- Previously, on "Rise"... - I had a great time.
I just don't think I want more than that right now.
It's not my job to take care of you!
I am not your girlfriend!
I need a break from you and
- a break from this crap town. - What do you mean a break from me?
Where are you going?
Maashous, your mom's
just about ready to take you back.
You're gonna be moving back home.
The stupid PTA is trying
to shut down our show,
and you signed this lame petition.
We don't have a marriage, Robert.
There's no intimacy. There is no tenderness.
Is that why you are afraid of him playing a gay boy?
You need to take the reins.
Dig me out of this hole.
You do that for me, the program's yours.
What are you doing?
Yoga.
Mr. Kranepool told him about it.
Opening night approaching.
60 papers to grade. Helps relieve the stress.
I don't think that's yoga, but sure.
It's close enough.
So, my rehab counselor
told me I need to do some kind of community service
for my recovery program or whatever
and I had to talk to you guys about it.
I could talk to the people at the food bank.
I'm sure they'd love to have your help.
Actually...
I was thinking maybe I could
help Dad out at the theater.
I know opening night's Friday, so...
Well, that... that would be great.
My God, my God, my God...
What?
Sadie, what's wrong?
Maashous is moving away forever.
Sadie, God, you're such a drama queen.
You're leaving?
I'm moving in with my mom.
Sorry, I didn't mean to upset everyone.
It's okay.
Of course it's okay.
It's great news, Maashous.
No, it's not.
Emma, look for a period
where there should be a question mark.
Just tell me where, Dad.
You've got to find it yourself.
Hey, son.
Hey.
French toast this morning.
Great.
So what comes after a question?
- You have to write it. - Dad...
What comes after a question?
Hi, Mom. Are you okay?
Can you at least call me back?
- Call me when you get this. - Lilette.
- Sal, hi. - Hey. Where's your mom?
Out. I'll tell her that you came by, okay?
Not okay. I called three times
about the rent. I told your mom
- this can't happen again. - She's out of town.
I'm sure she'll get it to you
as soon as she's back, I swear.
Tell your mother I need the damn rent.
- I don't... - Um, excuse me?
- Robbie. - You don't talk to her
- like that. - I get it, you're a big man.
- Come on. - Listen, if I don't hear from
your mom by the end of the day, we're gonna have a big problem.
He can't threaten you like that.
Robbie, let's just get to school. Please.
Have you thought about what we discussed?
Yes, I've thought about it.
A director doesn't take over another director's show,
so I won't do this without Lou,
but I understand the situation you're in
and I can help make the adjustments you want,
but I will do it with Lou.
You went over the list?
Yeah.
Yeah, we're good.
Lou is not seeing very clearly right now.
Yeah, well...
I'll handle Lou.
What you talked about the other day,
about me taking over the program...
let's get through this, and...
we can discuss all of that when the show's over.
? Mama who bore me ?
? Mama who gave me ?
? No way to handle things ?
? Who made me so sad ?
? Mama the weeping ?
? Mama the angels ?
This is really working, huh?
- ? No sleep in heaven ? - We need to talk, Lou.
Uh, yeah, after rehearsal.
I think this is actually gonna work.
We need to talk now.
? Some pray that one day ?
Uh, take five, everyone.
What's up?
They want to make some changes to the show.
Cuts. Edits.
- What? Who? - It's gonna be okay,
but we don't have a lot of time,
so we have to jump on this together.
What are you talking about?
The petition, the PTA...
it's blowing up.
Who told you this?
Ward.
Ward talked to you, not me?
Well, who cares who he talked to?
What specifically did they ask to change?
There's a list.
May I see it? The list.
It's not as bad as it looks, okay?
Keep rehearsal going.
- Where are you going? - Keep rehearsal going!
- May I talk for a sec? - What's up, Lou?
These kids have been working on the show for three months.
They got family coming in from out of town.
I'm not gonna just change everything
right before opening night.
These tweaks are intended
- to stem the tide... - These aren't tweaks.
