WLIIA drabbles - Snoopy! The Musical Soundtrack series
Finally completed something writing and Whose Line related.
After geting such nice comments on my "Poor Sweet Baby" drabble, I decided to do drabbles to each song from the "Snoopy! The Musical London Cast" soundtrack. it was a bit hard to write for certain tracks, but I was able to come up with some decent ones.
Here are tracks one to ten:
“Overture” (time: 3:07)
(UK Season 3)
The waiting beforehand was always the hardest…
The lights began to dim in the studio, signaling that taping was going to start in a short while. The audience begins to clap and cheer in anticipation. They couldn’t wait to see who would be performing tonight. They’ve waited months for tapping to start back up.
The cast wanders around backstage, feeling excited to re-start what they love doing. It had been a long break, and they were ready. The newest one is very nervous to do this in front of cameras, but his friend, one of the only female performers reassures him he’ll do find. The American thinks of new little things to quip with the host with while the final performer straightens out his jacket, a crazy idea already in his head for one of the games. The musician walks up to the woman and the new player and they talk softly as the host walks up to tell them it’s starting.
The director came out first, giving a run through of the taping to the audience. He then introduced the performers one by one, the host first and the musician last. The musician finds his spot behind the piano and waits for his chance to perform. The performers sit at their designated seats, softly talking amongst themselves and the host makes his way to his spot behind the desk.
The director leaves the stage as the intro is played over the loudspeakers, signaling that taping has started.
The host sits at his desk, smoothing out his balding blond hair, waiting for the signal. The audience starts clapping as the intro ends, and as soon as it died down, the host speaks a familiar introduction to the welcoming fans.
“Hello and welcome to Whose Line is it Anyway?, and displaying another extensive rash of on-the-spot improvisation …”
“The World According to Snoopy” (time: 1:41)
(UK Season 2, later episodes)
“You really think you’re all knowing, don’t you?” Greg smirked from his spot on the couch in the break room.
“Well someone’s has to make sure you and the others don’t get out of control.” Clive reminded, walking over to the water cooler for a drink.
“That’s why we got a director, Mr. A.” Greg put in. Clive stared at him in surprise. This was the first time he heard anyone call him by that name.
“Mr. A?” Clive repeated incredulously.
“That’s right.” Greg looked smug, his arms lying on the back of the couch.
“You sound like a child calling me that, you know?” Clive stated, sitting next to Greg on the couch.
Greg then leaned towards Clive, smirking “Then why don’t you teach me, oh great bald one.”
“I think I could do that…” Clive smirked, accepting the invitation.
“Snoopy’s Song” (time 2:20)
(UK Season 2, after Ryan’s first taping)
The style had everyone in stitches when the taping was over.
“Dog Film”, as Clive had heard it was a hoot to Tony and John, and to Ryan and Sandi, who had to do the scene with that style. The sight of Ryan bending over to sniff Sandi’s behind became a little running gag behind the scenes.
It started simple with a few little barks from John and Tony, to leaving doggie treats, collars, leashes, and various other dog-related things in dressing rooms addressed to either Ryan or Sandi. Even Richard got into the joke by occasionally playing “How much is that doggie in the window” on his keyboard in the back.
It finally accumulated to one day after taping where Tony snuck up on Sandi. He crept up behind her while she was getting something to drink. He took a deep breath and then…
“WOOF!!!” He barked in the loudest he could be, making Sandi spill her drink all over her top. She spun around; looking soaked, embarrassed, and incredibly pissed off.
“You fucking git!” she snarled, and before he could protest, she slugged him hard.
That was when the jokes finally stopped. Tony told John that he was done and asked him to tell Richard the same.
Paul wondered about the black eye Tony was sporting that day.
“Woodstock's Theme” (time 0:35 - but done in 100 words)
(Mid-late UK WLIIA)
He could speak. He just wasn’t allowed to do so.
Richard hated being the ‘silent musician’. He did like playing the music for the scenes, but he wanted to do more.
He wanted to perform with the others. With Josie, Tony, Paul, Greg, all of them. He knew he could. He did it at the Comedy Store. He performed with everyone there. But Dan just wanted him to be the “Music man”.
So he watched. He watched them perform. And he couldn’t help to wonder how the audience would react if he performed with them onstage, not just playing piano.
“Hurry Up Face” (time 2:07)
(Before the taping of the Drew-Line episodes)
He wasn’t supposed to be on the show.
This wasn’t like the first time he was on the show where he was so nervous he barely got a laugh. This was much different. This was almost prejudicial.
The big wigs didn’t like the way he looked. They wanted younger and good looking talent and Colin didn’t fit into either category. He was balding, he was old, he wasn’t ‘good looking’ to be on the show.
To say Ryan was pissed off when he heard was a total understatement. He knew that Colin had more talent in his pinky finger than anyone the big wigs could think of to replace him.
He proceeded to fight tooth and nail to get him on. Colin at first didn’t want him to do it since he had done it before in England, but Ryan didn’t listen to him. Ryan finally gave the higher-ups an ultimatum: let Colin be on the show or he’ll quit.
They finally allowed him on the show. The only catch was that he had to dye his hair to make him look younger.
Colin hated it, but he didn’t really care. He was on the show again, and once again, Ryan was the reason he was back.
“Edgar Allan Poe” (time 2:49)
(Season 2 UK)
The game “Authors” was always a hard game to do. Mostly it was trying to do a scene in an author of their choice, but the other part was picking out an author to do.
There was only one Author none of the performers had attempted.
No one had really tried to attempt to do Poe in the Authors game up to that point.
It wasn’t a question of if they could do that style; more of a question of could to be exact. They did Dickens, Tolken, King, Hemmingway, Christie, and others. Tony had done the game it in the style of the author of “The Joy of Sex” and mistranslated European porn. They even had non-authors like in the style of a women’s magazine, Earl Hamner, Jr., the creator of The Walton’s, or Sunday sport, but never Poe.
John never tried to do Authors as Poe. Sure he did it as Dickens, Virginia Wolfe, and TS Elliot, but he never attempted Poe.
Paul took a deep breath before walking up to the steps. Ron had picked DC Comics for his style and Jimmy went with Freud for his. Clive then asked him who his author of choice was.
With confidence, he announced he would use Poe for his author. He missed the glare he got from John, who went with the diaries of Andy Warhol.
After taping John came up to Paul and said he wasn’t going to talk to him for a week. Paul just grinned.
“Mother's Day” (time: 3:36)
(Early Drew-line taping)
Ryan and Colin had been talking with Greg when the subject of female performers came up backstage. It soon became a unanimous decision after all the talks were done. When it came to great female performers, was the best of them all, beating out the ones here.
Kathy was ok. She hadn’t been around for a while, but she seemed ok from what Colin had said about her. Sure she was pretty and sweet, but not as funny as the others, especially her.
Karen had her own charm to her humor. All three had worked well with her, especially back in the UK tapings. She came close a few times with her quick wit and her sarcasm, but not close enough.
Denny was close enough, but not like her. She was somewhat new, but she was very funny. She also could be as snarky as Greg. Only problem was the producer didn’t really like her that much.
All three of them were good, but not like her. She topped all of them, in talent AND beauty. She could sing a wonderful song off the top of her head; she could keep up with them in creating a scene, and was a brilliant actor. She also was able to put up with them and could easily match wits with them, especially Greg, matching wits and attitude with him.
That night, they debated it over and over until their lips were sore. They waited for the time to be ok (and to take in account the time differences between L.A. and England), before calling her.
Across the ocean, a soft, feminine voice answered the phone, “Hello?”
“Josie it’s me.” Greg replied gently.
“Greg, is that you?” Josie asked, sitting up on her couch.
“Yeah, Colin and Ryan are here with me…” Greg paused, “And we miss you, mama. It’s not the same here without you.”
Josie blinked back tears, remembering the old nickname from their times on Whose Line. “I miss you, too, Greg. You, Ryan, and Colin…”
“I Know Now” (3:06)
(2006)
It was one of those nights. The kinds where you hang with your friends, get smashed, and shoot the breeze at the pub. It was just the seven of them: Josie, Richard, Neil, Lee, Andy, and Paul, celebrating another successful performance at the Comedy Store.
