SETTING THE STAGE Story Title: BRIGHT LIGHTS Story Synopsis: a closeted country singer, charlie quick, plays a showcase and draws the attention of johhny, a has-been record producer johnny threatens and blackmails charlie into working with him, they put together a demo tape charlie makes a decision not to follow the star-making machine, and leaves town. Character Synopsis: charlie- bright eyed, naive, young, charlie has a gift for melody. he has been hurt recently, and seems to be looking for something rose- charlie's friend and confident, she is a single mother/singer/songwriter, politically motivated, and a feminist. she makes her money singing children's songs for johnny's production company. johnny- talented record producer, ex member of 80's hairdo synth-pop band. johnny is british and a notorious drunk....he stinks of ale and benson and hedges. he manipulates and coerces his way in the world loretta-rose's daughter....precocious....may be deleted dave- pensive studio tech...pines for Rose's affection, befreidns Charlie and helps temper Johnny's obnoxiousness Plot Synopsis: . charlie plays a storming gig....johnny is in the crowd and notices...he tells charlie to meet him later. finally (unknown impetus), charlie is forced to make a decision to either take the route of fame and fortune or walk away with his soul intact. rose forces Charlie to get up for his gig..helps confidence charlie makes the decision to perform rose talks to johnny about charlie...mentions he's gay johnny decides to work with charlie johnny blackmails charlie into listening to his demands charlie meets johnny and decides to agree to his strict demands rose tells charlie about johnny johnny and charlie work together, charlie decides to buckle Dave speaks to charlie Rose plays gig, leaves loretta in car loretta makes her mom pay attention to her by fighting at school dave tells charlie about his love for Rose Rose feels dejected by charlie's apparent success...they come into conflict over this charlie decides to stand up to johnny...johnny hits him dave talks to rose haltingly charlie recieves message from johnny....payment offered....rent due soon loretta runs away and is picked up by cops charlie works with johnny..finish 4 songs charlie hears one of his songs on the radio charlie confronts johnny johnny tlaks him down charlie begins life as a professional songwriter charlie leaves his songwriting group charlie hears rose play...loretta in audience charlie walks...void's contract and ownership leaves town Theme Synopsis: bright lights seeks to investigate the depths of human want....jealosy...and scarifice. It conteds that the moral decision is frequently at odds with the desired decision....in other words, we must sacrifice our selves to achieve what we (think) we want. ABOUT YOUR CHARACTERS Name: Charlie Quick ID: Main Character Gender: Male Form: Single Description: Let me tell you about Charlie. Charlie was born without the gene that makes most of us cynical bastards by the time we're in our mid-twenties. Charlie is something else entirely Born to a relatively well off minor league ballplayer, Charles Thomas White was brought into this world on June 15, 1975, in Greensboro, Alabama. Apparently, things were pretty normal around the White House, his father's occupation notwithstanding. Last time I talked to him, he mentioned growing up in Greensboro as "picket fences, peaches, hairspray, and boredom. Not a bad place, not bad people, but they just didn't get it". You see, Charles realized at a pretty young age that he wasn't the stereotypical son of a minor league ballplayer. Charles liked guys, and the suburbs of Greensboro were not the most conductive place for that in the 80's. So he left: 17 years old and partially financed by a fifty-year old investment banker. Charlie spent the rest of the 80's dodging the typical bullets of the lifestyle, and emerged, relatively unscathed, in the early 90's as a circuit party performer by the name of Charlie Quick. Anytime I asked him about the name, he'd just laugh and say "pretty obvious, isn't it." Charlie wouldn't really tell me what happened or how he ended up singing, except to drone lifelessly for a minute about singing in church with his mother. It was a polite way to tell me that that part of his life was off-limits. In '95, Charlie got a call from his parents, whom, after not speaking for 8 years, had tracked him down in Houston. His father was dying. Having just finished a season, Charlie went back to Greensboro. I guess his dad was able to sit in the same room with him after a few weeks, and eventually they were able to get pretty close again. After about two months, dad passed on and Charlie returned to Houston. Something had happened to him in Greensboro, another one of those "I'm going to spit inane bullshit at you so I don't have to actually answer you" moments. Charlie emerged ready for a career change. He moved to Nashville, and began making efforts to launch a career in country music. Nashville is perhaps the last place in the states where being gay instantly blacklists you as a performer. After all, country music is about tractors, mom, and apple pie, isn't it? Charlie underwent a rigorous process of de-outing himself. Six months later, the new Charlie Quick emerged. The only telltale signs of his newly reclaimed secret were an exaggerated bow-legged stride (too many John Wayne movies for research?) and his impeccable ability to wear perfectly matching hats and boots. Charlie met a guy named Terry at a showcase, and it was love. Both being gay country singers, how could it not be. Terry became Charlie's muse. They started writing together. In a blink, the kids went from ridiculously campy, but still very-Nashville odes like "You can't have your Kate and Edith too" and "tipi Boogie" to heart-rending ballads. One song, "I Wear a Mask", generated some serious publishing