There's this short play
By David Ives
Called "The Philadelphia"...
The main characters are Mark & Al.
Mark comes to Al in a state of panic and says that anything he asks for he can't get.
His deli doesn't have the meat he wants.
His taxi driver refuses to go where he asks to be driven.
The drugstore doesn't have the medicine he needs.
The newsstand doesn't have the paper he wants, etc, etc.
Al says, "Nothing to worry about, you're just in a Philadelphia."
Mark asks, "What's that mean? What's a Philadelphia?"
Al answers, "Anything you ask for you can never get, the trick is to ask for the opposite and you'll get what you want."
The waitress in the restaurant they are in tells Al that his boss called and he lost his job
Also, he and his girlfriend recently broke up and a bunch of other bad stuff is happening
But Al doesn't even seem to care, which really gets Mark confused...
"How can you be so calm?" asks Mark.
"I'm in a Los Angeles," he says.
The basic concept of the play is that "everyone's gotta be someplace"
It uses the names of Cities to illustrate different states of being.
being in "a Los Angeles" means everything feels fine even if it isn't.
being in "a Philadelphia" means you can't get what you want.
The waitress is in "a Cleveland" which she says is like "Death without the advantages"
I highly recommend the play. You can read the script in the book "Take Ten: New 10-Minute Plays"
Anyway...
This song always makes me think of that play.
When you wake up in Disneyland (the happiest place on Earth)
I wonder if John Ondrasik ever saw that play.
There's this short play By David Ives Called "The Philadelphia"...
The main characters are Mark & Al.
Mark comes to Al in a state of panic and says that anything he asks for he can't get. His deli doesn't have the meat he wants. His taxi driver refuses to go where he asks to be driven. The drugstore doesn't have the medicine he needs. The newsstand doesn't have the paper he wants, etc, etc.
Al says, "Nothing to worry about, you're just in a Philadelphia." Mark asks, "What's that mean? What's a Philadelphia?" Al answers, "Anything you ask for you can never get, the trick is to ask for the opposite and you'll get what you want."
The waitress in the restaurant they are in tells Al that his boss called and he lost his job Also, he and his girlfriend recently broke up and a bunch of other bad stuff is happening But Al doesn't even seem to care, which really gets Mark confused...
"How can you be so calm?" asks Mark. "I'm in a Los Angeles," he says.
The basic concept of the play is that "everyone's gotta be someplace" It uses the names of Cities to illustrate different states of being. being in "a Los Angeles" means everything feels fine even if it isn't. being in "a Philadelphia" means you can't get what you want. The waitress is in "a Cleveland" which she says is like "Death without the advantages"
I highly recommend the play. You can read the script in the book "Take Ten: New 10-Minute Plays" Anyway...
This song always makes me think of that play. When you wake up in Disneyland (the happiest place on Earth) I wonder if John Ondrasik ever saw that play.