LIVING WITHOUT TREBLE Written by Paula Trapuzzano Paula Trapuzzano P.O. Box 420 Westville, New Jersey 08093 (609) 706-1595 Paula@Trapuzzano.com Paula Trapuzzano 2017
INT. LABANCA S HOUSE, GARAGE STUDIO - NIGHT A suburban New Jersey garage overflows with high-end music studio equipment. LABANCA, 17, a tall, long-haired, pale-skinned teenager, fingers thumping out a mean bass line. I m so happy to be out of school. Our summer s going to rock. BODEY TRUITT, 15, a tall, baby-faced teenager, takes a long drag on his joint and gives his best, baby-faced smile. He looks up at Dante from his guitar. BODEY Oh yeah, life is good. Dude, life is totally cool for us right now. LABANCA, 50s, Dante s mom, average build, tan, long brown wavy hair, opens the door to the garage from the inside of the house, holding the doorknob. Bodey, I told you about smoking pot in my garage. Don t let it happen again. Patsy looks at Dante. (CONT D) Dante, you know I don t mind if you and your friends practice here, but I m not putting up with a house full of pot smokers! Pasty scowls and points her finger at Bodey. She slams the door behind her. BODEY Man, dude, your mom use to be so cool. What happened? She s still cool dude; she just has a lot on her mind with her two jobs and the bills. She s alright. Dante stops playing to wipe down his bass.
2. (CONT D) Plus, I m thinking about quitting school to get a job to help her with the bills. Bodey stares at Dante with guitar in hand. BODEY Really? You d quit school? We have music scholarships, dude. You better think about that. Dante wipes his eyes and rubs his face. BODEY (CONT D) Dude, that s fucked up, but you have to help your mom. Look at the time, dude I need to eat and go to bed. I have a long day of nothing to do tomorrow. They pack up and close the garage. (CONT D) Quiet! Don t wake up the neighbors! Dante shakes his head as he watches Bodey walk down the driveway as he sings. Bodey turns around, waves at Dante, and smiles big as the garage door slowly hits the threshold. Dante shakes his head and walks into the house. (CONT D) Now my summer vacation begins. EXT. LABANCA S HOUSE, DRIVEWAY - DAY Dante works under the hood of his mom s car and hits his head on the hood. (V.O.) Damn it! Small ass cars. Dante rubs his head and throws the oil rag in the driveway. Patsy opens the front door with the house phone in her left hand as she cups the receiver with her right hand. Dante! There s a man on the phone for you. Say s he s Mr. Levine.
3. Dante walks towards Patsy. He wipes his oily hands off on his jeans. Mr. who? His name is Mr. Levine. Dante takes the receiver and sits on the front steps. Patsy sits on the steps and listens to Dante on the phone. Hello, this is Dante. MR. LEVINE (V.O.) Hello Dante, Mr. Levine here. I d seen you play at a few gigs in your area, and I m impressed. Dante turns and looks at Patsy in confusion. Thanks for the compliment, but who are you? And how did you get my telephone number? MR. LEVINE (V.O.) Listen, I don t want to take much of your time. I m a music producer, and I want to make you an offer. Dante cups the phone and looks towards Patsy. This dude wants to make me an offer. Offer? Gimme the phone. Patsy tries to take the phone out of Dante s hand. Dante stands up. He waves his hand towards his mom as he walks away. Mom, let me just see what he wants. Dante takes his hand off of the phone to talk to Mr. Levine.
4. (CONT D) Sir, can you explain this offer to me? Do you want to make me a music offer? And why me? MR. LEVINE (V.O.) You re a talented young man, and I d like you to be the bassist for an opening act on tour band. Are you kidding me? You know, I have my band that I m in now. Dante paces back and forth on the lawn. MR. LEVINE (V.O.) I know, all of you have talent, but I see real talent in you, kid. Dante hesitates and places his hand on his forehead. MR. LEVINE (CONT D) (V.O.) How does $2,500 a show sound? Wow, this offer sounds sweet, sir. Dante walks back to the car and grabs a pen and paper. MR. LEVINE (V.O.) Take my number, (609) 555-2424. Talk it over with your mom as well. Dante writes on a ripped piece of paper. He turns and looks at his mom with a smile from ear to ear. Patsy looks at Dante as she squints her eyes. I will sir, and thank you for your call. I ll let you know real soon. Dante walks towards Patsy, drops the phone, grabs and lifts her up and twirls her around. What the hell are you doing, son? I m getting dizzy, let me down. What did that man say to you? Dante steadies Patsy and looks into her eyes.
5. Our money troubles are over, mom! That was an offer to go on the road to make tons of money in a band. What do you mean on the road? You have your senior year to finish. Dante takes his hands off of her shoulders. Now I can help you with the bills! Patsy looks at Dante with a straight face. What about your scholarship? I ve always dreamt of this. Patsy does an about-face and slams the door behind her. (CONT D) (V.O.) If I took this offer, I could hire someone to work on her car. Dante picks up the phone and makes a call. Bodey, you re never going to believe what just happened. Hey dude, what s up? You alright? You sound charged up or something. Dude, I just got an offer to go on tour with an opening act band. That s great, Dante. We finally got our break. So very cool, dude! No, not the whole band, just me. A music producer, Mr. Levine, offered me a bassist position. Dante holds the phone and hears silence.