This is the heart of the entire show.
There's nothing left.
Lou, this isn't just about the petition.
This is the district.
This is over your head.
This is over my head.
Your job is on the line,
and if I don't get this thing under control,
so is mine.
Okay.
Okay, okay, I can do this.
I'll make adjustments, edits,
but without cutting out scenes wholesale.
I... I'll take out the parts that will upset people,
but I c... I can't just chop it up into bits.
Please, Evan,
these kids have worked their asses off.
Let's be very clear.
No F word.
No S word.
No masturbation, no sadism,
no implications of sexual acts
transpiring onstage.
No boys kissing other boys,
no fathers raping their daughters.
Are you saying you can accomplish that
without taking out any songs and any scenes?
Yes.
Then I'm going to need to see it.
- See it? - The entire play,
front to back, before opening night.
But Tracey didn't say that.
Well, you're making me nervous.
Thursday night, I want to see a run-through.
I'll need to sign off, or there won't be a show.
I'll see you Thursday.
You know, in the future,
you can come directly to me.
Noted.
Hey, Mama.
Hi.
How you doing?
Eh...
I'm better now that you're here.
So, opening night's coming up.
It's this Friday.
I know.
So excited for you.
You'll tell me all about it?
Yeah.
I just...
I know we talked about you sitting this one out,
but watching my games on an iPad is one thing, but...
Well, your dad'll be there,
and your stepmom,
and... your Aunt Jess
is coming all the way from Allentown.
Yeah.
It's just a lot right now.
I'll... I'll come when...
Yeah, yeah, yeah, when you're feeling better.
Yeah.
First of all, I wanted to
officially welcome our newest company member,
Gordy Mazzuchelli,
who will be helping us out with, uh, tech
during our run.
Uh, okay. Uh...
I know you're all excited
about our first full run-through.
Yeah! Whoo!
Actually... actually, there's been
a slight change of plans,
uh, some changes,
uh, we need to make to the show.
Right, so, we all know that there's
been a petition going around.
- Oh, my God. - Honey, it's not your fault,
okay, or anyone else's.
Ms. Wolfe and I have gone through the show
and we are going to do everything possible
not to cut a single scene or a single song.
But the reality might be
that we will have to lose a few.
Can you be more specific?
Like what... what kind of changes?
Well, for instance, in "Totally F'ed,"
you know, I know we had talked about
just going for it, maybe saying the F-word.
We're going to have to find something to replace it.
Totally "frigged"?
Yeah, we will come up with the best substitute.
- Now, there will be other... - Censorship?
Tweaks.
Instead of doing the run-through today,
we're going to spend the next few days
making the changes, then we're going to
run through the entire show
on Thursday for myself and Ms. Wolfe
and, uh, Principal Ward.
What?
Since when?
We're not going to cut "The Dark I Know Well"
'cause it's about sexual abuse, are we?
Not to be selfish, but it's my only solo.
What we're gonna do is we're gonna
take it one step at a time,
work through it as a troupe.
I promise you,
the show will still be great.
? Mama who bore me ?
? Mama who gave me ?
? No way to handle things ?
? Who made me so sad ?
Gonna have to adjust that dress.
? Mama the weeping ?
Lilette! The caressing...
Yes, Ms. Wolfe?
A little less, please.
Sure.
Gonna take it from the top.
Well, when I don't do as he likes...
- What? - Some nights,
Papa yanks out his belt.
No!
This is not gonna fly.
Okay, listen, um, yeah, maybe we'll just make
a slight adjustment to the text.
I... I think the point that the
the playwright is trying to make here is that
there are problems between Martha and her father,
so maybe it's not that he... beats you.
Maybe it's more that he yells.
Right? He... he gets angry. Pissed.
I think we can still keep the powerful emotion
and just not make it so literal.
So you're saying we're going to change the words?
I thought you said the text was sacred,
that we have to utter every syllable
the playwright writes.
Yeah, I did say that.
Did you write this note?
? There's a moment you know ?
