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A new short musical about lice trying to survive on a balding head with one hair.
Book and lyrics by Pamela Winfrey. Music by Richard Jennings.
Produced by Musical Cafe (musicalcafe.org) at PianoFight in San Francisco - Jan 2016.
Featuring Amy Meyers, Willie Alexander, and Chris Maltby.
Although it's ostensibly about three New Jersey lice
scrambling for a place of safety on a head that has only one last hair,
it is actually about the instability of life.
Short Synopsis:
Head lice Maude, Frank, and George are vying for the one remaining hair left on the top of a balding head. The competition for that one place of stability is an unruly one.
Long Synopsis:
Head lice Maude, Frank and George are the last lice standing on a head that has one last hair. Maude is squarely holding on to this single hair, occupying this place of balance, while both George and Frank are slipping and sliding, immanently in danger of falling off. They are stereotypical New Jersey residents except that they are head lice. Frank falls over the side, apparently gone forever. George and Maude bicker and fight until a head lice Nix treatment threatens to poison them and wash them away. For a moment, they remember the love that they have had for each other. They survive the storm only to have Frank join them again as the third member of the love triangle for Frank and Maude have been past lovers. While Maude is in her spot of safety, Frank and George have a sexual encounter. Frank and George pretend that they cannot hear Maude because she is sitting in a sonic “node”. Maude is driven to reveal that she is not simply being selfish, she has accidently glued her self down while laying her eggs. The guys are turned into mushy new fathers and they give up their petty squabbles in favor of focusing on their new lives as parents.
MUSICAL NUMBERS
1. No Hair! - Frank, Maude & George
2. Your Spot - George & Maude
3. Oof Oof! - George & Maude
4. We’re Gonna Die! - George & Maude
5. Thirty Minutes of Love - Frank & George
6. Deaf To Her Words - George, Frank & Maude
7. Little Nits - Frank, Maude & George
8. Out Of Hoboken - Frank, Maude & George
CAST
MAUDE:
A FEMALE LOUSE. SHE IS QUERULOUS AND WHINY. FOR MOST OF THIS SHORT PLAY SHE IS GLUED TO HER EGG PILE. IF SHE WERE HUMAN, SHE WOULD BE THE TYPE TO EAT BON BONS ALL DAY AND WATCH THE DAYS OF OUR LIVES
GEORGE:
A MALE LOUSE. HE IS DEMANDING AND POMPOUS. IF HE WERE HUMAN, HE WOULD BE IN THE MOB OR A DISHONEST USED CAR SALESMAN.
FRANK:
ONE OF MAUDE’S EX’S, ANOTHER MALE LOUSE. SLIMEY, HE IS ALWAYS LOOKING FOR A WAY IN.
THEY ARE ALL FROM NEW JERSEY AND HAVE VERY SLIPPERY SOCKS ON.
THESE LICE ARE VERY HIGH STRUNG BY NATURE.
SETTING
WE ARE AT THE VERY TOP OF A BALD HEAD. THERE IS ONLY ONE SINGLE HAIR LEFT.
MAUDE IS HAPPILY OCCUPYING THIS PLACE OF BALANCE
WHILE GEORGE AND FRANK ARE CONSTANTLY SLIPPING.
Full script and score available upon request
