Musicals

COME TOGETHER: MAGIC/MUSIC/BEATLES

The first play in a sixties trilogy of musically advanced plays by john daniels, jr.  COME TOGETHER: MAGIC/MUSIC/BEATLES is a Rock-u-mentory.  It tells the story of the 60's by telling the story of The Beatles.  Thirty-five Beatles' songs are performed by a cast of storytellers.  No look alike Beatles are required, although four actors sometimes play the Beatles.  In many of the productions, some of the Beatles have been played by women.  Colorblind and nontraditional casting  work very well in COME TOGETHER.

SIRENS-N-AQUARIUS

The second in a 60's trilogy of musically advanced plays by john daniels, jr.
SIRENS-N-AQUARIUS is a tone piece.  It is a collection of 25 rock and roll/pop/folk songs written or performed by women during the 60's and early 70's.  The show is poems, skits, running gags and togetherness.  SIRENS is not a history of women in rock-n-roll, but a celebration of their contribution toward human spirit in a very tense and turbulent time.  SIRENS was written for a cast of women, but it is adaptable. 

W-ROCKS!  (“Rocks the world and touches home.”)

The last in a 60's trilogy of musically advanced plays by john daniels, jr.  W-ROCKS! is the story of  factious radio station, WRQX, in Anywhere, Texas.  The show begins in late 1969 as an easy listening station changes formats to an on the edge Rock-n-Roll station for the sake of money.  It is the story of the new staff, the owner, his hippy-wanna-be daughter, the engineer (The Professor), and Nick the maintenance man.  Nick has a gift:  he can “see” the music.  We, the audience, can see what Nick sees.  The second act is thirty years later and WRQX is an “oldies” station playing late 60's and early 70's music for money.  The daughter now owns the station.  There is a new on-air staff, but The Professor and Nick are still there.  Nick looses the ability to “see” the music, but by the end, everyone can “see”.

TOLCHOCK! (Push, blow or beat me!)

In this post-apocalyptic world, it is against the law to be heterosexual.  The "City State" has a force field to keep insiders “in” and outsiders “out.“  Belonging to a club is more than an interest; it is your life.  Blue-lip cops can kill or castrate you.  Don’t get pregnant.  You won't know if the lead character, Spike, is the hero, the heroine, or the heroin.

Inn Bed

A riotous comedy about a couple's attempt to escape the city by turning a Texas farm house into a bed and breakfast.  Animals, kids, mayhem, laughs, family audiences. 

Making Love in Public

A hilarious romantic comedy.  Written for two actors to play all ten roles.

With little more than a press release which reads "A "full length" comedy by john daniels, jr. about a couples' weekend retreat.  You'll see 5 couples and two acts," the audience pours in to see the show.  Very popular with couples.  Makes a great Valentine show.  Not available at this time for Texas because the original company is still touring. 

GLASS BALLS

Todd is God, a Rock-n-Roll god.  At least he was.  He has money.  He has a mansion.  He has women.  He has an illness.  He hears your thoughts.  He speaks to you, and you never know it.  He is all alone, except for Max.  He never leaves, but he’s always gone.  He thinks, therefore we are.  He dies but doesn’t die.  And then there’s Max.  Rock-n-Roll.

UTOPIA OKLAHOMA 3mi.

An All-American small town living to the music of the 30's and 40's during the mid-eighties.  Everyone has an important place in town society, even the town whore.  You can pass through, but you can’t say unless someone dies.  Then you can take their place, their name, and their family. You might be the mechanic, or the rich man, or the town drunk.  The only thing for sure, if you stay, is someone will take your place.

NATIONAL ERECTION

Three one-act plays, NATIONAL ERECTION, NEAR ESCAPE and NIPPLUS ERECTUS, are tied together by elements of imagery, style, and social reflection.  A truly strange play, born in reaction to the Regan Revulsion (sic). NATIONAL ERECTION and NEAR ESCAPE where written in the early 80's dealing with mind-numbing yuppie conformity and secondary education. NIPPLUS ERECTUS was completed in 1998.  Its subject...sex and politics.

ANGEL’S VIRTUE

Bonnie runs a safe-house for women.  It is not a domestic-violence safe-house; it's just a place with no men.  It is a place for “the girls” to get their heads straight.  Bonnie is a social worker with a dream and a vendetta.  Bonnie can put her foot down.  She also shoots her self in the foot...literally.

BAD BOYS ON THE RANCH (working title)

This is what it is like to work with emotionally-disturbed teenage boys in a residential treatment center.  It is emotionally draining if your not able to step back and separate the boys from their problems.  The language is foul beyond imagination.  The violence is sudden and harsh.  Lying is a fact.  The constant tension from the state regulators, the administrators, the police, the caseworkers and the boys can kill your self-esteem.  These boys are both violators and victims.  They are children.  The can love deeply.  They can be damn funny.  They can be dangerous.  (This is a work in progress.)

DON’T MESS WITH TEXAS, TEXAS BABY

The tortoise and the hare story told by new characters with music from Vanilla Ice to Willie Nelson in a story about not littering the highway.

3 Lines of Definition

3 Lines of Definition is an exploration of electricity between people.  Something sparks, maybe "lightning in a bottle."  There is attraction and distance.  They play would-be lovers; husband and wife; and fan and fantasy.  It is intimacy danced in safety.  (45 minutes in length, and originally paired with 6-Bit Trip.)

6-Bit Trip

6-BIT TRIP is about a man stranded in his own personal journey.  Joe is helpful and friendly to all who enter his world.  The patrons walk in and out of the Laundromat and in and out of Joe's memories, faces of the moment changing to faces of the past.  Each time the past and the present collide, a piece of the past falls away.  So put three quarters in the dryer and one in the jukebox. (1 hour in length a good pairing with Tell Me about Amelia)

Tell Me about Amelia

Tell me about Amelia.  Do you know her?  Has she changed your life?  Have you changed hers?  If you had never met Amelia, would you have lived your life differently?  Has she lived a different life because of you?  I think so.  Life can change in an instant.  Snap!  I can see her dancing in the dark.  You have a story.  Tell me about Amelia. (1 hour in length - a good compliment for 6-Bit Trip)

RUNNING THROUGH THE JUNGLE

These armchair mercenaries and Nam vets are everyday people.  They are a construction worker, an insurance agent, a college professor, a security guard, a telephone repairman, and a nurse, who buy "Soldier of Fortune" magazine; hiding them, as if, they were "Playboy" magazines.  Six men, who have taken their vacations at the same time, are waiting together in a Mexican boarder town until morning, when they will be flown to Central America and dropped behind enemy lines.  They are to “...run through the jungle,” one more time.

ANIMAL SUICIDE

ANIMAL SUICIDE is based on the theory that social systems have altered man’s closed language so much that truthful expression and subtext are impossible.  Even connotation varies from cause to effect.  Those who understand this are hypocrites by necessity.  Only the open language of animals is truthful.  It is impossible for animals to lie or be lied to outside of the most basic deception required for survival.

APHRODISIOMANIA = NaCL+(2) SCRAMBLED EGGS

APHRODISIOMANIA:  a show for one man, one corpse, and a sack lunch.  Running time 15 to 20 minutes.

LOVE AT THE TASTE

While taking a survey Lisa discovers she is not attracted to security and isn’t who she thinks she is supposed to be.  Partial nudity.  Running time approximately 30 minutes.