? You're fricked ?
? There's a moment you know ?
? You're confused ?
? You're blue ?
? Yeah, you're messed up all right ?
? And all for spite ?
? You can kiss your sorry butt good-bye ?
? Totally messed up ?
? Will they mess you up ?
? Well, you know they're gonna try ?
? Totally messed up ?
Good, good.
Good.
Do you want to tell me what you're doing here?
Volunteering.
No, I get that, but why?
I just love theater.
Hey, I just want to check and see if your mom's okay.
Yeah, she is.
Do you know when she's coming home?
Not exactly, no, but soon.
Well, maybe you could stay with someone for...
you know, until she comes back.
One of the girls, or I could talk to my dad and...
see if you could stay with us for a few days.
Like he doesn't already hate me enough?
He doesn't hate you.
He literally said I'm not good enough for you.
He didn't literally say...
Forget it. Bad idea anyways.
Look, just let me...
just let me lend you money for rent.
Robbie, I appreciate it, but you need to let this go.
I have savings in my bank.
You can pay me back whenever you want.
- How much do you... - Robbie, no.
Look, I don't want you there by yourself
with some creepy guy
hassling you about rent all the time.
I don't want your money!
I'm a big girl.
I can handle myself, okay?
I've been doing it my whole life.
Is Mom and Dad are getting divorced?
Whoa, whoa, why are you saying that?
They argue.
They don't love each other.
Whoa, Emma, come here. Come here.
Hey.
It'll never happen, all right?
It... it's not possible.
- They might be. - No, no, no,
and even if it does,
you can always come live with me, all right?
Hey, hey, hey. Come here.
It'll be okay.
You'll be all right, all right?
I'll take care of you.
All right. Okay.
Apparently,
your dress is too provocative,
so I have to let out the hem a bit,
even though it's ruining the proportion.
Mrs. Strickland?
I'm sorry about what my mom did.
Honey...
you are not your mom.
Okay?
And don't worry about me.
Sometimes you need a little wake-up call.
You go through hell, but...
you end up in a better place.
And the important thing is that
you and Gwen get through this.
This whole thing is...
it's really unfair to both of you.
How are you doing?
I'm fine.
Okay, I want to say something to you.
No matter what crap
you have to go through...
You have a light.
You shine.
When you're on that stage, people can see you.
They can see right... into your soul.
You have a gift.
Own it. Own who you are.
Okay, let's take a look.
Frickin' PTA.
? You say time for bed now child ?
? Mom just smiles that smile ?
? Just like she never saw me ?
? I don't scream ?
? Though I know it's wrong ?
? I just play along ?
? I lie there and breathe ?
? You say all you want is just a kiss good night ?
We're wasting time.
You know we can't do this song. It's about child abuse.
I know.
Should I cut it? Let's cut it.
Not yet.
When?
I don't know.
? Ain't it good tonight ?
? You ain't seen nothing yet ?
? Gonna teach you right ?
? It's just you and me ?
I'm sorry I got upset with you the other day.
I don't understand why you won't let me help you.
I'm not sure you'll understand this,
but I've seen my mom
with a lot of guys over the years,
flashing money, saying they want to take care of her,
take care of us,
and she gets all dependent, and it never works out.
- I'm not one of those guys. - I know you're not.
It's not about who you are.
It's about who I am.
I want to want you.
I don't want to need you.
Okay?
Yeah, okay.
Okay.
Martha... she said that...
Wendla, you cannot envy someone being beaten.
But I've never been beaten, not in my entire life.
I've never felt...
What?
Anything.
Please, Melchior.
I can't feel that.
- Ah! - Okay, all right, all right.
Hold on. Stop, stop, stop.
We can't do this version.
We talked about this. We... we can't do this.
I pulled way back on the intensity.
W... without this scene, the entire show breaks down.
I j... I don't see what's so bad about it.
You have a 16-year-old boy
beating on a 15-year-old girl
with a stick.
That's what's so bad about it.
When did you become Ward's puppet?
