NYC based Musician, Host, Writer, Fembassador
Musical soundtrack released Nov 2025
Girl Shock Story Book
Outline of musical with music
(c) Copyright 2025, Maria Konner, Jackson Sturkey
The Book is now a new Musical Comedy!
by Maria Konner and Jackson Sturkey
The songs are completed as well as the story. But script still in progress.
Yes, it’s about sexuality, but contains much deeper meaning about our society – after all isn’t our sexuality a primary driver of our behavior? Maria, being a trans woman, provides a unique insight.
Maria is not only a fabulous pianist, guitarist, singer, host and personality in the NYC scene – she is also an engineer, cybersecurity and risk management executive, and ex-lobbyist. She sprinkles this knowledge and experience subtly into the story.
Becoming Maria is like becoming a superhero! But she’s in conflict with Dude, her secret identity.
And superhero’s all have 7 essential traits….
Original songs, recorded with a live band, are included in this brief DRAFT STORYBOOK intended for Producers, Directors, Friends, etc. Images are taken from the book.
Draft script / book is in development, this STORYBOOK is an outline.
We have done several sneak preview LIVE shows, see snippets and review
Jackson plays “Dude” (Maria as a man). Watch them duke it out while under attacks from the Evil Culture Nemesis / Villian / Monoculture Virus. And in the process of becoming a woman, Dude found his inner superhero to not only stitch back together the soul the Villain tried to steal and corrupt, but have a lot of fun in the process making up for lost time.
PURPOSE OF THIS DOCUMENT: Show the Arc of the story along with the music for interested Collaborators, Actors, Theaters, Producers, Directors, Investors. etc
ACT ONE - Emergence
Scene 1: Superhero Trait #1
The Backstory
Dude's pre-teen childhood of inspiration and hope
VISUAL
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Location: Backstage at a show or concert
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Time of day: Current day (modern times), around 8PM, but she’s talking to Dude
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Layout: Maria is seated, putting on her makeup, looking into a mirror, but you can see her face though it because there is no actual mirror there
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Symbolism: Perhaps “Mirror Mirror on the Wall”
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Lighting: Mostly dim, except mirror lights illuminate Maria. When Dude comes in, there is a spotlight on him. You can see a silhouette of the band.
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Mood: Chaotic around Maria, but she’s the only calm one
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Maria is seated, enjoying putting on her makeup. Dude rushes in frenzied, holding a clipboard and has a headset on.
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Dude and Band leader are pressuring Maria to finish her makeup because the show is starting in 5 minutes
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She’s unfazed, taking her time, talking to both Dude and the Audience back and forth
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She talks about warpaint/war of attention and the differences between our inside and outside. She makes a vague, but clear reference to an Evil Nemesas (foreboding), after all she did say “warpaint”
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After Dude pushes her again to get on the stage, Maria tells Dude to start the show, after all, the story does begin with him
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Dude protests, but the bandleader counts off 1, 2, 3, 4, and BAM, the lights come up in full while Maria walks up to the piano, and her makeup chair, table, and mirror get whisked off the stage
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Dude, throws down his clipboard, rips off his headset and the frenzied guy becomes confident but passionate, reaching out to the audience to listen to this story. This is now the modern, confident Dude who is as complete as Maria. But how did that story unfold and what can we all relate to (regardless of the gender references).
Opening Number with Ensemble and Dude Leading it
3 Verses + Solo: with an ensemble doing various things to depict what’s in the lyrics
VERSE 1 / CHORUS - Growing up overseas, away from the influence of the Evil Nemesis
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A plane or map shows him going from NJ ”West Side of the River” to Overseas - England, Middle East, Egypt then Africa.
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The song goes over the backstory of growing up overseas with much of the time in Africa with Divinity and Grandeur all around - outside the influence of American suburban culture.
SOLO
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African animals fighting, babies, etc.
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Show all kinds of scenes and action including he will see a trans woman In London, which plants a seed. He admires her confidence and strength (How do we depict this in the opening scene).
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In Africa he also gets introduced to jazz. Which fit so well the worlds he was experiencing
VERSE 2 / CHORUS - Reentry into American Suburban Teen Life
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He’s clearly back in New Jersey (via imagery like the airplane coming back to New Jersey) and away from divinity now on his own,
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He’s being thrown into ironically a more dangerous place, because the Evil Nemesis lives back in the US, in civilization - preying on young people’s souls. We don’t know what it is, but we are aware something is lurking. (He first noticed it at the checkout counter at the store when they got back from Africa and went to the store to stock up on food - what a trippy feeling after being gone for so long)
VERSE 3 CHORUS - The Challenge
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An Apple with a mirror and hidden object is introduced by a drag queen/trans woman and a challenge is put forth - to learn about the secret/mysteries of life to be revealed
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Introduce visually 7 items to be covered in the musical - 7 characteristics of the Superhero. And we reveal this first one, the queen pulls one of the 7 items and “Backstory” pops out.
