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Heavenly Evening
A Musical Comedy in Two Acts
Words and Music
by
Robert Garry Benson
Copyright 1998, 2002, 2005, 2010 Robert
Garry Benson
Additional Song
Lyrics
by
James McCall Cramer
Copyright
1987, James McCall Cramer
"Alsace
Lorraine"
"Do
You See Who I Am?"
Prologue
SCENE 1: Six
dressing cubicles
Act
One
SCENE 2: Cole
Porter's living room in Helven, a realm located
approximately halfway between Heaven and Hell.
Act Two
SCENE 2:
Cole Porter's living room.
SCENE 3: Shallow
black curtain
SCENE 4: The Gates
Musical Numbers
Prologue
A
Hell of a Heavenly Party - (All)
Act One
CLICK "OVERTURE" TO LISTEN
Overture
(Left click on "Overture" link above)
Best of Buddies - (Cole & Noel)
Heavenly Evening - (Bea, Noel & Cole)
There is Nothing Like a Show - (Ethel)
I
Tried to Take a Trip on the Trolley - (Judy)
Heavenly Blues - (Noel)
I
Was Never More Surprised in My Life (When I Discovered I
Was Dead) - (Ethel)
When You're Dancing - (Bea)
Dear Old Planet Earth - (Ethel)
Alsace, Lorraine - (Bea)
It's Not Exactly Heaven But It's Home - (Ethel and All)
Act Two
Entr' Act
That's
The Way It Goes - (All)
The
Wonder of You - (Cole and All)
Pay
Close Attention - They Are the Children - (Noel)
Bring Me a Cave-Man - (Judy)
So
I've Heard - (Ethel)
Never Again - (Bea/Cole)
Little Lady, Keep on Dancing - (Noel)
Do
You See Who I Am? - (Judy/Charles)
Whatever Would We Do Without the Fairies? - (Bea)
Gabriel, Come Blow Your Horn - (Finale: Ethel and All)
Exit Music
Characters
-In the order of
their appearance
Cole Porter,
one of America's foremost theatrical songwriters of the
1930s-1950s
Sir
Noel Coward,
The great British playwright of the early to mid-20th
century
Charles;
Cole's houseboy, a startlingly handsome and athletic
young man
Beatrice Lillie
, AKA Lady Peel; star of the London and New York
stage 1920-1950s
Ethel Merman;
powerfully voiced stage and musical movie star
1930s-1960s
Judy Garland;
musical movie star and cult performer, 1939-1960s
Synopsis
A
party is being given by Cole Porter in honor of his
friend Sir
Noel
Coward. The party is being held in the home of Cole
Porter, located in Helven, a realm somewhere between
Heaven and hell, not necessarily a very nice place.
Guests include Sir Noel Coward, Beatrice Lillie, Ethel
Merman, and Judy Garland. The other person present at
the party is Charles, Cole's houseboy.
All of the guests at the party are hoping to eventually
be released from the Helven realm, and be allowed to
enter into Heaven. Every ten years on this night, one
person of this particular group is allowed to move on to
Heaven according to their behavior at this evening's
party. The question is, who will be selected - and who
will have to remain in Helven for another 10 years?
Helven is a sort of Purgatory, where one feels a
tremendous accentuation of all physical senses. This
presents a challenge to some of the party guests to
resist the temptation of the physical pleasures of sex,
so that they will be able to move on.
The party they are at serves as a medium through which
they are able to speak their minds to each other, and
work through personal issues between themselves.
Much
of the dialogue and songs of this work involve satirical
commentary on contemporary American society from the
point of view of the play's main characters, whose
careers reached their peaks in the middle of the 20th
Century.
*********************************
Hello, This is
Robert Benson, the author of this musical. I am a
Chicago musician (pianist/arranger/orchestra conductor) and am a member in good
standing of the Dramatists Guild.
My associates
and I are now putting a cast together to first make an
"original cast recording" CD of the Overture and all 21
songs, and then we'll rehearse this show for a backers'
audition which will be scheduled as soon as the new cast
is ready to perform it. The orchestrations for the
"Original Cast Recording" are complete and recorded, and
are awaiting the voices to be added to make the finished
CD. Those who are chosen for the recording will each be
contracted to receive a 10% royalty of the profits
from all future sales of the album.
AUDITION
INFORMATION
We're seeking
seasoned vocalists/actors. With the exception of the
part of Charles (25-28 years), the actors should be in
the 45-55 year old range.
ROLES OPEN FOR
AUDITIONS as of November 1, 2011:
Cole Porter -
Older Cole Porter, with a strong tenor singing voice and
authoritative and sophisticated persona.
Sir Noel Coward:
Sir Noel in his older years, with a strong baritone
voice, flawless diction with an upper crust with slight
cockney British accent, and ability to do rapid delivery
of lyrics.
Please email your
resume, head shot and telephone number to:
robertbenson1445@comcast.net
We will contact you
regarding your audition appointment. Please prepare one
slow and one fast or comedic song.
Thank you, and I
look forward to receiving your audition information.
Robert Benson
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