alex stern (thewheelwalker) wrote in valloic, @ 2023-10-24 08:05:00 |
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Entry tags: | !: action/thread/log, ₴ inactive: alex stern, ₴ inactive: darlington |
Vallo Musical: Alex Stern
Who: Alex Stern, with a brief guest star from Darlington
What: Alex gets hit with the musical bug, and Whit is nostalgic for an early Lorde EP
Where: Main Street and the Library of Alexandria
Song Reference: Love Club by Lorde
Anything else? Fine with anyone seeing this!
MUSICAL NUMBER
Black Elm. Alex and Darlington are together at the breakfast nook. Alex sits on the barstool, swinging her legs, and Darlington stands, idly stirring a mug of hot coffee. It’s a morning like any other. There shouldn’t be any strange tension lingering from a conversation left un-had… but there is. Half-glances. Too-long sips of coffee.
ALEX: Did you hear that people are singing today?
DARLINGTON: The sudden onslaught of community theater? Yes, unfortunately. Has anyone you know been afflicted?
ALEX Not yet. How late are you working tonight?
DARLINGTON: No change from the usual, unless researching the music keeps me late. Will you be here?
ALEX: Probably.
DARLINGTON: Applications?
ALEX: Yes.
DARLINGTON: Ah. Still no luck?
ALEX: I’m just being picky. (cagily) I don’t know what I’m looking for.
DARLINGTON: (pauses, then delicately) Want me to ask around?
ALEX: (too quickly) No.
DARLINGTON: (picks up his bag)
ALEX: I don’t mean that in like… I mean, I’m sure you know what I’d like doing versus what I’d hate--
DARLINGTON: (speaking at the same time) No, of course…
ALEX: (speaking at the same time) But it’s pointless, you looking too when I don’t know…
DARLINGTON: (speaking at the same time) Well, it’s not as if I’m your mentor here--
ALEX: … (speaking at the same time) what I want at all.
DARLINGTON: (speaking at the same time) And I’m sure that’s not what you want at all.
An awkward silence descends.
DARLINGTON: Well, we can talk about it later.
ALEX: Yeah, of course. Tonight, maybe?
DARLINGTON: Tonight.
DARLINGTON exits, stage left.
ALEX: (sighs) We’re always going to talk about it later. We’ll talk about my return, we’ll talk about Darlington’s time in hell, we’ll talk about the fact he’s got horns now, we’ll talk about my past… but tonight never comes. (is suddenly unsettled) Wait, since when do I monologue out loud?
A choir-sounding note starts up in the background. ALEX stands, uncertain, looking around left and right to find the source of the music. She slowly leaves the house, musing about how her life has turned out since her arrival back at Vallo.)
ALEX: (singing) I've got a plan, but I'm frozen.
It's not the same as when I was trapped
In the old days of L.A.'s haze,
The late night parties, and the weather doesn't change.
Alex has a surprisingly pretty alto that starts cracking as soon as it goes north of anything more ambitious than the beginnings of second soprano, but when she keeps to her limited range and talk-sings, she sounds good - not unlike Fiona Apple. She is not happy about singing out loud, but continues moseying down Main Street doing exactly that. A line of BACK UP DANCERS forms behind her. It’s time for lazy indie choreography!
ALEX: I'm running hot, but I'm frozen.
Things unsaid are deafening me.
Oh yeah, that’s some lazy indie swaying back and forth choreography for idiots. Alex is insulted that she’s even doing this. But she’s dance-swayed all the way to the exterior of the Library of Alexandra. DARLINGTON is just visible inside a window, reading a Big Important-Looking Book, oblivious to the scene unfolding outside.
ALEX: I'm sick of words that hang above my head.
I freed him from Hell.
It's like that Hell got free.
The BACK UP DANCERS fan around ALEX. The sunshine darkens. It’s flashback time! Big bright leaves fall around ALEX as she holds her arms to her chest, looking around nervously as others pass her.
ALEX: I was lured to the Ninth House,
Yale sweatshirts on wooden floors,
Shepherding with the Ninth House
With the Ninth House...
The BACK UP DANCERS form a line, grabbing ALEX’s wrists on either side and pull her in either direction.
ALEX: I joined Lethe and he pulled me
Headfirst out of Cali's pit of tar.
The Grays, the Grounds, the fucking mystery -
There's something about being the hand that holds the leash.
But that's the joke, that's the punchline:
You won't expect the floor caving in.
ALEX “falls”, a DANCER catches her.
ALEX: There's nine Houses to command, and nine layers to descend,
And now you're with the damned.
The song loops back to the chorus again.
ALEX: I was taught by the Ninth House
Languages dead, pristine.
Map a path with the Ninth House
With the Ninth House...
ALEX sits on a park bench pensively while BACK UP DANCERS surround her. It’s a very Grease-esque “Tell me more” moment as the song moves into the bridge.
ALEX: When you're a novice, you're taught wrong from right.
"Demons are evil" and "ghosts will go to the light".
But he's not a finished novel, he's not some categorical thing.
The song is building to the classic refuge of the scream-sing conclusion. ALEX frankly doesn’t quite have the pipes for this part but she’s making a real effort, and her earnestness and guilt go a long way toward a decent performance.
Lethe forgot him but it doesn't forgive,
It buried him before it allowed him to live.
He gave me more than rites and magic, much more than fancy fool’s gold shine:
I'd pull him out a dozen times.
It’s the final turn of that chorus! The BACKUP DANCERS circle once more around ALEX before slowly disappearing into the crowd in the street.
ALEX: (reflectively) We were duped by the Ninth House,
And we can't quite put it to words.
Rendered mute by the Ninth House...
By the Ninth House...
The music fades. ALEX is left standing outside the Library. DARLINGTON happens to glance outside, spots ALEX. He looks concerned. He mouths “Do you want to talk with me”?
ALEX: …shit. (exits stage right)