Wednesday, September 16, 2020

"Debutante Ball" script, Scene H

So, for whatever reason, these scripts don't have Scenes F, G, or I.  H is back in the ballroom, later that night.  It's five pages long and not dramatically different than what was filmed.  Shirley's line about being a Size 7 or 8 from the waist down is an improvement over "Your father does not know how to pack a carton properly."  But we lost Shirley's line to a waiter, "I've had a fascinating evening tonight.  Perhaps you'd be interested in hearing," then, after he walks off in a huff, "Well, it's a wonderful story."

Lenny momentarily forgetting to lead Laverne onto the stage, and the little kiss after he tells he's proud of her, were added.  Note that Laverne "makes a boo boo face" before running out of the ballroom, which, like the "Ronnie" in Scene A, shows that Ervin and Roth used shorthand for frequent gestures.

We missed Lenny ending the scene with the line "And now the famous royal fruit dance," and then "dancing on the fruit."

11 comments:

  1. Aww, I like that Shirley line (and Lenny desperately vamping to alleviate some of Laverne's embarrassment!)

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    1. The line to the waiter? Yes. And wait until we get to Lenny in "The Dance Studio" episode....

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    2. Same! OH HO!

      And that they improved the cheek kiss or rewrote it.

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  2. There is no kiss (on the cheek or anywhere) in the original script.

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    1. Aw! Now I wonder if that was director-dictated.

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    2. I like to think Michael suggested it and the director went along with it. MMK certainly plays it with utter sincerity.

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    3. And that's a thing; it's so utterly something Lenny would do, so yep, I can picture Michael suggesting it.

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    4. He and David so inhabited those characters, I think he would say something like, "If Lenny is proud of her, wouldn't he give her a little kiss on the cheek?" And the way Penny plays Laverne's reaction, sigh. You can't script chemistry, but you can thwart or enable it, and it's clear which way this script leans.

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    5. YEP. The way she looks after him so fondly!

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