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[0:00] Harrison White: Welcome to The Flame, where everybody is family. The Flame was made possible through the support of listeners like you. If you enjoy the show, consider joining our Patreon at patreon.com slash theflamemusical. Thank you for listening and enjoy the show.

[0:19] Harrison White: Previously on The Flame.

[0:30] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I am into her. It is so great to have you guys back.

[0:36] Ellie Brigida: Aw, Pumpkin, they gave us our usual table.

[0:39] Jasmin Savoy Brown: So you picked the juicy crab because you seem like the type of woman to enjoy fish.

[0:45] Ellie Brigida: My favorite customers came back in today. They haven't dined here in a while.

[0:49] Jasmin Savoy Brown: You know what? Send the happy couple a bottle of wine from us.

[0:53] Ellie Brigida: Jamie Bear, don't be rude.

[0:56] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Wave at them.

[0:57] Ellie Brigida: Fine.

[0:58] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Shit.

[1:00] Ellie Brigida: Jamie?

[1:01] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Uh, I gotta go.

[1:03] Ellie Brigida: Goodbye, Rachel. Have a nice life.

[1:05] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Jamie! Jamie, wait!

[1:08] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I know we've only just met and it's been a rollercoaster, but I know I could love you one day. One day really soon.

[1:16] Ellie Brigida: I can't do this, Jamie. Our lease agreement stands as is.

[1:21] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Oh, hey, Molly.

[1:24] Ellie Brigida: Who's a good little pig?

[1:26] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Baby, you're eating my mind.

[1:32] Ellie Brigida: Another rough day, isn't it, kid?

[1:46] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Get up, Jamie.

[1:51] Ellie Brigida: Come on, Jamie.

[1:56] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I guess today is starting.

[2:10] Ellie Brigida: One more day and then we can have a pity party that spans a month.

[2:16] Jasmin Savoy Brown: But today we have one more last call. Let's make it count.

[2:20] Ellie Brigida: One last call. Is Jo here yet?

[2:23] Jasmin Savoy Brown: She'll be here in ten.

[2:24] Ellie Brigida: I think I'm gonna walk today. I'll meet you guys there.

[2:46] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Did I let myself think that something had changed?

[2:51] Ellie Brigida: Did I really believe that it wasn't just more of the same?

[2:58] Jasmin Savoy Brown: That life has a way of making things right?

[3:05] Ellie Brigida: Well, I guess the mistake was all mine.

[3:12] Jasmin Savoy Brown: You would think I'd have learned not to get up my hopes.

[3:18] Ellie Brigida: You would think I'd remember how this story goes.

[3:23] Jasmin Savoy Brown: You'd think I would know when you let down your walls.

[3:30] Ellie Brigida: And you'd feel yourself starting to fall.

[3:36] Jasmin Savoy Brown: That there's nothing to catch you at all.

[3:42] Ellie Brigida: When's it my time? When's it my turn? When do the colors begin to burst?

[3:57] Jasmin Savoy Brown: When do I find the person for me? Where is the girl that's meant to be mine?

[4:13] Ellie Brigida: Because I never lost hope that I'd find her someday.

[4:21] Jasmin Savoy Brown: If I ever felt doubts creeping in, I just pushed them away.

[4:28] Ellie Brigida: I wasn't afraid to wait for the dawn. But the night has gone on for so long.

[4:42] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Is it time to wake up? Let go of the dream.

[4:47] Ellie Brigida: Is it time to stop chasing a ghost that I've never quite seen?

[4:54] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Is she real? The girl in my head?

[4:59] Ellie Brigida: Am I only pretending she's out there at all?

[5:05] Jasmin Savoy Brown: When's it my time? When's it my turn? When do the colors begin to burst?

[5:17] Ellie Brigida: When will I find the person for me? Where is the girl that's meant to be mine?

[5:34] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Ooh, mine.

[5:48] Ellie Brigida: That's meant to be mine.

[6:03] Harrison White: Let's see how Sam is doing.

[6:14] Ellie Brigida: You look terrible.

[6:17] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Thanks.

[6:18] Ellie Brigida: I heard you leave last night, or should I say this morning?

[6:22] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I went back to Dad's to finish packing his office.

[6:25] Ellie Brigida: You're like a raccoon in the night, going through the dumpsters.

[6:30] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I've actually found some great stuff. A lot of photos I didn't even know existed.

[6:35] Ellie Brigida: It's wild my dad kept stuff like that in his office and not at home.

[6:39] Jasmin Savoy Brown: That was more of a dig based on the fact that you refused to show your face around the bar in daylight hours.

