TEXARKANA WALTZ: THE MUSIC

HAPPY FAMILY BLUEs

PROLOGUE UNDERSCORE

Kicking off the play’s prologue, this is the most extensive underscore to tackle. Eddie and Emma Wickett narrate the story of their life—and the subsequent introduction of their children, Dallas and Houston—directly to the audience.

EDDIE/EMMA: What happened is this:

EDDIE: His name was Eddie. Eddie saw a beautiful girl standing in line at the Admiral Twin Drive-In concession stand.

EMMA: Her name was Emma. Emma was standing in line to buy a pop and noticed Eddie watching her.

EDDIE: Emma was the most beautiful thing Eddie’d ever seen, would ever see.

EMMA: Eddie had the sweetest eyes, was handsome, sure and smooth, and rough and dangerous in a way that made her ache to be with him.

EMMA/EDDIE: Eddie and Emma fell in love.

The goal is to keep things light and sentimental without much ornamentation. It should evoke a sense of nostalgia, but in David Lynch-ian fashion; things are not as they seem and soon turn tragic. Some tracks that inspired me:

TALL IN THE SADDLE (CAIN’S BALLROOM)

COWBOY BOB & HIS BAND

“Happy Family Blues” fades as the family reminisces about a Roy Rogers/Gene Autry-esque singing cowboy known as Cowboy Bob. He and his band appear and play the chorus to “Tall In The Saddle” as the full cast sings along; this is an original by Louis, the playwright, and plays like a classic cowboy tune. We’re providing the backing track in this instance and will record the full song, plus an extended intro (“Campfire Light”) and chorus-only version.

TEXARKANA WALTZ (Cain’s Ballroom)

COWBOY BOB & HIS BAND

The prologue continues until Cowboy Bob and the band—frozen on stage—spring back to life and play the title song. This is another original by Louis and, with his blessing, I beefed up the last verse for a sentimental, country classic conclusion. We’re providing the backing track for the actor playing Cowboy Bob and this version needs a strong waltz feel as Eddie and Emma (and the kids) dance to it.There’s also a bit of dialogue under the intro, plus an extended outro that plays under Cowboy Bob’s “goodnight” spiel.

A second version of the song will close out the play, but we’ll get to that. Meanwhile, things go to hell pretty quick as Eddie breaks a beer bottle and slashes Emma’s throat in front of the kids. This sets the play in motion and the prologue ends as Emma, narrating her own death along with the rest of the on-stage family, simply states: “It happened.” CUT TO BLACK!

QUICK DRAW STRUt

ACT ONE SCENE TRANSITION

This track needs to contain multitudes AND cover several costume changes as the actors get in place for scene one. I wanted something with plenty of swagger to play against the tragic moment preceding it. The music needs to be lively enough to entertain the audience for roughly 30-40 seconds, build anticipation for what comes next, then end decisively as lights come up on Houston—now an adult in the Eastern State Mental Hospital—practicing his quick draw with a toy pistol.

The A section of the song is echoed in the Imaginary Western music to come, and elements of the B section become scene transitions for the road trip adult Dallas embarks on with her girlfriend, Morgan. We’ll record a full version of “Quick Draw” similar to the demo above, plus a shortened scene transition version.

WEST OF HOUSTON

SCENE ONE INTERLUDE

A lot happens in the first scene of the play, including introducing adult Houston and Dallas, and the ways their father’s random act of violence shattered their lives. It also has flashback scenes of Eddie Wickett, circa 1977, strapped into an electric chair awaiting his execution. Nurse Bob (the “Bobs” become a running theme and a bit of comedy) is reading a book to adult Houston: Cowboy Bob in “The Showdown at Rio Bravo.” Present-day Dallas is living in Seattle and visited by the ghost of her mother in a dream; Emma sets her on the task to reunite with Houston and “tend to her remains.” We cut to Eddie in his chair, making small talk with prison guard Twitty and singing “Texarkana Waltz.” We also meet Morgan, Dallas’ girlfriend, who becomes an audience cypher for the journey ahead.

There are numerous scenes-within-a-scene that happen rapid-fire, but lighting cues do the work, rather than music. However, once Nurse Bob says goodnight to his charge, a musical theme signals our journey into Houston’s mind, where we find he’s living in an imaginary western. This transition also gives time for Nurse Bob to change into his Cowboy Bob costume; the extended “cowpoke” outro sets up the scene as Houston is practicing his quick draw while Cowboy Bob approaches.

ROAD RECKONING

SCENE TRANSITIONS / THREE VARIATIONS

After the quick location changes from Scene One, things slow down as each of the three elements (Houston’s western, Dallas’ road trip, and Eddie’s last night on earth) are explored with more depth. The “Road Reckoning” themes cover the transitions leading to various stops on Dallas and Morgan’s journey, where we learn what happened in the years following Emma’s death.

The first stop is taking Houston out of the mental hospital; he’s firmly detached from reality and acts out moments of his western fantasy that only make sense to him (and to us during the western scenes). Additional stops include visits to each of her grandparent’s homes (now divorced) and a final stop at Father Bob’s chapel—aka The Chapel of Healing Dirt of Our Lady of Texarkana Mission. All the “Road Reckoning” tracks are short (15-20 seconds), but suggest discovery, bittersweet memories, and mystery. No small task!

From a musical standpoint, Calexico “Quattro” was the initial inspiration, but I found a similar vibe in Robert Ellis’ “Good Intentions.” I think former is a bossa nova beat while the latter is more of a Texas two-step. (I went with the bossa for the demo, but the groove may lie somewhere in between.)

