captain fantastic the musical

A Stage Play by Joseph B Clipper

musical idea based on elton songs

I had never wanted to call this piece by this title. I sat summer of '75 listening to the most influential album of my life. I read the lyrics like gospel and tried to match the songs with the comic book. And I found myself lost in the intricate art work, dreaming of this mystical world. But of course I wasn't the only one doing this. So I figured someone was busy writing a movie with this title. But years past and no movie made.

Now for me I started incorporating other songs and subsequently other characters into the story. And so the piece grows from being a story about Taupin and John into my story based on their litany of characters. At one point it seemed like every classic rock lp was being pitched for Broadway. So I thought surely someone was gonna make a musical with this title. But years pass. Never happened. I adjusted my story into a play.

25 years on I jotted down an outline. I was really just curious to see if I had enough elements to write the whole play. I did except for one thing...the title. 'Two Rooms' I felt wasn't dynamic enough and 'From The End Of The World To Your Town' I thought was too illusive in its meaning. And after all if I really was gonna go with such a long title, I might as well use this one. So here it is for your enjoyment ladies and gentlemen....Captain Fantastic And The Brown Dirt Cowboy.

THE SONG LIST

Captain Fantastic....................Elton john

The Greatest Discovery............Danny

Your Song..............................Levon

Writing..................................Danny & Levon

Bitter Fingers..........................Razor face (Alvin Tostig)

Ballad of a well known gun.......The Gunslinger

Burn down the mission............Van Bushell

Border song...........................Deacon Lee

My fathers gun......................The Gunslinger

Honky cat.............................Suzie

Hercules...............................Suzie

Amy.....................................Suzie

Mona Lisa and Madhatters.......Suzie

Indian sunset........................Pinky

Tiny dancer...........................Danny

Blues for baby and me............Amoreena & Danny

Sick city................................Angel

Saturday night is alright..........Razor Face

Bennie and the Jets................Pinky

Rocket man...........................Levon

Goodbye yellow brick road.......Pinky

Ticking..................................The Voyeur

Don't let the sun go................ Amoreena

High flying bird...................... Danny

Feed me................................Levon

I need you to turn to..............Pinky

Pinky....................................Levon

Teenage idol..........................Levon

Teacher I need you.................Norma Jean

Crocodile rock........................Roy Rodgers

Candle in the wind..................Roy Rodgers

Razor face.............................Levon

meal ticket............................Razor face

Think i'm gonna Kill myself.......Danny

Someone saved my life............Danny

Ego.......................................Danny & Levon

Amoreena..............................Danny

sorry seems to be...................Danny & Amoreena

Tonight.................................Danny & Amoreena

Don't go breaking my heart.....Danny & Amoreena

Daniel.................................. Levon

Curtains................................Levon

The b***h is back....................Levon

Goodbye...............................Elton john

The house lights dims to tell the audience to settle down.

The song "Captain Fantastic and the Brown Dirt Cowboy"

rings thru the speakers. The original recording.

Danny Bailey takes the stage. He sings "The Greatest Discovery"

behind him is the movie screen. We watch as he, as a toddler,

lays his eyes on his little brother for the first time.

We watch the grow up. We see them pretend to be Romeo and Juliet.

Levon on a soap box flubbing his lines. And other times in their childhood like a day at

the beach watching sailing boats go by.

once the song is over, the movie screen lifts.

Levon is hard at work on the piano. he has completed their new musical.

LEVON : Its all done though this song has no title just words and a tune. Its much better when you

write the words.

DANNY : Let me see....mmm....well...'You can tell everybody' will do. Nice words lil bro.

LEVON : Ok if that's what you wanna call it cause its your song, for the greatest brother in the world.

And one day people will hear about us ...THE BAILEY BROTHERS FROM THE END OF THE WORLD TO YOUR TOWN!

DANNY: That phrase just never gets old. So let me hear this tune cowboy.

LEVON: Aye Aye Captain!

Levon sings "Your Song" with Danny coming in on verse 2.

DANNY : Well i'm sure I can fit that into my latest treatment. Its a story set in the old west

I call it "Tumbleweed Connection". Here's the storyline and all the lyrics I have so far.

LEVON : Omg! This reads awesome. I hope my music will keep up.