interest as soon as a few pronouns were changed to the more radio friendly "she". The interest was so great that Terry was flown out to write with a certain mega-star that I would not slander. Apparently this signer, who also possessed the knack for the hat-boot matching technique, was so enamored with Terry's "songwriting" that he decided to keep him at the ranch to work on a new album. Taking it in stride, with his typical deference, Charlie just shrugged and whispered "I might have done the same thing". Still, an event like that is bound to have an effect. Charlie was proud that he had finally built a stable relationship. Its loss changed him, even if he won't admit it Anyway, he's got a new batch of songs in hand, and they're all pretty good. Too good maybe, for Nashville. But the "Kate and Edith" song just got picked up through SESAC and A&M records ponied up the dough to cut a four-song demo. It's time for Charlie to enter a studio for the first time. The last five years of his life: the hats and boots, the John Wayne movies, the secrecy and sacrifice, are all going to comedown to 8 days in a studio. He has one chance. Charlie asked me if I believed in God. I told him I didn't know, very well aware that this was an invitation for me to sit down and listen to him for a while. "I believe," he said is his ever-deepening faux-southern accent. " I believe that he's giving me a chance. A chance to do something big." I asked him if the guilt a Baptist upbringing forced on him was coming back. "Nah, me and god have an understanding now" was the reply. "We've got something planned." I had to laugh when he said that. Here sits Charlie, the most genuine, un-ironic person I have ever met. I hope the plan works out. Role: aspiring signer/songwriter Story Activities: charlie sits in his shitty apartemnt, brooding over his lost love, and writing songs. he is usually an active person, but inertia has crept up on him Character Type: Complex Characteristics: Motivation: Feeling; Pursuit; Faith; Oppose Methodology: Potentiality; Reaction; Induction; Evaluation Evaluation: Unproven; Trust; Determination; Process Purpose: Desire; Aware; Equity; Change Name: Dave Gender: Male Form: Single Description: Dave is morris-bryant's studio tech. coke bottle glasses and stringy, greasy long hair. Dave is a skinny guy with a quickly developing belly. Role: studio tech Story Activities: dave functions as the foil to johnny's asshole-ness he is kind and perceptive, a good listener. he offers advice Character Type: Complex Characteristics: Motivation: Logic; Control; Conscience; Help Methodology: Inaction; Acceptance Evaluation: Theory; Cause; Accurate; Result Purpose: Thought; Perception; Order Name: Johhny Morris-Bryant ID: Impact Character Gender: Male Form: Single Description: Johnny is something else. Apparently born to a "gentle family of means" (his words not mine) near Birmingham, England, in 1959, Johnny is an overweight, overwrought, arrogant drunk. An arrogant drunk that happens to posses one of the greatest set f ears on the planet. Funny how evolution works like that. A couple hundred years of genteel inbreeding and out comes Johnny the mutant: ugly as sin, but with hearing like a vampire bat. Johnny makes his scratch running a studio in Nashville, which he hates. Hates Nashville so much that one of his running jokes is about being shipwrecked on some leper colony. Don't blame me if it isn't funny, the guy's usually too trashed to know what a punchline is. Johnny had been doing pretty well a few years back, word was getting around that he could make a dong roll out of the speakers like sugar water. This was a good thing, as Nashville is not fond of substance. Unfortunately, a big star took the ass-end of a banjo to the jaw courtesy of Johnny a few years back. Most of the major labels have shied away since then. Johnny's dad was the proprietor of the last big coal mine in England. It was somewhere near Birmingham. Johnny usually fails to mention that his money comes from such dirty work, but somebody told me that Johnny Sr. won the whole thing in a card game anyway. Johnny was a listless kid, a spoiled brat to all he knew. He got other kids to play with him because he always had the most expensive toys. Funny how people don't change sometimes. His ticket out of the Birmingham wasteland was a bad haircut and a few synthesizers. Johnny played in the notorious Crying Fist. They were amongst the most excessive of the British New-Romantic, new wave poster boys. They had the most hairspray, the most synthesizers, and the most posturing. There's a funny clip from mid 80's MTV where the band is interviewed. Johnny, in full on Glam mode, talks for 10 minutes about "the death of content. Style is the only signifier. Surface appearances are the only appearances. Look at Warhol, mate…." etc, etc. the clip only becomes funnier when you realize that Johnny's wearing an ascot and a monocle. It becomes funnier still when a bandmate admits that Johnny is there "because he could pay for all the keyboards." Don't let this cloud my earlier comments about Johnny being an amazing engineer. The guy wouldn't know a good tune if it bit him on the ass, but he can make any song, no matter how horrifically misformed, sound svelte and powerful. It's a good skill to have. Johnny loves the control he has over other people's music. He can make a singer sincere or insincere by adjusting the way the guitar frames the voice. He can make the whiniest brat sound angst-ridden, and the shallowest bimbo sound like she holds the secrets of the universe. This is Johnny's gift: the gift of manipulation. Johnny's been able to make ends meet lately by recording children's music. Needless to say, spending 6 days a week recording and mixing songs about whales and sharing are doing little to assuage the man's already slightly sociopathic tendencies. In the