Paul was hoping for a quiet night until Neil brought up the question that became the topic of that night: if you had the chance to live your life over, what would be different knowing what you know now. It then became the topic of the night.
Of course, there were comments about bad dates and stupid ‘blonde’ moments, but there were some profound moments of sadness and love. Paul, however, chose to keep his comments to a minimum.
“C’mon, Paul, what would you do know now that could help you if you could go back?” Neil asked, drunk. Paul looked at everyone and sighed.
“I know now that… I shouldn’t have left Tony alone when he needed me,” Paul remarked forlornly, tears forming in his eyes “And I should’ve told him how I felt…” he added softly before excusing himself from the table and leaving for the next room. Richard excused himself to go after his friend, while Josie glared at Lee for bringing it up.
“Paul?” Richard asked, finally finding his friend huddled up in a corner of the next room, fighting back tears. Richard let out a soft “oh” before kneeling next to him, and pulled Paul into a strong hug. Paul clung to him like a small child.
“It’s not your fault, Paul. You didn’t know. None of us knew what Tony was doing.” Richard soothed, holding him tightly.
“It still hurts. If you had… if you saw what I saw…” Paul whispered, tears finally falling. Richard said nothing, but held Paul closer, letting him continue crying.
“The Vigil” (3:35)
(Mid-late ’96 - connected to “I Know Now”)
How could this have happened?
That question rang through Paul’s head as he sat alone, listening to the monotonous beeping of the heart machine. He was fighting back sleep and tears, but both were slowly breaking through his tough exterior. Everything that happened that morning seemed so surreal, like out of a dream…
The images from the nightmare still haunted him, but what was worse was that it almost came true. If he had been five minutes late, an hour, two, three, a day…
He glanced back down at the sleeping form before him. The person’s wrists were bandaged, blood seeping through the white strips. Paul couldn’t get past how pale he was, or the dark shadows under his closed eyes. He was almost unrecognizable, but Paul knew it was him.
The minute he broke the door down, he never expected this to be the outcome of his attempt to break through to him. He wasn’t good with emotions, but when Josie and Greg told him, he didn’t want to believe what they told him.
Drugs, unbalanced behavior, overuse of alcohol…,
Greg telling him that “he” loved him. ‘Why? What did he see in him?’ Paul kept asking himself. He was married, but he, he had these feelings for Paul?
The worst part was telling the others what happened, especially Stephen. Stephen just went silent when Paul told him what happened. Minutes before, Stephen has taken Paul aside and they talked. He asked him about him and how Paul felt about him. He couldn’t find the answer, so he ran. Ran to his room.
Paul placed a shaky hand on the sleeping one’s hand, gripping it tightly.
“I don’t know if you can here me, but… I’m right here, Tony… and I’m not leaving, not again…” He promised. There was no response, as Paul expected. Paul pulled the chair closer, and leaned off the chair, resting his head, arms and chest on the bed. Sleep finally claimed Paul, his hand never letting go of Tony’s.
“Clouds” (2:53)
(UK Season 6)
Josie stared up at the sky, feeling the nice cool wind blow through her long brown hair. It was a joy she loved ever since she was little. The large, fluffy clouds moved slowly, forming shapes against the light blue canvas called the sky.
She enjoyed the spot on the hill and the bench she sat on. She felt she could let her mind wander and not be disturbed. It was her own spot to get away from everything going on in her life. To ignore the troubles, the pressure of work, everyone in the world…
She frowned a bit, remembering what was going on. There were talks backstage at the studio about things she didn’t want to hear. Things like Mike fighting with the producer, Tony acting erratic, problems between several performers. She didn’t want to believe what she heard, but some of it was coming true.
“Hey, stranger.” A familiar voice chirped from behind, causing her to spin around in surprise.
“What’re you doing here?” the man smiled. Josie blushed slightly, composing herself, knowing she was safe with this man.
“Just cloud watching.” She replied, brushing her long brown hair behind her ear.
“Mind if I join you?” the man asked, a bit shyly.
“Go right ahead.” Josie smiled, patting the empty space next to her.
“Nice day, huh?” the man sat next to her on the bench, staring at the clouds. Josie leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder.
“It’s better now you’re here, Richard…” She smiled softly.