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Dude is trying to describe what he discovered about the spirit and trying to share, he’s focusing singing and reaching out to the audience
LIGHTS GO OUT
Scene 2: Superhero Trait #2
The Nemesis / Villain
Present Day Maria Narration
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I always wanted to be a superhero, don’t all kids. My favorite was Batman
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All superheroes have 7 characteristics. We just saw #1 The Backstory, now for #2, The Villian, or should I saw Nemesis. One that we all must face.
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Dude returns from Africa, he had survived the dangers of wild animals in Africa, etc. but this 13 year old is completely unpreprepared for the danger of ……New Jersey Suburban life
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Introduce this as the start of the big life challenge. Maria is holding the silver mirror apple and the 2nd light illuminates - #2 THE NEMESIS! (Have a symbol for each characteristic flash on a backdrop).
School is out for the summer and Dude, an excellent student, wants to hang out with Stu, his (2 years) older next door neighbor. But his Dad doesn’t want him hanging out with “bad influence” Stu, he wants him to be friends with “Brown Noser” - a goody-two-shoes kid all the other kids hate, but the parents love (you might know the type) because he follows the Monoculture Virus / Villain / Nemesis script (i.e. all good kids do this! And they must be fashionable too!)
Dude has help to sort this out, his other friend Steve validates Dude’s hatred of the droppings of the Virus, which at the time, he didn’t identify, but felt.
Of course Dude ignores his Dad and hangs out with Stu.
Dude is hanging out with Stu at his house which is all Black and Red. He is complaining to Stu about how different things are in the US, how the girls are all painted and aloof, and how all the adults and the media are trying to shove all kinds of ideas down his throat about what’s important and how to live life. And of course how much he hates disco, and loves jazz.
Stu calls jazz and romance sissy stuff. Stu is going to introduce Dude to something he needs.
Heavy Metal!!! Ozzy’s voice and the Sabbath band’s searing sounds enter his soul. But more importantly, life wisdom is delivered on this flow of metal energy, hidden in Geezer’s (Sabbath bass player) lyrics of early Metal! Something the parents don’t pay attention to, they think it’s all crap.
Stu tells Dude, you need grit man!
Dude is going to get an electric guitar. He says to Stu to compliment the jazz (piano), but Stu still simply rejects the sissy stuff. Dude feels like he has to hide half himself from other Dudes.
LIGHTS GO DOWN AND AS THE SUN RISES DUDE IS ALONE
Dude sings 1st Half Interrupted by Villain / Nemesis
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Dude is looking forward to the excitement and discovering the divinity of life in everyday things. He came back from overseas inspired and hopeful and he wanted to expand on what he found overseas. He wants to bring this divinity with him and share it with others and what they have experienced. He can feel it all around.
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He’s channeling all those things he saw in Africa through music the good and the bad
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Divinity of the landscape (e.g. African Savanna)
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Animals - babies, beauty
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Death - lions killing
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Cycle of life, ecosystem
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Jazz and Metal parallels the polarities of the ecosystem of Good and Bad he saw in divine Africa. He’s seeking and hanging out with all kinds of people - Metal Heads (one who is playing guitar - the band member), and jazz types (Maria, other). But he can’t understand why people can’t accept opposites. He occasionally thinks of the trans woman and the individualism and courage that she represents - integrated Masculine and Feminine.
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He’s naive to think that he can live this kind of life and find it in others and bring it out in them. He’s young and inexperienced. Yes he’s smart and motivated, but he has no clue that he completely lacks the sizzle and zing that is needed in life. (This is where Maria will later come in). But at least Metal gives him grit….and protection….
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Setting us up for the Sublime to the Ridiculous - for the hammer to come down showing how life crushes the young spirit with extremely powerful commercial and political forces that are no match for a child or young adult
HE IS INTERRUPTED by the Nemesas - The Monoculture Virus (representing American commercialism and politics) DESTROYING the mood and humiliating his soulful desire for deeper meaning and exploration
(The woman’s voice is the Virus)
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The Nemesis/Village “The Monoculture Virus” a PT Barnum like character, drives up in a Red Sports car, jumps out and they are thrown into a night scene outside a dance club.