middle of recording sessions, Johnny will frequently stop the tape, close his eyes, look to the heavens, and stop breathing. He's getting pretty good at it. He can hold his breath 'till he starts to turn blue now. Johnny has a plan, however. All he needs is one star, one artist to produce to make everything right with the record execs downtown. "Money talks and bullshit walks" he says. "All I 'ave to do is find some dancing clown, make 'em sound like Christ himself, and I'm back in the game." A good strategy, no doubt, but flawed in execution. Speaking of Christ, Johnny is devoutly Catholic. Catholic in the bad way, y'know. He got one of his protégé's pregnant a few years back and refused to let her have an abortion. If she didn't have the child, she wouldn't get the demo at his studio, as simple as that. Luckily the girl had some sense and left, but I don't know what happened beyond that. Johnny began stalking showcases for new artists a couple of years ago, looking for his dancing clown. It didn't take long to realize that he was in a position of power, and that lots of attractive, naïve girls went to Nashville to make it. A couple dozen girls, and about 3 finished songs later, Johnny still prowls on a weekly basis. Every couple of months, there's a new blonde on his arm, trying to hide her shame and disgust with liberal use of eyeliner. When there's a girl with Johnny, you can almost hear her thinking, "this is my career. This is my chance. I have to take it." Johnny spends a lot of time with Rose, even through he hates her music and her rhetoric even more so. They met through the children's music gig, and Johnny seems to think of Rose as a friend. He dangles the idea of a demo in front of her, baiting her, hoping he can make her stay. He probably thinks of her as some kind of China doll to possess. Some kind of toy. He's like that, you know. Role: record producer/ Mestaphocles Story Activities: johnny owns and operates a recording studio on the outskirts of nashville. It once boasted an impressive clientele, but now is used mainly to record children's music. Johnny is obsessive behind the mixing desk, and will stay up for days working on a part....he cannot break free when he begins to concentrate because of this he drinks. like a fish. johnny cares only for anonymous sex, booze, and recording... he loves recording because of the power and control it brings him Character Type: Complex Characteristics: Motivation: Reconsider; Avoidance; Temptation; Hinder Methodology: Certainty; Proaction; Production; Nonacceptance Evaluation: Proven; Test; Expectation; Ending Purpose: Knowledge; Actuality; Inequity; Inertia Name: Lorretta Lynn Gender: Female Form: Single Role: student/ rose's daughter Story Activities: loretta is an avid reader. she attends private, catholic schools Characteristics: Name: Rose Lynn Gender: Female Form: Single Description: I met Rose in an alley. It's a funny story really…but maybe you have to know her. I was walking hazily to a bus stop. It was late. I heard a bottle break, then a door opened, and a drunk fell down in front of me, followed almost instantaneously by a girl. She didn't look like she could have been more than fourteen. With precision, she began kicking the man's kidneys until he started weeping. The girl laughed, stood up, and walked over to me. I was shocked when she got close; she must have been pushing forty. She couldn't have been more than 5 feet tall. She looked up and said, "Hey, I'm Rose. You're going to buy me a shot." Rose has got some issues with her appearance. After all, it's hard to be taken seriously when everyone around you wants to turn you into a child or fetish object. Her day job doesn't help. Gifted with a dulcet soprano, Rose makes her way by singing children's songs…. In a child's voice. Wait a sec, you didn't think they actually get kids to do that, did you? So anyway, Rose has as much work as she wants, unfortunately it's usually singing alongside Raffi, intoning "This old man, he played one." When she writes, the songs tend to be diatribes. She's like a permanently pre-menstrual Joni Mitchell. A rrriot girl in sheep's clothing. The last song of her's that I heard was a simple acoustic ballad declaring all religion to be a lie. "This is Nashville," I said. "So fucking what," she replied. Gotta admire her for that. Rose is from West Virginia, although her bio says North Carolina. Her father drove a truck and her mother apparently just watched a lot of TV. Rose learned to raise hell at an early age, which didn't suit her Pentecostal parents very well. She hitchhiked to Nashville with two black eyes at the age of fourteen and hasn't looked back. At least not while I'm around. Rose has a daughter, named Loretta. Loretta makes a pretty good case in favor of single-motherhood. Loretta, who is 5, can read and write French, and plays piano every day. Because of this, Loretta hates Rose. They live in a spacious, if somewhat bare two bedroom flat downtown. Every morning Rose takes Loretta to a luxurious girl's academy, Loretta cries, and Rose storms off fuming. "If that damn girl only knew" she told me once, over drinks. "She'd really start to……" and then Rose became beet-red, and started looking for some kidneys to puncture. "It's only gonna get worse when she realizes what you did naming her" I replied, then quickly got up to pay the tab. Loretta's dad was a drummer. Any musician in the audience will know that that means trouble. He got a gig with some famous bitch, Hope West, from Georgia. The ended up getting married on tour. She has a new song out about him. It's been on the radio constantly. At first Rose got mad. Then she threw away her radio. Then she saw the video (singer-girl and drummer-boy hold each other and exchange glances in an empty dancehall) and started laughing. "She can have that sonovabitch!," she told me, snorting with laughter. Rose