Synopsis - Act One
The show opens with a cockerel crowing as dawn comes to Eastwick. On stage we
see the Little Girl and she
introduces us to the town of Eastwick. The chorus enter as the people of the
town and sing Eastwick Knows.
During the song we meet Felicia, the town busybody and her long-suffering
husband Clyde, and Alex, Jane and Sukie,
three women who are less than contented with their lives and love.
Following the song we find ourselves at the opening ceremony of the new
church. Each of the three women wishes
for it to be over and then, as if by magic, it begins to rain. The people of the
town scatter and the ceremony is
abandoned. We cut to a scene in Alex’s house. The ladies are drinking Martinis
and discussing their lives. We hear
about their failed past relationships and then meet Michael, Alex’s son, and his
girlfriend Jennifer Gabriel, Clyde
and Felicia’s daughter. They are love's young dream and this makes the women
feel even worse. They begin to discuss
their ideal man, leading into the song Make Him Mine, where they wish
for someone to come and sweep them
off their feet. Their magic is punctuated by thunderclaps as things in Eastwick
begin to change.
Next we see the Little Girl from the beginning. In a crossover she sings the
childrens' song Chicken Little –
this is a prophecy of doom and is a warning that should be heeded by the rest of
the town, but she seems to be the
only one who sees what is happening. Then we are in Clyde and Felicia’s kitchen.
Clyde is constantly trying to kill
himself as he is “so unhappy” and this is how we discover him in the scene, with
a noose around his neck. We learn
Felicia has little time for this and is more interested in the phone call she
receives from her friend. The Eastwick
grapevine is in full swing as the people of the town call each other to spread
the word that a new man has moved to
Eastwick and will be attending the concert to be held that night.
We are next at the concert. Jane is playing cello as part of a string
quartet, but the whole town is buzzing
with the anticipation of the new arrival. Then Darryl Van Horne appears,
seemingly out of nowhere, and proceeds to
shock the town with his sense of humour and charm. In response to their question
– why did he choose to move to
Eastwick? – Darryl leads the company in the number I Love A Little Town,
which sees him realising the
limitations of the place, whilst they become mesmerised and fall under his
spell.