Challenge #03a: Based On...
Script version of The Lucky One:
INT. THEATRE - NIGHT
As the camera pans through the lobby toward the stage, a poster reads “LAST PERFORMANCE!” Inside the theatre, a full audience is absolutely silent as they watch ISABELLA dance across the stage.
INT. BACKSTAGE OF THE THEATRE - NIGHT
HENRY, sitting at his desk, sobs as he signs the deed to the theatre. Everything is cleaned off of the shelves and there are a few boxes on the floor.
INT. OFFICE - DAY
HENRY and ISABELLA nervously sit across from a GENTLEMAN IN A SUIT.
HENRY
Are you sure you couldn’t give us a bit more? This is barely enough to live off of! And the theatre is worth four times this much!
GENTELMAN IN A SUIT
I’m already paying you more than anyone else in the city will. Sadly, the theatre isn’t worth much anymore since the Depression began.
HENRY and ISABELLA rise.
GENTLEMAN IN A SUIT
And her costume, of course.
HENRY stops at the door, looking sadly at ISABELLA.
HENRY
Yes, after the show.
INT. HENRY AND ISABELLA’S HOUSE
A much younger HENRY stands at the threshold lovingly watching as a much younger ISABELLA happily dances around the room.
EXT. A VACANT LOT - DAY
Builders are in the process of constructing a building as the much younger HENRY directs their work. As time passes, one can see that it is a theatre.
INT. THEATRE - NIGHT
Signs reading “OPENING NIGHT” are posted in the lobby. ISABELLA dances on stage as only a few people sit in the audience.
In a different dress, ISABELLA dances on stage as more people sit in the audience.
EXT. THEATRE - NIGHT
Signs reading “SOLD OUT!” are slapped across posters.
INT. THEATRE - NIGHT
ISABELLA dances on stage with a full audience. Their attention is rapt. When she stops dancing, there is a thunderous applause as people stand in admiration.
INT. THEATRE - NIGHT
ISABELLA dances to a dwindling audience.
EXT. THEATRE - DAY
Signs on the ticket booth read “DISCOUNTED TICKETS” and the once clean street is cluttered with trash and men and women passing by are in worn, dirty clothing.
INT. THEATRE - NIGHT
ISABELLA continues to dance across the stage. She makes her final pose, smiling, and the curtain falls.
ISABELLA collapses. The curtain rises. The audience pauses, looks about themselves confused, and then women began shrieking. Women grab their children and run out of the theatre.
EXT. THE STREET OUTSIDE HIS APARTMENT
HENRY sits at the curb with a suitcase in his hand. His clothes are worn and filthy. Another DOWNTRODDEN GENTLEMAN comes around the corner, nods at HENRY, and sits down beside.
DOWNTRODDEN GENTLEMAN
(nodding at Henry’s wedding ring)
You married?
HENRY
Yes, but she died many months ago. I couldn’t bring myself to sell the ring. It’s all I have left of her.
DOWNTRODDEN GENTLEMAN
(apologetically)
Oh, I’m sorry to hear that.
HENRY
She was the lucky one. She loved the stage. She wouldn’t have been able to survive without out it.