Full Synopsis
ACT ONE
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
A pedestal stands in an artist’s studio bathed in the sunshine streaming down through a skylight. Bridget – sculptor, mother, wife, daughter, sister - helps Vidal and Alberto, the caretaker and his grandson, unload blocks of clay for her new project, a sculpture of the wood nymph, Daphne, changed into a tree to protect her from being abducted by Zeus. Bridget contemplates the pedestal where Daphne will stand and sings about her desire for recognition as a legitimate sculptor. (This Could Be The One) Bridget’s husband Richard arrives in a panic, having gotten word their daughter was seen ditching school with a boy. Richard tries to enlist Bridget’s aid in finding Annie, but she reminds him of their deal, that for the next six months she devotes herself to sculpting while he minds their Teen.
THE PATIO:
Mom and Dad enter with lunch trays, followed by Bridget’s older sister, Lucy. Dad complains about eating outside and extols the virtues of frozen food, and Lucy brags about her domestic skills and announces she’s going to knit a sweater for Annie.
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Bridget and Richard review their agreement while coping with their fears about Annie. Bridget asks if Richard left Annie a voicemail or sent her a text. He says voice mail, which Bridget says Annie never listens to, and so she sends one herself, to which Annie responds immediately. Bridget crosses to The Patio to join her family and Richard looks around his wife’s new studio feeling disappointed over having a wife who’d rather be working in her studio than having fun with him. (This Is Not What I Bargained For)
THE PATIO:
Lucy expresses disapproval of Bridget and Richard as parents and Bridget goes on the defensive. Lucy sings about parenting advice she gave her sister and Bridget mourns the loss of her little girl. (I Told Her)
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Bridget finds Annie in her studio when she returns. Annie begs to be allowed to get her driver’s license, and we learn she was badly injured in a car accident when she was a little girl and Bridget has an unreasonable fear of it happening again. Annie accuses her mother of leaving her at nursery school overnight, and of wishing she never got married and had a child, then storms out. (I Told Her - Reprise)
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Richard comes to pick up Annie, happy she’s safe and he has her all to himself. Bridget suddenly realizes Annie must have taken a nap at nursery school and thought it was the next day when she woke up. Richard thinks Bridget did forget to pick Annie up sometimes, which Bridget vehemently denies.
Bridget sits alone with her head in her hands, when Jimmy enters. He introduces himself as the painter down the hall, and there is instant chemistry between the two artists. Bridget is ecstatic to meet someone who feels the same sense of urgency about making art. Jimmy is pleased because Bridget went to an exhibit of his work and had a spot-on understanding of what he was trying to achieve. Jimmy says someone is waiting for him in his studio.
JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Vidal and Alberto bring in an easel, stool, and lounge chair to make Jimmy’s Studio. A beautiful model in a crimson robe, Isabel, waits for Jimmy to return. She’s been posing naked for a reclining nude Jimmy is painting but now refuses to take off the robe because she’s mad at him for sleeping with another woman.
THE PARK:
Vidal and Alberto bring out a bench and a tree to make The Park. Lucy has called a meeting with Bridget to announce plans to move to Portland, meaning helping their parents will fall to Bridget right when she’s eager to put a hold on family obligations. Lucy says her ex-husband is getting married to someone younger, so they’ll have time to start a family, the one thing Lucy always wanted to do, so now she wants to move to a new place where she won’t think of herself as a failure. Bridget says she’ll help, of course, but her heart is longing to soar on the wings of creativity.
(It’s a Beautiful Day)
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Vidal has finished repairing the skylight above the pedestal. He tells Bridget that Alberto’s mother was killed when Alberto was a baby, which knocks Bridget for a loop and reignites her fear of losing Annie. Isabel comes to model for the wood nymph and admires the new studio. Bridget confesses she’s having trouble focusing and says her wood nymph hasn’t come to life. Richard enters to tell Bridget the school called again to say Annie forged her mother’s signature to get back in today, which means she ditched yesterday. Richard and Isabel meet for the first time, then Richard and Bridget talk about Annie wanting to get a job and the need for her to get her driver’s license, the thought of which makes Bridget very nervous.