Ward is not my concern, okay?
And if you would've trusted me just once,
we wouldn't be doing the whole damn run-through for him.
What about supporting the director's vision?
I am so sick and tired of
hearing you talk about your damn vision.
This is not vision time. This is show time.
In 72 hours, we go to curtain,
and we still have changes to make,
and you're acting like a complete diva.
I am making changes. Tons of changes.
You're in denial.
You're making tiny changes...
tiny, tiny, tiny changes at a snail's pace
and you are torturing everyone.
You won't even cut the reference to child abuse.
You're being completely ridiculous.
No, what is ridiculous is that our entire show
is being ruined by the stuck-up, overzealous
PTA morality police!
Sorry. Uh...
Let's pick it up from
"I've tried hitting myself to find out how it feels."
So what do I do?
Do I beat her or do I not beat her?
You can beat her.
Just...
like it less.
So does that mean he's going to have to transfer
to a different school?
We don't know yet.
He can't leave Stanton.
He loves the theater, and I was thinking next year
he would do lights when I'm in the play.
I mean, if I'm in the play.
Hopefully, he'll be able to stay at Stanton.
Why was his mom in prison? What did she do?
- We don't know. - Drugs?
She made mistakes. That's all we know.
How do we know she's not going to do that again,
that she'll be a good mom to him now?
Well, sometimes, you just have to have faith in people.
I hate her.
I don't know her, but I hate her.
He was eight years old. What was she thinking,
messing around with... with drugs or whatever she did?
And how do we know she won't slip up?
- Leave him again? - Honey,
I don't know her,
but I know Maashous.
He's smart and capable and strong.
He's a survivor. He'll be okay.
I'm gonna miss him so much.
Give her time. She'll be fine.
Mm.
I think I'm...
feeling just as upset as she is about this...
minus the crush.
Yeah.
Speaking of crushes...
Gordy and Gwen Strickland.
What?
I don't want Gordy to get his heart broken.
Why do you just assume
he's gonna get his heart broken?
It's Gwen Strickland.
What, she's so out of his league?
No, I just...
If you'll recall,
I was out of your league.
That's true.
Way out.
Double A.
- Majors. - Okay, just...
calm down.
Forgive me, O Lord,
and graciously protect me this night.
Simon.
It's okay. Come in.
Close the door.
Everything okay?
Yeah, um,
Emma and I heard you and Mom arguing the other day.
I see.
Emma's upset.
I'll talk to her.
What about you?
You upset?
Of course I am.
I-I mean... w-what you and Mom said...
Are you guys getting a divorce?
Never.
Why?
I-I mean,
if what Mom said is true,
that... that you guys don't...
that your marriage isn't real,
how could you possibly stay together?
You know, how can we all just go on
and eat breakfast and play cards
and pretend to be this real family
when it's all based on a lie?
Simon,
sit down.
Now, real life...
is not like the movies
or one of your plays.
That's not real.
What's real is us.
Our family.
I've made...
compromises
for our family.
This family is more important to me
than anything else in my life.
Someday, you may find yourself in a...
similar situation.
Pray with me, son.
? It's the bitch of living ?
? Bitch just a bitch ?
? With nothing but your hand ?
? Just a bitch, yeah ?
? Just a bitch of living ?
? As someone you can't stand ?
? See each night it's light fantastic ?
? Tossing, turning without rest ?
? 'Cause my days at the piano ?
? With my teacher and her breasts ?
? And the music's like the one thing ?
? I can even get at all and those breasts ?
? I mean, God please just let those apples fall ?
? It's the bitch of living ?
Okay, good, good, good.
Uh, looking good.
Just a...
just a couple tweaks on this one.
Um,
let's replace "sensing God is dead"
with, uh, "sensing this is bad."
"Sensing this is bad"? Really?
Yep, that's the new line.
Uh, and just one other thing.
Uh, Francis,
we're gonna have to cut your verse
about, uh, you and your piano teacher.
And we're so sorry about this, Francis.