[6:45] Ellie Brigida: Why would I?

[6:47] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Because you felt terrible since that night.

[6:49] Ellie Brigida: And you know if you actually communicated with Jamie, this would all be fixed.

[6:54] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Okay, if you feel so bad for her, maybe you should go help her pack.

[6:58] Ellie Brigida: Obviously I am. Because in what world would I wear yoga pants outside of a hot studio?

[7:03] Jasmin Savoy Brown: And I don't feel bad for her. I feel bad for you.

[7:07] Ellie Brigida: Jamie has an entire community of people to fall back on and you just have me and Victor's depressed bird.

[7:17] Jasmin Savoy Brown: What's wrong with that? It's always been you and me.

[7:20] Ellie Brigida: I know. And I love you more than I love life itself. You know that.

[7:25] Jasmin Savoy Brown: But don't we deserve more? It doesn't just have to be us against the world anymore.

[7:32] Ellie Brigida: I see that Jamie's optimism for the world has rubbed off on you.

[7:35] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I don't think optimistic is the word I'd use for her currently.

[7:39] Ellie Brigida: But she does have a sense of joie de vivre that is contagious.

[7:43] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Oh my god that means the same thing but in French.

[7:47] Ellie Brigida: Is it? Whatever. All I know is that Jamie has a bar full of people to get her through one of the hardest moments of her life and—

[7:55] Jasmin Savoy Brown: She'd have one more person if you left and stopped lecturing me.

[7:58] Ellie Brigida: I am not taking her side, Samantha.

[8:01] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I didn't say you were, Carmelina.

[8:03] Ellie Brigida: Ew.

[8:04] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Yeah, it felt wrong as I was saying it.

[8:08] Ellie Brigida: Fine. You want to be stubborn and stay hold up in my apartment, you do you.

[8:14] Jasmin Savoy Brown: But I wouldn't be your best and only friend if I didn't say this.

[8:19] Ellie Brigida: I've watched you make a lot of questionable decisions in your life.

[8:22] Jasmin Savoy Brown: From minoring in Latin because the professor was hot, to doing a semester abroad so that you could follow that boy band across Europe.

[8:29] Ellie Brigida: But this decision is the first one I really think is a mistake.

[8:35] Jasmin Savoy Brown: And I love you and I want you to be happy.

[8:39] Ellie Brigida: So just think about what you really want.

[8:45] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Okay, I'm off to make sure my girlfriend and her friends don't drink their weight in well-crafted microbeers.

[8:50] Ellie Brigida: I hope to see you there.

[8:53] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I hate it when she gets introspective on me.

[8:58] Ellie Brigida: It's what a good friend does.

[9:01] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Worst friend ever.

[9:04] Harrison White: While Sam thinks over what Mel told her, let's see how Jamie and the rest of the Patrons of the Flame are holding up.

[9:13] Ellie Brigida: All right, all right, all right, everyone. It's time for the sappy part of the day. If you wrote down your name to speak, please line up over here.

[9:23] Ellie Brigida: The Flame is our good luck charm. We always won a game if we pre-gamed here the night before.

[9:32] Jasmin Savoy Brown: It's why we always lost our Wednesday night games.

[9:37] Ellie Brigida: I had only been to the bar a few times, but Jamie had heard about my surgery and had set up a food train for me.

[9:46] Jasmin Savoy Brown: When I woke up, one of the first things I saw were the flowers Jamie had sent me.

[9:51] Ellie Brigida: And a very cool sports bra with the Flame logo on it.

[9:56] Jasmin Savoy Brown: And I still wear it. All these years later.

[10:04] Ellie Brigida: Ashley and I went to the same college.

[10:08] Jasmin Savoy Brown: We worked in the same office park and we lived in the same building.

[10:12] Ellie Brigida: But we never would have met if it weren't for trivia night.

[10:15] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I honestly don't know where I'd be if it weren't for the Flame.

[10:21] Ellie Brigida: Hey, you ready?

[10:24] Jasmin Savoy Brown: As ready as I could be.

[10:26] Ellie Brigida: You got this, Jamie.

[10:31] Ellie Brigida: I want to take a moment from the festivities to thank all of you. The Flame started off as a scribble of an idea in a notebook and then a whispered conversation with my best friend.

[10:42] Ellie Brigida: Somehow, after six years of saving, I met possibly the most important man of my life, Victor Harris.

[10:51] Ellie Brigida: And he saw something in me and my gay little oasis. There were a lot of times that I thought I was going to fail. Times that I didn't think I could put any more into this bar.

[11:03] Ellie Brigida: But Victor was always there with helpful advice or one of his bear hugs.

