The Boy Wonder
by Jeff Siamon

[A Jukebox Musical]

It’s the 1930s in Broadway. The Wonder Boy is my homage to the Hollywood musicals of the thirties and forties. They were usually about the struggles of a Broadway theatre company trying to put on a musical. Often they featured an ingénue actress, unknown to the Broadway public who, for one reason or another, is thrust into the leading role. Naturally, the show is a hit and the actress the toast of the town. My take on these plots is a little more dramatic. The play isn’t a smashing success, but the story does have a happy ending.
xxxThe ingénue is Monica Jones, an aspiring actress who has had no luck landing roles. The director is Guy Martin who, with his father Terrence, had co-written a musical adaptation of War and Peace. Guy not only co-wrote it, he directed and starred in it. Thus he was dubbed by the reviewers as “The Boy Wonder.” But a number of years later with several of his own plays closing after only a few nights, he has become “Whatever Happened to the Boy Wonder?”
xxxNow he may be down to his last chance. His former girl friend, Deloris, the “Latin Sensation,” had agreed to come back and star in the show. But she’s having second thoughts. She and Guy have spent more time arguing about her part and his play, “A Woeful Love,” than rehearsing. Naturally she quits one week before opening night. And naturally, Monica ends up in the starring role.
xxxBut everything doesn’t run smoothly for the company. Since no legit Broadway theatre had been willing to let Guy use their space without advanced payment ─ he’s broke ─ the only space he could get was a burlesque house in Queens. In lieu of payment, the owner of the theatre, Eddie Bradshaw, a would-be gangster, has insisted he use his exotic dancers in his show as well as his young son who has aspirations of becoming an actor. To add to Guy’s worries, his father shows up, mainly to impress upon his son what a successful playwright he is and what an unsuccessful playwright his son has become. There is also a play within the play (the musical they are putting on) that is really an excuse for more musical numbers. A plot addition that these musicals had. And naturally, as in all these Hollywood musicals, Monica falls in love with Guy, who like a typical man, doesn’t recognize it until it is almost too late. For him and his play.
Except for three songs, all the music in the play are in the public domain. Here is a link to the commercial recordings of the songs:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/f1yk4b9sw13wt4d/Boy wonder songs.zip?dl=0