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Virus jumps out of his sports car and runs up to the Dude and while talking to him, puts his arms around Dude’s shoulder and talks down to him like he’s a wise authority who is going to tell Dude all about life
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This is akin to emotional rape. The Virus represents all the forces of control that have been developed over thousands of years (which manifests as advertising and consumerism) bearing down with all its sophistication on a completely unprepared and unsuspecting youth. The Nemesas tries to destroy everything innate and divine within the young person, gutting them out and trying to control them for life - for commercial and political reasons. The idea being if you don’t like what everybody likes - e.g. disco dance “There is something wrong with you!”.
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We want the Dude to be utterly humiliated for even thinking that life should be divine, passionate, diverse, complex, discovering. To the Virus, his destiny is to be a cog in the wheel, not an individual human. When the Dude protests, the Virus does things like waving him off, pushing him around, pushing him into the crowd, throwing fancy clothes at him, showing him dance moods, slapping him. Uterally humiliating and castrating him.
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We are presenting the fundamental CHALLENGE of life at this point, this is a seminal moment. For Dude, it started with Disco Dancing movies and radio, but it has now jumped into cyberspace with Social Media and even controls our dating apps.
SOLO: During the solo he is being tugged to join everybody else and give up his “sissy” divine inspiration and romance
At the end, “wrapped around my little finger”
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Lights go down and spotlight on just them
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He’s doing something physically to Dude to represent this, pushing him down
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Dude is on his knees, but manages to fight back a little bit to prevent from being consumed, with a disjointed guitar riff. Thanks Stu. He hasn’t yet mastered the grit of the guitar, that comes later. But for now, it’s enough to protect him from complete deviation
LIGHTS OUT
Scene 3: Dude is betrayed by his father
VISUAL
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Location: Dudes bedroom
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Time of day: Evening
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Layout: Dude’s on a chair engrossed in learning how to get better at the electric guitar, making a lot of noise, managing to get some decent notes out. He’s staring at the floor doesn’t see his dad coming in
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Symbolism: Resistance is futile
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Lighting: Moderate
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Mood: Confrontational
“What’s all that noise!”, his dad yells, totally oblivious, uncaring, and uncurious about what this means for his son and appreciating children for who they are and what they are going through (as most parents typically react to such things). Yes another idea programmed into the parent’s head by the Virus - Rock music is just rebellious and insolent noise and has absolutely ZERO value and should be condemned for simply disturbance and distraction. (Playing metal guitar won't get you into Harvard, you should be studying and reading instead!).
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Virus realizes “Dude has some resistance, I gotta take a different approach. OK, plan B.” (He’s got all kinds of plans developed over thousands of years).
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“I’ll go through Dad. I always win, I will NOT give up, these are the rules of the game!!! Resistance is futile!”
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Even though Dad himself was the one who inspired Dude, he doesn’t have the resistance that Dude has, because Dad grew up in New Jersey and didn’t have heavy metal - i.e. Dad doesn’t have the protection that Dude has, so when Dad is back in Jersey Dr. Jekyll Dad turns into Mr. Hyde Dad.
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Virus says things to Dad whispering in his ear and Dad repeats them to Dude without thinking
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“Metal is just insolent noise”
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“Why don’t you wear elegant clothes like the other boys”
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And when Dude tries to explain with seriousness and a thoughtful response, Virus responds "Don't be ridiculous” and Dad repeats it, humiliating him. The idea being that if his own Dad doesn't love him for who he is, why would anybody else?
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Dude finally puts down his guitar and reluctantly gets on the American Suburban conveyer belt of life
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Virus rejoices in another win!
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Lighting gets crazy and stuff is happening around him…dizzying changes, life’s happening to him, jump to next scene
Scene 4 - The Conveyor Belt
Dad sings, Dude at end
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Dad sings, as if her were a spokesperson for the Virus (Virus occasionally chimes in), and then the Dude capitulates
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The Virus can influence his wife-to-be directly because she doesn’t have the protection from heavy metal guitar playing and having been inspired by the Divinity of Africa/nature and cultural diversity that Dude had at a young age (ironically provided by his dad).
AFTER THE SOLO - DUDE SINGS: At the end Dude capitulation / surrender is complete. Dude is no match for the virus because he hasn't fully developed and accepted his immunity. But his immunity is good enough so that the Virus can’t attack him directly, giving him a chance to still escape and claw his way back – if he can find the power to do so.