[11:08] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Oh, she's doing good up there.

[11:10] Harrison White: Yeah, I was a little worried, but she's really holding it together.

[11:14] Ellie Brigida: And that's why you can't trust anything. Because you'll be happy for years, you'll feel safe, and then it'll all be ripped away from you.

[11:22] Jasmin Savoy Brown: There it is.

[11:24] Ellie Brigida: Shit.

[11:25] Jasmin Savoy Brown: All right, then. Looks like someone has had a little too much to drink and not enough salty pretzels, which don't forget to take as many boxes of pretzels home as you want. We'll be right back.

[11:41] Ellie Brigida: Can you guys run the stage for a bit? We're gonna go get some fresh air.

[11:44] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Of course.

[11:46] Ellie Brigida: Maybe we can do some karaoke.

[11:48] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Excuse me. Who here is single and doesn't want to be?

[11:56] Ellie Brigida: Oh, great. We are going to fix that.

[11:58] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Never mind. Just make sure we don't come back to an orgy.

[12:04] Ellie Brigida: Why in the world is Sam wearing a hoodie and a beanie in this heat?

[12:10] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I'll just finish packing Dad's desk, and then I can avoid this building till the end of time.

[12:18] Ellie Brigida: Crap. How is it hotter out here than in the bar?

[12:22] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Jeez. Global warming is gonna kill us.

[12:24] Ellie Brigida: Mm-hmm. Eat your pretzels, Jamie.

[12:27] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I'm not gonna eat my pretzels.

[12:29] Ellie Brigida: I'm not gonna eat my pretzels.

[12:30] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I'm not gonna eat my pretzels.

[12:32] Ellie Brigida: Eat your pretzels, Jamie.

[12:35] Jasmin Savoy Brown: What was that?

[12:37] Ellie Brigida: The raccoons are probably throwing a party, too.

[12:41] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Jesus, are they throwing a rave?

[12:45] Ellie Brigida: That was hard to watch.

[12:55] Jasmin Savoy Brown: She really cleaned up the place in the last week.

[12:58] Ellie Brigida: I wonder what she's gonna do with all of this.

[13:01] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Maybe if I roll the dumpster to the side of the stairs, I could throw it off the side.

[13:05] Ellie Brigida: Of course. Yay, desk time.

[13:13] Jasmin Savoy Brown: My eighth grade graduation.

[13:16] Ellie Brigida: God, I do not miss those braces.

[13:19] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Oh, Mel's junior prom.

[13:21] Ellie Brigida: Scene kids meet prom.

[13:23] Jasmin Savoy Brown: So much hot pink tulle.

[13:24] Ellie Brigida: Gross.

[13:26] Jasmin Savoy Brown: What's this?

[13:28] Ellie Brigida: You should read it.

[13:30] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Okay.

[13:35] Jasmin Savoy Brown: Sammy, I hope I'm able to get this letter to you eventually. I don't seem to have your newest mailing address, but I'm sure I'll get ahold of you at some point and be able to mail it out. Either way, I had some things on my mind, so I thought I'd write them down now.

[13:49] Jasmin Savoy Brown: There was so much I've wanted to say to you. In trying to do what I thought was best, I ruined one of the best things in my life, our relationship. I should have let you know how much I loved you and wanted you to be with me.

[14:02] Jasmin Savoy Brown: I thought, for some dumb reason, that living with your mother would be best for you, and that holiday breaks would be enough to show you how much I loved you. I want to say first that I wasn't snooping, but I was looking for that article the newspaper wrote about you in college, and I found your blog. And I read it. I'm sorry if that was an invasion of privacy. I...

[14:27] Harrison White: There was so much I didn't know about you. Congrats on making it to the Racquetball Championship, by the way. I'm sure you deserve to win more than the other girl. More importantly, I read your post on October 11th. I'm so proud of you for coming out. I'm sure it was a hard thing to do, but you are your father's daughter, and you're made of strong stuff. I always wanted to tell you that I knew, but everything told me I should wait for you to come to me. Anyway, I was in the bar today, and two of our regulars, Ashley and Jessica, got engaged. It got me to thinking about you, and whether you have anyone special in your life right now. It just got me to thinking. If you had someone like Jamie, she's a girl who runs the bar for me.

I know that she had a girl for a while, but it's been so long since I've seen her smile. I'll bet you make her smile. You always made me smile, and though it's been a while since we spoke, I wanted you to know that you always got a home you can go to. It's no longer the place you know where you grew up. It was time for a change, I thought. People needed somewhere safe to call their own, and I thought maybe if you come home, then you can meet a nice girl like Jamie, or just anyone who cares for you. Someone who sees you like you're the only thing in their world, because you'll always be my baby girl. No matter who you love, I want you to be loved like I always loved you. I think it's time for me to get back in there.

