A small town girl disobeys her parents to pursue her passion and achieve her dreams of being a Broadway star with the help of old friends and new. 

SYNOPSIS:

“Stage Surfer”

Synopsis by: Erica Parks

Parks.erica@comcast.net

A small town girl disobeys her parents to pursue her passion and achieve her dreams of being a Broadway star with the help of friends, old and new.

“Stage Surfer” follows teenage Isabelle Jackson, and her journey from being a surfer girl in southern California, to Broadway Star while learning to cope with her mental health and insecurities. One afternoon in September, Danielle and Isabelle receive a letter of condolence for her older brother Alex, whom of which was fighting in the US Military in Iraq. Growing into her teenage years after the loss of her brother, Isabelle develops severe depression, anxiety, and body insecurities, which lead to an eating disorder lasting about 8 months (September-June). Flash forward to the end of the school year, Isabelle, her best friend Raven, and her boyfriend Caleb on their last day of freshman year of high school. With a surf meet the following weekend, the three kids head to the beach to get one final run in before Isabelle heads home to have dinner with her parents. However the plan is scratched once Isabelle hears her parents arguing about her father Mark’s blatant disregard for Isabelle and her mother, Danielle, after she brings up the auditions for the new Broadway Revival of “Love That’s Given”

Instead of going to dinner, Isabelle calls Raven and Caleb to meet at Santa Monica Pier where they then find the same audition listing Danielle had found a few hours earlier. The three kids collectively decided and came up with a plan to skip the surf meet, and head to the audition in New York.

The morning the kids are leaving for New York, Danielle explains to Isabelle she is going to stay with her Grandparents in Seattle while the divorce is finalized. Isabelle shares how she will be staying with Raven for a few days.

The flight lands in New York minutes before the audition, however, Isabelle manages to arrive just in time for the audition, where we meet Amber, the associate director for the production. At the audition, Isabelle shares a stage name with Amber while collecting her callback sides. Amber graciously invites Isabelle, Raven, and Caleb to stay at her apartment for the night. When the kids arrive at Amber’s apartment, Raven receives a text message from her mother, stating she found out where the kids went after Raven forgot to turn off location sharing. The three kids have twenty-four hours to return to California, otherwise, their parents will be told everything. After overhearing this conversation, Amber finds out the truth about Isabelle and plans to help her keep it a secret. Isabelle ends up deciding to stay with Amber in New York and carry out the audition process.

The following day, Isabelle meets Amber’s younger cousin Matthew, who is auditioning for the role opposite Isabelle. Once Isabelle and Matthew are home alone, Matthew begins to flirt poorly with Isabelle and ends up kissing her instead of rehearsing the sides as Amber suggested. Later, at callbacks, Isabelle contains poor emotion and chemistry performing her sides with Matthew. When the director of the show, Linda Young, instructs the two to rehearse in a nearby dressing room, where when doing the scene, Matthew kisses Isabelle again. However this time, Isabelle has a flashback to when she and Caleb said almost the same words. While in a romantic state of mind, Amber walks in on Isabelle and Matthew still in a kiss. When performing the scene for Linda again, Isabelle displays much more emotion and chemistry, later stating she was picturing doing the scene with Caleb.

However later that night, Isabelle sees on social media a post from Caleb dating another girl back in California. The next morning, Isabelle wakes up to Amber sharing she had booked the role of Natalie in the Broadway Revival of “Life That’s Normal”. Isabelle’s excitement quickly fades when she realizes she has to tell Linda the full story due to contractual agreements. Linda comes to her senses and allows Isabelle to stay with the production if she finds a way to get her parent’s permission. Isabelle blatantly disregards Linda’s instructions and forges her parent’s signatures without their consent.

Later that day, Isabelle meets Matthew’s girlfriend Olivia, Isabelle’s understudy in the production. Olivia and Matthew plan to give Isabelle food poisoning for Olivia to take over the main role, however, the plan backfires on them. Isabelle continues to rehearse with the company all the way up to the night before opening. While Amber stops to pick up her dry cleaning on the way home, Isabelle calls Raven asking for help because everyone is expecting to meet her parents after the show, even though they have no idea Isabelle is a part of the production. Olivia is secretly listening in on her conversation and manages to find a time at the theatre the next day to call Danielle, who barges into the theatre in the middle of the performance with Raven right behind her.

Isabelle’s panic sets in when she realizes how big her mistake was. Danielle’s anger is escalating until she sees Isabelle meet with a reviewer after the show, and see’s how talented her daughter really is. Danielle quickly comes around to be proud of Isabelle, and since the divorce is finalized, the two see no reason for staying in Santa Monica. While Isabelle is explaining the story to Danielle in her dressing room, Amber overhears a conversation happening between Matthew and Olivia. Their punishments for trying to sabotage Isabelle’s performance are put into place, while the rest of the company goes out to celebrate their opening night.