Next half will be posted soon.
After geting such nice comments on my "Poor Sweet Baby" drabble, I decided to do drabbles to each song from the "Snoopy! The Musical London Cast" soundtrack. it was a bit hard to write for certain tracks, but I was able to come up with some decent ones.
Here are tracks one to ten:
“Overture” (time: 3:07)
(UK Season 3)
The waiting beforehand was always the hardest…
The lights began to dim in the studio, signaling that taping was going to start in a short while. The audience begins to clap and cheer in anticipation. They couldn’t wait to see who would be performing tonight. They’ve waited months for tapping to start back up.
The cast wanders around backstage, feeling excited to re-start what they love doing. It had been a long break, and they were ready. The newest one is very nervous to do this in front of cameras, but his friend, one of the only female performers reassures him he’ll do find. The American thinks of new little things to quip with the host with while the final performer straightens out his jacket, a crazy idea already in his head for one of the games. The musician walks up to the woman and the new player and they talk softly as the host walks up to tell them it’s starting.
The director came out first, giving a run through of the taping to the audience. He then introduced the performers one by one, the host first and the musician last. The musician finds his spot behind the piano and waits for his chance to perform. The performers sit at their designated seats, softly talking amongst themselves and the host makes his way to his spot behind the desk.
The director leaves the stage as the intro is played over the loudspeakers, signaling that taping has started.
The host sits at his desk, smoothing out his balding blond hair, waiting for the signal. The audience starts clapping as the intro ends, and as soon as it died down, the host speaks a familiar introduction to the welcoming fans.
“Hello and welcome to Whose Line is it Anyway?, and displaying another extensive rash of on-the-spot improvisation …”
“The World According to Snoopy” (time: 1:41)
(UK Season 2, later episodes)
“You really think you’re all knowing, don’t you?” Greg smirked from his spot on the couch in the break room.
“Well someone’s has to make sure you and the others don’t get out of control.” Clive reminded, walking over to the water cooler for a drink.
“That’s why we got a director, Mr. A.” Greg put in. Clive stared at him in surprise. This was the first time he heard anyone call him by that name.
“Mr. A?” Clive repeated incredulously.
“That’s right.” Greg looked smug, his arms lying on the back of the couch.
“You sound like a child calling me that, you know?” Clive stated, sitting next to Greg on the couch.
Greg then leaned towards Clive, smirking “Then why don’t you teach me, oh great bald one.”
“I think I could do that…” Clive smirked, accepting the invitation.
“Snoopy’s Song” (time 2:20)
(UK Season 2, after Ryan’s first taping)
The style had everyone in stitches when the taping was over.
“Dog Film”, as Clive had heard it was a hoot to Tony and John, and to Ryan and Sandi, who had to do the scene with that style. The sight of Ryan bending over to sniff Sandi’s behind became a little running gag behind the scenes.
It started simple with a few little barks from John and Tony, to leaving doggie treats, collars, leashes, and various other dog-related things in dressing rooms addressed to either Ryan or Sandi. Even Richard got into the joke by occasionally playing “How much is that doggie in the window” on his keyboard in the back.
It finally accumulated to one day after taping where Tony snuck up on Sandi. He crept up behind her while she was getting something to drink. He took a deep breath and then…
“WOOF!!!” He barked in the loudest he could be, making Sandi spill her drink all over her top. She spun around; looking soaked, embarrassed, and incredibly pissed off.
“You fucking git!” she snarled, and before he could protest, she slugged him hard.
That was when the jokes finally stopped. Tony told John that he was done and asked him to tell Richard the same.
Paul wondered about the black eye Tony was sporting that day.
“Woodstock's Theme” (time 0:35 - but done in 100 words)
(Mid-late UK WLIIA)
He could speak. He just wasn’t allowed to do so.
Richard hated being the ‘silent musician’. He did like playing the music for the scenes, but he wanted to do more.
He wanted to perform with the others. With Josie, Tony, Paul, Greg, all of them. He knew he could. He did it at the Comedy Store. He performed with everyone there. But Dan just wanted him to be the “Music man”.
So he watched. He watched them perform. And he couldn’t help to wonder how the audience would react if he performed with them onstage, not just playing piano.