It sounds like Jo and Mel have it under control. The bar is only open for like one more hour. I shouldn't waste it out here. What, you think you're too good for one more dumpster cry? I've had some good cries out here. Remember the cry of 2016? Oh yeah, I slept like a baby after that. I almost called one of those businesses that comes to your house with IV fluids. You've always had my back. Always. And wherever the flame 2 ends up, I'll still be right there with you. I guess I thought the bar could still be saved. The plans that we had made together weren't all for naught. And we would find a way to fight another day here at the flame. I don't know how to say goodbye to the home we've built. How do I act like it's all right when I'm choked by guilt? That somehow that's not even the hardest part.

[19:22] Jamie: It's not?

[19:23] Sam: No.

[19:24] Jamie: Then what is, Jamie?

[19:26] Jamie: I really thought that I had found the one. My time had finally come, and she was beautiful and funny, and I could see my life with her. But now she's gone, and I'm all alone again.

[19:52] Sam: So, just to make sure I'm following this correctly. You really thought that I could be the one, although we'd just begun. And that you're beautiful and funny, and funny, and I could share my life with you. That's what you thought.

[20:19] Jamie: That's what I thought.

[20:23] Sam: That's what I thought.

[20:27] Jamie: You have one last shot, baby girl.

[20:30] Sam: Can I talk to you?

[20:37] Jamie: We were actually about to head in. See you never.

[20:41] Sam: Jamie, please?

[20:44] Jamie: I'll be in in a minute, Heather.

[20:46] Sam: Seriously?

[20:47] Jamie: Five minutes, I promise.

[20:49] Sam: Fine. What do you want?

[20:53] Jamie: I needed to talk to you.

[20:54] Sam: Yeah, I got that part. I was wrong about how I handled everything. I know that now. I knew it a few hours after our fight. I just thought it was too late, and we were already too broken to fix.

[21:05] Jamie: You didn't even give us a chance to be a we.

[21:07] Sam: I know. I'm sorry.

[21:11] Jamie: It's okay.

[21:12] Sam: It's not. I hurt you, and I'm really sorry.

[21:17] Jamie: I accept your apology.

[21:19] Sam: Thanks. I should probably head. My dad wrote me a letter.

[21:25] Jamie: Oh, I'm glad you have something from him to hold on to.

[21:29] Sam: He talked about you.

[21:31] Jamie: Yeah?

[21:33] Sam: He really loved you.

[21:35] Jamie: Well, I loved him too. He knew the entire time that I was gay. He was just waiting for me to tell him.

[21:45] Sam: I'm not selling the building to Harold.

[21:47] Jamie: Good. Your dad hated him.

[21:49] Sam: Yeah, but I mean, I'm not selling the building at all.

[21:53] Jamie: Okay.

[21:54] Sam: I wasn't going to, even before I read the letter. I didn't really think about what I was going to do with the building. I realize I don't really think a lot in general about the things that matter anyway.

[22:06] Jamie: Why are you telling me this?

[22:08] Sam: I really like you, Jamie. I have since you tried to get me to join your cult. And I'm so used to planning my exit strategy that I never appreciate the good things around me until it's too late. And I don't want it to be too late for us.

[22:22] Harrison White: Last call. This is the flame's last call.

[22:28] Sam: I'm giving you the building.

[22:29] Jamie: What?

[22:30] Sam: It's yours. It's always been yours. My dad would have wanted you to have it.

[22:35] Jamie: Seriously?

[22:36] Sam: Yeah. And I want to take you out on a date that doesn't involve shellfish of any kind.

[22:41] Jamie: Sam.

[22:42] Sam: And the building is not a bribe. If you never want to see me again, that's totally understandable. But I really like you. And I hate to plagiarize, but you said it best. I think I could love you really soon. Like tomorrow morning soon. So can I take you on a date?

[22:59] Jamie: I don't know. I'm going to be a little busy being a building owner now. I don't know if you heard, but this Twilight nerd gifted me with a building, even though I already totally forgave her for her heartfelt apology.

[23:08] Sam: I told you the building wasn't a bribe. Didn't you say once that you were looking forward to us making up? Just kiss me.

[23:21] Jamie: Come on, Jamie. We're all having one last shot. Oh, so funny story. I own the building now. So let's turn that last shot into a celebratory shot.

[23:31] Sam: What?