hasn't dated in a long time. Probably since I've known her. Taking care of a 5 year-old and dealing with crippling 'bouts of self-doubt can take up a lot of time. She spends a lot of her time with Johnny, a studio owner who you will meet shortly. I don't understand why she can be around such a waste of flesh, but she tells me repeatedly that there's more to him than I think. I think she's just taking the slow road to forcing him to make a demo for her. Rose is the kind of person that will get what she wants, by any means necessary. And what she wants now, is for people to listen to her… with a woman's voice, not a child's. And I guess that Johnny, as much as I loathe admitting, may be necessary for that. Role: children's song singer/aspiring songwriter/mother Story Activities: rose works days singing childrens songs to pay for her daughter's private education she sings her songs mostly at coffee shops and cafe's wehre she can find a spot. her political idealogy and presentational style don't go over too well in nashville. Character Type: Complex Characteristics: Motivation: Consider; Uncontrolled; Disbelief; Support Methodology: Possibility; Protection; Reevaluation Evaluation: Hunch; Effect; Non-Accurate; Unending Purpose: Ability; Self Aware; Chaos; Speculation Character Relationships for "BRIGHT LIGHTS" Character: Charlie Quick Charlie Quick's relationship with Dave Dave sits by quitely during sessions. eventually, he and charlie strike up a friendship. he works to alleviate some of johnny's more grevious ills. Charlie Quick's relationship with Johhny Morris-Bryant Johnny has coerced charlie into recording with him. charlie feels uncomfortable and unnerved by johhny. johnny hates charlie Charlie Quick's relationship with Rose Lynn Rose is one of the first people Charlie met upon moving to Nashville. They quickly developed a bond, and have been close ever since. Rose maintains that an artist has to be honest to affect anyone, Charlie is still undecided. It is unclear if Rose might secretly be in love with charlie Character: Dave Dave's relationship with Charlie Quick Dave sits by quitely during sessions. eventually, he and charlie strike up a friendship. he works to alleviate some of johnny's more grevious ills. Dave's relationship with Johhny Morris-Bryant johnny abuses dave readily in the studio. dave has learned to shrug it off. dave maintains the equipment and does the shit work for johnny....johnny used to dangle the carrot of a full partnership with dave in front of him. Now he doesn't even bother Dave's relationship with Rose Lynn dave is fascinated by rose.....he clams up everytime he see's her. She barely acknowledges his existence. Character: Johhny Morris-Bryant Johhny Morris-Bryant's relationship with Charlie Quick Johnny has coerced charlie into recording with him. charlie feels uncomfortable and unnerved by johhny. johnny hates charlie Johhny Morris-Bryant's relationship with Dave johnny abuses dave readily in the studio. dave has learned to shrug it off. dave maintains the equipment and does the shit work for johnny....johnny used to dangle the carrot of a full partnership with dave in front of him. Now he doesn't even bother Johhny Morris-Bryant's relationship with Rose Lynn Johnny and Rose have a long and turbulent history together. She was once one of the girls he picked up under the pretenses of a "mentorship". her demo was never completed. at the same time, he found work for her five years later, doing children's songs. Rose has accepted Johnny as part of her life, and whether or not she can stand him, he will be there. Character: Lorretta Lynn Lorretta Lynn's relationship with Rose Lynn Loretta is 5, and somehting of a genus. she hates rose already, for making her life so difficult. she is simultaneously the rpoudest and most ashame aspect of rose's life. Rose has done a damn good job of raising loretta, but she knows that she would be somewhere else without her. Loretta longs for freedom, and Rose, perceptive little one, has begun to pick it up. Character: Rose Lynn Rose Lynn's relationship with Charlie Quick Rose is one of the first people Charlie met upon moving to Nashville. They quickly developed a bond, and have been close ever since. Rose maintains that an artist has to be honest to affect anyone, Charlie is still undecided. It is unclear if Rose might secretly be in love with charlie Rose Lynn's relationship with Dave dave is fascinated by rose.....he clams up everytime he see's her. She barely acknowledges his existence. Rose Lynn's relationship with Johhny Morris-Bryant Johnny and Rose have a long and turbulent history together. She was once one of the girls he picked up under the pretenses of a "mentorship". her demo was never completed. at the same time, he found work for her five years later, doing children's songs. Rose has accepted Johnny as part of her life, and whether or not she can stand him, he will be there. Rose Lynn's relationship with Lorretta Lynn Loretta is 5, and somehting of a genus. she hates rose already, for making her life so difficult. she is simultaneously the rpoudest and most ashame aspect of rose's life. Rose has done a damn good job of raising loretta, but she knows that she would be somewhere else without her. Loretta longs for freedom, and Rose, perceptive little one, has begun to pick it up. Main vs. Impact Character Synopsis: johnny sees charlie's showcase and decides to approach him johnny see's his advantage and insults charlie charlie agrees to work with johnny they sign a contract charlie goes to the studio to work with johnny....johnny is derogatory and insulting.....he constatnly asks for changes and insults charlie's ability charlie reacts by calling johnny's obvious faults into question. chalrie storms out they work together next week...again, the same conflicts occur.....In a particulalry heated argument, johnny hits