DANNY : It always does, we're the greatest songwriters

The brothers sing "Writing" as they pitch their play to Mr Alvin Tostig.

ALVIN : Boys I love this piece, your gonna be big stars.

THE BROTHERS : Thank you sir, mr Tostig sir.

ALVIN : Please boys call me razor face, everybody does

Alvin sings "Bitter Fingers" with the brothers joining in on the chorus.

Misc dialogue.....

nice words flintstone boy

its sweet but I think i'll leave the words up to you, you're the poet

we need rock star nicknames

well flintstone boy is out for me, I've always hated you calling me that.

how bout Dan Dare. you could be the pilot of the future.

take me to the pilot could make for a cool song. besides I always call you captain and your name is dan

captain...captain...how about captain fantastic

and the brown dirt cowboy...got a rustic feel I like.

Stage note... The cast includes 10 performers who will fill in as background people in some scenes.

But their primary mission is to be the actors that perform the Bailey Brothers plays. 5 male and 5 female each getting the chance to play leads in each of the plays, so by no means are they just bit players. For the first play - Tumbleweed Connection - we will need one to play the gunslinger and one Van Bushell preferably males. And one to play Deacon Lee, preferably female. but the fun of these parts is they can fluctuate to provide a wider diversity of takes on the songs. however for the missionary I would prefer a soulful voice as I was very partial to Aretha's version of "Border Song"

Razor Face takes center stage in front of the closed curtain and says...

"Welcome ladies and gentleman. They call me razor Face and I am the PT Barnum of the stage.

Because when I produce a play its the greatest show on earth. Tonight we debut my latest discovery.

Tonight you will be the first to see the first play by the Bailey Brothers from the end of the world to your town."

Narrator "Returning to his home town after hearing of his fathers death, a gunslinger falsely accused of

killing Old Blind Joe gets a not so warm reception"

song : Ballad of a well known gun. The gunslinger pleads to just let him pay his respects to father and then he will leave town quietly. He takes sanctuary with Deacon Lee in the old mission.

Van Bushell who in an aside makes it clear he is responsible for the old mans death incites the crowd to riot to help keep his secret safe. he doesn't want anyone to hear the gunslinger's side of the story.

song : Burn down the mission. But it is Deacon Lee who calms the crowd.

song : Border song and then states some proof that shows that it was Van Bushell that did the killing.

The gunslinger is left to stand at his fathers grave in peace and vows to join the army and use his gun to fight for the south. song : My fathers gun.

Stage note... for the next play the 3 main characters are Suzie aka honky cat.

Her love interest Amy. And Amy's boyfriend Hercules.

Danny takes center stage in front of the curtain...

"The audience went wild for our first play so we opened another on the other side of town. This one was about pretty little black eyed Suzie. A sweet French country girl coming to Spanish Harlem in the rage of the zoot suits. Its 1940 and she finds herself at the bottom of a love triangle.

Stage note...songs Honky Cat, Hercules, Amy and Mona Lisa and Madhatters.

all sung by Suzie, though the chorus of honky cat is Hercules and Amy.

especially with the plays I'm just setting up a framework so that ideas that work best for the venue

can be implemented. So this is how the songs basically string together.

with "Honky Cat"...we are introducing our country girl to the big city, this could be a street scene or a club. In either case she meets her two new friends Hercules and Amy who help her dress the way they do, and in general learn the ways of the city. Note that this is the time of the zoot suit so Hercules and Amy are likely black or Hispanic. During the song "Hercules" we make it very clear, as Suzie watches her friends together, that she is totally in love with Amy. Something she confesses to Amy in the song "Amy". Rejected...Suzie sits in a bar with the other broken hearted dregs of city...the "Mona Lisa's and Madhatters".

Song: Indian Sunset

We are in rehearsal and Levon is directing the dancers as we go.

At one point giving one of the girls, Amoreena, a lesser role, being more of an onlooker than one of the main dancers. To her frustration, his focus is all too much on the lead actor performing the song, Pinky. Though in warrior garb at this time, he'll be wearing nothing but shades of pink when he is being himself.

Danny is standing on the edge of the stage, all his attention is on

the sad faced girl who at this point has just been one of chorus.

Amoreena is repaying his glances with some of her own. And eventually finds her smile.

Song: Tiny Dancer as Danny makes his love for Amoreena clear.

