User:TelmahKing/sandbox

Young Hamlet is a 2020 musical based on an original story by Dr. Mario Francisco. The music was written by Panther Francisco. It is the story of two high school students, Telmah King and Alia Weaver, as they navigate love, high school, and landing lead roles in their high school's production of Hamlet. The work is not and does not pretend to a musical retelling of Shakespeare's Hamlet.

Songs from the musical are as follows: Overture (instrumental), Is My Number Up? (sung by the chorus), The Nerd Song (sung by the two lead actors, Telmah King and Alia Weaver), A Reason to Hope, sung by male lead Telmah, I Could Die Happy, sung by the two leads, Telmah and Alia, Papa's Girl sung by Alia, Problem Child by Faculty w/ Telmah, Wrong Notes sung by Telmah & Alia, Never Cry sung by Telmah, Popcorn sung by the student chorus, and A Reason to Hope (reprise) sung by Alia's character.

Young Hamlet is a grassroots musical, meaning the development, production, casting, and underwriting of this musical was funded by fans around the world. Supporters were given exclusive behind the scenes windows into the development of the musical, got to vote online for their their favorite talent to be cast in the show, and had a voice throughout the writing and shaping of the musical, in an unique internet based and crowd-sourced production.

Contents

 * 1History
 * 2Production
 * 3Synopsis
 * 4Musical numbers
 * 5External links

History[edit]
Young Hamlet was based on the premise of creating for Hamlet what Kiss Me Kate is to Shakespeare's Taming of the Shrew. However, the story grew and took on a life of it's own. The initial producers who saw the script hated it, with some comparing it to Springtime for Hitler, the fictional musical produced within Mel Brooks's The Producers. However, the creators refused to accept defeat, and finally found some success by crowd-sourcing and grassroots funding for the musical.

The score is written for a modern Broadway style orchestra, including electric guitar and bass. Some songs are in a hard rock/ heavy metal style, while others make playful reference to other popular styles.

Production[edit]
Production is currently in the planning phase. The producers intend to film it before a live audience so the many fans around the globe can participate and witness as "their musical," Young Hamlet, comes to life for the first time.

Synopsis[edit]
Young Hamlet! the Musical

Act 1.

High school students eagerly await the announcement of whom has been chosen to play the leads in the upcoming school play. As they wait, they sing, “Is My Number Up?” The winners are announced, including Telmah King as male lead of Hamlet and Alia Weaver as the female lead, Ophelia. After the other waiting students leave, they introduce themselves (they don’t know each other, but know “of” each other) and play a game competing to see who is more nerdy in their knowledge of Shakespeare quotes. Telmah sings, “Doubt that the stars are fire...” (The Nerd Song) Quotes blend with feelings, and by the end of the scene they seem to be boyfriend and girlfriend in earnest after much Shakespearian banter and repartee, vowing to “take the stage together.”

Telmah returns home to share the good news of being cast as the lead in the play, only to be told by his parents that they are divorcing, and he will be left with his father (against the father’s preferences) as his mother takes an extended vacation with her lover. Telmah is devastated by the information and doubts that love is real. Back in high school, Telmah is mocked and bullied by some passing students for being in the drama club, to which he responds by singing “A Reason to Hope.”

Act 2: (3 months later)

Alia visits Telmah in his room. They are dating, but don’t seem very in sync with each other. Telmah is focused on the play, thinking about female perfidy, and not paying very much attention to Alia. She suggests they play charades but Telmah hilariously misunderstands her signs til she tells him bluntly, “I’m pregnant.” Telmah is excited and supportive for her. They plan to raise the child together, commiserating on having grown up without fathers (Telmah’s dad is emotionally absent, and Alia’s father has died some time prior). Suddenly, Telmah decides he should offer to marry Alia. Alia feels insulted by the way he suggest it, but after some coaxing, Telmah convinces her to accept his engagement, giving her as an engagement ring his precious “skull ring” he always wore. They sing the K--pop style song, “I Could Die Happy With You.” They part pledging to grow old together, til they are both “Sans teeth, sans eyes, sans taste, sans everything.”

Rehearsals for the play Hamlet are underway. Telmah is very good as an actor, but bossy and the other actors are afraid of him. Frustrated by the “amateur” way other actors are behaving, he throws a fit, beats up the set and storms out. He is cut from the play, and begs the drama teacher, Mr. Hoffman, to reinstate him as Hamlet. However, Mr. Hoffman hides behind “faculty consensus” and refuses to do so. After a verbal altercation, Telmah storms out. He then visits Alia and suggests that, since he can’t participate, she quit the play also. She pretends not to understand at first, but after he persists, she angrily rejects his suggestion of quitting, or that she is disloyal to him by participating alone. He leaves and she expresses her frustration with him, before singing, “Papa’s Girl,” to her dead father, wishing he were still there to guide her.

On the opening night of Hamlet, the lead role is played by a poor understudy. As he stutters and stops in Hamlet’s famous soliloquy, Telmah, from the audience, gives the speech perfectly from memory. This draws the ire of Mr. Hoffman, who goes to summon security to remove Telmah, and of Alia, who berates and has a furious fight with Telmah in the middle of the play, concluding with her removing her engagement ring and tossing it away, after which Telmah is dragged away by security guards.

Telmah has a dream where his teachers and parents condemn him as a “Problem Child” and burdensome troublemaker. He argues his side: he was young, innocent, and eager. He is the product of their upbringing. The surround him chanting, “Problem, problem” and vowing to watch him for any further violations.

In a split stage, Telmah reaches out to Alia offering his apologies and trying to repair the damage he did to the relationship. Alia rebuffs him in a cool and aloof way, saying, “It's a mean, hard world and you have to be mean and hard to survive in it.” and that she’s decided to focus on herself, her schooling and career. When Telmah asks how her pregnancy is going, she indicates she’s is planning to get an abortion and stops responding. Still separate, they sing at the same time, “Wong Notes,” Alia singing, “Hold this rule above all others: to yourself alone be true… while Telmah sings “How can I make the wrong notes right?”

Devastated at the loss of his dream (playing Hamlet on stage), his girlfriend, and his unborn child, Telmah vows revenge upon his high school, singing, “Never Cry.” Next, bloodthirsty students rush to witness a personal spectacle and post it on Instagram, singing, “Popcorn!” A dramatic ending ensues which this editor is not at liberty to reveal.

Musical numbers[edit]

 * "Overture"
 * Is My Number Up? by student chorus
 * The Nerd Song by Telmah and Alia
 * A Reason to Hope by Telmah
 * I Could Die Happy by Telmah and Alia
 * Papa's Girl by Alia
 * Problem Child by Faculty w/ Telmah
 * Wrong Notes by Telmah & Alia
 * Never Cry by Telmah
 * Popcorn by student chorus
 * A Reason to Hope (reprise) by Alia

External links[edit]

 * Young Hamlet official website
 * Young Hamlet official Facebook page
 * Young Hamlet Patreon page
 * Young Hamlet Twitter page