charlie. johnny uses rose to get charlie back to work. johnny uses his 50% to sign a deal w/ warner/chaparrel publishing....giving up the songs while making charlie think they'll be his to sing after the sale, johnny seems to calm down a bit..working patterns seem better charlie becomes aware that one of their songs is being released....by a different artist. charlie explodes at johnny....the altercation becomes violent, and johnny ends by declaring charlie knew what he was getting into and should accept that he gets the food that falls out of the big fishes mouths....he is incredibly insulting to charlie charlie gets a check...he tries to shop aroundfor labels, but they seem turned off...he becoems aware that this is because of johnny. johnny calls back...got a deal with big label for charlie if he can play it straight. charlie jsut has to come back. charlie walks off and writes his own songs Main Character Backstory: look at character sketch Impact Character Backstory: see cahracter description Main vs. Impact Story Backstory: Johnny has manipulated and used charlie from the start. He is offensive to the point of driving charlie somewhat insane. Charlie despises him after a period of time Charlie is gay, which is something that johnny seems to have some serious issues with. Johnny can't stand the idea that Charlie lives a deviant lifestyle. He is jealous of charlie's talent and (misguided) idealism. In some ways, charlie represents something johnny has lost....so he reacts by feeling the need to crush it out of charlie. Main Character Resolve: Change Charlie's eventual decision to leave Johnny and write the music he feels is indicative of the change in him. Main Character Growth: Start Charlie must start to look inside him self for measurements of his worth rather than force himself into identities that don't fit. Main Character Approach: Be-er Charlie, despite his desires, is represented as a be-er by the facts taht Rose has to get him to his showcase, he allows himself to slide into johnny's hands, he goes along with the half-assed songs he writes with johnny. not until the end of the story does charlie take decisive action. Main Character Problem-Solving Style: Intuitive charlie treis to adpat himself to balance the caharcteristics of those he is in contact with.....becomes shy when with rose, noble when with johhny ABOUT YOUR PLOT Story Driver: Action Rose forces Charlie to get up for his gig charlie makes the decision to perform johnny decides to work with charlie charlie meets johnny and decides to agree to his strict demands rose tells charlie about johnny johnny and charlie work together, charlie decides to buckle Dave decides to speak to charlie loretta makes her mom pay attention to her by fighting at school dave tells charlie about his love for Rose charlie decides to stand up to johnny...johnny hits him dave talks to rose haltingly charlie recieves message from johnny....payment offered....rent due soon loretta runs away and is picked up by cops charlie works with johnny..finish 4 songs charlie hears one of his songs on the radio charlie confronts johnny etc Story Limit: Optionlock The characters run out of options for finding fulfillment Story Outcome: Success Charlie achieves some amount of success in the deal...he wlaks away from the falseness of it Story Judgment: Bad Charlie fails in his attempt to really complete himself....he leaves nashville, still searching for meaning. Overall Story Name: Find wholeness through fame Goal: Obtaining all of the cahracters are searching for a sense of wholeness or completion. rose and charlie alook for it through faem, loretta and dave through relationships with others, and johnny through money Consequence: Changing One's Nature charlie fails to achieve his goal.... and moves towards accepting himself internally rose fails to achieve her goal of success, but she is undeterred in her ambition-she represents the unchanging force johnny has bad shit happen to him Dave attempts to reach out to others....to become a more active person Requirements: Doing In order to be successful, Charlie has to work with Johnny.... In order to re-establish himself as a producer, Johnny must work with charlie. each manipulates each other to achieve his goal. Forewarnings: Impulsive Responses johnny hit charlie charlie signs contract rose leaves loretta in car during gig Overall Story Backstory: fame attracts all sorts of desperate, dreary eyed people nashville has an appeal to the everyman....it is a place of strict boundaries. a city full of the lonely, churning to get noticed Overall Story Signpost 1: Gathering Information audience gathers information about rose and charlie charlie gathers information about gig and potential A&R Rose gathers info that her daughter is not doing well. She also finds out she has another children's song job. Dave realizes he loves rose??? Overall Story Journey 1 from Gathering Information to Doing: charlie plays a gig and meets johnny johnny and charlie debate at waffle house johnny blackmails charlie into working with him rose learns of kid-song gig calls loretta...obviously not going well has gig...leaves loretta in car dave cannot work up the nerve to talk to rose.... talks up pre-amps Overall Story Signpost 2: Doing charlie begins recording with johnnie rose has to pick up daughter at school, blowing kid-song gig. Yells hearitly dave talks to charlie about rose Overall Story Journey 2 from Doing to Obtaining: charlie bends to johnny's will nad records fluff charlie protests...johnny hits charlie johnny signs publishing deal.....gets charlie money cahrlie doesn't know 4-song completed charlie hears song on radio...finds out about deal....gets no credit. rose drives loretta around...ells at her about her life. loretta packs her things dave talks to charlie about rose opens up johnny tries to reclaim old position gets ad for self in billboard