Issue #9

Abstract

Issue #9 is a two-act musical about the relationship between Natalie and her daughter Lexi. Issue #9 has 8 songs, and a cast of 7 actors. It follows the story of Natatlie Roxbury and her daughter Lexi. It’s 1995 when they move to Germantown, New York, after leaving their abusive patriarch. Natalie meets Sandy Scotch, the owner of the local, “Grand Golden Gas Station”. Sandy offers Natalie a job working the late shifts at the gas station. Jumping on the opportunity, Natalie and Lexi become part of the gas station's “family”, joining Sandy’s niece, Candy. 12-year-old Lexi also meets Ashely and Taylor, the mean girls of the town. They the gas station every month to pick up the most popular teen magazine of the time, “Kamikaze Magazine”. Looking for new friends, Lexi joins the duo, even though it means she has to do “toxic” things to maintain their friendship. The three of them follow dangerous trends to attain society’s views of beauty (skipping meals, chewing gum, negative self-comparison etc…) After some time, has passed Lexi has developed a full eating disorder, along with signs of depression and anxiety. Terrified that she will be stuck in this physical/mental torture, she decides the only solution is to end her life. Natalie doesn't notice, so she dismisses Lexi's problems as a normal “teenage thing”. Lexi ends up taking oxycontin she steals from Candy, who is fully addicted to opioids. After her death, Natalie is completely lost. After ?Ashley tells her that her daughter's death was a part of “God's Plan”, she decides to avenge her. She puts strychnine (rodent poison) into an issue of Kamikaze Magazine and gives it to Ashely, who then dies. Feeling that she has to show the magazine's toxicity to society, she decides to randomly poison 10 more magazines. In the end, she gets caught and sentenced to death. Natalie and Lexi finally resolve their issues and reunite in the afterlife.