[VDB Intro]

Hello Friends!

This is Victoria Dickman-Burnett, Showrunner of Lavender Evening Fog. We are very excited for our return with season four on Halloween. We wanted to do something special, because Friday the 13th falls in October this year, which feels like a bonus Halloween, so we bring you a recording of our live show Gazebofest! This standalone live show features some familiar voices, and one you’re going to hear again this season, but in a different role. Think of it as loosely connected to the world of  Lavender Evening Fog, but don’t get caught up in the continuity of it all. Enjoy, and we will see you in a little over two weeks with our Season 4 Premiere! And for those of you who were wondering, this live show pairs well with an apple cider chai. 

[Live show recording starts]

[There is then a brief introduction to the live audience by Tony Barrett, Voice of Carousel Daryl]

Part 1

[the stage is divided into a “stage” portion and a “backstage” portion with some seating and piles of just what you would expect to find backstage. We open on Miss Gazebo on the stage portion.]

Miss Gazebo: Good afternoon and welcome to Gazebofest 2023! I am, of course, your host, Miss Gazebo 2022, and I will be taking you through this journey tonight! To begin, we will have a performance by local band Milk Duds and the Fancy Men, a raffle with some fantastic prizes, and the crowning of our next Gazebo Monarch! 

I want to remind everyone that this evening’s events will be recorded for the town’s social media, so if you do not wish to be recorded, do not volunteer to speak! 

In a moment, I will hand it over to [checks clipboard] Billy [takes a beat for a slight cough, resumes speaking normally] for the band’s performance, but first, I would love to hear from a few of you… what do you love about gazebos?

[2-3 people respond to this prompt and Miss Gazebo interacts with them enthusiastically]

Thank you all for your wonderful responses, and without further ado, here’s Billy

Billy: Hello Gazebofest! We are Milk Duds and the Fancy Men, and this is {song title}

[song plays]

Part 2

[Back stage. You can hear light music as if the band is on stage]

Miss Gazebo: Can I help you?

Anna-Georgina: Oh, sorry, I am looking for either my father or my roommate.

[Miss G looks puzzled]

Anna-Georgina: Well, my father is sort of the mayor, and my roommate sounds like he’s on stage…

Miss Gazebo.: Oh, you must be Ms. Plume! 

Anna-Georgina: Dr., but Anna-Georgina is fine

Miss Gazebo: Oh, on behalf of the entire Gazebofest committee, thank you for allowing us to hold the festival in your yard. After the Grand Gazebo was damaged in the storm, none of the other gazebos were big enough to hold the pageant. 

Anna-Georgina: It does seem weird not having the festival in a gazebo.

Miss Gazebo: You’re telling me. 

Anna-Georgina: Anyway, have you seen my father? He left this note for me…

Miss Gazebo: Is this about the surprise?

Anna-Georgina: I don’t have any surprises left in me.

Miss Gazebo: He said he thought you might be open to letting the festival goers ride the carousel

Anna-Georgina: [muttering to herself] You have to be kidding me

[Enter Billy from onstage] 

Billy: I think it’s time for another one of your announcements 

[Miss G crosses to onstage]

Miss Gazebo: Okay, it is time to raffle off our first prize of the evening. Naming rights to the soon to be rebuilt Grand Gazebo. Everyone get your tickets out! The winner is: (reads number, improvises with winner, takes winner’s name on clipboard)

Miss Gazebo: Alright, let’s get the band back out here for another song!

Billy intro song

Song plays 

Part 3

[Backstage] 

Anna-Georgina: Really, Dad? The carousel? 

Mayor Plume: What is a carousel but a spinning gazebo with horses?

Anna-Georgina: I thought we discussed that the carousel was [stage whisper] haunted

Mayor Plume: I don’t believe it is [stage whisper] Haunted

[backwards carousel music begins playing]

Anna-Georgina: Yeah, well explain that… 

Mayor Plume: Relax, I’ve got Daryl on it!

[Daryl enters]

Daryl: Yeah, I’ve been talking with my father and I think I’ve figured out a way to fix the carousel. 

Anna-Georgina: Does it involve holy water, or any methodology that could be characterized as paranormal, supernatural, or metaphysical. 

Daryl: Not this time, but I may need another set of hands. Mayor Plume, you look like a man who knows his way around a carnival attraction… [exits]

Mayor Plume: [introspectively] I’m not sure if I should take that as an insult…

Anna-Georgina: Dad, you’ve got a show to co-host

Mayor Plume: Can you cover for me? [gestures after Daryl].

Anna-Georgina: Fine. But you owe me! You will read my proposal for renaming Maple Street to Lucy Hobbes Way.

Mayor Plume: Sure. [Calls after Daryl] I’ll be right there

[Billy Intros next song, song plays]

Part 4

[Miss Gazebo enters]

Miss Gazebo: Billy! Daryl and the Mayor need another set of hands. 

Billy: I’m kind of in the middle of a set.

Miss Gazebo: I’m told Anna-Georgina will keep the crowd occupied.

Anna-Georgina: Where are you going to be?

Miss Gazebo: I’ve never seen a carousel repair before! 

[Exit Billy and Miss G]

Anna-Georgina:[To herself] Anna-Georgina will handle it. [Realizes she has an audience] Can you believe it? Do I look like the kind of person who can just “handle it”. 

Well, I suppose, I can tell you a little bit of history. In case you were not aware, you are sitting in the side yard of the Ellis East Elementary Building, which has been known over the years as The Ellis Field Normal College, The Ellis Field School,and my house. The School was founded in 1885 by siblings Lucy and Algernon Hobbes with the mission of training teachers, the Hobbes had ties to the progressive education community

Audience member: Is it true the school is haunted?

Anna-Georgina: Well, I don’t know about that…

Audience member: Come on, tell us the ghost stories [improvises, tries to build support from fellow audience members]

[There is a clatter of tools off stage, and Daryl can be heard saying “That may take awhile to fix]

Anna-Georgina: Okay. I’ve heard a number of ghost stories about the school over the years, but here is one of my favorites. Before I tell the story though, I need you to understand that the building is warm, welcoming. Any stories are just, legends accumulated over years. 

They say that Mary was going into her senior year of high school in the fall of 1943 when her sweetheart was sent off to war. He was a year older than her, and had just graduated. She wanted to get married before he left, but her parents said she had to graduate first. They clearly hoped that the young couple would move on before the marriage could take place. Mary kept the letters she exchanged with her sweetheart in a tin box hidden in the hole in the roots at the old oak tree in the corner of the schoolyard by the groundskeeper’s shed, so her parents would not find them. 

Together, they created a plan to run away and get married. Now, Mary didn’t have a wedding dress. There was no way she could make one without getting caught, but she was able to find an old white dress, from the Victorian era, in the school’s costume shop. On the night they were to be married, she was to meet her love on the front staircase in the school. From there, they would drive to Hayden’s Landing, where a Methodist minister had agreed to marry them.

Unbeknownst to Mary, however, her brother had followed her and found the letters. Her parents caught her and took her away before her love could come. They left a note saying she’d changed her mind. 

They say that the young man died in the war, but I can’t find any record of any plausible deaths, so I am assuming that is just the flair for the dramatic. But Mary, who was a real person–I have verified–took ill soon after, and is said to have simply lost the will to live. She passed away two months after the night that was supposed to be her wedding day.

About a decade after her death, the students of the school started reporting seeing a woman in a pure white Victorian gown on the staircase, looking for her lost letters. The rumors persisted for years, but most people telling the story incorrectly assume she is a ghost from the earliest era of the school. 

Miss Gazebo: (A-G doesn’t realize she’s back):Did they ever find the letters?

Anna-Georgina: Not to my knowledge, but I have a ton of papers in the building left to go through, they could be in there somewhere.

Miss Gazebo: Anyway, I was told to move forward with the contest, would you mind helping me out? 

Anna-Georgina: The contest?

Miss Gazebo: For gazebo monarch.

Anna-Georgina: Do I want to ask?

Miss Gazebo.: Given how niche this all is, it made sense to make the contest gender neutral. So someone could be Miss Gazebo, Mr. Gazebo, Mx. (pronounced “mix”) Gazebo, or like if you were to win, Dr. Gazebo. [deadpan] you can’t win though. You’re in the first family, you’re ineligible.

Anna-Georgina: So the title is flexible.

Miss Gazebo: Yep.

Anna-Georgina: What about Mrs. Gazebo?

Miss Gazebo: [Incredulous ] No, that would imply you’re married to the gazebo.

Anna-Georgina: And that’s the line we’ve decided to draw in the sand. 

[beat]

Anna-Georgina: So how does this work?

Miss Gazebo: Well, we have our three contestants… Let’s see if I can find them

[She picks three contestants from the crowd—all men, who give their names as Danny, Prince, and Bob] 

Miss Gazebo: Now, we have the contestants introduce themselves. Give your name and why you want to be the next Gazebo monarch.

[Miss G and A-G go through each contestant, trading off who is asking the questions. ] 

Miss Gazebo: Next we have the Q+A Portion.

[Miss G + A-G trade off asking each contestant 3 questions, Bob says he thought this was about monarch butterflies]

Miss Gazebo: Next the judges converse.

[A-G and Miss G. converse off mic, Butterfly Bob is crowned]

Part 5

Anna-Georgina: Okay, what now? Is my father or Billy around? 

Daryl: I heard you were telling ghost stories? 

Anna-Georgina: Ghost story. Singular. 

Daryl: I have a ghost story. It involves a haunted carousel

Anna-Georgina: Of course, what else could it involve?

Daryl: Well as you may or may not know, carousels are the most frequently haunted carnival equipment.

I’ve encountered my fair share of haunted carousels, and this is the tale about the most haunted one I’ve encountered to date. Other than–

[Anna-Georgina clears her throat]

Daryl: Anyhow, haunted carousels come in a number of forms. You have your technical disturbances–starting and stopping on their own, the like. Then you have your childlike spirits. You’re gonna hear laughter, running–which I don’t like, because running doesn’t work with carousel movements. 

But this one… this one was different. 

A client called me in to take a look at it. They had a community center by a synagogue, and in it they had a carousel that had been donated by the estate of one of their former members. A real carousel enthusiast. Got it made, each animal bespoke and unique. No real logic, either. Buffalos, flamingos, wildcats, and…well, one that just didn’t make sense. 

It was a normal, sunny day. Everything was fine. Everyone was friendly. But one of the animals just kept jostling back and forth when the machine was off.

Anna-Georgina: Like someone was riding it?

Daryl: Yeah. So I called the father…

Anna-Georgina: Your father?

Daryl: No, the priest from the church down the road. I asked for holy water, the first thing I always think of. And I used it. 

Anna-Georgina: And?

Daryl: It didn’t work. Just like this time. But my father…

Anna-Georgina: The priest?

Daryl: No, my father. Told me that sometimes owners get really attached to these kinds of things. And you know what, it was the weirdest animal. Pinchers, kind of clear, looked a little like a crawdad. Would have thought it was that, other than that the maker carved the names of the animals on the bottom by the pole.

Anna-Georgina: What was it?

Daryl: A ghost shrimp. Didn’t even make any sense, it’s not even kosher. But given that this was the biggest issue, we just put a energy efficient driver into the works and told them to leave it on because that way it could stay working. Since then, hasn’t been a single issue.

Anna-Georgina: So your solution was to ignore it? Isn’t that just.. pointless?

Daryl: I hadn’t really thought of that. 

Anna-Georgina: And why are you here when literally everyone else is working on the carousel? 

Daryl: [realizing] Oh. [starts to exit, calls out as he’s leaving] I like your dress, by the way! [Exit]

Anna-Georgina: Well, since I’m here by myself, I suppose we can raffle off the next item. This is for the naming rights for the new gazebo that is being built in the park over on Reeves Avenue.  The description says the gazebo is built with a romanesque influence and stained glass inlays with scenes from the history of Ellis Field, so this is a big deal. [Raffle ticket is drawn]

[Enter Billy]

Billy: I can take it from here

[Billy banter, song 4]

Part 6

Anna-Georgina: Thank you Billy! Do you know where my co-host has gotten to? 

Billy: No clue. 

Audience Member: Tell another ghost story.

Anna-Georgina: Really?

Billy: I know you’ve got another ghost story in you. 

Anna-Georgina: Look, it’s an old building, people make up ghost stories. It happens. 

Billy: A-G, you’ve lived it.

Anna-Georgina Okay. Fine. Here’s the deal. When I went to school here, I had some friends who disappeared. 

As in, on three separate occasions, I had friends who would just not show up to school one day, never to  be seen again. And, like, I would assume they moved, but I would also ask about them eventually, only for the teacher to seem confused. But it didn’t seem weird at the time. 

In kindergarten, there was Mindy. She was a couple years older than me, so I only saw her during one of the three recesses, and it was always when most kids were on the playground, so it took me a while to realize that she was gone.

Then, in first grade, there was George, who disappeared after he and I went out in the woods behind the school one day. He’d gotten trapped underneath a large branch that had fallen, but then when I went for help, no one could find him. But looking back on the incident, I don’t think anyone had registered he was missing. 

Then, finally, in second grade there was Algie. I don’t know that Algie was really my friend though. He always was trying to encourage me to explore, and seemed to point me toward places I shouldn’t be. Like the basement…[A-G shudders] You know, I actually don’t want to think about that one.

But anyway, all three of these kids randomly disappeared one day during the respective school years without fanfare. Each time I asked, the teacher didn’t know who they were, and it is a small enough school they should have at least known the kid.

Billy: That is unsettling. Ooooh tell them about the folder.

Anna-Georgina:Okay, shortly after I moved in, I cleared out the basement. There weren’t a lot of school records down there, but there was a file folder. With my name on it. And all of my academic records. But also, it is how I got this, so… The less I think about it the better.

Billy: Time for another song?

Anna-Georgina: I think so.

[Billy Song]

Part 7

[As Billy finishes, the carousel music plays, correctly, Daryl, Mayor Plume, and Miss G. enter]

Anna-Georgina: That sounds promising

Daryl: Your carousel has been repaired, ma’am. 

Anna-Georgina: Okay, Dad, I think the only thing left to do is for the mayor’s address to the crowd.

Mayor Plume: Hello everyone, and welcome to Ellis Field! I know we’re doing things a little backwards, and I appreciate your patience. Gazebofest started out as a dream. Gazebos are a place where the community can come together. As mayor, I have devoted myself to green space, outdoor architecture, and public art, and my vision to make this community the Gazebo Capital of the Midwest was about giving this community a legacy, and creating spaces where people can come together. With that in mind, I declare this gazebofest open (Cuts ribbon).

Miss Gazebo: I believe our musical act has one more song, and then there will be free carousel rides in the gymnasium

Daryl: The carousel is only slightly haunted.

Anna-Georgina: Slightly [beat] Billy, why don’t you take us home.

[Billy introduces and starts final song]

[Song 6]   

Victoria thanks the audience for attending and introduces the cast. There is some brief discussion of merch.