 |
P.O. Box 765, Pittsfield, MA 01202-0765 Bringing the Best of Broadway to the Berkshires Since 1921 |
|
|
movie and record producer named Alexa Vere de Vere, who
wants him write the screenplay of the movie about her
life. Alexa Vere de Vere, the ultimate spin artist, is a
culture cannibal. She carves out choice tidbits from
books and movies and chews them, mixing them with her own
outrageous excesses. When at last she spits them out, the
words are more memorable than in their original form. 
Evan, who is gay, falls for
Alexa, and is swept up into the fast paced world that she
lives in. He soon realizes that he's been conned and has
been relieved of $15,000. He then sets out to find out
the truth by interviewing a list of past victims. In the
end, Wyler concocts the truly perfect revenge against
Alexa, who feeds on the fervent aspirations of those
poised on the edge of fame.
Playwright Beane tackles some
provocative issues in this play, not least of which is
the notion that, if the spin is dazzling enough, it often
is more appealing than the real thing and that "the
line between pain and love is virtually
indistinguishable." .
 |
| This production will use the Main Stage Theater Seating
Layout.
Production DatesJanuary 16th, 17th, 23rd & 24th, 2004 |
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Set designs by Marc
Grimshaw |
|||
|
| Pictures from the
Production All pictures © copyright (c)2004 Townplayers of Pittsfield, Inc. |
| ACT I |
| Photographer : What do you
do? Wyler : I'm a writer. Photographer : That would explain why your so unconfortable. What did you write? Wyler : A novel. My first. It's this story of this guy who's in his twenties and is like overwhelmed with this conflict of fantasy and reality . . . . Photographer : Great. Now, let's lose the shirt. |
 |
 |
Wyler : I don't know, but I
was thinking more in the genre of a pullover and . . . Photographer : Look. I don't want to put you down. But, I'm here to sell magazines and your here to sell books. So lose the shirt. |
| Wyler : Selling books is
selling books, right? Photographer : Now . . . Make love to the cmaera. |
 |
 |
Alexa : Evan Wyler! I hardly recognized you from your photograph. I have the most shimmering new screenplay for you to write. I loved your book and you are sans doubt my favorite new writer. The reason I called you is that I have been looking for a new writer to write this mouthwatering movie idea I have. I want this film to be the story of my life which is too entrancing, even for me. I mean here I am in the blush of my youth and I am working with Morris Kaden of Delta Rrecords, do you know Morris Kaden of Delta records, how did you come to be such an amazing writer? God I love writers. They always have the last word, because they know so many. Try the boysenberry, it's a revelation. Wyler : Have you ever thought of diagramming these sentences in your head before you speak them? |
| Ronald : She's a goddess. I
hate you. She only works with the flawless. Everybody
she's ever found had done the sky rocket thing. She's got
a real eye for it. What do you do? Wyler : I'm a writer. I'm going to write the story of her life and a screenplay. Ronald : I didn't think that I could hate you more, and now I realize I CAN!! |
 |
 |
Alexa : If I'm buying the
suit I want to pick it out. Ronald : If you see only one suit this season, let this be it. |
| Wyler : I just don't feel
comfortable with you, after giving me a nice salary, just
buying this suit for me. Please let me pay for it. Alexa : Lamb. You will buy other suits. You will buy hundereds. This is your first suit. It's a glorious moment. Please, you are letting me share in the honor of the moment. |
 |
 |
Alexa : I have the cash, but
could you put it on your charge so my evil accountant
will have a record! We're late for our meeting. |
| Wyler : Where are we going? Alexa : We're going to the airport. We're picking up this SINsational new band I'm signing. Swen? Rock and roll? Swen : Yah! Rock and Rolla! |
 |
 |
Skunk : We gotta have a
reverb! Alexa : There's too much going on! My circuits are overloaded Wyler : Calm down. I'll take care of it. I'll put it on my charge. Alexa : You are an angel. My new leggage set. Could you - Wyler : Credit card. You would be lost without me. Alexa : Lifesaver! |
| Carla : What brings you back
to New York? Alexa : Darling, I'm making the movie of my life, can you beat it? This is Evan Wyler, the writer, he's forming it for me. He wrote - Carla : You wrote "Pig and Pepper". Loved that. Alexa, you didn't buy up the film rights to that did you? |
 |
 |
Wyler : Everything I've been
joting down about your past and your life it's all so - Alexa : I know what how to interest people. Don't let me go through this venture with a virtual arm tied behind my back. You're not the person you were born. You're the person you were meant to be. |
| Alexa : Say good-by to the
old you, Evan. These cloths have served you well. Evan : Good-by old me. |
 |
 |
Wyler : You're confection.
