Meet the Books! - To Save a Little Face

 Well, in true disorganized form, I have come with another linkup to save the blog from being neglected again. This may be the last Meet the Books! for a while, though... Unfortunately, this is my last archive story idea. (But the last two times I said that, I was struck by new ideas in time to make another linkup... Hmm... Well, we'll see how the muse behaves this time.) As always, if you want to join the linkup, the rules are pretty easy. Just answer the questions in bold below for your own story, and then leave a link to your post in the comment section here. You may use the image if you like (but I'm not sure why you would want to...). 

Well, shall we begin?

What is the title?

The title of this particular work, as you can see from the post name,* is To Save a Little Face. It'll make more sense when we talk about the plot.

*Why do I even have this question on here again...? 

What is the genre? Time period?

The genre is Comedy, quite possibly Romantic Comedy, depending on the way the wind blows when I write it. I know I said a long while back that Comedy simply was not my genre, but ever since I became an ardent pupil of Miss Megan's discipline of Comedy,* I have been quite in love with the genre. When I tried it again to write He Travels the Fastest, ** I found I actually quite enjoyed writing it. So, yes. The moral of the story is try new things and maybe vegetables don't taste as bad as they smell and all that jazz. (Although, really, most vegetables taste quite as bad as they smell.) 

As to the time period, it is in the American 1930s again. (I tell you, I'm really liking the way HTtF is set up...) 

*"Discipline of Comedy"... That sounds... odd.

** Oh, yes, did I mention that HTtF is now being drafted? It's been splendid fun. Perhaps I'll post some snippets some time. (What is with all these footnotes??? I feel like Megan...)

How is it written (POV, format, etc.)?

Third person, probably narrative, but I'm not sure yet. I'll figure that stuff out when I write it.

What is the setting?

The high society of America in the 1930s is our setting this time. We'll be hitting up Broadway and Carnegie Hall as well as the subways and street corners of New York. 

Who are the characters?

   In order of appearance...

    Donna Delany is a trained, gifted, gorgeous star of Broadway who aspires to even greater heights. After all, she was trained in a conservatory of music. Broadway is for lowbrows. She dislikes Broadway, dislikes working, and dislikes most people as well. She enjoys the applause, though she might not admit it, and she has gained a reputation for being witty, beautiful, and snobbier than an Englishman at Harvard. She has very little regard for anyone else's opinions or feelings.

   Neville Devine is a charming and troublesome actor from the Continent. Or at least, that's what he says. The man has a different backstory by the day, not to mention to new present stories he causes in the newspapers everywhere he goes. He's quite difficult to keep up with. 

    Mr. King is Donna's publicity manager. He usually lets Donna do what she likes, but he shouldn't be crossed. He is quite stubborn, and he's growing tired of trying to fix Donna's reputation...

   Karol Drozdoborod is a Russian-born pianist and composer who is on the rise in America. His beautiful compositions are the talk of the town, but he is a retiring, quiet man. He retains some visible facial damage from being in the wrong place at the wrong time during the Bolshevik riots in his home country. 

   Sergei, the fiddler, is a humble, immigrant street musician with traditional ideals. He doesn't ask much other than a home and everything being in its place. He loves to come to stage doors and see the actors with his fellow buskers. 

What does the plot consist of?

Anybody here read/remember "King Thrushbeard," of Grimm's Fairy Tales? This is pretty much a retelling of King Thrushbeard, if you can imagine it. With that said, I've pretty much given away every spoiler already, so be warned that I'm going to be pretty open with the plot twists. To configure the fairytale into this is pretty simple. Princess is Donna, the King is Mr. King, Thrushbeard is Drozborod, and the Fiddler is Sergei. (As for Neville... He is an interesting bit of plot device. Consider him what was necessary to spark the story into action.)

So, more or less, for those who are not familiar with "King Thrushbeard," here is a more detailed version from my summary notes:

       --A Broadway/stage prima donna who is very set in her ways won’t give the time of day to any man and criticizes all. Then, when a somewhat malicious rumor starts about her concerning a relationship with a scandalous fellow, her manager forces her to find someone to marry in order to keep an image of respectability. She has snubbed so many men, nobody will touch her with a ten-foot pole, and she doesn’t want anybody because she doesn’t think anybody is good enough. In a rage, her manager swears that the first honest, single man who walks in is going to be the one or else she’s fired. After all, she can just get divorced later, once the scandal dies down.

