Narrator A: Ladies and Gentlemen!
Narrator B: Ladies and Gentlemen!
A: I'll be your narrator for today
B: I'm your narrator, the real narrator, the one you should listen to.
A: I'm the one who knows the whole story!
B: I'll tell you the truth, just as it happened!
A: And just for starters
B: And to show you what I mean
A: I'll demonstrate right before your very eyes
B: I'll show you right here, right now
A: The creation of that great city, Metropolis
B: The creation of that great city, Metropolis
Music
Fishes and Sea in
Sea is along dragonlike puppet with
city under the costume
A: Fly with me out over the ocean
B: Sink with me beneath the waves
A: Surf the Gulf Stream with me
B: Sink down, down, into the primaeval ooze
A: The fishes feel a strange agitation
B: The fishes dance the dance of creation
A: And the great city Metropolis is born!
A: And the great city Metropolis is born!
city puppet stands up
Sea and fish exit
A: Metropolis is the greatest! It's got everything!
B: It's got fried plantains, green and sweet!
A: It's got ribs and blues and rap!
B: It's got music to make you dance yourself to death!
It's got books on every corner, and a painting in
every building!
A: It's got the best dressers in known history!
B: It's got all-night style!
Supergrandma in
A: Some metropolises have Superman, some have
Superboy or Supergirl, but this on is under the proud
protection of Supergrandma.
B: The city is so well-organized that she's going
to visit her grandchildren.
A: Supergrandma says to keep your noses clean and
don't fuss or fight while she's gone.
B: Supergrandma will look you over with her x-ray
eyes when she gets back, so don't misbehave!
Supergrandma out
lovers (dog and cat) in
A: Furthermore, Metropolis has a pair of lovers
B: Metropolis has dogs and cats in abundance but
especially (look closely) this especial dog and cat
A: This is Ernesto. He is, as you have observed, a
cat. He has, however, managed to fool the department of
motor vehicles and the hack bureau, and has become a taxi-driver
B: This is Florence, a politically activist nurse,
burning with commitment, and yet fun-loving, joyous, and
filled with the spirit of adventure.
A: He's driving down Broadway, rainy day, lights
shining on the street, the city very blue, almost dark....
B: She's walking down Broadway with her poor feet
hurting, and every time she tries to flag a taxi, they
splash her. Taxis, so annoying!
A: He thinks, "What a girl, and that nurse's hat....Va-voom!
B: She thinks, "A special on shoes! In that store
there!
She tips over the taxi
A: OW!
B: Oops!
A: He thinks: "An angel! I've died and gone to heaven!"
B: She thinks: "I'd better do something about this idiot
before he sues me!"
She tends his wounds
B: She thinks: "Oh no, he's a cat... should I attack?"
A: He thinks: "She's looking at me so thoughtfully...."
B: She thinks: "He's looking at me."
A: He thinks: "She's looking at me."
B: She thinks: "I'm in love"
A: He thinks: "I'm in love"
B: The pigeons dance for them
A: The pigeons dance for them
music
pigeons in, dance
A: Well, there you are.... a fine city, lovers in love,
pigeons so well-educated they can dance the fandango,
the sun rising in a cloudless sky, and then what happens?
B: Traffic! Traffic! Traffic! Traffic!
traffic jam
Mayor in
Mayor wanders around shrieking
A: Hizzonor the Mayor deplores the city's lack of civility
yells, howls, rolls around yowling
B: Why, he wonders, can't the rest of the world show
a little of my dignity, my savoir-faire, my stoic philosophy?
A: The Mayor calls in the public relations firm of
P.V. (Pally Alley Ph D, M.S.G., M.I.C.K.E.Y. M.O.U.S.E.
B: He'll come up with a plan, a pilot project, a strict
regime of order and productivity in Metropolis...... for only
five billion dollars, he comes up with.......
Moloch in
A: Moloch! Moloch the Great! Moloch is a great technical
advance in social engineering! Moloch will demonstrate
zero tolerance for anything whatsoever!
B: And now.... watch as Pally Alley demonstrates the
tremendous cleansing and organizing powers of Moloch the
Great! He calls for [Karen Wong]! A typically good-hearted
but confused and disorganized citizen of Metropolis!
Moloch sound
Moloch eats [Karen Wong]
[Karen Wong] reappears as a robot
B: He feeds her into the maw of Moloch! He follows
the process as she is sliced, diced, pureed, dehydrated,
and reconstituted, and re-emerges as a productive worker!
A: Let's hear it for Moloch the Great!
B: Let's hear it for Moloch the Great!
A: The Mayor is delighted with his new, reconfigured
citizens, with Moloch, and with Pally Alley.
Mayor and PA in photo-op
B: The Mayor and Pally Alley are both featured in
Newsweek, but the Mayor gets bigger billing.
Lovers sneak out
Moloch eats kids
A: The citizens are delighted to become productive
workers.
robot music
Moloch emits robots
big robot dance
B: The Mayor has an urgent appointment; and agent of
the new global economy wants to explore the implications
of this important socio-economic advance
robots out, Moloch out
girlfriend in
Girlfriend:
My darlings, when you dream of me
Picture me beautifically
Living a life of fantasy
Happy in all I see
And if sad wretches publicly
Suffer some insolvency
The homeless just add piquancy
To my life of luxury
Martini, cigarette, etc.
Mayor in
Now my love, come waltz with me
A waltz in which we seamlessly
Merge with the world of circuitry
In true virtuality
Now truly global in out scope
Let others fall, despair, and mope
Our life is one kalidescope
Of electric ecstacy
A: The lovers have escaped Moloch
B: They wait for the night, like so many others.
A: Night and the City
B: Night and the City
Music
Night and the City dance
A: Night owns the city
B: The forces of order sleep - they hope.
The lovers meet
A: Even Supergradma dreams of the night light.
lovers dance
Supergrandma flies through
B: The lovers dance through the silent city
A: But who is this, sneaking after them?
B: The representative of Moloch, Inc., flits from
shadow to shadow.
chase scene
Pally Alley chases, catches, chains lovers
A: Oh, no!
B: Oh, no!
Moloch triumph dance
A: But listen as they whisper revolution to the robots
B: Enough is enough, they tell the workers.
A: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!
B: Life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness!
robots chant life, liberty, etc.
get crowd chanting if possible
robots revolt, kids throw down robots, step out
P.A. and Mayor cower
A: City on Fire
B: City on Fire
Fire Monster in
giant monster fight between Fire and Moloch
Fire defeats Moloch
A: Uh, oh, it's Supergrandma, back early from vacation!
B: She looks seriously annoyed!
A: She is appalled by the mess..... dead monster
parts everywhere!
B: Didn't she tell you a thousand times, she says,
to discard your unwanted monster parts in a proper fashion?
A: Everybody clean up!
B: Everybody clean up!
clean up
A: She points out that this is the sort of thing that
happens when you don't listen to your Grandma!
B: She invites your congratulations for solving Metropolis'
problems so neatly, no fuss, no muss!
A: She lectures Pally Alley severely.
B: She sends him on a mission to remove all the gum
from the sidewalks of the world
P.A. out
A: She summons the new Metropolis and its citizens
B: She summons the new Metropolis and its citizens
Metropolis and citizens begin to enter
grandma unties lovers
A: She announces that the lovers intend to get married,
and offers to make all the arrangements for the wedding.
B: She points out that the lovers had better get
married, since they're spending nights sneaking around, and
makes arrangements for the wedding.
A: They're going to [Staten Island] for the wedding,
and you're all invited!
B: They're going to [Staten Island] for the wedding,
and you're all invited!
music
all dance