Pulp Musicals
The Brick Satellite, Part 2
CHORUS 1 (counterpoint):
One million bricks, two million bricks
Three million bricks, four million bricks
Five million bricks, six million bricks
Seven million bricks, Eight million bricks
Nine million bricks, Ten million bricks
Eleven million bricks, twelve million bricks
Twelve million bricks

CHORUS 2 (counterpoint):
We are building, we are building
We are building, we are building
Building, building

CHORUS 3:
Satellite, Satellite

ANNA:
We’ve built it!

COMPANY:
(cheers)

CHARLES:
Isn’t this celebration a bit premature? It still needs
To fly
HERSCHEL:
Don’t be uncouth, Charles. Give us a speech
Nova!

ROSE, SAMUEL:
Speech! Speech!

ANNA:
Oh, no, no, no, I couldn’t possibly…
Twelve million, eight thousand, three hundred, fifteen
Total bricks in the satellite

COMPANY:
(cheers)

ANNA:
That’s right!
Tonight wе celebrate, all of us
Arе set to leave a mark on the world
Thirty-six months spent in the Amazon
Never quitting, always marching on
Who’d have thought this town would become
One of my favorite places in the world
Samuel, thanks for hauling
All the clay and mortar
SAMUEL:
You’re welcome!

ANNA:
Rose, you made sure
That what we built was sound

ROSE:
Anytime!

ANNA:
Margaret gave us hope
When we were short a million stones
And Hershey
You’re the greatest guy around

SAMUEL:
Can we talk about why she calls you ‘Hershey’
And you call her ‘Nova’?

HERSCHEL:
No

ANNA:
My father was a proud man
He could follow a star
He had maps of every port in the Atlantic
And when he looks down from heaven
He will see where we are
And he will bless this team of magical mechanics
ALL:
We’ve built a brick satellite
And tomorrow it takes flight

ANNA:
But tonight, we feast!
Someone, get my tequila

ROSE:
What’s tequila?

ANNA:
Oh, this is going to be a great night

HERSCHEL:
If I had fireworks in a box
I’d plant every one of them on the docks
Fire them up and watch them explode
Colorfully, lighting up the skies of the world

ROSE:
If I had a bottle of champagne here
I would crack it up against the sphere
And give a speech full of ten letter words
Poignantly, marking this event for the world

SAMUEL:
If I had a printing press
I’d write a novel
Then I’d send a copy to
The New York Sun
Thomas, spread the news

ROSE:
And Benjamin, you too

ROSE, SAMUEL:
This just in:
You’re missing all the fun

ANNA:
If I had a horn I’d write a symphony
Then perform it here to Mercury
Playing full houses on Mars and Jupiter
With an orchestra that’s out of this world

ROSE:
Charles, take it away!

CHARLES:
If I had the guts, I would call it quits
You can have the town, I don’t give two sh-

ANNA:
Okay, okay, that’s enough. Give it up for our
Governor, everyone!

CHORUS:
(half-hearted cheers, someone coughs)

ANNA (counterpoint):
We’ve built a brick satellite
And tomorrow it takes flight
We put on a show, so bravo, bravo
Thank you, thank you, we’ll be here all night

CHORUS 1 (counterpoint):
We are building, we are building
We are building, we are building
We are building, we are building
We are building

CHORUS 2 (counterpoint):
One million bricks, two million bricks
Three million bricks, four million bricks
Five million bricks, six million bricks
Seven million bricks, Eight million bricks
Nine million bricks, Ten million bricks
Eleven million bricks, twelve million bricks
Twelve million bricks

ALL:
This is your brick satellite

HERSCHEL:
I thought you would be happy, Charles. When
We succeed, Township Number Nine will become
A boomtown. Infrastructure, subsidies, the works

SAMUEL:
It might even get a name

CHARLES:
Fools. All of you… fools!

NARRATOR:
Three months in South America
Nothing but trees and bricks
For as far as the eye can see
And the sound of celebration
Margaret Cavendish sits by a fire at dusk
Watching the flames flicker and fade
As the townspeople fill their cups
She lifted her eyes
She stared at the moon

ROSE:
Maybe you’ll have your answers soon
Aren’t you going to join us, Margaret? Don’t
Make me get Anna, she’s brought something called
‘tequila’ to this party and it’s getting out of hand
Fast

MARGARET:
What if the satellite doesn’t fly?

ROSE:
Simple:
We will design a better one

MARGARET:
It would take years to construct

ROSE:
Great things take time
Satellites, radiance

MARGARET:
Trust

ROSE:
I’d build twenty satellites
If that’s what it took

MARGARET:
One would be enough
If the foundation was good