        A group of street performers come to her after her show and want her autograph. She’s disgusted, but one of them, a fiddler with some talent, plays for the manager and stops one of his coworkers from stealing from the place. The manager is delighted, asks if the man is single, and then arranges everything accordingly. The two are married quietly, and much to the disdain of the prima donna. Her new husband demands a good few things. He is very quiet and traditional, and he dislikes his wife doing certain things on the stage. He makes her change things and makes her help him with the house, and he won’t let her stay out late nights or go to a lot of parties. (Perhaps he even disguises himself and disrupts her performances.)

        Her ire increases when she sees how famous Drozdoborod - a turned-down suitor of hers - is becoming in America, his many concerts and compositions, and how rich he is. The fiddler lives practically in the slums and prefers Donna to stay with him instead of living at her penthouse. When her latest show flops, she is demoted to a small side role in the next musical. Her lesser

female co-stars are rising in popularity as she falls. She becomes disheartened. Finally, it’s heard that Drozdoborod has written an opera, and wants a classically-trained female actress to define the lead role. This fits Donna, and she wants the role badly at the same time as being embarrassed and regretful that she rejected Drozdoborod when she could have had him and the role so easily.

        It is announced that Drozdoborod himself will be leading the orchestra for the show. The lead role is given to her old female secondary, and she is given a one-song role that is very small and unsuited to her. She is angry, and angrier still when she realizes that Drozdoborod shows up for most rehearsals of the songs except her own, as if her song wasn’t even big enough for him to care. Finally, when it is showtime, she is so angry she doesn’t even see Drozborod properly until it’s her scene. At that point, facing him from across the orchestra, she sees that it is her fiddler leading the

orchestra. Completely distraught and confused, she bungles her one number, and leaves the stage in humiliation. She is too ashamed to come to even enter the cast party afterwards, but it’s said                that Drozborod demands her attendance.

        Knowing she will be fired from the cast and likely never see another stage, she humbles herself and goes anyhow, to get the thing over with. She goes in, and - lo and behold - it is Drozborod, but with some identifying element of her fiddler. She recognizes them as the same, and he reveals that very fact. She is mortified, but she admits that she sees the justice in it all. She submits to the idea of a divorce now that the scandal is over and he’s gotten his back. He dismisses the idea and brings her to the party with him, announcing their secret marriage to all, and there the story ends.--

Sorry about my notes being rather incoherent... If that made any sense at all, that's more or less the story in a nutshell.

What gave you the idea?

Well, I don't know about you, but I've thought King Thrushbeard would make a great Romantic Comedy for forever. I figured nobody else was going to do it, so here we are.

Who are the favorite characters so far?

Well, it's still archived, no actual writing, so there aren't any favorite characters yet.

What is the favorite scene thus far?

Once again, none yet.

Any drawings? Aesthetics?

I'm afraid not. This idea is pretty darn fresh (less than a year old), and I haven't done much work other than collecting notes and brainstorming.

Any themes of music for this story?

Not yet, but hold tight...

Any snippets?

Not written yet, so not at this time. (These questions, by the way, are for any linkup joiners... Obviously, I have very little to offer on them.)

Strong point in story?

I think that the plot is pretty strong. But I could also still be in new-story-idea euphoria.

Weak point in the story?

Hard to say at this point. Dialogue is always a safe bet, though. It's not my strong suit.

What are your plans for it?

Well, I'll write it, and after that, we'll see.

Any particular writing habits for it?

None yet.

If it were made into a movie, what would be your ideal cast for it?

I like Ida Lupino (like in the picture above) for Donna. (If not her, then Jeannette MacDonald.) A slightly more marred Mel Ferrer could make a good Drozborod, if he actually did the accent. I think I see an Errol Flynn cameo for Neville Devine.

That's all for now, folks. Let me know what you think? Are there any fairytales you think would make good comedies? What are you all writing right now? Once again, feel free to join the linkup to introduce your own stories! (And I will see you all again come Easter!)