BRACE YOURSELF: A MUSICAL APOCALYPSE

Brace Yourself: A Musical Apocalypse Synopsis

Today’s the day! Holly is finally going to get her braces off! As she goes about her morning, she greets Amber, her uptight older sister and legal guardian, Nell, Amber’s butch girlfriend, and Paul, her best friend. The three of them are making preparations of their own as well, with Amber considering breaking up with Nell , Nell getting ready to propose to Amber at a romantic morning picnic, and Paul preparing to tell Holly he has a crush on her. As Paul and Holly head out for the day, they are interrupted by Paul’s mother (and president of the PTA), Evelyn, and the three of them have an awkward conversation regarding Paul’s transness, with Holly making an especially cutting joke. Evelyn also mentions the asteroid, which will be blown up in the sky later that day.

At the picnic, Amber hesitantly agrees to marry Nell, and despite last minute preparations, the asteroid is successfully destroyed, but a scientist spills their glass of champagne on the laser’s mainframe, leading to a series of events that cause the collapse of the world. After finding Paul and Holly, Amber lies to both of them about the true nature of the “end of the world” and enables Holly’s desire to wait out the chaos at the orthodontist’s office and hopefully still make it to her appointment. Unsure what to do, Nell goes along with Amber’s lie. The four then start their journey to the orthodontist’s office. Following close behind is Evelyn, who is scouring apocalyptic Ohio for Paul using a tracking device that she has sewn into Paul’s backpack.

Holly, Paul, Amber, and Nell are walking down the highway when Holly waves down a nearby biker for a ride. The biker, Max, steals Paul’s backpack and stabs Amber in the leg. Nell and Amber get into a huge fight after this encounter, with Nell snapping and revealing her true fears about their chances of survival. Angry and scared, Holly runs away with Paul in tow. Now alone, Paul and Holly run into a scrap metal collector that offers them a new map of Ohio if Holly gives him her braces. Holly almost does this, but Paul gives Scrapper his special metal dice instead. Scrapper leaves and Paul begs Holly to let them go home. Holly wants to press onwards. Holly and Paul make camp for the night and Holly has a horrible nightmare about never getting her braces off and being burned at the stake. Holly wakes up and decides to run to the orthodontist’s office alone, leaving Paul sleeping. Evelyn and Max, having formed an unlikely alliance, find Amber and Nell. Evelyn forces Amber and Nell to work through their relationship drama so that they can go find Paul and Holly.

Holly reaches the orthodontist, but finds him dead. She breaks down, but Paul comforts her and the two share a light kiss. The rest of the group reunite at the orthodontist’s office, and plan on moving forward together in the apocalypse.

Notes

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BRACE YOURSELF : A MUSICAL APOCALYPSE

Content Warnings: Guns, Knives, and discussed/implied parent death

Brace Yourself Character Descriptions

HOLLY: A single swedish fish in a candy bag full of sour patch kids. She radiates best friend, Patty Simox, Janine Teauges, starter friend energy and believes any situation can be solved with a good attitude. She even refuses to swear because she thinks that’s a way she can directly make the world a better place. This fourteen-year-old assumes that all of her insecurities and awkwardness will disappear when she gets her braces off, and truly thinks they’re holding her back from being the confident and pretty girl she has always wanted to be. She never fully processed her parents’ deaths and prefers to get through troubling moments by pretending everything is still okay. She/Her. Age: a young 14. Gender not flexible. Race is flexible but ideally this actor looks related to Amber’s actor (not a requirement). (soprano)

PAUL: Paul is a forever Game Master who wants to be a hero. At fourteen, he builds worlds and characters on the daily to try and make his idealized world where everyone is noble, and fighting for good. As a young trans boy, Paul is trying to grapple with how the people around him treat him, especially his mom, Evelyn, who has become more overprotective since he came out, and his best friend Holly who never considers the nuances of his gender expression. Paul’s super objective is to get his best friend Holly to like (as in like-like) him and to be someone else’s hero. Ideally that someone else would be Holly. He/Him. Age: young 14. Trans boy who is out to the world, but has not started testosterone yet. Gender presentation in the show is not flexible, but the actor's chosen gender outside of the role is flexible, preferably a nonbinary or transmasc actor. Race flexible. (alto/tenor)

AMBER: A nervous jellybean whose mind is always shaking. A twenty-eight-year-old who puts everyone’s needs before her own to an unhealthy degree. Amber is currently dating twenty-eight-year-old Nell and is currently raising her fourteen-year-old sister Holly. Amber loves Nell but is questioning whether or not they should stay together because of their differing communication and parenting styles. Amber is terrified of change or relying on others, and is a master at avoiding confrontation. She/Her. Mid to late 20s. Gender not flexible. Race is flexible but ideally this actor looks related to Holly’s actor (not a requirement). (alto)

NELL: At twenty-eight, Nell is a butch lesbian studying art therapy at the local community college, which is where she met, and started dating, Amber. After three years together, Nell wants to take things to the next level and propose to Amber, which also means she wouldn’t have to raise Holly alone. She/Her. Mid to late 20s. Gender not flexible. Race flexible. (alto)

EVEYLN: Evelyn is the forty-five-year old version of Tracy Flick. Steadfast, Put-together, and capable. She is a supermom. A power mom. A tiger mom. She is president of the PTA and uses her power to make the future bright for her baby boy. Her whole identity is being a mom and fighting for whatever Paul wants and needs. However, now that Paul is getting older, Evelyn is starting to doubt her place in the world. Who is she if she isn’t Paul’s Mom? She/Her. Mid to late 40s. Race flexible. (mezzo-soprano)

MAX: mid twenties, A biker just trying to survive in the apocalypse. Max believes in survival of the fittest and that people should only help themselves. She only respects people that are stronger than her. She is mad, very mad. She/Her. Mid to late 30s. Race Flexible. Gender Presentation not Flexible. (alto)

SCRAPPER: A scrap metal collector who has been preparing for the apocalypse for years. Think a Harold Hill type of sly con man. Any or no gender. Older person but no assigned age. Gender Flexible. Race Flexible. (tenor)

Ensemble Roles (can be played by 2 ensemble members, or combined with Scrapper, Max, and Evelyn)

NEWSCASTERS/HOTTEST BOY IN SCHOOL: (NEWSCASTERS) Ageless, A man of news and paper. Gender Flexible. Race Flexible, one person playing multiple newscasters. (Hottest Boy) Sixteen. This character is Holly’s specific perception of what the hottest boy in school would be like and not society’s perception. Gender Not Flexible. Race Flexible. (He/Him) (tenor)

THE ORTHODONTIST: The great and certified, a voice in the sky that haunts Holly during her nightmare sequence. Gender Flexible. Race Flexible. (Whole cast speaking at once).

PTA MEMBER 1: Parent first, person second. Gender Flexible. Race Flexible. Age Flexible. (alto)

PTA MEMBER 2: Their kids have grown up but they are still an active PTA member (alto/tenor)

LEAD SCIENTIST: The “face scientist” that gives all of the interviews about the laser, more suave than competent. Gender Flexible. Race Flexible.

SARAH (SCIENTIST 2): The actual person building the laser. Beaker from The Muppets fragile type. She/Her. Gender Flexible. Race Flexible.

Notes

Music

Script

Score

Brace Yourself: A Musical Apocalypse