Streetsong

 

Cast of Characters:

Narrator: An Ellory Queen type of character

Wilhemina: Hooker/Dominatrix

Mother

The Boss: Greedy and abusive type of character

Herbert: Naive, Inquisitive, A learner, hard worker, passionate, compassionate

Wino: Philosopher

CHORUS:

Four men and three women

PROPS:

Narrator: Martini, Cigar

Wilhemina: Whip, Compact, Lipstick, Handbag, Paper money, 

Hookers:

Mother: Iron, Ironing Board

Boss: License To Steal, Cigar, Paper Money, Over-sized Pencil

Wino: Bottle of Wine

COSTUMES:

Narrator: Pin-striped Suit, Fedora

Wilhemina

Hookers:

Mother: House-dress, curlers, slippers, apron

The Boss: Pin-striped Suit, Fedora

Herbert: Pin-striped Suit, Fedora

Wino: Suit, Fedora

Opening scene:

Dark stage...Center stage there is a man dressed in tattered clothing standing on a park bench playing long notes as if he is trying to get the attention of the townspeople.

The Great Depression

The banks are closing there's been a run

That;s what the papers say

So I jumped in my car to see for myself

Indeed this was the day

The stock market dropped way out of control

The power-mongers forced it to dive

It's The Great Depression!

I close my eyes and I see what;s coming

Millions f people ho can't pay their bills

Poor folks starving and proud folks begging

And long Fondue lines in Beverly Hills

Worker's Lament 

It isn't fair it isn't fair
I can't make a living and no one cares
It isn't right it isn't right to have to beg and struggle and fight
I feel like screaming with anger's rage
When I think of this joke they call minimum wage
How can people expect to live on the wages that the fat cat employers give
I don't have any objection to work
so why do they pay me like I'm a big jerk
I do a good job and I'm never late
so why can't they pay me at a reasonable rate

I don't steal lie or cheat
but on what they pay me I can barely eat
When I see my check I can feel the rut
The system's beat me with the government's cut

Fact Of The Matter

Over and over we travel life's paths making mistakes as we go

When will we learn life's burdens return to the one's who never say no

Most folks look down on a face with a frown; It weakens the spirit of fun

So say no with a smile , and do it with style

It's a concept who's time has come

Self-denial's the key to well-being; Building character lays in its wake

So stand up, be counted with others who feel it's better to give than to take

Most folks look down on a face with a frown; It weakens the spirit of fun

So say no with a smile , and do it with style

It's a concept who's time has come

Over and over and over and over...

August 1987... Ybor City...the historic Latin Quarter in Tampa was fast becoming the Greenwich Village of Florida. We had Reverend Ralph the boogie woogie piano player who wasn't really a reverend but his raucous gospel revival style rock and blues show made one feel as though one was about to be slain in the Holy Spirit.Wearing his Cuban heeled Beatles boots,pomade plastered pompadour and always black clothes he would entertain night after night in the sandwich shops and small beer and wine joints that lined 7th Avenue which was the main drag in good old Ybor.He would usually live in storefronts that were currently on the market with FOR RENT signs displayed only during the night when he would put them back up so the landlord could see it when he was going home to his big house in Hyde Park or some other well to do area that Ralph or I couldn't afford to live in.Many nights were spent in these storefronts smoking lots of reefer,drinking Cuban coffee and recording some song I had written and presented to the "reverend"for his scrutiny and approval.If we were recording it...he liked it. I eventually left the nice comfortable' apartment on the river' life I'd been living with my girlfriend for the last four years to rent my own storefront so I could live my Bohemian musician lifestyle.I rented it out as a rehearsal space to local bands during the week and ran it as a coffee house on the weekends to raise the rent which was never paid.Hey!...I was in business and I was a Bachelor! I christened it ARTS ALIVE! and it caught on like a firestorm.It was voted 'Hip Pick of the Week' on the cover of Creative Loafing...a local entertainment and lifestyle weekly newspaper.All these old Hippies started showing up with their wooden flutes; neo-beatniks brought their cosmic- subversive poetry...sculptures,paintings...things were hanging and growing out of the walls...spinning in the window...skinheads and ghetto blacks on the same stage pounding out some kind of insane Punk/Blues/Rap that was feuled by lots of reefer and beer.It was an experiment.People as the tool by which creative expression;planned or spontaneous through different mediums can be presented simultaneously to an audience who are also a component in the final unveiling of a living object de'arte.One must take lots of LSD for that one! Marty was a chubby and very lovable Jewish guy who showed up at ARTS ALIVE! one day armed with a guitar and a head full of ideas.He had played King Herod in a travelling production of Jesus Christ Superstar.Rap was a new medium and Marty wanted to write and stage the world's first Rap Opera.He called it a Rappera and he wanted me to help him record it 'STREETSONG'Knock knock..."Wha?"...BANG BANG BANG!...it's the front door.Sounds like the cops!.Bang Bang Bang!!...I get up...still feeling the effects of last night's over-indulgences..."Ohh...my head"...The first thing I see is a large McDonald's bag with a large round Jewish belly as its backdrop.It's 7:00 am and there's Marty with a big smile...."Ready to record?"..."Marty...it's 7:00 am!"..."I know...I brought you some breakfast!"...I was a vegetarian at the time having just read a book by Bhaktivedanta Swami Sri Prabupadha called The Higher Taste...so I wasn't too impressed..BUT!...it was free food.All covered in bad karma. At 4:00 every Friday the Hare Krishnas would show up with Prsadm which was Holy Food prepared for Krishna who would then give us the leftovers which was usually more than enough for the old Hippies and Neo-Beatniks who had no money for food and were looking for a Spirit of the Sixties Maharishi type of experience to colour their otherwise drab work a day ordinary lives.I was told that even if the Holy Food was poisoned,it would be rendered harmless by Krishna's Mercy.We called it The Love Feast.I'd play an Evening Raga by Ravi Shankar as the Temple Priest floated to the stage which appeared to be throbbing from the combination of make-shift stage lights and fans and sat down on a large cushion covered with saffron cloth. After much chanting,proselytizing and feasting,.our bald headed friends would load their empty pots into their van and fly away on their Karma free cloud and satisfied that they had fed and won a few converts go to bother Reverend Ralph. ENTER THE POETS!!!...The poets were the life blood of ARTS ALIVE!.They'd usually go on when I was opening for the weekend. ARTS ALIVE! wasn't open for the evening.It was open for the weekend.5:00 pm Friday until 8:00 Monday morning when the Travel Agency next door opened.Everyone would shower in the sprinkler system in the parking lot for the bank across the street unless there was a nice warm rain.Skip was The Beach Poet.Mike was The Hectic Eclectic and Norman was The Devious Deviant and The Rockapella Poet.What a cast!The poets never balked at the $2.00 donation and were always happy to exceed it ten fold.They wanted a place where they could hear themselves over the monitor system.Poets love to hear their own voices.I noticed that people didn't usually stick around for poets so ... One day this bus pulls up."Hey man ,we're The Neo-Bohemian Society. You said we could do our thing here."..."I did?"..."Yeah.We talked on the phone three months ago."..."Oh yeah...come on in."...""We're not allowed to play anywhere ... we always get thrown out!"... "Well come in!!"'They began to unload from the bus the instruments of their craft.Oil drums,chainsaws,slide projectors and a fat guy who could scream like Yoko Ono.He Yokoed for at least 30 minutes and didn't clear the room.Amazing!