“Hurry Up Face” (time 2:07)
(Before the taping of the Drew-Line episodes)
He wasn’t supposed to be on the show.
This wasn’t like the first time he was on the show where he was so nervous he barely got a laugh. This was much different. This was almost prejudicial.
The big wigs didn’t like the way he looked. They wanted younger and good looking talent and Colin didn’t fit into either category. He was balding, he was old, he wasn’t ‘good looking’ to be on the show.
To say Ryan was pissed off when he heard was a total understatement. He knew that Colin had more talent in his pinky finger than anyone the big wigs could think of to replace him.
He proceeded to fight tooth and nail to get him on. Colin at first didn’t want him to do it since he had done it before in England, but Ryan didn’t listen to him. Ryan finally gave the higher-ups an ultimatum: let Colin be on the show or he’ll quit.
They finally allowed him on the show. The only catch was that he had to dye his hair to make him look younger.
Colin hated it, but he didn’t really care. He was on the show again, and once again, Ryan was the reason he was back.
“Edgar Allan Poe” (time 2:49)
(Season 2 UK)
The game “Authors” was always a hard game to do. Mostly it was trying to do a scene in an author of their choice, but the other part was picking out an author to do.
There was only one Author none of the performers had attempted.
No one had really tried to attempt to do Poe in the Authors game up to that point.
It wasn’t a question of if they could do that style; more of a question of could to be exact. They did Dickens, Tolken, King, Hemmingway, Christie, and others. Tony had done the game it in the style of the author of “The Joy of Sex” and mistranslated European porn. They even had non-authors like in the style of a women’s magazine, Earl Hamner, Jr., the creator of The Walton’s, or Sunday sport, but never Poe.
John never tried to do Authors as Poe. Sure he did it as Dickens, Virginia Wolfe, and TS Elliot, but he never attempted Poe.
Paul took a deep breath before walking up to the steps. Ron had picked DC Comics for his style and Jimmy went with Freud for his. Clive then asked him who his author of choice was.
With confidence, he announced he would use Poe for his author. He missed the glare he got from John, who went with the diaries of Andy Warhol.
After taping John came up to Paul and said he wasn’t going to talk to him for a week. Paul just grinned.
“Mother's Day” (time: 3:36)
(Early Drew-line taping)
Ryan and Colin had been talking with Greg when the subject of female performers came up backstage. It soon became a unanimous decision after all the talks were done. When it came to great female performers, was the best of them all, beating out the ones here.
Kathy was ok. She hadn’t been around for a while, but she seemed ok from what Colin had said about her. Sure she was pretty and sweet, but not as funny as the others, especially her.
Karen had her own charm to her humor. All three had worked well with her, especially back in the UK tapings. She came close a few times with her quick wit and her sarcasm, but not close enough.
Denny was close enough, but not like her. She was somewhat new, but she was very funny. She also could be as snarky as Greg. Only problem was the producer didn’t really like her that much.
All three of them were good, but not like her. She topped all of them, in talent AND beauty. She could sing a wonderful song off the top of her head; she could keep up with them in creating a scene, and was a brilliant actor. She also was able to put up with them and could easily match wits with them, especially Greg, matching wits and attitude with him.
That night, they debated it over and over until their lips were sore. They waited for the time to be ok (and to take in account the time differences between L.A. and England), before calling her.
Across the ocean, a soft, feminine voice answered the phone, “Hello?”
“Josie it’s me.” Greg replied gently.
“Greg, is that you?” Josie asked, sitting up on her couch.
“Yeah, Colin and Ryan are here with me…” Greg paused, “And we miss you, mama. It’s not the same here without you.”
Josie blinked back tears, remembering the old nickname from their times on Whose Line. “I miss you, too, Greg. You, Ryan, and Colin…”
“I Know Now” (3:06)
(2006)
It was one of those nights. The kinds where you hang with your friends, get smashed, and shoot the breeze at the pub. It was just the seven of them: Josie, Richard, Neil, Lee, Andy, and Paul, celebrating another successful performance at the Comedy Store.
Paul was hoping for a quiet night until Neil brought up the question that became the topic of that night: if you had the chance to live your life over, what would be different knowing what you know now. It then became the topic of the night.