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RICHARD’S OFFICE:
Vidal and Alberto bring in a drafting table and chair to make Richard’s Office, where he works as an architect. Richard crosses to his office and talks to Bridget while she draws Isabel. (Isabel can’t hear him.) He expresses frustration about work and says he doesn’t know if he can hold out for the next six months while she makes her sculpture. He has dreams of working on his own projects and is frustrated with having his work evaluated by a committee.
(I’m Sick of It!)
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Isabel suddenly remembers she must be someplace else and rushes out, passing Jimmy in the doorway and seeing the obvious attraction between him and Bridget.
THE PATIO:
Mom says she and Dad need a change, and he says there’s already too much change barreling down on them. Mom says it looks like rain and DAD says it never rains this time of year. Mom says she wants to see Bridget’s new studio and Dad says Bridget pushed them away. Mom says they should give her another chance because she’ll be all grown up before they know it.
JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Bridget asks Jimmy what it’s like to be able to paint anytime he wants to. He encourages her to shut out all distractions before she runs out of time and loses the ability to become a serious artist that she must learn to say “no” and free herself to be an artist. (Ignore The Bills) Bridget kisses him impulsively, because he understands, then feels deeply embarrassed.
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THE CAFÉ:
Vidal and Alberto enter with two Café tables and two chairs to make The Café. Isabel and Richard run into each other. Isabel looks up the weather forecast on her phone and says rain is predicted. They talk about the difficulties of being a single mom and Isabel reveals her passion for acting. She says she just finished posing for a full-length nude Jimmy is painting and suggests Richard might like to see it sometime. It starts to rain.
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Vidal and Alberto bring in Jimmy’s paintings for safekeeping because his ceiling leaks. They put them around the studio until everything that belongs to Bridget, except the pedestal, is blocked from view.
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FRONT OF STAGE:
Mom opens an umbrella and holds it above her head. She reflects on how she and Dad got together and the nature of families. (It Seemed Like Destiny)
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO: Rain pounds the roof as Vidal and Alberto carry in the painting of Isabel and prop it up against the pedestal. The sound of rain drowns out the characters’ voices, so in pantomime, Bridget introduces Annie to Jimmy and Vidal, and Vidal introduces Annie to Alberto. Isabel pulls Richard in through the door and Bridget introduces Jimmy to Richard. The rain dies down and Jimmy invites everyone to pretend they’re at an opening of his work. They view the subjects of Jimmy’s paintings and muse about life. (We Are Looking At Art)
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ACT TWO
JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Isabel tells Jimmy she’s pregnant and he struggles to come to terms with the idea of starting a family. He finally cheers up at the thought of painting Isabel in all the stages of pregnancy. (I Will Paint You)
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Richard is looking around the empty studio when Isabel comes in. She wonders what Bridget’s sculpture will look like and Richard finds out she posed for Bridget in the past, for a sculpture of Medusa devouring a ram. This does not ring a bell for him and he asks Isabel to tell him about his wife which Isabel clues Richard into the fact that he might be married to a serious talent. (Tell Me About My Wife)
Isabel leaves and Bridget returns. Richard says he’s worried about Bridget getting lost in her work because Annie still needs her mother. He says Annie is saving up to buy a video camera, which Bridget didn’t know. He accuses her of being disconnected from her daughter and she gets mad about being guilt-tripped. Richard storms out and Bridget fears never knowing how well an artist she could have been. (The Little Ache Inside)
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JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Bridget seeks solace from Jimmy, who talks her into posing, which she resists at first. She finally gives in and enjoys the opportunity to talk about herself.
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AN EMPTY PART OF THE STUDIO:
Richard feels he is drifting apart from his wife. (Bridget, Can You Hear Me?)
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JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Bridget talks about the terrible guilt and worry involved in being a parent, then suggests she take off her clothes. Jimmy tries not to act excited as she takes off her shirt and begins to pull down her pants. He proposes they run away to the South of France and make love and art all day long.
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Vidal ushers Bridget’s parents into the studio and calls out to Bridget.
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JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Bridget says she can’t go to the South of France because she finally has her own studio, and Jimmy says he can’t go because he’s pregnant with Isabel. He helps Bridget get dressed, then kisses her and pushes her out the door so she can greet her parents.