Overall Story Signpost 3: Obtaining charlie obtains commercial success as a writer rose finds her daughter dave talks to rose. Overall Story Journey 3 from Obtaining to Understanding: charlie starts working commercial writing gig....cant stand it cant get access to Johnny another song, uncredited, gets on air....was personal to charlie charlie goes to hear rose sign loretta is in audience charlie has one last spat with johnny....johnny broken, charlie broken. dave does something cheesily self-improvement like. doesnt work Overall Story Signpost 4: Understanding charlie understands that he has been going in the worng direction...he doesn't know where to go though rose understands that she can no longer be selfishly devoted to her career johnny doesn't understand why charlie leave dave understands that he has a lot to do before he's ready for rose Main Character Signpost 1: Contemplation charlie is lost at beginning contemplates lost boyfriend....his own place in the worfd talks about judgement Main Character Signpost 2: Memories charlie remembers himnself before he began the quest for approval... he remembers his father Main Character Signpost 3: Impulsive Responses charlie deicdes to quit the sognwrite's group on 1st day after years of work. he goes to see rose's show dispenses with a lot of the cowboy garb Main Character Signpost 4: Innermost Desires charlie leaves his newly created life behind for another shot, somewhere else Impact Character Signpost 1: The Past johnny obsesses about his lost prestige as a producer, even as an artist on a ridiculous 80's band. He feels a physical pain in its absense Impact Character Journey 1 from The Past to How Things are Changing: johnny plots to exploit charlie for a return to prestige johnny blackmails/makes deal with charlie they start working together Impact Character Signpost 2: How Things are Changing johnny works obessesively to achieve success with charlie Impact Character Journey 2 from How Things are Changing to The Future: charlie and johnny achieve success johnny gets a large advace... with money in veins, his confidence grows, as does his ambition Impact Character Signpost 3: The Future johnny becomes obsessed with returning to his prestigous position...he resumes going to the old clubs,etc, etc Impact Character Journey 3 from The Future to The Present: johnny is shunned at club dave blows up at him he loses control over charlie Impact Character Signpost 4: The Present johnny's final meltdown with charlie is the impetus for charlie leaving Main vs. Impact Story Name: warring about what music (and life) can be Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 1: Developing a Plan charlie plans on becoming a star johnny plans on retuning to his life Main vs. Impact Story Journey 1 from Developing a Plan to Playing a Role: johnny's contract binds charlie tightly to him thier interactions with rose and kid-music push them towards seeking success even more Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 2: Playing a Role charlie is forced to play a specifc role, and write specific music with johnny Main vs. Impact Story Journey 2 from Playing a Role to Changing One's Nature: charlie must resume working with Johnny to pay his rent. the role gains success (song sold), but charlie feels empty charlie becomes aware of johnny's betrayal Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 3: Changing One's Nature charlie feels himself slipping into Johnny's pessamistic worldview. he decides to fight against it Main vs. Impact Story} Journey 3 from Changing One's Nature to Conceiving an Idea: having fought off his doubts, charlie fights against jonny and his worldview. Johnny cannot retreat, he holds his ground more doggedly than before Main vs. Impact Story Signpost 4: Conceiving an Idea charlie changes his idea of waht self-worth is johnny cannot change his priorities, despite the fact that he cannot relive the past. ABOUT YOUR THEME Overall Story Throughline: Activity The sotry is concerned with the lengths that we go to find wholeness or satisfy ourselves. All of the characters are seeking this wholeness/acceptance/fulfillment through bright lights. music, etc. Rose attempts to bring chalrie out of his heartbroken state. Charlie and Johnny record a demo together. Charlie tries to find his artistic voice Rose attempts to get johnny to record her again. Dave makes a few tentative passes at Rose.. Loretta plans her revenge on her mother Overall Story Concern: Obtaining Charlie wishes to obtain fame to validate himself Rose wishes to obtain fame/exposure to have a platform Johnny wishes to re-obtain his lost prestige/earning power Loretta wishes to obtain her mother's love and attention Dave wishes to obtain Rose's love and attention Overall Story Problem: Pursuit charlie is pursuing fame to use as a miror on himself rose is pursuing fame as a platform for her voice loretta is pursuing her mother's attention and affection Dave is pursuing rose's attention and love johnny is pursuing his past (reclaim the presitge he once had) Overall Story Issue: Self Interest Self Interest is Decidedly Disdvantageous. charlie, rose, and johnny all have nothing but their own deisres in mind...refereced by loretta/dave/charlie's shitty lifestyle Overall Story Counterpoint: Morality Morality is Somewhat Advantageous. charlie grapples with the morality of selling yourself out rose grapples with the morality of her personal, charged songs, and of her self-interest vs. her daughter's johnny shows no scruples in his race for cash Overall Story Conflict as it relates to Self Interest vs. Morality Self Interest is Decidedly Worse than Morality. slef interest brings the cahracters closer to thier goals, morality makes them better people charlie needs to figure himself out johnny needs to chill the fuck out rose needs to take care of her daughter dave needs MORE self-interest