Now and Forever:

A musical drama in three acts

[plus a prologue & epilogue]

Book by: Cody Fox

Music by: Cody S. Fox and ?

Lyrics* by: Cody S. Fox and ?

THIRD DRAFT**

(second w/some changes)

(Summer 2013 Fall 2014)

NOTES

* I know theres not that many lyrics in this script, but Ive been having *major* writers block in that regard! A helping hand would be greatly appreciated (I will co-credit any contributions [lyrics and otherwise!] that make it into the final draft).

** There were two previous drafts of the script (which I will *not* be sharing, as the first one is all handwritten (not to mention extremely rough), and the second one, while typed, isnt much better.

If the people we love are stolen from us,the way to have them live onis to never stop loving them. Buildings burn, people die,but real love is forever.

Rochelle Davis, The Crow (film) (1994)

PROLOGUE

(October 6th, 2038)

(The audience enters with the stage in total darkness. Slowly, the lights come up just enough to reveal mysterious, irregular shapes, cloaked in shadow, strewn irregularly around the stage. Suddenly, the light brightens a bit, and we see the cloth-draped forms of furniture, dust-covered boxes, etc. (In other words, the contents of a rarely-disturbed attic or similar storage area.)

(After a beat, a tall, slender dark-haired girl, about 17 or 18, enters from stage left, (through a mimed doorway) or from center, through a trapdoor.* This is JOHANNA CRAWFORD. She mimes pulling an overhead light switch, then continues forward as the lights come up fully. She crosses to center right, where several large cardboard boxes are stacked up. She lifts aside the top one. This reveals the lid of another box, this one a little smaller, and more oblong. Her curiosity piqued, she carefully pushes aside the others. As she does so, a spotlight illuminates an old-fashioned chest, made of black leather. There is an inscription painted on the side of the lid.)

JOHANNA

(Reading it) The last tour, June 2021- October 22. (Mystified) What does that mean?

(She opens the chest and retrieves yet another box, this one of the kind once used to store physical files. Written on it are the words Studio Session Tapes, 2018-2023. Really curious now, JOHANNA retrieves the box, just as the sound of a door opening is faintly heard, below on the main stage. Startled, she drops the box, which hits the floor of the riser with a loud thump. A womans voice is heard, calling cautiously up the stairs. It is JOHANNAs mother, RACHEL.)

RACHEL: (Offstage) [pre-record?]

What was that? Is somebody there?

(JOHANNA runs back to where she entered from, mimes opening the attic door, and shouts downstairs:)

*NOTE: Which of the two options is used depends on the specifics of the theater. JOHANNA:

Its just me, Mom! Listen, could you come up here for a second? I found something weird up here...

(A beat. Then, RACHEL (who bears more than a passing resemblance to her daughter) enters in a hurry. Slightly breathless, she asks JOHANNA, not unkindly, but purposefully nonetheless):

RACHEL:

What is it? What did you...?

(Her eyes fall on the open chest and file box. Her hand flies to her mouth in shock. JOHANNA, noticing this, asks her mother, Whats wrong?)RACHEL: (after taking a deep, calming breath) Jo, honey, youd better sit down. Theres some...things you need to know.

(RACHEL walks over to an old table and chairs covered by a dust-sheet, which she removes before sitting down. After a beat, JOHANNA does the same. After a beat, RACHEL speaks, her voice extremely serious :)

RACHEL:

I should have told you about it years ago. After all, it was just about the worst thing that ever happened in this town...

JOHANNA:

What happened, Mom? Tell me!

(RACHEL steels herself, breathes deeply, and begins to speak. As she does, a mysterious, slow theme is heard in the orchestra.)

RACHEL:

(Faintly nostalgic) It all started about twenty-seven or -eight years ago, before Id even met your dad. It was my last day of high school. They held the graduation ceremony in the morning...I still cant believe how nervous I was! Then it was eight absolutely mad hours of makeup, hair appointments, and other last-minute prep work before the most glorious night of our young lives...the Senior Prom.

JOHANNA (Interrupting her, a bit confused)

What does what I found have to do with all that, Mom?

RACHEL:

Do you want to hear this story or not?

JOHANNA:

Yeah, but I--

RACHEL: (Interrupting, gently)

Then listen. As I was saying, this all started during my Senior Prom, back in 2013. It was supposed to be a wonderful night, but then...it happened. He happened.

JOHANNA:

Who?

RACHEL: (after a beat)

My brother...he...

JOHANNA:

You always told me that it was just you and Grandma and Grandpa McLeod when you were growing up. You never mentioned anyone else.