LIGHTS OUT
Scene 5 - Karen
They had a few good times, she even dressed Dude up as a girl for Halloween (she had been a makeup artist). They went to one of her lame suburban 12-step parties and most people had left. They had planned to do it again for Halloween the next year. But typical stresses chipped away at their relationship. He hated the soulless tech work he was working in. He found their trip to the Holyland to see meaning in life full of hypocrites, including Karen. The marriage couldn’t hold primarily because it wasn’t based on love and compatibility, it was based on they didn’t want to be alone anymore, and were following the suburban dream.
(DEMO) Sung by Dude and Karen
2 Verses + Chorus + Solo
VERSE 1 - Dude is off to work and complaining about his life, clueless about what’s really going on and his part in it.
VERSE 2 & CHORUS - Karen is dancing around the house, glad that Dude is gone so she can enjoy her life…telling us a little bit about herself and her life
SOLO: Karen continues to dance and doesn’t see Dude who had forgotten something and came home to get it. His mouth gapes open, and then he follows her around trying to get her attention but she’s so busy dancing she doesn’t see him or he’s behind her.
Then she suddenly realizes the Dude was watching and listening that whole time.
KAREN IS BUSTED!
She responds with some lame BS excuse, and the next song starts as Dude starts going crazy
Sung by Dude and Karen
VERSE 1 (Dude gives it to Karen)
VERSE 2 (Karen Gives it to him)
And a lot of what she says is right, and he knows it. It is all about him.
Or rather why did he marry her? Does it really make any difference at this point?
SOLO
We can’t make Karen look like she’s all to blame, even though she IS Karen. Something happened to her - abused by her family, raped, etc. (That actually was true in Dude’s real life). Is there something we can do here to show that? We need this somewhere, not clear if we can make it dialogue or more lyrics somewhere. The previous song is too happy sounding)
VERSE 3 & 4 Till end
They argue, each half obvious to the forces that got them into this marriage and their part in it (They both were desperate and not really choosing love). Well, can you blame them? It is what it is.
OK, well, I guess no point in continuing
<End of Song>
He prayed to the universe - the message he got was “Shit or get off the pot” (It should be a comical vibe, i.e. god saying something like that).. He does this a few times. Not sure how this “God” should appear and what it is revealed to be at the end, examples
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Voice with some lights
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Reflection in a mirror
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Older Maria
Sung by Dude
Dude leaves his life and moves to San Francisco…a block away from a huge famous Transsexual Club - Divas.
And it’s 6 weeks before Halloween….in San Francisco. Ya know what that means…..
Scene 6 - Superhero Trait #3
A Secret Power
It’s just for Halloween, right?
He did a little immediate dating, but it was frustrating and depressing. That’s not what he needed right now - that’s how he ended up marrying the wrong person to begin with! He needed something completely different.
Dude wonders “What shall I be for Halloween this year?”
His mind went straight to that trans woman he saw in London so many years ago. What confidence! What courage! Determination! Power - she didn’t need a woman to be complete! So sexy, so hot! I want to know more about that! I want to know more about that power and being sexy! Fuck straight dating! Let me see what it's like to be a city girl!
He had 6 weeks to learn the ropes and find the clubs! He wasn’t just going to show up for Halloween as a man in a dress. Plus, don’t need to be sitting around linking about getting divorced. This gave him something exciting to focus on - clothes, makeup, fun shopping, planning his social life.
He found a cross dressing / trans group/club in San Francisco, who did outings to Divas and he jumped in that group. One of her new trans friends asked her name, and Dude suddenly realizes, oh, he needs a girl name. He picks Maria - it starts with the same first letter as his boy name and he always had a fantasy about a famous woman named “Marie” who was very conservative and he fantasizes that she was anything but behind closed doors! MARIA IS BORN!
After building a little confidence, it’s time for her to go outside by herself for the first time!
She leaves her apartment terrified. As she’s walking down the street the homeless people are cheering her on, and the regular folks are smiling. Exactly the opposite of what she expected. This is fucking unbelievable!!!
It was a gnarly life compared to those clean fake homogeneous virus infected suburbs, and she loved it! A new life discovered! A new Power! This female power emerged so naturally…I wonder why?
The 6 weeks leading to Halloween was so much fun, it went by quickly. She couldn’t believe how quickly she could talk with people, make friends with the trendiest queers and women, unbelievable!!! Instead of being some outsider that nobody cared about, they were part of the IN crowd. The Night of Halloween Maria met a trans dominatrix who invited her to be her assistant beating a client at a Sex Club a few days later.
