Ryan Allais as Figaro Falsetti
Ruston Ropac as Princess Ivana Bendova
John Dominick III as Mackie Furnace
Kaitlyn Bourne as Trixie Mahoney
Rogelio Penaverde Jr. as Chin Hung Lo
Quinto Ott as Blackbeard
Kayla Faccilongo as Salome
Music and Libretto by Jed Bolipata
Engineered by Dan The Man
Produced by Jed Bolipata
New Year's Eve 1929, just moments before
a fireworks display on the Brooklyn Bridge celebrating the end of the
Roaring Twenties. The event is sponsored by a rich old Russian widow
named Princess Bendova and emceed by an Italian opera singer named
Tony Ronzoni.
When the festivities die down and the city's gone to sleep, a young
flapper named Trixie Mahoney walks to the edge of the bridge, looks
down at the water and contemplates suicide. Moments later, a black cop
named Mackie Furnace emerges from the shadows and offers her a bottle
of whiskey. She thinks it's some kind of trap cause it's the middle of
Prohibition and he's a cop. But he talks her into taking a
swig.
Little does she know, the whiskey's going to kill her. But not before
Mackie has coaxed her away from the edge and squeezed out her life
story. Turns out she's a hooker and the only man she ever loved has
abandoned her. After Mackie persuades her to give up her plan to jump,
she faints into his arms. He goes through her coat and finds a letter
in one of the pockets. He takes off his cop hat and coat, revealing
the striped shirt of a mental patient from Bellevue. The voices in his
head tell him to jump and end his misery. He picks Trixie up and walks
to the edge of the bridge.
ACT 2: A HONEYMOON SWEET
The day after. New Year's Day 1930. We
are inside a suite at the Plaza Hotel where the old princess lives.
Turns out a pain in her butt has her addicted to opium. Her Chinese
servant Chin Hung Lo is fixing her up a dose. Chin reveals the real
reason why he decided to come to America with her after her husband
the Prince's mysterious death. His ulterior motive is to go to
Hollywood, become a movie cowboy and marry the love of his life,
silent film star Anna May Wong.
When she's fallen into a drug-induced stupor, Tony the emcee from Act
1 arrives, suitcase and newspaper in hand. Looks like he's moving in.
Tony tells Chin he hates "chinks" and if not for the princess, would
have him deported. Ironic because Tony himself is an illegal alien who
arrived in America as a stowaway on a cargo ship. He kicks Chin out of
the room.
Suddenly, a knock on the door. Tony pretends not to be home. After
some more persistent knocking, the door gets kicked in. In comes
Mackie! This time, he's dressed as a preacher. He says he has a letter
with Tony's address on it and in no uncertain terms says that he can
have it for a price. Racist that he is, Tony refuses to pay up to a
black man and proposes instead to play a hand of cards. Mackie agrees
and loses. Then the Princess wakes up and Tony and Mackie are forced
to act like they're longtime pals. But not before Tony has taken the
letter from Mackie. After Mackie helps the Princess relieve the pain
in her butt through some spiritual healing, Mackie leaves.
Turns out Tony and the Princess are newlyweds. Tony tells her about a
famous conductor coming to town to cast for a new production. A
perfect opportunity for the Princess whose biggest dream is to sing at
the Met. Tony inquires about her will. She signs it over to him. They
discuss their honeymoon plans. Unbeknownst to each other, each is
plotting the demise of the other. Turns out the Princess has been
killing off her husbands all her life. Tony is number four. After some
discussion - he wants to go to Argentina, she wants to go to Paris -
Tony gives in. They decide to go to Paris. The ship leaves at
midnight.
ACT 3: IT'S A HELL OF A LIFE
That same day, a few minutes before
midnight, Tony arrives at a pier in Hell's Kitchen. The S. S. Celeste
is about to sail for Paris. Or so he thinks. Blackbeard, the ship's
captain, and Salome, his first mate, welcome Tony. Salome flirts with
Tony which triggers Blackbeard's anger. Tony, frightened by
Blackbeard's jealous rage, hides behind a lamp-post as Blackbeard and
Salome squabble. After some back and forth, they agree to get
married.
And then the clock strikes midnight. Blackbeard and Salome shout out
"Last call!" But Princess still hasn't arrived. Suddenly, Mackie's
letter drops magically out of Tony's pocket. Salome picks it up and
reads it. It's from Trixie, her suicide note, stating the reasons
she's about to jump from the Brooklyn Bridge. Salome exits,
cackling.
Finally, a cab pulls up and out comes the Princess. Suddenly, a
gunshot, aimed at Tony, misses. A Masked Cowboy appears, smoking gun
in hand. He fires again and hits Princess instead. She drops dead. But
not before she inadvertently pulls the mustache off Tony's face. Turns
out he's really Figaro Falsetti, the twin brother of the anarchist she
sent to the electric chair.
After a struggle, Tony unmasks the cowboy. It's Chin! Chin kills Tony.
Chin celebrates, but not for long, cause suddenly, he is stabbed from
behind - by Mackie! Mackie rejoices but not for long either cause he
gets strangled from behind by an invisible force - Trixie, who turns
out to be a demon sent to earth by Satan to harvest sinners. Satan
shows up to award Trixie her hard-earned horns. Blackbeard and Salome,
who turn out to be Satan's minions, herd them all into the ship bound
for Hell. The end.