Of course, there were comments about bad dates and stupid ‘blonde’ moments, but there were some profound moments of sadness and love. Paul, however, chose to keep his comments to a minimum.
“C’mon, Paul, what would you do know now that could help you if you could go back?” Neil asked, drunk. Paul looked at everyone and sighed.
“I know now that… I shouldn’t have left Tony alone when he needed me,” Paul remarked forlornly, tears forming in his eyes “And I should’ve told him how I felt…” he added softly before excusing himself from the table and leaving for the next room. Richard excused himself to go after his friend, while Josie glared at Lee for bringing it up.
“Paul?” Richard asked, finally finding his friend huddled up in a corner of the next room, fighting back tears. Richard let out a soft “oh” before kneeling next to him, and pulled Paul into a strong hug. Paul clung to him like a small child.
“It’s not your fault, Paul. You didn’t know. None of us knew what Tony was doing.” Richard soothed, holding him tightly.
“It still hurts. If you had… if you saw what I saw…” Paul whispered, tears finally falling. Richard said nothing, but held Paul closer, letting him continue crying.
“The Vigil” (3:35)
(Mid-late ’96 - connected to “I Know Now”)
How could this have happened?
That question rang through Paul’s head as he sat alone, listening to the monotonous beeping of the heart machine. He was fighting back sleep and tears, but both were slowly breaking through his tough exterior. Everything that happened that morning seemed so surreal, like out of a dream…
The images from the nightmare still haunted him, but what was worse was that it almost came true. If he had been five minutes late, an hour, two, three, a day…
He glanced back down at the sleeping form before him. The person’s wrists were bandaged, blood seeping through the white strips. Paul couldn’t get past how pale he was, or the dark shadows under his closed eyes. He was almost unrecognizable, but Paul knew it was him.
The minute he broke the door down, he never expected this to be the outcome of his attempt to break through to him. He wasn’t good with emotions, but when Josie and Greg told him, he didn’t want to believe what they told him.
Drugs, unbalanced behavior, overuse of alcohol…,
Greg telling him that “he” loved him. ‘Why? What did he see in him?’ Paul kept asking himself. He was married, but he, he had these feelings for Paul?
The worst part was telling the others what happened, especially Stephen. Stephen just went silent when Paul told him what happened. Minutes before, Stephen has taken Paul aside and they talked. He asked him about him and how Paul felt about him. He couldn’t find the answer, so he ran. Ran to his room.
Paul placed a shaky hand on the sleeping one’s hand, gripping it tightly.
“I don’t know if you can here me, but… I’m right here, Tony… and I’m not leaving, not again…” He promised. There was no response, as Paul expected. Paul pulled the chair closer, and leaned off the chair, resting his head, arms and chest on the bed. Sleep finally claimed Paul, his hand never letting go of Tony’s.
“Clouds” (2:53)
(UK Season 6)
Josie stared up at the sky, feeling the nice cool wind blow through her long brown hair. It was a joy she loved ever since she was little. The large, fluffy clouds moved slowly, forming shapes against the light blue canvas called the sky.
She enjoyed the spot on the hill and the bench she sat on. She felt she could let her mind wander and not be disturbed. It was her own spot to get away from everything going on in her life. To ignore the troubles, the pressure of work, everyone in the world…
She frowned a bit, remembering what was going on. There were talks backstage at the studio about things she didn’t want to hear. Things like Mike fighting with the producer, Tony acting erratic, problems between several performers. She didn’t want to believe what she heard, but some of it was coming true.
“Hey, stranger.” A familiar voice chirped from behind, causing her to spin around in surprise.
“What’re you doing here?” the man smiled. Josie blushed slightly, composing herself, knowing she was safe with this man.
“Just cloud watching.” She replied, brushing her long brown hair behind her ear.
“Mind if I join you?” the man asked, a bit shyly.
“Go right ahead.” Josie smiled, patting the empty space next to her.
“Nice day, huh?” the man sat next to her on the bench, staring at the clouds. Josie leaned against him, her head resting on his shoulder.
“It’s better now you’re here, Richard…” She smiled softly.
Next half will be posted soon.