I figured I would leave an author's note to help people follow along with the script. If you're well versed in script style formatting, musical theatre songs, and American politics (particularly during the first several months of the COVID-19 "lockdowns"), you probably don't need to read this.
General Notes:
This is a revue style show, which means it is sort of a mix between a concert and a musical. There is minimal dialogue in between songs, and the fictionalized concert serves as the "plot" of the show.
Format:
I'm trying to use a modified version of the traditional libretto format to have it translate to Wattpad.
A characters name will be capitalized, bolded, and followed by a colon to indicate that character is speaking or singing
Ex.
MITCH MCCONNELL:
Scene setting and general stage direction will be in brackets.
Ex.
[The curtains open.]
Specific stage directions will be in parentheses under an individual's name
Ex.
SENATOR:
(Pointing offstage)
Dialogue in all-caps indicates those lines are sung and dialogue following normal capitalization conventions indicates those lines are spoken.
Ex.
ALL:
Talking these lines
SINGING THESE LINES
There are a few instances in the opening number where characters sing sections that overlap each other. When this happens I will indicate these sections with bold braces ({}).
Ex.
{{GROUP 1:
LYRICS}}
{{GROUP 2:
DIFFERENT LYRICS}}
Songs:
All of the songs in this show are parodies of different songs from musicals. Some are pretty common, such as "My Favorite Things" from "The Sound of Music", and some are more obscure, such as "You Can't Trust a Man Dressed in Yellow" from "Tuck Everlasting."
Each chapter will feature a different song. I will indicate the song that is being parodied before they start singing and also try to comment a link to a video of that song to help people follow along.
Cast:
As with most of my works, this has a ton of characters. (All but one of the GOP Senators from the summer of 2020, a cabinet member, and several Fox News anchors). I wanted to include everyone since they're all complicit (and the former choir kid in me wanted to make sure everyone got a solo—even if it's just a line). If this was performed, I imagine that not every senator would be in every group number and that there would be a ton of multi-casting to pull it off.
That being said, you don't necessarily need to know exactly who everyone is (especially since I'm pretty sure most of my followers aren't American anyway). Their views are relatively interchangeable, so individual lines might be a nod of recognition if you know that individual senator, but not recognizing each individual senator won't necessarily be a detriment to your understanding. The only characters whose songs are specific to their situations would be Mitch McConnell, Lindsey Graham, Betsy DeVos, and Ben Sasse.
Final Questions:
If you have any questions, don't hesitate to ask!
YOU ARE READING
Unauthorized GOP Cabaret Night
HumorIt's the summer of 2020. What's there for Fox News to do besides host a large, crowded concert? A satirical revue style show featuring parodies of musical theatre songs from the perspective of the GOP Senators.
