Ordinary Days - PLOT SYNOPSIS

A musical by Adam Gwon
Ordinary Days the Musical - PLOT SYNOPSIS


Warren is an artist in New York city. He is employed by an artist who painted "pithy sayings" all across the city. This led to the artist getting arrested, and the artist hired Warren to watch his cat while he's in jail. Warren intends to spread the artist's vision by making flyers with the sayings instead. Although people are not interested in his work, he remains very ambitious, declaring that one day "This whole entire city's gonna look at me" ("One by One by One"). Deb is a graduate student also in New York. She had grown up in the countryside, and found her ambitions constantly limited by her circumstances. As a result, she moved to New York for grad school ("Don't Wanna Be Here"). Meanwhile, Jason is moving in with his girlfriend Claire so there is less space between them ("The Space Between"). To do this, he has to rearrange the furniture as well as throw out old mementos, which Claire has trouble letting go of ("Let Things Go").

In grad school, Deb is working on a thesis on Virginia Woolf. One day, she discovers that her notes are not in her bag where she kept them. Distressed, she imagines writing to her supervisor Professor Thompson asking for an extension, knowing full well that Professor Thompson had warned that he will never grant extensions ("Dear Professor Thompson (Pt. 1)"). Meanwhile, Warren explains his collection of trinkets that he found on the streets, which grants him a view of other people's life stories. He finds Deb's notes, and discovers an email address and a name ("Life Story"). Deb is composing ever more frantic emails to Professor Thompson ("Dear Professor Thompson (Pt. 2)" when Warren contacts her. Claire and Jason are fighting over the limited space in Claire's apartment. They reminiscence over an old article with the "Top ten things to do in New York before you leave it". They had worked through all ten things throughout their relationship. Although Claire still thinks about her past, Jason suggests an eleventh item ("I'm Trying").

Warren suggests that he return Deb's notes at the Metropolitan Museum of Art, under a painting by Claude Monet. Deb is flustered because the traffic around the museum is awful, the museum is huge, and she has trouble finding the painting. Jason suggests visiting the museum as the 11th item, but Claire does not enjoy the paintings ("Saturday at the Met"). Jason realizes the trip to the museum did not work out well, but resolves to try to get through to Claire anyway, because Claire's heart is one of his favorite places ("Favorite Places"). Warren finds Deb and gives her back her notes, explaining that he had read the notes and drawn a detailed mental picture of the occasion. Deb is annoyed because she considers Warren a weirdo, but controls herself and offers to treat Warren to coffee ("Sort of Fairy Tale").

Jason and Claire are shopping for a bottle of wine for a party by Claire's cousin. They disagree over what wine to get, then argue further when the taxi to the party gets stuck in a traffic jam, and when they get out to walk, it starts to rain. Claire starts worrying about her hair, shoe, bag and dress, and how they are going to be late, but Jason can only think about how beautiful the rain makes Claire look. Abruptly, he proposes to Claire ("Fine").

Deb tries to have a serious conversation over coffee with Warren about their future plans, but Warren takes the conversation lightly. Deb is annoyed, exclaiming that drinking coffee with a "professional cat sitter" was all her life is going to amount to. Abruptly, she realizes she needs to see Professor Thompson, and leaves. At the same time, Claire, flustered by the proposal, also leaves Jason ("Big Picture"). Jason is confused and wonders what he should do next, as Claire and Deb force their way through the New York city crowds, realizing that these other people all had their own stories but right now were in the way ("Hundred Story City"). Claire makes it to her cousin's party without Jason, then realizes she's been crying ("Party Interlude"). Deb tries to calm herself, but when Professor Thompson criticizes her thesis, she panics and gets on a train to Jersey. After wandering aimlessly while trying to be calm, she returns to her apartment and sees a poster on her wall which reminds her of the painting by Monet she had seen with Warren. Suddenly, she realizes she is genuinely calm ("Calm"). Warren is pondering an answer to Deb's question when Deb contacts him ("Life Story (Reprise)").

Claire leaves her cousin's party and tries to sort out her feelings. She realizes she wants Jason happy, but has also been trying to keep space between them ("Gotta Get Out"). Deb visits Warren, who takes her to the roof of the building. They discuss their ambitions in life and how they hope for something more. Warren acknowledges that nobody reads the flyers he makes, and throws them over the edge. Seeing this, Deb also throws her thesis off the edge. Jason had decided he could not stay with Claire, and had packed his belongings to leave. As the shower of flyers rains down, Jason finds one that says "Don't worry, everything will be OK". Claire also sees the shower, and calls Jason on his mobile phone ("Rooftop Duet / Falling"). She reminisces about her previous relationship with a man named John. They had been together for over a year before he perished in the September 11 attacks. She hears John say it's OK for her to move on, and accepts Jason's proposal ("I'll Be Here").

In the finale, Deb and Warren have become good friends. They visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art again, together. Warren shows Deb his favorite painting, who cynically points out that it's a painting of very ordinary apples when they are in a museum with much grander works of art. Warren says that things are not intrinsically beautiful, but beauty comes from reflection, and something ordinary can nonetheless be "simple, familiar and full of feeling" ("Beautiful").


Songs from the musical: Ordinary Days: the Musical Lyrics
Synopsis to Ordinary Days the Musical Plot