Micci, Ronald, Ronald (American playwright, advertising proofreader-editor,
1948-____ ), “Biff Bang, American Hero™,”
a 10-minute comedy spoof of radio cliffhangers in English,
set in the cockpit of Biff’s fighter bomber, 1998,
2m1f,
© 1998 by Ronald Micci, script/rights available
from Ronald Micci, 75 Vreeland
Avenue, Rutherford, New Jersey 07070, U.S.A., e-mail RMicci@mail.batesww.com.
Cited by Ronald V. Micci via e-mail, February 19, 1998, and via ftp, May
26, 1998; Micci says,
§ Dramatis
Personae Biff (m), Ace fighter pilot and American hero; Penny (f),
Biff’s wholesome high school sweetheart; Voice (m), a radio announcer/narrator.
§ Synopsis
“Chapter One: ‘Biff’s Bravest Bang.’ Ace fighter pilot Biff and Penny cling
to each other for dear life in the cockpit of Biff’s fighter-bomber as
Biff battles Nazi crop-dusters over Iowa cornfields and the plane spirals
dangerously out of control, threatening to crash. ‘The joystick, Biff.
It may be our only hope.’ ‘You mean, it was our only hope.’ Plus exposition,
explaining how Biff took Penny out of algebra class to fight latter day
Nazis over Iowa cornfields, rising to her country’s call. ‘But Biff, that’s
my father down there.’ ‘Is it, Penny? I don’t think so.’ And so forth,
until Biff spots a landing field, they both hold on for dear life, then
land safely.
§ Comment
“Send-up of Hollywood matinee serials. Chapters are ten minutes each. Chapter
1: Biff’s Bravest Bang. Chapter 2: Biff, Japs & Jungle Fever. Chapter
3: Biff, Breck and Beastly Bangs. This piece was presented as part of First
Stage/Hollywood’s Playwrights Express this year [1998], videotaped, and
veryenthusiastically received.”
Addendum 020312: “Biff
Bang, American Hero (2m,1f) (10 min. each)
Ace fighter pilot hero
Biff Bang, mustered out of WWII combat duty
prematurely and looking
to make up for it, patrols the skies with
mock British flair, taking
on a series of imagined foes with his
high school sweetheart
Penny at his side. First up -- "Nazi" crop
dusters over Iowa cornfields.
A good-natured spoof of radio action
melodramas. (Chapter
One: Biff's Bravest Bang/Chapter Two: Biff,
Japs & Jungle Fever/Chapter
Three: Biff, Breck & Beastly Bangs).”
§ Themes
ace, battle, cornfield, crash, crop duster, fighter pilot, Hollywood, fighter-bomber,
heroism, hope, Iowa, landing, longtime relationship, matinee serial, Nazi,
satire.
See also Ron Micci’s:
-
“Addie and Me,”
a melodrama, set in the bedroom of Melanie, a teenage girl, night, 2000,
1f
-
“Attack of the
Radar People,” a 15-minute radio farce, set in an old-time radio broadcast
studio, 1950s, 2m1f (or 3m1f)
-
“Dark Snow,” a
10-minute melodramatic monologue in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s
home in the New York woods, 1997, 1f [see items below for 2f versions]
-
“Dark Snow,” a
5-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home in
the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow, Evening,”
a 10-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home
in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow, Morning,”
a 10-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s home
in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dark Snow,” definitive
version, a 20-minute melodrama in English set in the parlor of Aunt Lida’s
home in the New York woods, 1997, 2f [see above for 1f version]
-
“Dink Fast, Harry!” a 10-minute detective
comedy-melodrama in English, set in Harry Dinker’s dumpy office, daytime,
1998, 2m1f
-
“Director's Cut,”
a 7-minute film noir, set on a Hollywood set, 1940s, 2m
-
“Flying Medusas,” a 10-minute contemporary
farce in English, set in the theater of the absurd, at no specified time,
1m1f
-
“The Grackle,” a 10-minute radio melodrama-farce
in English, set in a radio broadcast studio, 1930s, 2m1f (but could be
played with any combo of m/f)
-
“Happy Endings,”
a 15-minute comedy-fantasy in English, set in
the living-room of Cornweevil homestead in Midwest, 1996, 2m1f
-
“Harry Dinker,
Private Eye,”a 10-minute detective parody in English, set in Harry
Dinker’s office in the “downtown section of a grimy city nobody has any
use for,” afternoon, 1998,1m1f or 2m
-
“Heat Lightning,” a 15-minute comedy-melodrama
in English, set in the downstairs parlor of a broken-down Southern
mansion, on a stormy night, May, 2001, 1m1f
-
“Herman,” a 10
minute comedy in English, 1m3f
-
“High Concept Harry,”
a 20-minute dark comedy in English, set in Harry Fleck’s literary/talent
office in Hollywood, afternoon, 2000, 2m
-
“I, Dadius,” a
15-minute comedy-drama in English, set in the living room of a cozy suburban
home, winter, 2000, 1m
-
“I Sing to You
of Robin Hood,” a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a tavern in Nottingham,
12th century, 3m1f
-
“Kid Valium,”
a 15-minute comedy in English, set in a big city gymnasium, the day of
the big title fight, 2000, 3m1f
“Love’s Cousin
in the Carolinas,” a 13-minute romantic comedy in English, set at a
park bench in the suburbanNortheast, U.S.A., a Saturday afternoon in late
summer, 1998, 1m1f
-
“Moonlight’s Little Madness,” a 40-minute
drawing room farce in English set in the parlor of the Prescott country
estate, England, a spring evening during the Victorian Era, 2m
-
“Mr. Gilkey’s Flagpole,”
a 15-minute comedy in English, set on the lawn of Mr. Gilkey's home in
England, afternoon, 1998, 1m2f
-
“November,” a
15-minute tragedy in English in two scenes, set (1) in the downstairs of
a house on a lake in the Northeastern United States and (2) on the lake,
a November afternoon, 2000, 1m1f
-
“Parasites of Ol’
Broadway,” a 15-minute comedy/melodrama in English, set in an alleyway
on Lower Broadway, October, 1997, 2m1f
-
“A Public Service
Announcement,” a bare-stage 5-minute contemporary surrealist farce
in English, set in an abstract area, daytime,
2001, 1m1f
-
“Rough Cut,”a 10-minute
comedy/melodrama in English, set in a men's haircutting salon (barber shop)
in Beverly Hills, October, 1997, 3m
-
“Tea Cozy,”a 12-minute
melodrama, in English, set in The living room of a suburban home, midday,
1998, 2f
-
“Thank You, Charlie
Chan,” a 10-minute crime melodrama. set in a hotel room in midtown
Manhattan, night, 1930s, 3m
-
“Thebes Like Us,”
a 10-minute spy parody in English set in a cafe on the Nile, 1996, 2m1f
-
“Thin Laughter in Heaven,” a 10-minute bare-stage
melodrama in English, set on a cliff overlooking a lake, May, 2001, 1m
-
“Tragic &
Trapped in Teaneck,” a 13-minute comic melodrama in English, set in
the parlor of a home in Teaneck,New Jersey, U.S.A., afternoon, turn of
the last century, 2m1f
-
“Wild About Harry!” a 15-minute detective
farce in English, set in a sleazy gin joint; later, Harry’s apartment,
night, 2001, 2m1f
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Page mounted November 14, 1998, and updated November 15, 17, 1998, July 8, 2000, May 15, 2001, March 12, 2002, October 21, 22, December 5, 2003, by the site Webmaster.
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