Pure confection. |
| Alexa : How is our little
film treatment comming? Wyler : Well . . . . slowly. I'm not particularly good at listening to people and figuring out what is going on in their minds. Alexa : You're a very special sensitive person. And you deserve the finer things in life. Hollywood? I've got us on the four o'clock. We have a series of meetings tomorrow. A bidding war by six. Then I off to France. We'll meet up again on Monday. |
 |
 |
Wyle : Do you want to tell me
about Micael Stabinsky. Alexa : Michael knew that after a tense day at work I needed to unwind in a hot tub. HE always said, " Why not give up this life, it you need to unwind from it?" . . . . . . . . . Then in the bathtub . . . his lifeless body. |
| Wyler : I'm looking at you
and I still love you. Alexa : And I . . . . . love you, lamb. |
 |
 |
Wyler : Put me through to
Morris Kaden. Tell him it is about Alexa Vere de Vere. Secetary : I'm not familiar with that name at all. Trust me. I've herard of everyone. |
| (Telephone voice) : Ms. Vere
de Vere has left for the South of France. We have an
outstanding bill here of three thousand dollars. Ms Vere
de Vere said you'd take care of it. . . . . . . . . . . . . . Mr. Wyler? are you still there? Wyler : It isn't true. It isn't true, isn't true! |
 |
| ACT II |
 |
Wyler : Something is going on
with one of your producers Kaden : Which producer? Wyler : Alexa Vere de Vere Secretary : She doesn't work here. |
| Kaden : I've heard of her. How
much did she take you for? Wyler : Take? Kaden : Why don't you give my secretary your credit card and see how much has been run up? |
 |
 |
Kaden : Let's start at the
begining. What magazine were you in? Wyler : How did you know? Kaden : Was the adjective "HOT" used at anytime and not in reference to temperature. Wyler : Hot writer. Kaden : That is how she found you. |
| Alexa : I don't believe in
cash, but my accountant wants a record of all these
business lunches. Do you have a credit card? He won't let
me have one. I can give you cash later. |
 |
 |
Kaden : That is how she
lives. Almost famous person to almost famous person. The
cold green cash is the bait. |
| Wyler : Are you the Michael
Stabinsky? Mike : How did I die this time? She tends to kill me off like going down in a ship or suicide in a bathtub. Wyler : I just want to know the truth. |
 |
 |
Mike : I was a painter and she
wanted to be a writer. We both worked in a restaurant
near West Reading. Her original name was Brenda Gelb. |
| Alexa : We gotta get to New
York City. If we save enough money then you can paint and
I can write. |
 |
 |
Alexa : Art is exploading.
You can't see your way thrugh the East Village without
stepping over a million galleries. Art art everywhere you
look. We can take all the furniture in this loft and make it into a gallery. It should have a foreign name with a hyphen. Bluen-DiFace Galleries |
| Alexa : Hi, this is brenda
Gelb of the Bluen-DeFace galleries and we have an opening
and stuff comming up.
Mike : And nothing happened. |
 |
 |
Mike : Maybe you sound a
little like a girl from West Reading. Remember that woman
who ran the opening of the space on East Ninth? Like her.
A familiar last name, but not a real one that people can
trace.
|
| Mike : That weekend we did
nothing but rent videos and Brenda learned about
flawless. |
 |
 |
Alexa : Hello, Alexa Vere de
Bere from Bluen-DiFace galleries. Leo, I never see you
anymore. I think I saw you at Tiffanany's. Now Darling,
the most wonderful gallery opening. Wonderful artists and
his work is positively devasting. Opening on the third. I
know that you will want to be there. I'll send a
messenger over with the invite. See you then |
| Alexa : He said that hell will
come. |
 |
 |
Mike : Brenda took to Alexa
like a flame to oil. And soon Alexa wasn't just a name we
made up, it was a game we played. Soon we were off. Everybody was touched that she remembered them. Never mind that she had never met them, it was just nice that she remembered. Then it was over and it was just the two of us. |
| Alexa : Michael? Lamb? A
ringing success. Every painting sold. A miracle in the
order of fish and loaves. Mike : Every painting but one. "As Bees In Honey Drown". |
 |
 |
Alexa : I am so sorry that we
nade thousands of dollars this evening. Someday you'll know what you lost!
Mike : And I never saw her
again. Ever. |
| Alexa : I know why you have
pursued me so, my Lamb. You have the instincts. You know
that if you live your life as a writer you will be
popular for a finite time. Stay with me and always be
popular. |
 |
 |
Wyler : Leave me! Alexa : Back to revenge? You have no power. You're a commodity, bought and sold. Call me. You'll know where to find me. The begining of every month. In the magazines. In all those fresh desperate faces. Call them. For I will have.
|
| Mike : I've got to finish this
before the paint dries. The color won't match if I do it
later. But I'm getting better at them. |
 |
 |
Mike : When you were here
before. You left your composition book. |
| Both Muse : You're not the
person you were born. You're the person you were meant to
be. |
 |
 |
|||
| Alexa : I was walking down Fifth Avenue and there was his book "As Bees in honey drown". | |||
| Mike : Soon to be a major motion picture. | Alexa : And he has written it all. All of our names. He's destroying me. | ||
| Kaden, Illya and Secretary : Who else, but a writer - they know so much about life. | |||
| Alexa : No one pulls the cashmere over the eyes of a writer. | |||
Return to Town Players Main Page
All productions are at Berkshire Community
College's Koussevitzky Arts Center
Robert Boland Theater at 8:00 PM
Berkshire Community College is located at 1350 West Street in
Pittsfield
Season Ticket Membership, ticket information or ticket
reservations : 
Mailing Address
Town Players of Pittsfield, Inc.
P.O. BOX 765
Pittsfield, MA 01202-0765
townplayers@email.com
Phone Number : (413) 443-9279
© Copyright Cheshire Productions for
Town Players of Pittsfield, (c)2004
by David A. O'Connor ,
Cheshire Productions, Pittsfield, MA.
Website designed and built by
Cheshire Productions 
Web hosting courtesy of
berkshire.net 
TP-WINTR.HTM : As Bees in honey drown : Douglas Carter Beane :
2004 - 2004 Season 
