Both Hands In

ACT 1 BARRETT, an aging rockstar, chases LENNY, an ex-bandmate, through a lazy, forgotten part of the city. Barrett needs to collect signatures to buy out anyone with a monetary claim on some publishing. He knows the music will get featured in a huge ad campaign, creating an unexpected windfall. When he tracks down Lenny, the bassist signs begrudgingly, having fallen on hard times. VICKI, an orphan living with her Aunts, craves the spotlight. She pushes and pulls her rock group, ORPHAN MARTIANS, not only through her drumming, but her managing, booking, and web design. She goes early to the band’s practice spot to work out the kinks of a new song. She also needs to pass the time until an announcement is made about a drumming competition she entered. Today, she’ll find out if she’s one of the finalists vying for a spot in a new supergroup. The contest is being conducted by LILA LOUDS, one of the top rock music podcasters. OMAR, a guitarist in Vicki’s band, feels betrayed by Vicki for entering the competition, even if he’s impressed she’s made it so far. As Vicki drums with one hand, the other refreshing the computer screen with the contest info, he tells her, “One hand in is the same as both hands out.” He wants her to commit to the band fully or get replaced. She scoffs, using both hands to tell him off. Their argument leaves her with broken headphones and no way to hear the results of the competition. She storms off to find headphones to hear if she advanced to the final round. At a flea market, Vicki runs into her AUNT PREEYA, who helps her by buying a pair of headphones. Preeya implores Vicki to reconsider her plan to leave town for a music conservatory and instead she’d prefer Vicki stayed to attend her alma mater. Preeya and her wife, NINA, are hosting a party the following day for alumni of the school. She needs Vicki's help cleaning, but Vicki races away to hear the contest results. Vicki picks a fight with a group of kids hanging outside the record store she works at. They steal a pendant necklace her mom left for her when she died. Her boss, SAULE, a curmudgeon record store owner, chases off the thugs and helps her get to work. He needs her help loading his truck for the Chicago Music Convention that weekend. He still wishes she would go with him. Saule gives her a box of junk she has left at the store. Among the stuff, Vicki finds her mother’s golden discman, with a CD demo inside. She goes to her band’s practice space to grab batteries to hear the CD, but finds her band playing with another drummer behind her back. Enraged, she storms off. Along with the CD, Vicki finds a concert setlist from over twenty years ago. On it, a phone number written in ink. When she sneaks home, Vicki overhears her Aunts arguing over some music publishing she knows nothing about. During their argument, They let slip that Vicki’s father is still alive and involved in music. She races to Saule’s, with a plan to uncover the identity of her father at the music convention in Chicago. Act 2 As Vicki navigates the underbelly of the music business, she meets LILA, who takes Vicki under her wing to help identify her father. The search reconnects Lila with two grizzled roadies, RAY M, 45, Caucasian, ex-guitarist who hates the limelight, and O’KEEFE M, 50, an ogre, rock music history buff, who she befriended when was first starting out in broadcast media. Ray knows Vicki’s father, all too well, but harbors hesitations in connecting the pair. He proposes that Vicki help him prevent Barrett, his old bandmate, from using a stolen song for a massive ad campaign in exchange for her father’s name. Specifically, Ray needs gas money to reach a meeting Barrett has with some big-shot music people in two days time. Barrett travels the country securing contracts by any means necessary, including blackmail and brute force. Though under the thumb of his boss, the rockstar plots a path to put himself in charge of it all. On the road, Vicki learns about the sacrifice and commitment needed to succeed via stories from Ray’s past and through lyrics written for her by her mother. They make a quick stop at a record label office to retrieve incriminating evidence against Barrett. An unexpected breakdown strands Vicki and her travel companions, forcing them to busk in a small town in order to disrupt Barrett and his evil corporation in time. Vicki plays conga and Ray plays guitar, but to earn money quicker, Vicki takes the spotlight, singing a song she penned to mourn her mother. Lila helps raise awareness of the situation via her podcast listeners. The detour provides another invaluable lesson for Vicki, about the willingness to trust in yourself and in those around you to create something special. Act 3 When Vicki comes face to face with Barrett, he makes her an unexpected offer: stop sniffing around his publishing deal and he’ll hire her for his touring band. To get what she wants, a shot at stardom, she’ll have to betray the friends she has made on this trip. Vicki realizes as much as she desires to perform onstage, she actually craves a true family and close friends. She chooses Ray and Lila and her band over her dreams. Vicki, with a little help from her Aunt and her boss, proves Barrett didn’t create the song in question. In doing so, Vicki finds out that Barrett can’t be her father. O’Keefe reveals a little known factoid about Barrett’s old band, indicating Ray is actually her dad. Vicki and Ray reconnect, this time as father and daughter. Vicki returns home and commits to fight alongside her band to bring their music to the world, only now as their vocalist. With a little help from Ray, Lila, and unexpectedly from Barrett, Vicki’s band finds success with a song Vicki penned about commitment and friendship called, “Both Hands In.”