[23:32] Jamie: Yeah. Looks like we're staying for good.

[23:36] Sam: Hey, Heather.

[23:37] Jamie: Sorry.

[23:38] Sam: Sorry. I forgot you guys for being all romantic by the dumpster.

[23:42] Jamie: I'll be right in, Heather.

[23:44] Sam: Good, but actually come in this time.

[23:46] Jamie: We will.

[23:50] Sam: You want to go tell everyone that you saved the bar?

[23:53] Jamie: I didn't save the bar. I just stopped myself from ruining it. That's all that matters sometimes.

[23:58] Sam: All right. Don't get too deep with me. I'm still reeling from Mel's heart to heart earlier and my dad's letter. I am emotionally kaput. Talking about Mel, I think Heather mentioned something with her planning an orgy.

[24:10] Jamie: Oh, that's happened before. We should probably go inside.

[24:14] Sam: Why are you dressed for a winter day? You know, it's like 80 out, right?

[24:18] Jamie: I was trying to be stealthy.

[24:20] Sam: All right, weirdo. I have a shirt you can borrow in the back.

[24:24] Jamie: That's all a dad wants to see for his baby girl to be happy. And I know Jamie will take good care of her and my bar.

[24:36] Harrison White: All right, Victor. Mission completed. What's next?

[24:50] Sam: Ready for your grand reopening?

[25:02] Jamie: A month full of remodeling that I thought we were going to hire professionals to do.

[25:08] Sam: At this point, we practically are professionals. Think of it as very, very labor intense bonding.

[25:14] Jamie: Oh, I had fun.

[25:16] Sam: See? Mel didn't do anything.

[25:19] Jamie: Didn't I go over all your contracts and renegotiate them for you?

[25:23] Sam: Because you're my best friend. Hey, let's open the doors before there's another friendship war.

[25:30] Jamie: Good idea. All right, Jamie. It's 5:59. I think they've been waiting long enough. Let's get those doors open.

[25:49] Harrison White: Because here at the flame, you can write your next chapter. Don't be afraid of your happy ever after. Because when you think that love will never come through, a new beginning could be waiting for you here at the flame.

[26:19] Harrison White: Thank you for listening to The Flame. Please subscribe, rate, review, and tell your friends. Join us every Wednesday night at 6 p.m. Pacific Standard Time, 9 p.m. Eastern Standard Time for a weekly listening party on Zoom. Follow @theflamemusical on all social media accounts. The Flame, an LGBTQ romantic comedy musical. Story by Ellie Brigida and Leigh Holmes Foster. Book by Caitlin Clear. Music and lyrics by Leigh Holmes Foster with additional lyrics by Caitlin Clear. Directed by Caitlin Clear and Valerie Rose Lohman. Produced by Lez Hang Out Productions, Ellie Brigida, Caitlin Clear, Valerie Rose Lohman, Leigh Holmes Foster, David and Ann Mortimer, Sheri Moses, Andrew Bramson, Tien Tran, Abby Nissenbaum, Dylan Adams, Liz Shen, and Meghan Gunther.

Starring Jasmin Savoy Brown as Sam, Jenn Colella as Jo, Ellie Brigida as Jamie, Leigh Holmes Foster as Heather, Harrison White as the Narrator, Valerie Rose Lohman as Mel. Guest starring Dana Piccoli as Jessica, Liz Mongrello as Ashley, and Vico Ortiz as Lillian. Additional ensemble vocals by Dana Arnett, Brianna Bonilla, Lisa Charlotte, Benjamin Doncombe, Ashton Grooms, E. Maloney, Quince Mobley, Liz Mongrello, Sydney Nicholson, Vico Ortiz, Dana Piccoli, Saria Skyler, and Mickey Rose Wadsworth. Orchestrated by Ellie Brigida. Additional orchestration by Alan McCourt and Beth Goodman. Sound editing, sound engineering, and song recordings produced by Ellie Brigida. Dialogue editing by Leigh Holmes Foster.

Additional song recordings by Heidi Martin. Logo design by Selena Benally. Additional graphic design by Emily Doolittle. Musical director, Ellie Brigida. Assistant musical director, Marissa Dibba. And in our lovely orchestra, we have Alan McCourt on violin and viola, Molly Goldstein on cello, Beth Goodman on winds, Brianna Childers on French horn, Grace Massara on drums, Bethany Vandenbrink on bass guitar, Janna Heidenreich and Ellie Brigida on electric guitars, Ellie Brigida on piano, Rich Kelly on trumpet, and Ben Owens on trombone. Thank you so much for listening to The Flame. Drinks on me next week.