This piece is from the score of the original stage musical The Right Circles. It is performed by the characters Art, Larry, Bill and Miranda.
Listen to .mp3 sample of The Game from the Demo Recording.
See the The Right Circles post for Demo Recording performance credits.
Lyrics & Book Excerpt
ART: I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a list three pages long.
LARRY, taking out his own list: Four.
ART: We have to narrow things down first.
LARRY: These days films are the big thing for musicals, but books and plays are always classic. Any favorites?
ART: I don’t know about you, but I’ve got a list three pages long.
LARRY, taking out his own list: Four.
ART: We have to narrow things down first.
LARRY: These days films are the big thing for musicals, but books and plays are always classic. Any favorites?
ART:
With an adaptation I might be
Author, though once-removed
I crave to craft a story that’s mine not
Merely one new, improved
LARRY:
So it’s an original
ART:
But who’s
Idea to use, yours or mine?
We need something that can be ours
LARRY:
Then what do we do?
ART:
I’ll give you an outline
1945 is the year and
Nuremberg is the place
Lotsa Nazis are on trial for
Crimes against the human race
LARRY:
I like the angle – History let’s us
Both take a shot at breaking ground
ART:
Six million lives avenged with a dozen
Justice is blind to numbers, what’s more profound?
LARRY:
Subject could get you the Pulitzer Prize
One flaw, however, there’s too many guys
Though you are clever
Make one more endeavor ’cause
Having a strong leading dame
Is a rule of the game
ART: Okay. But I always thought a court-room musical would be interesting.
LARRY: Like what? Inherit the Wind? Male. Twelve Angry Men? Need I say.
ART: How about Roe vs. Wade?
LARRY: Hands off!
Bill bursts in from the kitchen.
MIRANDA: Eight minutes and counting.
BILL: I’m working on it.
MIRANDA: So what’s your plan?
BILL: I figured I’d start with… the obvious.
Complimentary pecan pie
All drinks on the house
Make them strong
I’ll belt a Gershwin song
When they’re good and soused
MIRANDA:
Free dessert and a showstopper
Really you’re just futz-
ing about
You lose on both accounts
They may not like nuts
As far as the drinks go
Gold is dry as hay
If you wish, I’ll put an extra twist
In his Perrier
BILL:
Stop being a wise ass – At
Least I took a shot
MIRANDA:
But you missed
When will you get the gist?
You need a devilish plot
Heap extra cayenne pepper
Onto their entree
When they cry
Don’t bring the water by
Till you’re in their play
BILL:
Or I could conceal a
Bone inside their lunch
As they cough
I’ll pull the Heimlich off
They’ll be pleased as punch
MIRANDA:
Don’t get me wrong, though you are mistaking
What I intended, I’m glad you’re taking
Better aim
It’s fine to make aggressive advances
But if they die then you kill your chances
Stick to your guns but don’t ever kill or maim
Keep the upper hand and you’ll win the game
BILL: Thanks so much for the tip. So what should I do now?
MIRANDA: Hit table four. That woman’s been waving at you for the last five minutes.
BILL: I shall return.
MIRANDA: You know where to find me.
Bill exits.
LARRY: No, no way am I doing a musical about Virginia Woolf.
ART: Okay. I’ve thrown two pitches. Come up to the mound to relieve me before I strike out.
LARRY:
If you want a writer, I’ve got the
Perfect one, Hemingway
Ace reporter to expatriate
Writing in a French cafe
Ran with the bulls in the streets of Pamplona
Traveled the world high and low
His was the voice of the Lost Generation
Until he blew his head off in Idaho!
ART:
Though I’m a fan and the story’s got scope
Suicide shows that he simply lost hope
I’m recommending a
Happier ending
To throw in the towel’s a shame
Leave it out of the game
Bill enters.
MIRANDA:
Take them hostage, imprison them
In this restaurant
You’ll use brain-
Altering drugs to gain
Everything you want
BILL:
Blackmail them with photos
we’ll sell to a tabloid
We’ll play rough
Capture them in the buff
Right on celluloid
MIRANDA:
I’ll take all my clothes off
To bait the booby trap
Picture me
Naked on Larry’s knee
BILL:
And me on Arthur’s lap!
MIRANDA:
Spoil their image, they’re sure to hate you
Slander and libel aren’t the way to
Stake your claim
BILL:
I’m not so dumb, I knew we were kidding
I’ll stick to something more benefitting
Than trying to take hostages or defame
If I break the law than I lose the game
Bill exits.
ART:
I am almost at the end of my
list
LARRY:
So what have you got?
ART:
Dr. Seuss, Tiannemen Square and
DaVinci round out the lot
LARRY:
No! DaVinci reminds me of Galileo
And I despise Brecht
I hate all things avant garde
They try much too hard
To impress with their pseudo-intellect
Weird tribal chants, hidden meanings that don’t
exist in those strangely produced plays
I work for years on my shows, I could
Compact avant garbage in two days
ART:
Larry, I’ve got a radical notion
I know what we can dramatize
Let’s whip an “artsy” play up in just two days
We could do it as a quick exercise
LARRY:
What an experiment, please count me in
ART:
Improvise
LARRY:
Give them a taste of their own medicine
ART & LARRY:
Best yet, the play could succeed
The one thing that we need
Is a scapegoat to blame
Take our place in the game
Bill enters.
MIRANDA:
So what’s the plan?
BILL:
I haven’t decided
MIRANDA:
Think fast before the chance that’s provided
Goes up in flame
BILL & MIRANDA:
I’m sick and tired of waiting and waiting
It’s time to make a move in creating
My/your own good luck and fortune to score some fame
Every player’s gotta get in the game
ART & LARRY, with Bill and Miranda below:
Best yet, the play could succeed
The one thing that we need
Is a scapegoat to blame
Take our place in the game
BILL & MIRANDA, with Art and Larry above:
I’m sick and tired of waiting and waiting
It’s time to make a move in creating
My/your own good luck and fortune to score some fame
Every player’s gotta get in the game
Bill hops onto the table next to Art & Larry’s, and sings to the tune of Gershwin’s “I Got Rhythm.”
BILL: I got rhythm, I got my gal, I got music, Who could ask for anything-
LARRY: How would you like to play the part of your life?
Blackout.
© & 
2007, 1994 Mark S. Meritt and Richard Hack