Here:
The play begins with Vera, a young girl, singing
LIFE TURNS ON A DIME. She is joined by JT and Jenny. At the end of the song, Winston, an angel, descends from heaven looking for inspiration for an opera he is set to write/direct. Suddenly, JT, suffering from Tourette's shouts, "F*ck, suck, duck!" Winston thinks JT would be the perfect source for an opera, but Vera dissuades him, pointing out Jenny.
Jenny finds JT in a diner. She is a big fan of his - he wrote songs like "Almost Wyoming" that she heard on the radio station. They hit it off and find they have many similarities - both know the concept of synchronicity, for example.
JT goes back to Jenny's NYC apartment, where they have fast sex. JT and Jenny can't believe they found each other and are rushing this relationship, but both say that
IT ALMOST FEELS LIKE LOVE.
In a series of unfortunate rhymes, JT shouts out "lemon" and says that he says lemon when he is feeling good. Winston descends from the heavens, and thinking it is so dysfunctional, explains it is
PERFECT FOR AN OPERA.
After the song, Winston states he is there to observe every nuance on Earth. Jenny tells JT her story about how she works at the Village Voice and exclaims
WHAT A STRANGE LIFE WE LIVE. Jenny says she used to be a manager for her friend's, Samantha, band, until Nick, their drummer and Samantha's boyfriend died.
JT admits to Jenny that he has Tourette's. Jenny has no problem with it, because she had a roomate that suffered from the same disease. Jenny "admits" to having some form of OCD.
Winston comes back, upset that the two are so happy. He exclaims that in opera, everyone is
DOOMED, and thinks of using pirates for his opera. Afterwards, he abandons the idea.
Up in heaven, Winston looks for some backstory on the young lovers. Enter Al, a normal Joe with a broken bike. As he fixes it, he and Vera joke about Al issuing commandments. Al asks why Vera didn't wait for her mother after her dance class. Vera doesn't understand why Al is so upset with her, and she exclaims
WHAT A STRANGE LIFE WE LIVE, wondering how old she is.
Down in NYC, Samantha, Jenny's best friend, and Jenny are talking when JT arrives with a few CDs to move in. JT says he has a confession, and says he didn't sing the songs Jenny heard on the radio. Samantha is intrigued that JT is a singer, but Jenny silences her. Samantha leaves the two alone, and JT says he is kidding - that he did write and sing the songs. JT talks about how his sister and mother died in a car accident - and how he can still hear his mother sing to him. There is a brief flashback of his mother singing
SEMPRE MIO RIMANI.
He talks about how he first started playing piano and getting into music, saying, "
I AM MY MOTHER'S SON." JT says he has another confession - that he has more stuff to put in Jenny's drawer, but was afraid to bring it up in case Jenny changed her mind. JT goes to get the stuff and Jenny reprises
LIFE TURNS ON A DIME.
Up in heaven, Al auditions for Winston's opera with a Volkswagen jingle -
YOU NEVER QUITE GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR. Winston dismisses him, saying he doesn't have what it takes to be in God's opera.
Down in NYC, Samantha is with Jenny and they reminisce about the band days. Jenny wonders if JT will sing for them. Samantha remember Nick, who - from heaven - apologizes for what he did to Samantha and Vera, saying
WHAT A STRANGE LIFE WE LIVE.
Vera rides by on her scooter, and Vera is surprised Nick knows her. Vera says he can borrow it whenever he wants, making Nick feel a bit better.
Winston wonders how to write his opera. He decides it will follow JT discovering his "illness," which causes his
HEADACHES, as we do.
JT wakes up from an MRI and the doctor informs him he has a tumor - but he says he already knew that. He is afraid to have surgery. On one hand, he could go blind. On the other, he could lose his memory and ability to write music, saying, "
WHEN I SING I'm alright." He decides not to have the surgery and lies to Jenny, saying nothing is wrong with him.
In the waiting room is Winston and his henchwomen. Winston laughs at JT's reservation to tell Jenny his
SECRETS, dancing with the proverbial skeleton in the closet.
Back at home, Jenny and JT are talking when Winston shows up and "writes" their dialogue. JT asks Jenny to move in together and they sing
IN MY LIFE In the recording studio, JT is records
A RIDE ON THE WHEEL with Samantha. Then Vera appears to him, urging him to have the surgery. JT says he can't, and Jenny shows up and he asks her to marry him.
Winston appears and sings about what is
PERFECT FOR AN OPERA.
Jenny finds a letter from the hospital that JT has an astrocytoma - the tumor. Jenny says she will never leave JT, no matter what happens to him. They tell each other, "
DIDN'T HAVE TO LOVE YOU."
In heaven, Al again auditions for Winston's opera with a Dr. Pepper jingle -
LISTEN TO YOUR MOUTH.The infectious rhythm hooks Winston and he gives Al the job.
Vera comes to Al, upset that Winston is using her brother for his opera. She wonders how life works and how to save her brother. Al says he won't do anything to help her. Vera remember when she wa alive and the joy she felt
WHEN SHE DANCED, joined by her mother.
While working through the streets, JT loses his vision and someone offers him help and JT goes to the hospital.
Al finds himself upset with the going-ons, and finds a darker tone to
YOU NEVER QUITE GET WHAT YOU PAID FOR.
Jenny arrives at the hospital, after looking all over. JT goes through with the surgery.
Al finds that he has a large decision to make, wondering what will happen -
NOT THIS DAY.
During the surgery, JT find himself
FLOATING ON AIR, wondering what is happening to him.
Jenny, Liz (JT's mother), JT, Al and the others pray for JT (
NOT THIS DAY).
JT survives the surgery. Al tells Winston he is canceling the opera. He doesn't want a tragedy. Winston tells him to piss off and Winston realizes that Al is God. Embarrassed, Winston becomes upset he is now out of a job. But Al offers him a job to stage a wedding. A very "Winston" wedding for JT and Jenny.
Nick apologizes to Vera for what happened - admitting that he was the drunk driver of the car that killer her and her mother. Vera forgives him.
JT proposes to Jenny and she says yes!
The two get married
ON THIS DAY and sing
IN MY LIFE (REPRISE).
Winston concludes the story with this happy ending and flies off...with the help of the audience believing in fairies, of course!
Updated On: 2/3/07 at 07:07 PM