RACHEL:

No one does now, at least not deliberately. You see, I had a brother, three years older than I was, named James. He was...well, lets just say he was more than my parents could handle. The final straw came when they had a huge fight the night of the prom. Hed just come off of probation--for about the third time!--and they wouldnt let him go out. Hed been dating this girl Claire, who a classmate of mine, and wanted to take her to the prom. Anyway, after a pretty nasty argument, he stormed out of the house and went to pick her up. He had to take me as well, because I couldnt get a ride with any of my other friends, whod all hired limos and the like. I wouldve too, except money was tight after James latest brush with the cops. When we got there, I went off to the dance floor, while he went off on his own. I was having a lot of fun, until I overheard an argument between a friend of mine and his date. She was the insecure type, and seemed to want more from him than he was willing to commit to. I kept out of it, but maybe I shouldnt have. If I knew then what I know now, Id have...but Im getting ahead of myself again.

(By now, we have arrived at the Westlake High gymnasium, where the Senior Prom is in full swing (its the night of Friday, June 21, 2013). We are only aware of a general idea of the proceedings until RACHEL reaches the end of her previous lines. At that point, attention focuses on a riser above the stage, where one of the many couples shown in the sequence is seen: SAM, a handsome boy of about 18 with brownish-blond hair and striking, dark blue eyes, and DELILAH, a slim, sexy brown-eyed brunette girl. As we join them, theyre in the midst of an argument.

DELILAH:

Cmon, Sam, stay and dance with me! Whats the matter? Are you going with anyone else? Is that it?

SAM:

No, Im not. I just want to be alone for a bit, OK? God, ever since we got here, you havent let me be by myself. I know its the prom and all, but man! We dont need to cling to each other like this. Peter told you what this would mean, right? Just the one night, and nothing else. (DELILAH looks hurt.)

DELILAH:

Fine then, go! Just make sure youre there to take me home at the end of the night.

SAM:

All right.

(Attention focuses back on RACHEL and JOHANNA as the riser blacks out.)

JOHANNA: (After a pause)

You were talking about your brother before...James, right?

RACHEL:

Yes. I didnt think much about his leaving the gym, until a police car pulled up with full emergency sirens on. I ran out to where it seemed to be going, and then...then...

(She breaks off, unable to continue. Johanna gently prompts her :)

JOHANNA:

What happened, Mom? Its OK.

RACHEL:

What happened? My life, and the lives of many others, changed forever...

(Driving, intense music is heard as the entire stage goes dark. After a few moments, the lights come back up onstage to reveal a shadowy parking lot, this time a set on the main stage.)

END OF PRELUDE

ACT I, SCENE 1

(SAM enters alone, having gone off alone in the last scene. He sings softly to himself:)

SAM:

Somethings coming, something bigIt may be just around the corner, or --

(Suddenly, hes shocked out of his reverie by a loud scream. One of the cars has come alive with movement as a girl throws her hand through the open window, obviously struggling. SAM rushes over just as the door flies open and CLAIRE struggles out, screaming:)

CLAIRE:

No! I dont want to-- Help! Somebody help!

(Sam runs up to her just as an irate JAMES stumbles out of the car. He is slurring his speech, obviously extremely drunk. We notice a bleeding scratch on his face.)

JAMES: (to CLAIRE)

You...you... (He mutters incoherently for a few seconds, then continues just as unsteadily:) I aint done yet! You know I aint done till I get some!

CLAIRE:(Tearfully angry)

Well Im done with you! Im sick of you always getting drunk and thinking Ill still want sex. (She knees JAMES in the groin and the doubles over with a cry of pain and outrage. Claire tosses SAM her cell phone.) Call the cops, quick!

(SAM dials, keeping an eye on JAMES, as the aforementioned police lights appear in the distance. After a beat, a police car pulls up. Two POLICE OFFICERS, one male and one female, get out of it and go into action. One of them handcuffs JAMES, while the other one speaks tersely to SAM:)

COP 1 (Male):

What happened here?

SAM:

That guy tried to force himself on her, and I got him under control. Thats all, I swear.

COP 2 (Female):

Why am I not surprised? It seems like every other month, this guy gets taken in. Looks like hes finally crossed the line. Attempted rape, assault...

[She trails off, noticing JAMES wounded face. After a beat, she addresses SAM warily:]

Speaking of assault, how did you get him under control, exactly?

SAM:

He was like that when I got there. She mustve done it when she tried to fight him off.

(The COP looks questioningly at CLAIRE, who silently nods affirmation.)

COP 2:(To JAMES)

Come on, you know the drill. (She begins to read JAMES his arrest rights as she closes the door and the car pulls away.)

(The lights quickly fade.)