6. Have you made your mind up, man? You know I ve always wanted this. Someone finally sees my talent. What about me on the guitar? I m the greatest around. Did you tell Mr. Producer that? No, Bodey, the offer was made to me solely, and if I don t take it, I ll regret it for sure. I m going. Does your mom know about this? She s going to flip! She knows about the offer, but not my decision. I have to go and tell her, Bodey. Talk to you later. Dante drives to Bodey s house and sees him pacing back and forth on the phone from the living room window. Dante knocks on the living room window. Bodey looks out of the living room window and sees Dante. Bodey walks into another room where he is not visible by the window. Dante drives home. INT. LABANCA S HOUSE, LIVING ROOM - DAY Patsy turns to the opened door as Dante walks in the house and places the phone in the cradle. Mom, I decided to go on the road. It ll be financially good for the both of us. Trust me. Patsy doesn't move a muscle. Her face has no expression. I need time to myself right now, Dante. I need to think about this.
7. EXT. LABANCA S HOUSE, BACKYARD DECK - DAY Patsy sits on her white rattan patio furniture while she drinks her coffee and reads the morning newspaper. Dante walks on to the deck and sits down. Morning, mom. Good morning, honey. Dante taps his leg and looks around at the backyard. I have to do this. Not only to help us out, but because it s been my dream to be a famous rock star. I know, and I want you to live your dream. So, I decided to go with you and bring my work on the road. Dante pops out of the chair; his eyes widen. Are you serious? Absolutely. I even dusted off my Martin acoustic to make me look hip with you youngsters. Dante gives Patsy a big hug. Thanks, Mom. This means a lot to me. Are you sure you want to go? Yes, I ll be the cool mom on the tour like Mrs. Patridge. Who? EXT. LEGACY BAND TOUR BUS - DAY SUPER: the following week Musicians stand around, coffee cups in hand, cigarettes in
8. the other. MR. LEVINE, mid-60s, salt and pepper colored hair, introduces himself in person and shakes both Dante s and Patsy s hand. MR. LEVINE It s finally great to meet both of you in person. Same to you, sir. Likewise, and thank you for letting me travel with you all. MR. LEVINE It s always nice to see a young, pretty face traveling with the band. Patsy smirks and walks up the stairs of the tour bus. Mr. Levine hands Dante a set list with sheet music. MR. LEVINE (CONT D) Our first gig starts tomorrow night. You know how to read sheet music right? Dante hesitates before answering. Oh, sure. I usually learn all my songs by ear and practice them day and night. MR. LEVINE By ear? You need to learn this sheet music because most of these songs are originals. Yes, sir. I ll do my best. Patsy, with her computer on her lap, looks at Dante and gives him a side eye look and smirks from her seat. INT. LEGACY BAND TOUR BUS - NIGHT Dante stares at the band s sheet music. He looks around at the band members on the bus while they smoke pot and drink alcohol. Dante goes and sits with his mom.
9. Patsy opens one eye and turns to Dante. Is this the life you dreamed of? Is this what you want? INT. LEGEND VALLEY CONCERT VENUE - NIGHT SUPER: Thornville, Ohio Dante walks on stage with the band, and they all play LOUDLY for about forty-five minutes. (V.O.) I never thought doing something that I loved could be so hard. The band finishes their set, and they break down their equipment to load on the bus. The band drives off. INT. - THE ALPINE VALLEY MUSIC THEATRE - NIGHT SUPER: Troy, Wisconsin Dante drags his feet onto the stage and plays a repeat set as the night prior. Dante's fingers just cannot get all those songs down. He curses his mistakes under his breath. Damn, why the hell didn t I learn to read sheet music? The band s set finishes, and they break down their equipment and load the bus. Mr. Levine approaches Dante. MR. LEVINE Dante, you re an excellent bassist, but on this tour, you have to know these songs on the sheet music. I don t know how to read sheet music, Mr. Levine. I learn by ear. Dante s head hangs low. MR. LEVINE I m sorry Dante, but the band had a vote tonight, and we re going to have to let you go from this tour. Dante covers his face with his hands.
10. Mr. Levine walks away and dials his phone. Dante fumbles his right hand to get his cell phone from his back pocket. He watches Mr. Levine smile as he ends his call. Dante and Mr. Levine s eyes meet. Bodey, how did he know to call you unless you called him behind my back? What kind of friend are you? Dude, I have the same dream too. I want to be a rock star like you do. I guess the strongest wins. INT. HIGH SCHOOL, MUSIC ROOM - DAY SUPER: senior year Dante walks into his music room, shakes SEAN, his music teacher s hand, smirks and sits in his seat, bass in hand.