Main Character Issue: Closure Closure is Decidedly Advantageous. charlie cannot find closure with boyfirend, or father's death. he cannot commit, has to have a way of keeping it from being losed off Main Character Counterpoint: Denial Denial is Decidedly Disdvantageous. charlie denies (implicitly) his sexual identity he denies his idnetity as an artist in order to make a buck he denies his father's inflece on his current state he denies that he might not actually want to be a country singer Main Character Conflict as it relates to Closure vs. Denial Closure is Decidedly Better than Denial. charlie is able to give up his ghosts....become more open (even in nashville)....wirtes song about ex-bf... Impact Character Issue: Openness Openness is Neutral. johnny is not open with his emotions (positive) and armors himself in his own venom....he pushes everyone away from him and desires to control them. Johnny feels incredibly off balance when he does not control a situation Impact Character Counterpoint: Preconception Preconception is Neutral. Johnny cannot get over his preconceptions about charlie's sexuality johnny has stirct preconceptions about what women are capable of johnny has preconceptions about what makes music popular Impact Character Conflict as it relates to Openness vs. Preconception Openness is Somewhat Better than Preconception. johnny shows us that both openess and lack of preconcetption are traits to be admired. he is an evil, vitiriolic man....his slefishness and preconception proove to be his undoing Main vs. Impact Story Issue: Commitment Commitment is Somewhat Disdvantageous. johnny foreces charlie to commit to him with the blackmail contract. johnny repeatedly reaffirms charlie's commitment in the studiio Main vs. Impact Story Counterpoint: Responsibility Responsibility is Decidedly Advantageous. charlie does not actively take responsibility for the product he and johnny create jonny takes upon all the responsibility....but leaves room to blame charlie Main vs. Impact Story Conflict as it relates to Commitment vs. Responsibility Commitment is Decidedly Worse than Responsibility. Charlie has a responsibility to himself to break his ties with johnny. he has a legal commitment to stay with him. Johnny has a responsibility to treat charlie fairly, but does not KEY STORY POINTS Overall Story Throughline: Activity The sotry is concerned with the lengths that we go to find wholeness or satisfy ourselves. All of the characters are seeking this wholeness/acceptance/fulfillment through bright lights. music, etc. Rose attempts to bring chalrie out of his heartbroken state. Charlie and Johnny record a demo together. Charlie tries to find his artistic voice Rose attempts to get johnny to record her again. Dave makes a few tentative passes at Rose.. Loretta plans her revenge on her mother Main Character Throughline: Fixed Attitude Charlie has a fixed attitude that success will validate him. Brought down from his father, Charlie has learned that performance in the public sphere will define him. Impact Character Throughline: Situation Johnny is bringing Charlie into the high pressure situation of the studio and of his particular worldview...he places charlie in a situation of temptation and decision Main vs. Impact Story Throughline: Manipulation charlie and johnny are at ideological odds with each other...one worldview makes the other incorrect Overall Story Concern: Obtaining Charlie wishes to obtain fame to validate himself Rose wishes to obtain fame/exposure to have a platform Johnny wishes to re-obtain his lost prestige/earning power Loretta wishes to obtain her mother's love and attention Dave wishes to obtain Rose's love and attention Main Character Concern: Innermost Desires charlie seeks acceptance and worth for himself. He believes he will find it on the public stage. His dad was a minor league ballplyaer and died within the last few years. Charlie must struggle with himself to find out what he's really about. Impact Character Concern: The Future Johnny Morris represents opportunity and the high price of success. He seeks success for himself (and maybe charlie) and his machinations drive the plot Main vs. Impact Story Concern: Changing One's Nature Johnny has refused to change his nature, despite repeated failures. He is too stubborn to take a different path. Charlie has a history of sudden shifts; he has changed himself recently(re-closeting himself), and seems willing to alter himself more to achieve his goal. Overall Story Problem: Pursuit charlie is pursuing fame to use as a miror on himself rose is pursuing fame as a platform for her voice loretta is pursuing her mother's attention and affection Dave is pursuing rose's attention and love johnny is pursuing his past (reclaim the presitge he once had) Overall Story Solution: Avoidance avoiding the traps of stardom will allow charlie to become his own person avoiding johnny would keep charlie from being faced by the temptation of Main Character Problem: Pursuit Charlie pursues his (possibly) misguided dream of becoming a country singe, even if it means taking on a new identity. His goal is the bright lights and public adulation, following in the steps of his father, he needs to be judged by performance. Main Character Solution: Avoidance Charlie is barking up the wrong tree. he has not thoguth his dream through, and especially has not thought of the consequences of it. Main Character Focus: Reconsider Charlie must reconsider whether or not achieing his dream will validate him. Impact Character Problem: Help Morris-Bryant is in a position to help charlie realize his dreams, and make his own come ture at the same time. They both need each other, but Johhny holds the keys, and the power. Impact Character Solution: Hinder Johnny personally despises Charlie...if there is a way he can get what he needs, and hinder charlie in reaching his rewards, he