“High Concept Harry”
Micci, Ronald, Ronald (American playwright, advertising proofreader-editor, 1948-____), “High Concept Harry,”
a 20-minute dark comedy in English, set in Harry Fleck’s literary/talent office in Hollywood, afternoon, 2000,
2m
;
§ Dramatis
Personae Harry Fleck (m), hotshot Hollywood agent, plump, obnoxious,
cigar-chomping wheeler-dealer, would-be Hollywood literary and talent agent;
in fact, a patient in a
§ Synopsis
“In an effort to pit one studio against another in a script bidding war,
Harry Fleck, hotshot Hollywood agent, is working the phones, playing the
angles. His generally ruthless tactics are evident in his various rantings—against
his secretary, who has misplaced his contracts, one or two studio execs,
a producer who owes him money, and one of his authors, a confirmed alcoholic.
Just as his frustration seems to reach a crescendo, he is joined by a doctor
and nurse, who have come to return him to the general inmate population
of the mental institution of which he is a resident.
§ Comment
“This Twilight Zone ending was tagged on in order for the piece
to fit the 15-20 minute requirement of Playwrights Express.
• Script contains profanity, including the f-word. •
The
play was subsequently extended to three acts, with the original ending
scrapped and with Harry worried that a love note sent to him by a
development exec he’s been carrying on with has been intercepted by his
wife. At the end of Act I, his secretary joins him, with the revelation
that his wife was snooping around, and how else could they explain the
disappearance of the contracts. Act II is a meeting between Harry and his
girlfriend in which Harry informs her that his wife has intercepted the
letter. But the shoulder he's come to cry on is anything but sympathetic,
and as the second act closes, he’s ready to abandon his new love interest
and go home and face the music. After he and his paramour leave the bistro,
his secretary appears with an urgent message—she’s found the contracts.
But he’s nowhere to be found. The third act is a confrontation between
Harry and his wife, who has been waiting for him there. And just when it
seems Harry is done for, in comes his secretary with the good news, and
he slips off the hook, and off he goes with the secretary to pursue a love
interest he has too long neglected.”
§ Themes agent, alcoholism, bidding war, Hollywood, mental institution, ruthlessness, script, studio, tactics.
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Page entered May 27, 1998, and updated November 15, 1998, April 2, 1999, July 8, 2000, May 12, 15, 2001, October 22, 23, December 5, 2003, by
the site Webmaster.
• ©
1993,
2000 by Ronald Micci; • script/rights
available from Ronald
Micci,
75 Vreeland Avenue, Rutherford, New Jersey 07070, U.S.A., e-mail RVMicci@comcast.net,
RVMicci@comcast.net, telephone (home) 201-438-3267. • Cited by
Ronald
Micci via ftp, May 27, 1998, revised
version cited May 10, 2001; Micci says,
psychiatric ward who enjoys acting out delusions of
grandeur; Doctor (m), psychiatrist treating Harry.
See also Ron Micci’s:
“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
“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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