A tiny New York apartment gets even smaller as a young couple’s wildest fantasies come to life. A hunky fireman, and the seductive “girl-next-door,” burst to life from a store-bought picture frame and turn one couple’s cold feet into a fun and sexy parable of modern love.
Alex and Laney, two quirky young urbanites in love, are engaged to be married—but they can’t seem to set the date. Is it their hectic schedules? Cold feet? One night, after a pre-marital squabble, Alex finds himself staring at a brand-new picture frame. Inside is a “display photo” of a girl, beautiful and carefree, effortlessly caught mid-twirl by the camera lens… Why isn’t Alex’s life this simple and romantic, he asks? Through the magic of musical comedy, his gets his answer as “Evelyn” twirls out of the frame and into his apartment. She is Alex’s ideal woman: hungry for Scrabble, sports and soufflés, and, of course, for Alex. When Laney discovers her fiancé’s “infidelity,” she surprises Alex with a fantasy of her own: a hunky, soot-covered fireman/Prince Charming/international super-spy named Tomás… As this bizarre foursome become roommates and the lines between reality and fantasy continue to blur, Alex and Laney must fight to see beyond their fairy-tale notions of romance and discover the wonder and beauty in the everyday imperfections of love.
THE GIRL IN THE FRAME
Book, Music, and Lyrics by JEREMY DESMON
Note: all four characters are in their 20s/30s
ALEX (our hero; bari-tenor): charmingly indecisive “man-boy” who feels too young to grow up, but is old enough to know better.
LANEY (his fiancée; non-legit mezzo-soprano): strong and independent, yet warm and vulnerable modern career woman, full of wonderful and beautiful contradictions.
EVELYN (his fantasy; mix-y soprano w/ belt): lovely, lithe, gentle, fierce, saintly, sexy—a gorgeous comic dynamo in a white sundress.
TOMÁS (his nemesis/her fantasy; big baritone): hunky, larger-than-life, and über-romantic fantasy-stud who appears in many guises and speaks in many accents.
4 Musicians
Piano/Vocal (Keyboard 1)
Reed (Clarinet, Tenor Sax)
Bass
Drums (Triangle, Orch Bells, Wood Block, Tambourine, Bell Tree)
*The show can be effectively done with Piano only or Piano, Bass and Drums)