Sure, it's cool.
That's not fair.
Francis is great in that moment.
- Simon, it's okay. - No, it's not okay.
Francis has been working his ass off
for three months.
It-it's one of his biggest moments
in the whole show. You can't just take it away.
Simon, we're dealing with a really tough situation here.
Look, we understand that this is frustrating.
Sometimes in life, we have to make...
Make compromises?
Huh? Yeah, I know.
We believed in what you were trying to do.
We showed up, stayed late.
We gave it our all. We trusted you.
I trusted you.
And my family is falling apart right now
because of this show, because of my part.
But I did it because I thought it meant something.
I thought it was important.
But now you're like, "Nah,
never mind, let's not do it."
And it's like, why do the scene if we can't do the scene?
- Just cut it. - Simon...
Just cut the whole stupid thing!
Hey!
Set up for scene five.
Scene five!
What exactly are we doing here?
Mom made dinner.
A little stress eating?
After a rehearsal like that,
vegetable lasagna wasn't gonna cut it.
I needed a burger.
What was that Simon kid's deal?
If I ever yelled at Coach like that...
Mm, he's absolutely right,
everything he said,
but there's nothing to do about it.
You're just trying to make the best out of a crap situation.
Yeah.
Thanks.
Oh...
Why are you looking at me like that?
Your mom was out of my league.
Huh?
When we met at Penn.
And she was so beautiful, confident...
She was a student, but she was...
doing these piano recitals. You know, playing big rooms.
She was so accomplished, like an adult already,
and me back then...
well, let's just say I was not nearly
as cool as I am today.
But, you know, I just had this gut feeling
every time I looked in her eyes that we were meant to connect.
I pushed so hard, she eventually had to
give me a speech.
"I value our friendship so much.
I don't want to do anything to hurt that."
Even her rejection was amazing.
Made me want her so much more.
I kept at it,
discovered little things we both liked...
banana peppers, Shawn Colvin,
why the Pirates were righteous and the Phillies were evil.
And I just
eventually stupidly opened up to her
about myself, my problems at home,
my fears, my dreams.
Finally, she just...
Caved?
Saw what I saw.
Hmm.
Eat up. And don't tell your mom.
ALS is a tough disease.
One of the toughest.
Unfortunately,
your mother has been severely impacted
over these past few months.
I know she tries to put on a brave face for you,
but it's... getting tougher for her.
Her ability to move air in and out of her lungs is...
it's become compromised.
I think soon, it's gonna be time
to talk about palliative care.
What does that mean?
Making her as comfortable as possible.
Can I show you something?
I have a... secret thing that I do
whenever I leave a place.
No one else knows about it in the world.
When are you leaving?
Soon.
We should have a party or something.
And that's not just because
I'll look for any excuse to have cake.
I sort of like to leave quietly.
- Mama... - Mm.
I want you to come to opening night.
I want you to see me.
This part of me is... new.
I want you to see it.
Please.
I wouldn't miss it for the world.
Would you sing to me?
? Amazing grace ?
? How sweet ?
? The sound ?
? That saved ?
? A wretch ?
? Like me ?
? I once ?
? Was lost ?
? But now I'm found ?
? Was blind ?
? But now... ?
Mom, I need more than just these two-word texts.
I need to hear your voice.
I need to know that...
you're okay.
- ? My heart ? - Where are you?
- Just... - ? To fear ?
- ? And grace... ? - Call me.
Please.
And my show opens in two days, if you even care.
? How precious did ?
? That grace appear ?
? The hour I first ?
? Believed ?
Robbie, what's wrong?
I know you said you didn't want to need me...
but I need you.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
What is that?
It's a chain lock for your door.
Please let me install it.
Yeah, yeah, okay.
Come in.
Hi.
I've never felt so close to someone.
Me neither.
So it's okay that we didn't...
Yeah.
Okay.
Just, uh... just reading this again.
So beautiful.
You okay? I mean, you got so upset
- at rehearsal. - Yeah, yeah, I'm fine.