Maria came home and Dude told her it was over, but Maria protested saying, she had an engagement a few days later at the Sex Club and they might as well go through the end of the year.
They got into an argument, and Maria made her move. She went online and brought a wonder woman outfit As she clicked the BUY button, she knew Dude would never throw anything out! Furthermore, he could never be bothered to go through the effort to cancel an online order.
She was leaving Dude in the dust. She was partying so much, he was exhausted during the day trying to get his work done. She partied, and he suffered and had to clean up the mess that she created!
Scene 7 - Divas, The Trans Town Square
Maria was spending an awful lot of time at Divas, leaving the straight world far, far beyond. She was emerged in the variety of the trans milieu and their mostly “straight” male admirers. Her sexuality, and thus overall confidence grew exponentially by the night. And she brought this power everywhere she went throughout the city. Even Dude benefited at work.
Sung by Drag Queen
One night they were having a drag show at Divas featuring “Big Fake Boobs”, and she could hear the pounding music beat entering her bones and drawing in her energy. As she walked into the bar, she could could see a drag queen getting up on the stage. (Same one that appears in the Opening Sequence)
SOLO: She pulls out the silver apple, something is hidden inside. What secret could it hold!??
END: She does the reveal. The power of the Mask! What does it accentuate? What does it hide?
Sung by bar owners Steve and Marissa
As the audience's clapping dies down, the Owner of the Bar Steve and his trans wife Marissa grab the microphone from behind the bar. It suddenly gets quiet for a tender moment with their patrons.
Maria discovered that Divas was so much more than she ever imagined. It’s not just a skanky trans bar, it is a spiritual haven for all those who are different, or a bit odd…they actually encouraged it. It was a place where people could be their unique selves and everybody appreciated you, the more unique and different you were, the better!. Back then (Before the Evil Virus jumped into Cyberspace and grew into general Enshittification and destroyed so many robust milieus to meet real people), queer clubs in San Francisco (being a small city), were like a town square where REAL locals and visitors, straight and queer alike, could meet IN PERSON and discover that wonderful mix of both those things they shared and those things that were different. In the end, we’re all the same, just many precious variations. We could all learn SO much from this.
It was also a great place to run into groups from the various colorful milieus of San Francisco. And it even had a reverend who worked for a church which helped the LGBT community at night when social workers were unavailable.
Maria related big time! The gnarly life here was so much more real than anything in those suburbs was!
Steve and Marissa are singing to all the wonderful colorful misfits and their lovers and admirers/ All were welcome in their bar. On the surface Divas may look like a trashy colorful bar (which is enough of a reason to see it), but was a place where the courageous could discover much deep into the human condition. It transcended just LGBT+. It was more real and spiritual than most religious venues and events Dude had ever seen.
Some of the patrons may sing some of the lines.
Scene 8: Superhero Trait #4
Tights or Spandex
Getting on the queer sex train
Maria’s life was a slippery slope! First just Halloween, then maybe keep doing it to the end of the year. Then a regular at Divas. Dude/Maria still thought of Maria as a visitor in this world - no sex for her, only flirting and being friends with women, Dude was trying online dating, but failing, and Maria was just getting stronger and stronger.
Finally she decided she wanted to try this queer sex that was just there for the taking! It was her turn!
One night she decides she wants to get laid, and she’s going to start with another trans woman. She saw a hot trans woman from across the room, but didn’t get a chance to chat with her because it was too crowded. At closing time, all the t girls looking to hook up were hanging out front. And standing by herself was that hot trans woman.
Maria boldly walked up to the trans women and said, “I live 1 block from here”.
The trans woman smiled and said “Let’s go”.
Maria couldn’t believe how easy this was! Straight dating?...forget it!!!!
Maria just loved the jazz!!!…
Sung by Maria
They were so excited to hold hands as they walked back to Maria’s place. Two trans women who looked like prostitutes, looking sexy, getting ready to have fun! The people on the street whistled. Maria was a rock star!
FIRST SOLO: Back at Maria’s place, they rubber their nylons together……
LAST SOLO: Have a montage scene where Maria is sleeping with other trans women, then a lot of men. After she’s done with each one, they immediately leave and she’s standing at the door kissing them goodbye and waving.
ENDING VERSE
The last guy she slept with leaves in the same way as the others. She sings…
LIGHTS OUT, SPOTLIGHT ON MARIA: She whispers to the audience, all excited - A new world. On the easy sex train! It’s my turn! Confidence boosting to yet another level. And Dude even further in the dust! But he’s still benefitting at work.
