Anthem For A Generation – Script Memorization Flashcards

Flashcards matching Lee's cue lines (terms) to Gil's response lines (definitions) from the play 'Anthem For A Generation' by Carolyn West.

If we can write something good, we have an automatic sale.

Really?

Really. Her agent said she was so happy with our last song she’s definitely recording the next one we give her.

Wow.

I hope you’ve been working.

Oh, I have. This whole notebook is filled with lyrics. I’ve been on a roll.

I have too. I came up with a great baseline. It kind of goes (Singing) “Bum, boom-boom, bum bum. Bum, boom-boom, bum bum.”

That’s terrific. And it fits in really well with what I have. Listen. (Reads from notebook) “Oh Honey, honey, honey…”

Wait, wait. “Honey, honey, honey?” Doesn’t that sound familiar to you?

How so?

(Singing) “Baby, baby, baby,”

Oh yeah. Easy fix. How about “Sugar, sugar, sugar”

No. Let’s not repeat any terms of endearment three times. We want to go for something new. We have an opportunity here. If we can write a hit completely different from the last one, then people will know how creative and diverse we can be. Producers who need a song will come to us. We’ll be so well-respected we can do anything.

Anything? I have an idea of a Broadway musical version of a Gilbert and Sullivan piece. I call it “Penzance.”

Great, but let’s concentrate on the now. What else do you got?

Well, (Reads) “Oh something, something, something. This cannot be. You cannot, cannot, be leaving me.”

No.

No?

Let’s try to keep away from writing any more songs begging boyfriends or girlfriends to come back.

You sure?

She doesn’t want us writing her those kinds of songs. Different, Remember? We have a wide range.

Okay. No problem. (Crosses out words in notebook.) I got lots of stuff. (Turns page, scans it quickly and crosses out more words. Looks at next page.) How about…no. (Turns another page. Looks at LEE.) I have a touching, sentimental piece on the miracle of fatherhood.

Think about who we’re writing for.

I could easily change it to how cool it is to be an aunt.

Girls her age, what are their concerns? What are they thinking about?

They’re often begging boyfriends to come back to them.

I shudder when I think of what your teenage years must have been like.

Oh, oh. I got something. (Singing) “Help me…”

Yeah. (Begins to drum along.)

“…Won’t you help me? I need your help with my homework.”

She’s out of high school now.

She going to college?

With all the gold records she has?

I could write a piece about…about…

Something she can relate to.

Cosmetic surgery?

I’d get better results composing music for a T.S. Eliot poem.

So, why don’t you?

I want to write something with impact.

Well, pardon me if my lyrics don’t have enough impact for you.

Cosmetic surgery and homework are not important.

Homework is very important. Ask any teacher.

The kids today, they have a lot on their minds. They have endless possibilities and endless doubts. I want to write a song that speaks to them. An anthem for their generation. It should say, “You have the power to step forward and take control of this new millennium.” Fifty years from now they’ll look back on their lives and know that our song changed them for the better.

You know so much about it, you write the lyrics.

I’m no good with words.

Can I hear the tune you have in mind? Maybe the impact from the music will inspire me to write lyrics that match.

I don’t have a tune in mind. Just the baseline (Singing) “Bum, boom-boom, bum bum. Bum, boom-boom, bum bum”

That baseline doesn’t exactly say, “Move forward. Take control of your life.”

I know that. I’m waiting for your lyrics to inspire me to write the music.

So, I have to provide the inspiration?

Is that a problem?

Of course not. It’s really quite easy to be inspirational.

I don’t appreciate your sarcasm.

And I don’t appreciate all this pressure you’re putting on me.

There’s no pressure. Just say the first thing that comes to your mind.

The first thing?

Yeah. You’ll see. We’ll be able to take whatever you say and turn it into an inspirational song with impact.

And all I have to say is the first thing that pops into my head?

That’s right.

Okay.

(After the long pause where both stare)

Bubble jet.

So, that didn’t work.

I’m sorry.

The first thing that pops into your head is Bubble jet?

I feel very stressed right now.

There’s no reason to feel stressed. It’s only our careers on the line.

I can’t work under this situation. Maybe we should break up the partnership.

Break up?

You go your way. I’ll go mine. You find a new writing partner who can do impact on demand and I’ll work on my musical. I’m sure we’ll all be happier. (GIL gets up to leave.)

Wait. Wait. I’m sorry. Okay? Please don’t go. I want you to be my writing partner.

But why?

Everyone knows that between the two of us you’re the one with talent.

I am?

You’re the one who came up with the idea of repeating “Baby” three times in a row. No one ever thought to do that before. It created the whole structure for the song.

I guess.

You guess? Your lyrics got that song to number one.

It was never number one. The highest it got was number seven.

It was number one in Boston for a whole week.

That’s right.

You have a voice that speaks to the Bostonians.

I do?

So what do you want to say to them this time? What wisdom can you impart to them that will change their lives?

Let me think. (GIL stares off into space. LEE stares at GIL. Pause.) People of Boston… (Another pause as GIL thinks some more.) Bubble jet.

Let’s go back to your “Help me” idea. That was good. I could almost hear the music to it. Let’s just help with something other than homework.

Okay. (Sings timidly, LEE drums along.) “Help me. Won’t you help me? I need your help…to get my boyfriend back.”

Yes.

(Blackout)END OF PLAY