will pounce on it Impact Character Resolve: Steadfast Johnny is steadfast about music's need to be financially marketable. Johnny is steadfastly oppossed to Charlie's gay lifestyle Johnny is steadfastly oppossed to the music that Rose writes Main vs. Impact Story Problem: Conscience charlie feels unconscionable about the musical decisions that he and johnny are making. He cannot agree with the decision to go solely for commercial success. Main vs. Impact Story Solution: Temptation several times, charli gives into teh intoxicating tempation of his dreams by making decisions that go against his conscience (signing with johnny, continuing to work after getting hit, etc) ______________________________ VOCABULARY: Ability: being suited to handle a task; the innate capacity to do or be Acceptance: a decision to allow, tolerate, or adapt, or not to oppose Accurate: being within tolerances Action: in terms of the Overall plot, actions force decisions Activity: an activity or endeavor Actuality: objective reality; the way things are Avoidance: stepping around, preventing or escaping from a problem Aware: being conscious of things outside oneself Bad: Charlie Quick ultimately fails in resolving his personal problems Be-er: Charlie Quick prefers to work things out internally Cause: the specific circumstances that lead to an effect Certainty: the determination that something is absolutely true Change: an alteration of a state or process Change: Charlie Quick changes his essential nature while attempting to solve the problem Changing One's Nature: transforming one's nature Chaos: random change or a lack of order Closure: bringing something to an end or to completion Commitment: a decision to stick with something regardless of the consequences Conceiving an Idea: coming up with an idea Conscience: forgoing an immediate pleasure or benefit because of future consequences Consider: weigh pros and cons Contemplation: present considerations Control: directed, constrained Denial: the refusal to admit to oneself or others that a previously held view is no longer true Desire: the motivation toward something better Determination: a conclusion based on circumstantial evidence Developing a Plan: visualizing how an existing idea might be implemented Disbelief: the belief that something is untrue Doing: engaging in a physical activity Effect: the specific outcome forced by a cause Ending: coming to a conclusion Equity: a balance, fairness, or stability Evaluation: an appraisal of a situation and/or circumstances Expectation: a conclusion as to the eventual effect of a particular cause Faith: accepting something as certain without proof Feeling: an emotional sense of how things are going Fixed Attitude: a fixed attitude or outlook Gathering Information: gathering information or experience Help: a direct assistance to another's effort Hinder: undermining another's effort How Things are Changing: the way things are going Hunch: an understanding based on insufficient circumstantial evidence Impulsive Responses: innate responses Inaction: intentionally taking no action Induction: a method of thought that determines possibility Inequity: an unbalance, unfairness, or lack or equality Inertia: a continuation of a state or process Innermost Desires: basic drives and desires Intuitive: Charlie Quick uses intuitive problem solving techniques Knowledge: that which one holds to be true Logic: a rational sense of how things are related Manipulation: a manner of thinking or demeanor Memories: recollections Morality: doing or being based on what is best for others Non-Accurate: not within tolerances Nonacceptance: a decision not to allow, tolerate, or adapt; a decision to oppose Obtaining: achieving or possessing something Openness: willingness to reevaluate Oppose: an indirect detraction from another's effort Optionlock: the story climax occurs because all options have been exhausted Order: a patterned arrangement Perception: the way things seem to be Playing a Role: temporarily adopting a lifestyle Possibility: a determination that something might be true Potentiality: a determination that something might become true Preconception: adhering to a previous held view; unwillingness to reevaluate Proaction: taking initiative action Process: an ongoing activity; the mechanism through which a cause leads to an effect Production: a process that determines potential Protection: an effort to prevent interference with one's concerns Proven: an assessment that something is correct by all relevant standards Pursuit: the drive to seek after Reaction: actions made in response Reconsider: thinking through again Reevaluation: a reappraisal of a situation or circumstances Responsibility: taking, accepting, or assuming control to the exclusion of others Result: the product of a process; the ramifications of a specific effect Self Aware: being conscious of one's own existence Self Interest: doing or being based on what is best for oneself Situation: a situation or environment Speculation: an extension of possibilities into the future Start: regarding Charlie Quick, the audience is waiting for something to begin Steadfast: Charlie Quick ultimately retains his essential nature Success: the original goal is achieved Support: indirect assistance given to another's efforts Temptation: the urge to embrace immediate benefits despite possible consequences Test: a trial to determine something's validity The Future: what will happen or what will be The Past: what has already happened The Present: the current situation and circumstances Theory: an unbroken chain of relationships leading from a premise to a conclusion Thought: the process of consideration Trust: acceptance without proof Uncontrolled: directionless, unconstrained Understanding: appreciating the meaning of something Unending: continuing without cessation Unproven: a conjecture that has not been tested