Scene 9: Girl Shocked!
Lights go up and Dude starts screaming at her for taking over his life and how all this sex so so many people, men, trans woman, even a few lesbians. Any straight people???!!!
She asks him
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How many times have you gotten laid in the past year?
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Have you even been on a decent date recently?
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How many people have cheered for you and been excited to meet you?
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You told me you were more confident at work.
For each one of these, he has a bumbling, illogical response.
Maria explains, you can’t admit that you’re a trans woman!
“That’s it!” Dude screams and Dude goes to purge her clothes (throw them out), and she stops him as the music starts
Sung by Maria
She starts giving it to him.
SOLO: He tries purging again, she stops him and puts her clothes back in the drawers and starts throwing HIS clothes out! Finally she takes over the closet and drawers and his clothes are in a bin at the bottom of the closet. He doesn’t have that much anyway!
Dude finally realizes, his creation is now more powerful than him.
<END SONG>
The doorbell rings and it’s a friend of Maria’s. She is talking to her friend about how her life just keeps getting better and better and better. They’re both ignoring Dude, because he just doesn’t matter any more. He has nowhere to go, they’re going to the piano bar. Instead of him hating the bar because he feels invisible, she knows she’s always going to make a splash
They run out while the songs starts, and he starts signing frustrated, and follows them…because he has nothing else to do with the his lame life. Except maybe a read a book…been there done that, got the t-shirt.
Sung by Dude and Maria
Just when Dude says to her, you’re exaggerating how much fun you can have, stop dreaming about….
….somebody comes out and invites her to sing. Dude’s jaw drops.
She doesn’t just sing, she gets pulled up to the piano, and knocks a few out while Dude is watching, invisible and confused.
Scene 10: Superhero Trait #5
A Secret Identity
Sung by Dude
But secret powers come with their problems….a power struggle between who you are on the inside and how people see you on the outside. Kind of like being a Rock Star. And Maria had become one in San Francisco.
And a host of her own show, with some celebrities on it too! Dude’s in the dust!
Maria wasn’t used to this power, she got it so fast. There was a lot to learn and even more to discover! Did she know how to cope? Who was Maria really? Was she the bright white light and Dude a red filter, or was Dude the shining white light and Maria the pink filter?
Without the Dude’s more conservative balance, Maria was sliding down that slope! Weeeeee!
Sung by Maria
Maria’s confidence and power drove her to make up for lost time caused by being a sexual and romantic loser, and get into the kink and sex club scene so readily available in San Francisco. We all need to get our kink out to reach a spiritual state, right? Dude and Maria were seriously diverging. He was a romantic. Which sadly only served to make him a big loser.
SOLO: An appropriate demonstration is provided
Maria even covered Kink in her show she was hosting at the HQ of kink.com, a literal castle in the middle of San Francisco, complete with dungeons for porn sets. It also helped to draw in those celebrities to her show. Kink is on a LOT of people’s mind, probably to deal with an f’ed up world. Makes sense. Gotta get to the bottom of this!
Towards the end, the Nemesis reappears to convince the Dude (who has been totally miffed not knowing what to do) that what Maria is doing is WRONG, and MENTALLY UNHEALTHY
Scene 11: Stop Right There!
SONG: HAPPIEST MAN IN THE WORLD REPRISE (Villain) - not completed
Together they throw Maria in a REAL cage, and then remove all of her stuff from the apartment. It might take her a moment to realize it’s not a kink cage.
Dude was concerned that they were dangerously out of balance. Maria was addicted to being fabulous. You can’t be fabulous all the time!.... After all, Batman can’t go full time, he needs Bruce Wayne, right?
The Villain leaves at the end of his song (He has other evil to attend to)
Sung by Maria who starts song, and Dude joins
As all goes quiet Dude wonders, he needs proper romance, but he didn’t know how to connect with people without Maria. She was distorting reality, He had to put her in a cage! But how to get women to see him? How to get anybody to see him?
There’s nobody he can really talk to about his feelings and problems….except Maria. She was the only one who understood him.
<END OF ACT ONE>
ACT TWO - Convergence
Scene 1: Superhero Trait #6
Unrequited Love
Sung by Dude
Lights come up similar to Dude’s first number after the Opening Sequence. But it’s dark and the spotlight is on him. He’s passionately reaching out to the Universe / Audience as vulnerable as can be about his loneliness.
