The Swan Chapter 2

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Beauty - The Swan
Chapter Two

A Musical Interlude

for Dorothy Colleen
 

 
by Andrea Lena DiMaggio
...little life


Andy:
Little life
It's a drab existence
Ev'ry day
I just want to cry
Little life
broken dreams and wishes
Waking up to say:

Mirror:
Lie!
Lie!
Lie! Lie! Lie!

Andy:
Awakened now again the same old feeling
The same old story left to tell
Ev'ry morning without fail
waking up the same old male
to the same old sad existence
My own Hell!

Aunt Marie:
Honey, Andy
What's up for today?

Andy:
The Library. I just finished the most wonderful story
about a girl and a wolf and a....

Aunt Marie:
That's nice. Andy! Crosstown Bus! Hurry up!

Neighbors:
Look there he goes that boy is strange, peculiar
Confused and dizzy, almost wild?
Never part of any clique
'Cause he's looking awfully thick
There's no doubt that he is someone's faggy child.

Man:
Hello
Good day
How is your mother?

Woman:
Hello
Good Show!
How goes your day!

Woman:
(He's not so bad?)

Man:
(Oh yes he is!)

Andy:
There has to be; there must be some other better way!

Librarian:
Ah, Andy.

Andy:
Good Morning. I've come to return the book I borrowed.

Librarian:
Finished already?

Andy:
Oh, I couldn't put it down. Have you got anything new?

Librarian:
Ha Ha! Not since yesterday.

Andy:
That's all right. I'll borrow . . . . . this one!

Librarian:
That one? But you've read it twice!

Andy:
Well, it's my favorite! Boy meets girl...boy becomes girl!
Girl weds girl?

Librarian:
If you like it all that much, it's yours!

Andy:
But ma'am!

Librarian:
I insist.

Andy:
Well, thank you. Thank you very much!

Library
Patrons:
Look there he goes, that boy is so eccentric
I wonder if he's feeling quite okay
With a look that just seems fey
acting girlish every day.
And his destinations is hell, he's on his way

Andy:
Oh, isn't this a comfort
It's my fav'rite part in the whole tale
Here's where he sees the doctor
And it won't be long before she isn't male!

Now it's no wonder that my name means war'ior
I feel like I'm in for a fight
But behind my stalwart face
I'm fear I'm just a disgrace
Since everyone thinks I'm wrong and they are right

Patrons:
She's nothing like the rest of us
Yes, diff'rent from us! She's absolutely wrong and we are right! (She?)

Buffone:
Wow! You didn't miss a point, Pastor!
You're the greatest preacher in the whole world!

Pastor:
I know.

Buffone:
No freak alive stands a chance against you. Ha ha ha!
And no t-girl, for that matter.

Pastor:
It's true, Buffone. And I've got my sights set on that one.

Buffone:
Oh yeah...from that family down the block.

Pastor:
He's the one - the twisted boy I'm going to bother.

Buffone:
But he's -

Pastor:
The queerest boy in town.

Buffone:
I know, but -

Pastor:
That makes him a sinner. And doesn't he deserve condemnation?

Buffone:
Well, of course! I mean yes, but -

Pastor:
Right from the moment when I met him, saw him
I said he's evil I can tell
Here in town there's only me
Who will stand against him you see
So I'm preaching that his kind will go to hell


Choir:
Look there he goes
Isn't he learned?
Reverend Pastore
Oh he's so strong
Be still my heart
I'm hardly breathing
He preaches oh so well
of right and wrong

Man:
Amen

Pastor:
Excuse me!

Another Man:
Good Word!

Yet Another Man:
Yes!

Prophet:
You call this orthodox?

Woman:
What lovely dogma!

Man:
We need rules!

Woman:
More than ten!

Another Man:
and a pound of flesh

Pastor:
Listen!

Theologian:
Enforce the doctrine!

Pastor:
His life's a lie!

Little boy:
This bread -

Little girl:
Those fish -

Both:
It's like a story!

Man:
Not so! No grace!

Sad Man:
This makes me cry.

Andy:
There must be more for me than hellish strife

Pastor:
Just watch me now, I'm going to destroy his life!

Congregation:
Look there he goes a boy who's strange, peculiar
A boyish girl if looks might tell
It's outrageous and a sin
Cause he'll never quite fit in
'Cause he really is a oddity
a really queer commodity
a freakish trannie girl
Who’s bound for HELL................

"Andy...Andy..wake up. Jack, Tommy...Andy isn't waking up. Oh God my painkillers...Dina! call 911!

Next - The Dead Kid!


Belle
from Beauty and the Beast
Words and Music by
Alan Menken and Howard Ashman
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MVovQfq7U0w

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Comments

Verry Interesting!

I found this to be a great way to tell the story. I don't usually like poetry, but this just grabbed me. I liked it! More, please!

Wren

A play in how many acts??

ALISON

'Drea,why are there so many Bible Bashing Ba****ds in this world???

ALISON

While there's Life There's Hope

littlerocksilver's picture

'Drea

Hopefully "Dead" is only an appearance, not reality.

Portia

Portia

Beauty - The Swan

Maybe Andy is like the Swan in the fable. In the fable, the wan found that after a winter, it was a beautiful swan, not a duckling.

    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine
    Stanman
May Your Light Forever Shine

wow

Jemima Tychonaut's picture

I was struggling with the pattern of the language on initial reading and then I opened the you tube link in a second browser tab and suddenly it all flowed perfectly! I realised that I was reading the lyrics without the music! How you managed to get the words to follow the original tune so well I'll never know but it was like they had been written for the song.

I noticed your lyrics darkening as the story progressed (the pastor is a great gaston!) but you completely caught me out with the last line. Completely unexpected.

Excellent work Andrea.



"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once in a while, you could miss it."

oh wow

this one was so powerful, i almost couldn't finish it.

DogSig.png

Effective Style

terrynaut's picture

Oh my goodness! That really grabbed me. It's so... different. I don't know how to describe it other than how it makes me feel.

I wanted to shout at my computer, at the characters in the story. I wanted to make them understand... Andy... and myself. It was like I thought they were real. I wanted to shout so badly, but I didn't. I knew it wouldn't help. So I kept quiet and bent to the flow. Be good. Be quiet. Blend in or hide. It's never good enough.

Thanks very much for this. I might have to take a break before I read the next chapter.

- Terry

Beauty and the beast

obviously someone has watched too much disney, or they, like myself, had a daughter whose favorite movie as a child was beauty and the beast. My daughter watched it so many times I knew the words by heart. Did you know, that if you stop the screen while the candlestick is singing "she's our guest" at the moment when he spins the match stick, there are really three match sticks?

Thanks for the chuckle.