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Bridget expresses frustration to Mom and Dad about not being able to figure out what she wants to say with her sculpture and being preoccupied with Richard and Annie. Mom says a woman’s family is her greatest achievement and Dad sees the painting of Italy that hung in Mom’s parents’ house. He reflects on his youthful dream of taking his future wife to Italy. (Someday I Will Take You There)
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JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Jimmy lifts a blank canvas up onto his easel and hopes this time he’ll get it right, be it painting or relationship.
(Each New Painting)
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Annie comes to the studio and tells her mom she passed her driver’s test and got her license and knows every time Bridget looks at her she thinks of the big scar on her leg. Bridget apologizes for acting like she didn’t think Annie was capable of driving and Annie agrees to pose to earn money for her camera fund. A text comes in on Annie’s phone and Bridget gets the idea of drawing Annie while texting. Bridget asks Annie what’s going on with her friends and Annie shares her frustration in trying to get along with other girls at school. Why Are Girls So Mean Alberto comes in and tries to install a shade over the skylight but can’t figure out how to do it and says he’ll come back some other time. Annie runs out the door after him.
JIMMY’S STUDIO:
Isabel finds Jimmy packing up his paintings to take to a gallery in New York. He says he promises to return but can’t do the whole Family Man thing right now, that they must think outside the box and make a different kind of family.
(I Will Paint You - Reprise)
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Richard comes to drive with Annie over to Aunt Lucy’s and finds out she ran off with Alberto. The anxiety about her safety escalates as he and Bridget feed each other’s fears, and Richard doesn’t see his car anywhere outside. Bridget sends Annie a text and becomes particularly distraught because Annie always answers her texts, even though she doesn’t answer her phone or listen to voice messages.
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THE PATIO:
Mom relives the experience of losing Bridget at age two when she ran into an elevator of a high-rise building and the doors closed behind her.
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BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Richard tells Bridget she has to own the need to sculpt and asks her what she’s afraid of. Bridget talks about her fear Annie got derailed because she was preoccupied with sculpting. Richard says she must have the courage to let go of her little girl and tells Bridget to talk to Annie, and apologize, if necessary. Annie finally bursts through the door and says something horrible happened. Bridget jumps up and asks if Alberto’s okay and if the car’s okay. Annie said of course she didn’t take the car because Alberto was with her. She says the horrible thing that happened was her phone fell into a porta-potty at the beach and now she’s lost everything. Bridget can’t help but laugh, she’s so relieved Annie’s okay. Annie accuses her of being a terrible mother and demands Richard take her to Aunt Lucy’s right away because she’ll understand. Annie swears she’ll never pose for her mother again.
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THE PARK:
Lucy sits under a halo-like arbor and knits with a ball of periwinkle yarn as she repeats over and over, “I am the good one. I am the good one.”
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Annie poses pretending to text on her phone, and they talk about when she was little and
Bridget worked in her studio. Bridget apologizes for the conflicting feelings she must have felt and said Annie always came before sculpting and was her inspiration. Bridget says tomorrow she begins her sculpture, “Modern Girl with Head in I-Cloud”, and Annie says she starts her documentary, about the journey of a sculpture from clay to girl with a cell phone. Annie and Bridget relate about not being turned into a tree, being free, and making art. (I Am A Girl)
RICHARD’S OFFICE:
Richard is excited to work on a new project dealing with a house built around a favorite tree. He reflects on finding sanctuary in nature and thinking outside of the box. (I Can Do This)
BRIDGET’S STUDIO:
Bridget prepares to begin the mold for her sculpture, as Annie films with her new camera,
Alberto kneads clay, and Vidal sits under the skylight with the new shade pulled down to block the sun. Richard has his new drawings to show Bridget, and Jimmy and Isabel come so Jimmy can say goodbye before he leaves for New York. Jimmy and Richard bond talking about baseball and Annie announces she’ll go to community college to get her grades up and then to New York to study film.
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Bridget looks around at her family and friends and feels full-filled desires to immortalize these people she loves who grow, learn, plays, and perish by making sculptures of them. (Looking at Art - Finale)
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