Dude had to pursue romance with a woman again. He had to try, his heart was yearning for a deep connection with a woman. But he was invisible, what could he do? He wasn’t into fakeness to get attention – was he ready to go back into that? Maria was another side of himself, what about his real identity? He had to try. He had to know.
He has to find a needle in a haystack, but how?
Sung by Dude - VERY ROUGH DEMO WITH NO VOCALS / LYRICS at this time
Once again from the sublime to the ridiculous.
Ignored. Rejected. Rejected. Ignored, Scam, Prostitute. And the few times when he did manage to setup a live date after having great conversations, there was Immediate rejection no, eye contact or interest. Humiliation and rejection after another.
Dude isn’t fully aware that the Villan has jumped fully into Cyberspace and has rapidly evolved and mutated into the Virus of Enshittification!!! But it’s hidden from Dude for the moment.
Finally, he finds Cheryl out in the deep suburbs. Ugh….well, good enough. I’m tired of this shit, I can’t take the stench anymore. It didn’t appear he was going to do any better. She probably did the same thing.
Deja Vous?
Sung by Dude and Cheryl
It works for a while. A little fake and suburban. Chery’s friends are boring and they think Dude is just some typical guy, and essentially call him boring. He chuckles to himself. She doesn’t take well to Dude’s city interests (Does he reveal….that would be interesting….) Is the problem that she’s another Karen, or is Dude’s Maria life taken them too far….
SOLO: Their relationship starts to break down.
Deja vous? The Villain Enshittified Virus is everywhere, infecting everything straight and normal!
Dude is too weak and desperate to break it off. He’s feeling the pull of the normal life. He wants to be healthy, he wants a female partner. But everywhere he goes, there’s slime. Where it is coming from? He wants to escape, but isn’t sure what to do. Is it him? It is her? What difference does it make, this is no fun! Ah!!!!!!!!!!
Scene 2: Superhero Trait #7
A Weakness
Maria to the Rescue
Sung by Maria
But Maria, as always made everything so easy. Maria busts out of her cage, grabs her electric guitar, and now has the weapon of power to zap that Virus for good. Metal and telling the truth, cutting through all the bullshit!!!!
This is what actually happened, but I don’t know if we can fold this into the story - I would have to explain that Maria was still performing, but not having sex: She stopped by Divas after a show, and got that smile from a man across the bar. The excitement of being sexy for who she was and doing what she enjoyed was overwhelming. And natural. She just needed a little nudge to break open that cage, and get back at it! Thank you, whatever your name was.
Maria pops the champagne, and went nuts and went on a 3 month binge sleeping with guy after guy. She couldn’t believe her hit ratio in finding men to sleep with. On several nights she had 2 separate hookups, the second one while she wasn’t even looking for it! She needs this to get her power, focus, and confidence back.
Sung by Cheryl
Then Cheryl tries to lure Dude back by saying she wanted to meet him to return some of his inconsequential things that he left at her place (an extra razor, toothpaste, etc.). She puts them in a bag and meets him.
She asks if he’s been dating, she said she just went out on one boring date. Dude chuckles inside when he tells her no (well technically only Maria has!).
Maria ensures that he stays strong and doesn’t get caught in another suburban boring life and relationship hell. He keeps his ground and leaves. Maria was having way too much fun. At this point, Dude just didn’t care anymore, he was done. There is no way they are going back to a straight relationship unless it’s a really good match, and yea what are the odds of that happening???!!! Along with the pigs that fly out of her butt. There was too much to expereience and in life vs. just having same lame mediocre relationship and hanging out in the ‘burbs talking about wine, kitchen tile, restaurants, and childhood dreams that will never come true due to inaction and stagnation.
Cheryl looks at his bag of things and cries her song about yearning. (Too bad they’re both lonely. What is the problem with this world…Is this just what life is about, or is this Nemesas taking too much of its fair share?)
Scene 3: The Superhero Dilemma
So Many of us Have it
Sung by Dude, with some advice from Maria
Dude was mad at Maria for taking over his life. But who is he really mad at? They all want HER not him! It wasn’t her decision. The first stage of grief is acceptance. Acceptance that we all need a special superpower to break through to our destiny.
He already knows what it is. He just can’t accept it. The masculine and feminine are out of balance in our world, and he hit the motherlode. He needs to shake off seeing this blessing as a curse.
Scene 4: Collision of dreams, passions, and reality
Sung by Dude and Maria
Maria and Dude each had the chance to really explore and think about their own lives while attending the Burning Man festival in the desert for over a week.
