CAROUSEL WIND Act 1 Scene 2

 

Act 1 Scene 2  
         

[Joy is at a summerhouse with her parents and her grandfather, an ex Vaudeville performer. They have a beach house on the Jersey Shore near the Amusement Park where everything occurs. Most of the action takes place in the backyard, which is inundated with dandelions. They are having afternoon tea.]

Molly:

We've got to do something about all these dandelions. Frank, [pointing to the neighbor's yard] next door keeps his lawn immaculate. I feel guilty when the wind blows the seeds that way.

Granddad: [wearing a fedora]

It's like an invasion of paratroopers.

Nanny:

Now don't get started on the war...[to Molly changing the subject]
I see you've kept up the tradition of Afternoon Tea. Do you do that everyday, or is this just for our benefit?

Molly:

I try to have it every day. Even when I'm at the train store I take a tea break at four. And Sundays we always have roast beef and Yorkshire pudding, with upside down peach cake for desert.

Joy:

Granddad, can you show me one of your Vaudeville routines?

Nanny:

Don't get him started he'll never stop. [To Granddad]
And you know what your doctor said.

Granddad:

How about L'esprit de l'escalier?

Molly

That’s too long… Why don't you do the Little Soft Shoe?

Granddad:

This one is set in an English Park, Nanny could you do the bit with the copper?

[sings:]

When I was so young—
Around thirty two
The times were so tough
And we had to make do
I always pulled through
With a little soft shoe

A bench for a bed
All drenched in dew
My only cover
Was yesterday's news
I always woke up
With a little soft shoe

Nanny: [nudging him with a baking roller she brought out from the kitchen]

From the man in blue...

Granddad: [sings]

When silver falls
Through the lining
And you've lost your only
Patch of blue
Then you can be sure
That something shining
Is bound to make
A breakthrough

I was a bum
But a gentleman too
I always managed
To pay for my stew
The best way to make it is
With a little soft shoe

When silver falls
Through the lining
And you've lost your only
Patch of blue
Then you can be sure
That something shining
Is bound to make
A breakthrough

I was a bum
But a gentleman too
I always managed
To pay for my stew
The best way to fake it is
With a little soft shoe

[More applause from family]

George:

How about that train dance? I'll put a plank down over the grass.

[He gets a plank from a pile beside the house]

Molly:

You and your trains!

Granddad:

Just this last one. [Granddad starts off slowly shuffling his feet, wearing brown brogues. His hands move like pistons starting slowly then picking up speed. He tilts his head back and whistles like a train. The dance is slow in duration.]

[Applause]

Nanny:

That's enough for today. [She takes Granddad inside. The lights turn orange and dim suggesting it is evening.]

Nanny: [from inside] Call the Doctor! Granddad is having a stroke! 

[A stretcher is taken in and two EMT's carry Granddad out. Flashing lights suggest an ambulance. Stage lights darken and a split scene appears. In the foreground is a campfire on the beach, with Enigma and Mr. Poet, in the background while the song "Vision of Victory" is being sung the Montagne family are at a hospital bedside as Grandad is passing away.]

Mr. Poet: [sitting across from Enigma with guitar]

One morning I stepped out the back door and saw the light that had not yet graced the earth glowing in the wings of geese. I thought "The least I can do is rise with the geese."

This is about returning to the scene of the climb. "When I could climb the mountain I didn't—now that I can't I'm gonna." "I heard the cries that came from below." Were the cries from within me, or from people who were just down in the valley?

In the clear cold air of reality the mountain seems closer than it actually is. Close to the foothills you realize what the summit stands for. You see the mountain for the transparent thing it is — And everything it isn't. 

I once heard the saying: 'A friend is like a mountain seen best from far away.' Then I happened on a poster of a peak with the caption: ''It's not the mountain that's stopping you; It's the pebble in your shoe.' So I shook out the pebble and headed for the blue. 

After you've reached the peak you have to challenge your personal best. "I don't think I'll ever rest until I've reached my Everest." I'm not putting a human face on an impossible dream; I'm putting a Godly face on a possible dream. 

[Sings]

I went to the mountain and was on the incline
Everything above the clouds was mine
With the summit in sight a few steps to go
I heard the cries that came from below

I think I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it
Up to you I've made it to the mountain
This time I'll see it through

Stayed in the valley put off the climb
Mountain remained in back of my mind
The valley grew quiet as time slipped away
Kept telling myself I'll make it some day

I think I'm gonna make it I'm gonna make it
Up to you I've made it to the mountain
This time I'll see it through

My dreams are filled with rocks and snow
Triumphant air is thin you go as high as you can go
And then your climb begins

I'm gonna make it I've crossed the abyss
What is this mountain does it really exist
The impossible pile of rocks that I face
Is just an old friend I forgot to embrace

[The next day in the backyard of the summerhouse, Joy is with her mother at the table drinking tea]

Molly Montagne [to Joy taking a poem from her puzzle box]

I keep my favorite poems in here.
I have one that is just four lines,
It explains that going to the source of a river,
One that begins on a mountain,
Is like returning to your maker.
Your granddad liked it:

Water falls with such a force
The stream carves out a groove
The sweeter song is near the source
Where stones begin to move

Joy:

Do you have an extra puzzle box? I'm going to start collecting poems.

Molly:

Yes, My "English Country Garden" is missing a few pieces. I'll go in and get it. [She comes out and hands Joy the box. Then leaves Joy alone. As she tells her story shadows are cast on the background behind her. The shadows are that of a carousel...]

To find a silver lining in London, sometimes you have to create it yourself. That's why my Granddad used to say: "Here's the broom go sweep the fog away."