Stevie and the Real World: Rehearsal Dramaturgy

I have been working on Stevie and the Real World, a new play by Iraisa Ann Reilly that was commissioned for the eight MFA Acting students who will graduate from MSU this spring. Here are some of the materials I put together: https://smit2030.msu.domains/stevie-and-the-real-world/

The rehearsal process has offered challenges primarily related to dramatic structure and interpretation of the play. I recently sent the following email delving into one complicated scene with the actors playing the roles of Promise and Fran:

"I think the idea that Fran and Promise sing the same tune is meant to suggest a strong (contrasting) parallel between their auditions. The audience doesn't hear Fran's performance, but I think we can make a few assumptions:

Fran is trying to follow the rules, and Promise is bending the rules a little bit, in an effort to stand out. These auditions are typically a capella. Fran does not have a backing track, but Promise does. Fran is also presumably singing an actual pop song, and Promise has made up new lyrics to the song. American Idol has always frowned on original songs, so it would make sense for Promise to rewrite the words to an existing song in an effort to come across as original.

I can see that the last line would scan as "I'm breaking up with you," so it's possible that only the last four lines of Promise's song are different. Maybe Fran's song is something like this: "Just like your name / I'm Winning, too / Go away now, Winston / I'm breaking up with you." (And maybe also something about "those other girls" earlier on.) 

Promise is doing a lot of things that make for a delusional audition. As Fred implies, the producers would put Promise in front of the judges and televise that audition, but it would be edited to play for laughs. Fran's audition is meant to be great. So I would say the fact that they are singing the same tune amplifies the difference between a delusional audition and a great audition. But maybe that distinction is less about talent and more about being true to yourself: Fran really knows who she is (so she doesn't have to try as hard) and Promise is not yet confident in their identity (which comes across as trying too hard)."