VERSE 1 - Dude
Dude is thinking about what it means to be him with and without Maria.
VERSE 2 - Maria
Maria exclaims how she “Loves the Jazz” - being trans with all the excitement. She is planning to party it up! She doesn’t need him and his lame life! She supervises an orgy, gets invited to others.
But something isn’t what she expects. She wonders what this means now that she’s hit the end of this road of catching up with the excitement and variety of life that she missed and the power that goes along with it. She refers to not being able to “FInd my way back home” - meaning the simplicity of being young and excited about the future, verses somebody with a lot more experience and opportunity, who is no longer seeking, but has arrived! Everything changes, it’s now time to purposely pick a direction for their life.
Despite being at the best orgy on the planet!...She found out that what she really was always longing for was a stronger connection with people. She preferred the piano bar. Yes there was a piano bar at Burning Man.
VERSE 3 - Dude, Maria joins
And so did Dude, and they run into each other at the piano bar.
They both ultimately wanted the same thing, and Dude was really now able to enjoy Maria and rejoice in the gift.
Scene 5: The Hero and the Mask
Sung by Maria and Dude
VERSE 1 - Maria admits to Dude that she loves him, after all he is part of her
VERSE 2 - Dude accepts that he IS Maria, and that nobody will ever know and love him like she does
BRIDGE - They sing together about how the pain of finding your way, will bring the best things in your life. Dude and Maria each concede that you can’t change the 7 essential traits of a Superhero. Especially the Dual Nature parts.
VERSE 3 - Maria asked Dude to join her, and be her. For together opposites (masculine/feminine, creative/analytical) are needed to come together to spread good energy and uplift others. They reach out to the audience and implore them to do the same. If you love all of yourself, you’ll be able to love the diversity of people around you and we can all help each other. This is where change and our collective destinies MUST start.
Finale - Right Now!
Sung by Maria, with Dude & Ensemble on backups
Maria is calling on the audience to uncover the deepest part of their true selves, all the different sides and let it come out to make the world a better place. You can do it anytime, you can do it RIGHT NOW!
Thanks for checking out
CREDITS
© Copyright 2025 Maria Konner and Jackson Sturkey (Music, lyrics, and book)
Individual song copyrights not shown here.
Additional copyright contributions with Maria:
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Steve Rosenblatt – Happiest Man in the World, You’re Osmotically Sucking Braincells from my Head, Right Now.
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Robert Bruskin, David Stein – Pain & Pleasure
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Dave Johnson, Flynn Whitmeyer – Bazooka Tits
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Persephone Schoenfeld – Fuck Yea!
Recorded at Maria’s place
• Maria Konner
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1947 Steinway M which was originally her grandfather Ben Meisner’s piano which he gave to her mother (and Maria grew up with) and her mother gave to Maria.
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Martin acoustic guitar
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Taylor 12 string guitar
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PRS electric guitar – Lead and Rhythm
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Native Instruments Stack with Midi controller – Organ, Synths
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Lead and background vocals
• Jackson Sturkey - Lead and background vocals
• Omar Kabir – Trumpet, Sax, Flute, Trombone
• Electric Bass
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Saadi Zain
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Confused by your charm
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Heaven
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You are Me
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Talk to me Kiddo
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Dude’s Lament
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Burning Man
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Bazooka Tits
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Michael Visceglia - on all the others
• Drums – Brian Delaney
• Extra Keyboards / Organ - Everything, Pain & Pleasure, Bazooka Tits, Living as a Girl (2nd organ) - Uli Geissendoerfer
• Extra Guitar - Bazooka Tits (2nd very light background guitar), Fuck Yea (2nd background lead at very end) - Ajay Shughart
Other Singer Credits
• Monoculture Virus (Talk to me Kiddo) - Jessie Bangarang
• Cheryl (Aren't we Happy People) - Kiley Etling
• Cheryl (Cheryl's song) - Candice Lynn Matthews
• Karen (Osmotically Sucking Brain cells), Bazooka Tits announcer - Klea Blackhurst
• Bazooka Tits Drag queen - Darius Harper
• Steve (Toast to Divas) - Andre Jordan
• Marissa (Toast to Divas) - Nicola Barrett
• Happiest Man in the World (Dude's Dad) - Tym Moss
Music recorded, engineered, and produced by Omar Kabir and Maria Konner.
Cover graphics and two-spirit painting by Diego Gomez
Comics and illustrations by Diego Sandoval