Shows "O"

ORDINARY DAYS Music and Lyrics by Adam Gwon January - May 2011 - Trafalgar Studios 2, London SYNOPSIS This is a refreshingly honest and funny musical about making real connections in the city that never sleeps (but probably should at some point). Ordinary Days tells the story of four young New Yorkers whose lives intersect as they search for fulfillment, happiness, love and cabs. Through a score of vibrant and memorable songs, their experiences ring startlingly true to life. This is an original musical for anyone who's ever struggled to appreciate the simple things in a complex place. With equal doses of humour and poignancy, it celebrates how 8.3 million individual stories combine in unexpected ways to make New York City such a unique and extraordinary home. STORY Warren is an artist in New York city. He is employed by an artist who painted “pithy sayings” across the city. This led to the artist getting arrested, and the artist hired Warren to watch his cat while he’s in jail. Warren intends to spread the artist’s vision by making flyers with the sayings instead. Although people are not interested in his work, he remains very ambitious, declaring that one day “This Whole Entire City’s Gonna Look at Me” (“One by One by One”). Deb is a graduate student also in New York. She had grown up in the countryside, and found her ambitions constantly limited by her circumstances. As a result, she moved to New York for grad school (“Don’t Wanna Be Here”). Meanwhile, Jason is moving in with his girlfriend Claire so there is less space between them (“The Space Between”). To do this, he must rearrange the furniture as well as throw out old mementos, which Claire has trouble letting go of (“Let Things Go”). In grad school, Deb is working on a thesis on Virginia Woolf. One day, she discovers that her notes are not in her bag where she kept them. Distressed, she imagines writing to her supervisor Professor Thompson asking for an extension, knowing full well that Professor Thompson had warned that he will never grant extensions (“Dear Professor Thompson (Pt. 1)”). Meanwhile, Warren explains his collection of trinkets that he found on the streets, which grants him a view of other people’s life stories. He finds Deb’s notes and discovers an email address and a name (“Life Story”). Deb is composing ever more frantic emails to Professor Thompson (“Dear Professor Thompson (Pt. 2)” when Warren contacts her. Claire and Jason are fighting over the limited space in Claire’s apartment. They reminiscence over an old article with the “Top ten things to do in New York before you leave it”. They had worked through all ten things throughout their relationship. Although Claire still thinks about her past, Jason suggests an eleventh item (“I’m Trying”). Warren suggests that he return Deb’s notes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, under a painting by Claude Monet. Deb is flustered because the traffic around the museum is awful, the museum is huge, and she has trouble finding the painting. Jason suggests visiting the museum as the 11th item, but Claire does not enjoy the paintings (“Saturday at the Met”). Jason realizes the trip to the museum did not work out well but resolves to try to get through to Claire anyway, because Claire’s heart is one of his favourite places (“Favourite Places”). Warren finds Deb and gives her back her notes, explaining that he had read the notes and drawn a detailed mental picture of the occasion. Deb is annoyed because she considers Warren a weirdo but controls herself and offers to treat Warren to coffee (“Sort of Fairy Tale”). Jason and Claire are shopping for a bottle of wine for a party by Claire’s cousin. They disagree over what wine to get, then argue further when the taxi to the party gets stuck in a traffic jam, and when they get out to walk, it starts to rain. Claire starts worrying about her hair, shoe, bag, and dress, and how they are going to be late, but Jason can only think about how beautiful the rain makes Claire look. Abruptly, he proposes to Claire (“Fine”).

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