What you said about your family falling apart...
- What did you... - Yeah, that was, uh...
that was...
Sure, you don't have to talk about it.
Look, my... my family is, uh...
very...
Catholic.
And th-they don't like me playing Hanschen.
You know, that they don't approve of, uh,
you know, homosexuality. Th-they don't approve of
a lot of this, actually.
I-I feel like
there's this bomb inside me.
You know, ever since we started the show,
I have these feelings and...
I feel like if I ever opened up to them...
It'd just... it'd just blow up my family.
And they're my family.
You know?
I love them.
Hey.
Oh, it's a good metaphor.
You're literally hovering over me.
Uh, I'm not getting the metaphor.
I know we had a... a great night,
but I just thought we agreed to,
- Oh... - Part ways.
Do you think this is 'cause I'm...
No, it's... it's fine. It's whatever.
I'm not stalking you.
I'm here because I'm in a recovery program,
and this is my community service.
A recovery program for what?
Drinking.
I'm sorry. I didn't know.
I get it.
I was your dark night of the soul.
You met me on your way down.
Don't worry. It was...
It was still great for me. I loved it,
But I'm sorry if it scared you.
I'm here because I'm... I'm...
I'm trying to really change things up,
not because I'm stalking you.
Although, I would stalk you.
Pretty stalk-able.
Three and four and...
And reach for the E... That's okay.
It's coming around again in no time.
Three and four and...
Keep those wrists up. Yep, there you go.
? Mama who bore me ?
? Mama who gave me ?
? No way to handle things ?
? Who made me so sad ?
? Mama the weeping ?
? Mama the angels ?
Well, when I don't clean my room,
or do my homework...
What?
Some nights...
Papa yells at me, really loud.
No!
How's that?
Nothing.
What about that?
Nothing.
And that?
I feel nothing.
? Yeah you're hosed all right ?
? And all for spite ?
? You can kiss your sorry butt good-bye ?
? Totally hosed, will they mess you up ?
? Well, you know they're gonna try ?
? Totally hosed ?
Thank you. Thank you, everyone.
Very impressive.
Thanks for coming by. I'll talk to you soon, okay?
Thank you.
Totally hosed.
Excellent work.
And I don't think you lost a thing, making those changes.
We only have one more thought.
The abortion...
it's a hot topic issue.
If you can take that out, we're good to go.
Wendla could die of a broken heart.
Perfect.
The show is on.
Thank you both.
Thank you, Tracey.
Okay, everyone.
Good job. The show is on,
so, um, go get changed
and we will do final notes
before we open tomorrow night, okay?
Have a good night.
Yay!
Thank you.
Okay, that was horrible.
I have notes. I'm sure you have notes, too,
but we're gonna make this the best it can be
before curtain.
- What was that? - What?
That little... moment
between you and Ward?
That look?
I don't know what you're talking about.
Did you make
some sort of deal with him?
Look me in the eye and tell me you didn't
make some sort of backroom deal with Ward.
Lou, if you think that we could've gone up
without making those changes...
That's not what I asked.
Okay, you know what? I've had enough.
I don't need to be cross-examined by you.
You keep saying it's all about the kids,
but this whole time, you have been manipulating
the situation to get in good with Ward.
You know what? Screw you.
And in case you don't remember,
you took my job.
- It was not your job. - And I still
gave everything
to this program and to you, to your vision.
I spent this entire semester
covering your ass to make this happen.
This is a private conversation!
I have tried to include you.
I have tried to respect you.
And I am sorry if you feel I stole the job from you.
But the fact is, I am the director,
you are the assistant director, and you have no damn right
to be making deals behind my back.
Okay.
You want to know what happened?
I'll tell you what happened.
Ward asked me to take over directing the show,
but I backed you up.
I saved your ass.
That's what happened.
But you know what? From now on,
you are on your own.
I am done.
Fine.
Go.
Good luck with your vision.
Synced & corrected by kinglouisxx www.addic7ed.com