JAILHOUSE ‘77

SCENE TRANSITIONS / FOUR VARIATIONS

The flashback scenes to Eddie Wickett are almost a play-within-a-play, and I think this description from scene one says it best:

For a man about to die and not at all in control, [EDDIE] is calm and in control. TWITTY, a prison guard, 50s, seen it all, enters. He secures Eddie to the chair with thick leather straps across his torso, arms, wrists and legs. Eddie cooperates, is helpful even. His matter-of-fact behavior, given his circumstance, is unnerving, menacing.

Eddie remains strapped in the chair for each of his four visitations as we meet his father, mother, Father Bob and…well, we’ll get to the final visit later.

The Cramps version of “Fever” inspired the transition music, right down to the baritone guitar.The side-stick “click” made me think of a clock, so I included a grandfather clock loop and finger snap percussion. This is a fine time to introduce a harmonica theme (a la the Morricone “Harmonica” piece) that returns later for the big showdown. The other conceit: when we first hear the music, it’s fully fleshed out; each variation removes instruments until we’re left with harmonica and maybe percussion for the last “Jailhouse ‘77” transition.

WOH: NIGHT IN THE BONEYARD/mother of vengeance

SCENE TRANSITIONS / TWO VARIATIONS

When we last saw Western Houston, he had been schooled in the art of the shoot-out by Cowboy Bob before a mysterious message from Sheriff Truett (via his sidekick, Deputy Twitty) requested Cowboy Bob’s presence at the state line cemetery. This leads in to the scene of Sheriff Truett, startled by Cowboy Bob and ultimately the pair seeing the ghost of Emma Wickett rise and dance away.

All of the West of Houston (WOH) variations are similar, but just different enough to justify a demo. “Night In The Boneyard” suggests “spooky” with a touch of camp while “Mother of Vengeance” is more ominous. The latter precedes Houston meeting the ghost of his mother in the cemetery. Her mission for Houston: kill Eddie Wickett and set her free!

woh: Cowboy intermezzo

END OF ACT ONE

Cowboy Bob tries to convince Houston not to take up this mission of vengeance, but he’s having none of it. They’ll ride to Rio Bravo at the break of dawn. The music starts as underscore, then goes big as lights go down on the act. This seems like the best time to combine all of the western elements into an extended piece that plays into intermission.

TULSA TWISTER

TOP OF ACT TWO

The act starts as a continuation of the Dallas road trip, which finds her, Morgan and Houston at Grandma Wickett’s mobile home. Songs from the past keep coming up, which involves a capella versions of “Texarkana Waltz” and “Tall In The Saddle,” as well as “Tulsa Twister,” a verse and chorus that Dallas sings to Morgan. Louis inserted this original as a quick little character moment—he didn’t even have a melody for it—so I’ve taken it a step further. I planned on a recording a demo for the actress who plays Dallas, so why not give it the full band treatment and start the act with it? Very much in the late 50’s/early 60’s country mode, it should sound like a novelty song from the era.

THE SAD LAMENT OF EDDIE WICKETT ON THE NIGHT OF HIS EXECUTION

COWBOY BOB & HIS BAND

As per the title, it arrives at the fateful moment before Eddie Wickett is electrocuted. In a moment of peak absurdity, the singing cowboy version of Cowboy Bob (from the prologue) is the last visitation Eddie receives, and he’s come prepared with a song written for this very moment.

WOH: HIGH NOON AT RIO BRAVO

SCENE TRANSITION

At the conclusion of “Sad Lament” (and a bit of Cowboy Bob wisdom), Eddie is executed. With a stylized (and implied) electrocution, the audience is left with rolling thunder and darkness. This kicks off the true climax of the play as Western Houston calls out Eddie Wickett to come face him. The music sets up a dread-filled showdown, but is also practical: it allows the actor playing Eddie time to get out of his electric chair and backstage so he can get into costume as “Western” Eddie Wickett.

THE SPURS OF EDDIE WICKETT / CYCLE OF VIOLENCE / EMMA’S NEW BLOUSE

WESTERN GUNFIGHT UNDERSCORE

There are a lot of short, overlapping musical moments, both leading up to the gunfight and it’s aftermath, but I don’t see this needing a full band to accomplish, so this is for story purposes only.

Per the script, Eddie enters the scene, Emma’s ghost appears to demand retribution, then the showdown where Eddie and Houston square off, draw and fire. Both mortally wound each other. Eddie dies and Emma is released. Houston has a moment with Cowboy Bob and Sheriff Truett until they all hear his sister calling his name; the imaginary cowboys realize it’s time to leave and bid farewell. Abandoned by his imaginary friends, there’s a heartbreaking moment as Houston hovers between realities with Dallas trying to coax him to the here and now. She finally succeeds as Houston recognizes her with a start and joins reality.

THE EMPTY CHAIR / HAPPY FAMILY WALTZ

SCENE TRANSITION / UNDERSCORE

A short, crossover moment—and a practical one—as we visit the electric chair one last time with Warden Bob and Twitty (who places Eddie Wickett’s headstone at the front of the stage and leaves whistling “Texarkana Waltz”). Enter Dallas, Houston and Morgan from the present, who have come to spread Emma’s ashes on that grave. Much like the prologue, the lines are delivered directly to the audience and the three characters form a new family unit. Underscoring this short scene is essentially a vamp to the “Wild Rose” version of “Texarkana Waltz.”

TEXARKANA WALTZ (WILD ROSE)

COWBOY BOB & THE CAST

Cowboy Bob appears to sing the song one last time, though I’d like to change to vibe to something more modern (or at least 1990’s Emmylou Harris/Daniel Lanois modern). The new family walks off into the sunset at song’s end while Cowboy Bob bids the audience goodnight. THE END