Talk:Ordinary Days

Synopsis

This synopsis was removed from an earlier version. Its a start, but really needs referencing and a little cleaning up if anyone has the time. It also only covers two thirds of the story. A synopsis really does need to go in

I hate thinking of names (talk) 00:30, 19 January 2014 (UTC)

ACT ONE

New York City. Warren is on the street attempting to hand out flyers to passersby, who ignore him ("One by One by One"). The flyers are actually an art project: colored pages decorated with feel-good messages, originally painted on city walls and sidewalks by Warren’s boss, a visual artist who’s been incarcerated on graffiti charges. To Warren’s frustration, no one has any interest in him or the free art he's offering. He gets a glimmer of hope when a harried young woman snatches a paper as she rushes by. That young woman is Deb, a stressed-out graduate student on a determined search for her future(I Don’t Wanna Be Here”).

Meanwhile, Jason has decided to take a bold step and move in with his girlfriend, Claire ("The Space Between”). As Jason eagerly plans their new life together, Claire struggles to make space for Jason in her apartment, and her life (Let Things Go").

Deb is hard at work on her graduate dissertation, keeping her research in a hand-bound notebook in which she takes great pride—until she realizes the book has gone missing. Warren finds her notebook and is convinced that its owner is someone he’s been destined to meet (Dear Professor Thompson/Life Story").

Jason unpacks his belongings in Claire's apartment, but hits a snag when he tries to get rid of some things which Claire refuses to let go. Claire’s discovery of an old magazine article lets them re-live the first year of their relationship, with an excited Claire leading the reluctant Jason on a whirlwind tour of the city (‘Tm Trying”). The memory leaves Claire lost in the past, and Jason decides to re-light the spark in their relationship with a trip to the Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Warren has contacted Deb and insisted that they meet at the Met so he can return her notebook. As Deb tries to navigate her way through the maze of galleries, Jason and Claire get separated and wander the museum alone. An exasperated Deb finally finds Warren waiting in front of a Monet (“Saturday at the Met").

Back at their apartment, Jason is puzzled over Claire’s detachment, and wonders if their relationship is everything he thinks it is ("Favorite Places"). Still at the Met, Warren is eager to befriend Deb. She lashes out at him, and he is clearly hurt. Feeling badly, Deb asks Warren if he’d like to go for coffee (“Sort-Of Fairy Tale”). Jason and Claire, meanwhile, are heading to a dinner party, and everything is going wrong. As tensions mount, Jason, desperate to get back to the way things were between then tries to end their fight by abruptly proposing to Claire ("Fine").

Deb takes Warren to a Starbucks and prods him for his life story. As she insists he share his plans for the future, she realizes that her own ambitions have gone woefully unfulfilled (“Big Picture”). Deb suddenly realizes she’s late for a meeting with her professor: the two story-lines entangle as we see Deb leave Warren, while Claire - shaken by Jason’s outburst of a proposal - runs from him with barely a word.