre for taking such good care of us.
LEADING LADY 2
And thank you all for coming out to support this new theatre company. We hope it’s a huge success. We'll see you all out in the lobby – we’ll even autograph your CDs if you like. But most importantly, we’d love to meet each and every one of you.
LEADING LADY 3
We’re going to say goodbye with a beautiful song that…?
THE PRAYER (trio)
SONG LIST
OPTIMISTIC VOICES :40
SOMETHING'S COMING/I CAN SEE IT 3:20
GRAND NIGHT FOR SINGING 1:55
FALLING OUT OF LOVE CAN BE FUN 3:00
ROLES SECTION:
TIL THERE WAS YOU 3:00
IF I WERE A
TONIGHT 2:50
THE LONELY GOATHERD 2:15
LADY'S MAID 3:50
COME TO MY GARDEN 2:15
BEI MIR BIST DU SCHON 2:50
ALBUM SECTION:
LOVE/DREAM/OWN MEDLEY 5:36
MEMORY 3:20
SING FOR YOUR SUPPER 2:35
TOTAL ACT I: 38:40
THERE IS NOTHING LIKE A DAME 1:40
STANDING ON THE CORNER 1:45
IF EVER I WOULD LEAVE YOU 2:08
HEY THERE 2:03
IMPOSSIBLE DREAM 2:38
MOONSHINE LULLABY 3:40
SONDHEIM SECTION:
THE GLAMOROUS LIFE :46
PERPETUAL ANTICIPATION :48
PRETTY WOMEN 3:00
YOU COULD DRIVE A PERSON CRAZY 2:05
HERE, THERE AND EVERYWHERE 3:30
STATUES AND STORIES 4:00
THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA MEDLEY 8:00
THE PRAYER 4:20
TOTAL ACT II: 42:43