The stage clears and she suggest that Danny go with her to the west coast

and strike out on his own writing for the movies. More to advance her career than his. And splitting up the brothers, cause she doesn't have much like for Levon.

Song: Blues for baby and me. Note ... The old man in the song would be referring to Razor face. She sings the first verse and Danny the chorus. Razor will come in as the song continues and becomes aware of their plans.

Danny and Amoreena have exited the stage.

Razor gives Levon the news that Danny has left for the coast.

Seems like there is nothing much to do now but get plastered.

So they go to the local gay bar..'The Sick City', with Pinky.

Song: Sick city

The patrons all dress in the style of the glitter people (early 70's).

Where they meet Angel, a drag queen who introduces the boys to drugs.

She says here we take these to liven up our night. She whips out her stash. First try this, they inhale, this its called bennies. And when your ready pop these red pills for an extra pick me up. We call them 'jets'.

Song: Bennie and the jets as they get thoroughly intoxicated.

eventually getting into a fight. Song: Saturday nights alright for fighting.

The cops come and haul everyone away and the stage goes black.

A single street lamp come on and Levon cops some heroin from a dealer.

He shoots up and slumps to the ground. Song: Rocket Man. Levon passes out.

end of act one

Summing up act 2

Danny's movie career is a bomb. He makes two films. One about a boy who goes postal on some people in a restaurant and a fantasy love story between Roy Rodgers n Marilyn Monroe.

Amorrena would leave him to go live in spain.

Levon quits drugs with Pinkys help. Rejuvenated he finds Razor Face who has been down on his luck

for a while also. They get back together and Levon goes to Hollywood to re-connect with his brother.

Just in time as Danny was on the verge of suicide.

With the excitement of having the old team back together, Danny flies to Spain to woo Amoreena back. However tragedy is struck when the plane they are returning home on crashes.

The next to last songs are at Danny's funeral. But as to end on a higher note, Levon starts reading the new play...captain fantastic and the brown dirt cowboy...and he is sure it will be a smash.

I did the summation cause my act 2 notes are even thinner.

one year later....

The movie screen comes down so we can see a film written and directed by Danny Bailey.

"Ticking" about a young man who holds some people captive in a restaurant and is eventually gunned down by police as he is giving up. Song "Ticking" sung by The Voyeur, one of the girls in the chorus.

Amoreena has a acting role in the film. But the film is just one of a string of flops.

Danny pitches his next idea but Amoreena is like I've seen that movie too.

she leaves him. Danny pleads with her to stay to no avail.

Song "don't let the sun go down on me" partially a duet.

Levon is in a motel room, unclean, unshaven, an addict.

Pinky comes to him Levon pleads with him to get him a fix.

Song: Feed me. Pinky is determined to sober him up. He holds Levon and promises to never leave him again, if he can sober up.

They both confess how much they need each other. Song: I need you to turn to. They both sing and Levon goes through withdrawals. After all that passes its a brand new day for the pair.

Levon wakes his lover to breakfast in bed. Song: Pinky.

Someone has saved my life tonight, he says. I'm gonna get back to work.

Get back to writing and get back to the top.

Song: teenage idol.

Danny's new film debuts. "Goodbye yellow brick road" is a celebration of the fifties. A young girl Norma Jean falls in love with her teacher.

Song: Teacher I need you. But their life is not all roses and she leaves him for Hollywood. Song: Crocodile rock. But That doesn't go well for her and he reads of her suicide. Song: Candle in the wind.

The movie is a total flop but its obvious that Danny contemplates suicide...song: Think i'm gonna kill myself.

Levon goes in search of Razor face song: Razor face. And find him face down in some bar.

But once sobered he is excited to work with Levon again but says they desperately need Danny

cause he is the (song;) Meal ticket

Danny decides to put his head in the oven, but is rescued by his brother. And apologizes to him for his

rampant ego. Songs: 'Think i'm gonna kill myself” “Someone saved my life” “Ego”

Danny goes to Spain to hopefully win back Amorrena....

Songs: “Amoreena” “Sorry seems to be the hardest word” “Tonight” “Dont go breaking my heart”

But on the way back his plane crashes, so Levon sings “Daniel” at his funeral

and all sing “Curtains”

after the service Razor gives Levon the first of several plays Danny had written already.

Levon....'after all this i'm still standing.”