GONE TO THE DOGS
A 10-minute musical
Book & Lyrics by Chandra McClelland, Music by Arianna Rose
Synopsis & Song Breakdown – Gone to the Dogs
SYNOPSIS
Cuba, late 1800s. Eduardo Byrell, a semi-successful painter of pet portraits, concocts a scheme with his long-suffering wife Alice in order to boost his fame. Assuming that “dead artists sell,” he stages his own funeral and seconds Alice to sell his paintings. Things go awry when three of Eduardo’s mistresses show up and confiscate his work. Alice, left with a single painting and ample evidence of Eduardo’s duplicity, decides to break out of her marital “coffin.”
SONG BREAKDOWN
1. “Alice’s Dream #1”
Alice shares a recent dream about a woman who lives in a coffin. Eduardo dismisses her fears for his safety and their shared survival as irrelevant.
2. “Gone to the Dogs”
Eduardo mourns the degradation of his artistic talents, and vows never to paint another pet portrait. He fantasizes about fame and fortune he will achieve once “dead.”
3. “The Face Might Be Mine”
Eduardo’s mistresses repossess the paintings up for sale, and reveal details of their individual affairs. They plot to sell the paintings themselves and move abroad.
4. “Alice’s Dream #2”
Alice grapples with Eduardo’s deceit, and realizes that she’s become the woman who lives in a coffin. She takes his final painting, and departs to begin life as an artist.
Members of New Play Exchange can peruse the script here:
Gone to the Dogs on New Play Exchange
Piano score and instrumental tracks exist for the songs. To request a perusal script, more information, or inquire about performance rights, please fill out the form below and submit: