The Roadshow
If you are looking for a hardcore sexual story, this is not it — you should probably try a different story. This story is intentionally melodramatic and morally contradictory.
One of the traditions in Mormon culture is a connection to the performance arts. From the very beginning, even while walking across America as pioneers, the Mormons would stop for social events including music, dance, and drama. From the 1840s to the 1990s youth and adults performed short skits from one church building to another in what came to be called a “roadshow.”
The roadshow is a unique art form — 15- to 20-minute plays typically with dancing and musical scores. A good roadshow has vibrant characters, an absurd storyline, and lots of music. With amateur script writers and performers, the plays usually had bad acting, often with a campy or melodramatic tone. Since they traveled from one church building to several others, all in one night, the sets and lighting were usually simplistic, and the costuming varied depending on the local budget.
This is the story of our local congregation’s participation in a roadshow event.
The following story is fictional, and the characters are not based on any single individual — though they are a compilation of characteristics and personalities encountered in real life and in the author’s imagination. Any resemblance to any particular person is not intentional. These characters live in a fantasy world where there are no STDs and no unwanted pregnancies resulting from unprotected sex.
Characters in this story:
Your narrator
Meg (narrator’s wife) playing the role of Rose Gardner
Marsha (Character in the play – Rose’s friend)
Joey Gardner (Character in the play – Rose’s father)
Debbie Gardner (Character in the play – Rose’s mother)
Paul and Penny (Character on the train who are eloping)
Eli — a friend playing the role of the biker at the rock festival
Marie Wright — audio recording director
A four-member choir.
Several extras playing in the background of our story.
—–
“Within One Heart” is a modern adaptation of an L.D.S. Roadshow that was originally performed in Syracuse, Utah, in 1991. This adaptation is a coming-of-age story about a young girl named Rose who grew up with a father who didn’t follow church teachings, and her struggle to hold on to the moral teachings of her faithful mother.
SCENE I (set in the modern day): The sitting room of an old house has wallpaper that looks like it was installed in the 1890s. The photos and paintings on the wall are barely visible because of the darkness of the room — the curtains are drawn over the windows. There are no modern technologies in the room, just an antique radio sitting on the mantle above a fireplace. Logs burn inside the fireplace, though the fire appears to be dying.
An old woman walks into the room, leaning on her cane, followed by a gaggle of grandchildren who follow grandma like baby ducks. Grandma turns on a lamp beside her oversized antique chair with a lap blanket across the back. She gestures to the children to sit on the floor as she sits in her chair.
“Children, get ready because I’m going to tell you about my journey,” she said, with a little crack in her voice.
The lights on the stage slowly fade to black, after which the stagehands quickly change the set, and the children leave the room.
From the growing darkness, the voice of Grandma Rose begins her story the day after her graduation from high school. As she speaks, her voice changes from the crackly old woman to an innocent young woman:
“I graduated from Rigby High School in 1968. There were 156 students in my graduating class. After graduation, my best friend Marsha suggested we take the train and see the world. Our boyfriends were leaving for two years of church service and so this would be our only opportunity to explore before we settle down to boring lives of marriage and children.”
SCENE II (set in 1968):
When the stage lights come up, young Rose and Marsha are inside a train compartment with two facing bench seats. Outside a partially curtained window we see lights and trees pass by as the train appears to roll down the tracks.
Rose’s father, Joey Gardner, works as a conductor for the railroad, so she and Marsha can travel anywhere they want for free using her father’s family rail pass. (Okay, so her father lied — he said Marsha was Rose’s sister, instead of her friend. But that way the trip would be free for them both.)
“Go have fun girls!” her father told them. “Don’t come back pregnant,” he laughed.
Rose was thrilled that her father called in some favors to get them a semi-private compartment with padded leather seats instead of being put in coach class with the hordes of noisy people on cloth-covered seats. Compartments also came with semi-private sleeping quarters, so the girls didn’t have to worry about being bothered while they slept.
While the train rolls on into the night, a choral quartet located downstage right starts singing:
Choir:
“Just a small-town girl
Livin’ hatay escort in a lonely world
She took the midnight train going anywhere.”
The other side of the compartment is empty … until a young man and woman come in, obviously in love, his arm draped over her shoulder in a walking embrace.
“Is this seat open?” the man asked.
“Yes, join us,” Marsha answered.
The two lovers step into the compartment and sit on the bench seat facing Rose and Marsha. The young man is wearing jeans and a T-shirt. The young woman is wearing a knee-length skirt and a button-up blouse, with nude-colored nylons under her skirt.
As they get situated, the choir sings:
“Just a city boy
Born and raised in South Ogden
He took the midnight train going anywhere.”
———-
When my wife Meg told me our stake (similar to a diocese) was going to do roadshows, I was surprised. They pretty much disappeared in the 1990s due to budget cuts, but our congregation boundaries had recently changed and apparently our stake president wanted us to get to know each other better by having us perform skits at every church building in the region.
The youth were not very excited by the idea, so it was assigned to the adults — and my wife Meg agreed to take the lead in organizing our congregation’s performance. She knew she wanted to do a rumspringa-type story but with Mormon characters.
Meg came across the old roadshow script of “Within One Heart” and loved the premise but rewrote it in a different timeline. Of course, she cast herself in the lead role of Rose, the naïve 18-year-old new high school graduate going out to see the world.
———-
As the new couple sits down on the facing bench seat, they introduce themselves as Paul and Penny. They are on their way to Nevada to get married and successfully escaped town during the night without their parents stopping them. They are giddy with excitement and can’t seem to resist kissing and touching each other. Eventually they start making out, ignoring Rose and Marsha.
Rose knows about sex — her mother, Debbie, sat her down for “the talk” and warned her about boys, describing them as wolves with sharp teeth. Their eyes are so hypnotizing, their manners nice and polite, until they put their arms around you and attack, stealing a woman’s virginity.
She taught Rose to keep her knees together and button her blouses all the way to the top (the blouse she had on was, in fact, buttoned to the top).
From off stage we hear the voice of Rose’s mother, Debbie: “Save yourself for marriage, dear. Your virtue is more precious than rubies and pearls.”
“I know, mom. I read your diary,” Rose whispers to herself.
Choir: “Don’t stop believin’
Hold on to that feelin’
Don’t stop believin’
Hold on to that feelin’.”
Rose had kissed her boyfriend, but that was all. He tried to touch her breasts, but she told him, “No,” every time. Now, she watches as Paul is openly mauling Penny’s breasts outside her clothing.
It is hard not to stare as the couple in front of her are getting more and more intimate. Rose knows it is not polite to watch them in their personal moment of affection, but she can’t look away — she has never seen anything like this before. She has never even seen her parents display any affection publicly other than a peck on the lips.
The couple knew they were being watched, but they didn’t seem to care. Rose looks at Marsha — she is staring also. They make eye contact with each other — both girls’ pupils are large, their faces in shock.
The train compartment seems to be getting warmer. Rose thinks about opening the window for some fresh air but doesn’t want to interrupt the lovers. Besides, if she opens the window anyone on the outside could look in and see them making out under the light of the compartment. She takes the dining car menu and waives it in front of her face to cool down.
Choir: “When you love a woman
You see your world inside her eyes
When you love a woman
(Well) You know she’s standing by your side
A joy that lasts forever
There’s a band of gold that shines
Waiting somewhere, oh, yeah”
Penny lays back, her side against Paul’s chest with her feet up on the bench seat. He unbuttons several buttons on her blouse and slides his hand inside. Penny’s breasts are not exposed, but Paul’s hand is now touching her skin in her private place. She clearly is enjoying this as her breathing gets faster as she closes her eyes, soaking up the touching.
After a few minutes, she slides her hand up inside Paul’s T-shirt caressing his chest and resting her hand on his breast. With her eyes closed, and her hand inside Paul’s shirt, it seems like maybe she is going to sleep.
Rose’s mother had warned her about boys who get so excited by sex that they can’t stop themselves — they violate women. But Penny isn’t being violated. She is a full partner in their mutual touching. Rose’s hand instinctually begins massaging her own breast.
Rose’s nipples harden as she touches herself, watching ığdır escort the couple make out on the bench just inches away from her. She doesn’t know why, but she reaches out to put her hand on Penny’s other hand, giving it a squeeze and caress. Maybe it is to let her know that she isn’t alone — to remind her that they have an audience. Maybe Rose wanted the sensation of becoming part of their love making. She doesn’t know why she touches Penny — it is just instinct.
Penny responds to Rose’s touch by making eye contact and smiling.
“Are you okay with this?” Penny asks.
“Yes,” Rose says. She pauses a second and then says, “I hope you don’t mind us watching.”
Penny reaches out to Rose and touches her cheek. They are about the same age, but Rose is comforted by Penny’s gentleness and kindness. She leans her cheek into Penny’s hand.
Penny then turns to Paul. “Is it okay if they watch?”
“Of course,” he says. “Maybe we can watch you sometime.”
“Sure,” Rose replies, a bit too quickly. She doesn’t seem to understand what she has just agreed to and briefly panics as it dawns on her. But then she realizes that she doesn’t have anyone around to make out with, so it is okay.
Penny then stands up, unbuttons the rest of her blouse, pulling it out of her skirt. Paul watches intently as each button set free the targets of his affection. She has just a sleeveless satin camisole beneath (no brassiere) and loosens it from her skirt.
Penny then reaches over to the aisle opening, closing the curtains to give them more privacy. As she does so, the loosened camisole gives Rose (and the front row of the audience) a flash of her firm young breasts. She then pulls the bottom of her skirt up her thighs so she can step over Paul’s legs and sit down on his lap facing him.
There isn’t a lot of room in the compartments, so Rose changes seats, moving to where Penny had been sitting. That seat gives Rose a front row view to Paul and Penny’s affection.
Rose watches as Paul lifted Penny’s camisole sliding his hands beneath to the bottom of her breasts. At first, he gently caresses her, weighing her breasts and tickling around the sides of her nipple.
Rose doesn’t realize it, but her hand is doing the same to her own breast outside her clothes, gently squeezing and then teasing her own nipples.
Then she notices Paul glancing at her. His eyes don’t look long, but she knows that he sees her touching herself as she looks at him. Their eyes meet. He smiles. Rose feels a flush of blood gush to her groin as she clenches her legs together even tighter than before. Her mother never told her how holding her legs together could feel so good.
The audience can’t see Penny’s breast as Paul lifts the camisole just enough for him to lick around her erect nipple. Rose, however, is in the perfect position to see her being exposed. She was hard and wet.
“Suck my tit,” Penny moans.
Rose heard the word “tit” and rolls it around in her mind as her fingers pinch her own nipple, pulling it away from her chest. Her own tit is tingling — then Rose realizes that she put her hand inside her blouse also. She doesn’t remember opening the top buttons and sliding her hand in but loves the feeling. She wonders if she did it before Paul looked at her. Her mind’s answer surprises her: “I hope so.”
She glances at Marsha and sees her hand pressing down on her dress between her legs.
Paul tries to release his penis from his pants, telling Penny to stroke his “cock.” But Penny stops him just as he gets his belt unlatched.
“We’re not married yet,” she says with a giggle, emphasizing the “yet.”
“I can’t wait,” he purrs into her ear.
She kisses him and starts rubbing the crotch outside his pants. He does the same to her — rubbing his hand across the gusset of her nylons as she sits across his lap.
Rose heard him say “cock” — a word her father used many times as an insult, but never in a loving way like this.
Rose had seen dogs and horses have sex and knows how the penis is inserted into a vagina. Now her mind is imagining Paul’s cock. She sees it get larger as Penny plays with him outside his pants. It looks like his cock is leaking, as a wet spot begins to appear.
After several minutes, Penny tells him to go take care of his blue balls. He stands up, pausing long enough to look down at Rose as he starts leaving — his crotch almost exactly at eye level to Rose.
She can’t help but stare at the bump on the front of his pants. She pulls her hand from inside her blouse and looks up at Paul, who is looking at her. She raises her hand to brush some hair out of her face, and in the process accidentally brushes the back of her hand across his crotch. Or was it accidental? She doesn’t know — it was just instinct. Paul doesn’t say anything as he leaves the compartment, exiting the stage, and Penny just smiles at the encounter.
Choir: “Lovin’, touchin’, squeezin’ each other
When I’m alone all by myself
You’re out with someone else
Lovin’, touchin’, squeezin’ each other
You’re tearin’ me apart
Every day, ısparta escort every day
You’re tearin’ me apart”
Now Rose’s mother had never told her that a boy’s testicles turned blue. She doesn’t understand what Penny meant, so she asks her.
“What did you mean by ‘take care of his blue balls’.”
Penny laughs and explains how it is mean to get a boy excited and not allow him to ejaculate. If he doesn’t “cum” (as she called it), his testicles turn blue and are very painful.
“Paul has gone to masturbate until he cums,” Penny explains.
Rose blushes at the thought of him masturbating, her head latching onto the word “cum.” She begins thinking about how he does it. What is he doing right now, she wonders.
She imagines Paul stroking his long “cock”. She imagines him pulling the skin back and forth, the tip playing peek-a-boo in her mind. She closes her eyes imagining his hand wrapping around the base of the organ, pulling up and down and up and down over and over again.
As she imagines him masturbating, her hand slips between her legs over her skirt, going up and down and up and down in rhythm with the cock in her mind.
The choir starts singing:
“He’s tearin’ you apart
Ooh, every day, every day
He’s tearin’ you apart
Oh girl what can you say?
‘Cause he’s lovin’, touchin’ another
Now it’s your turn, girl, to cry
The choir starts slowly, in pace with Rose’s hand. Both the choir and Rose’s hand get faster and faster:
“Na na na na na na
Na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na
Na na na na na na
Na na na na na”
Rose could feel her own body getting aroused, a tingling sensation pouring from her fingers into her vagina, clit and labia.
The choir continues — getting faster as Rose speeds up:
“Na na na na na na
Na na na na na”
Rose raises her skirt so she can find her clit beneath her underwear and as she gives it a quick rub, she feels an orgasm boiling out of her crotch, exploding through her chest and out as she releases an audible moan.
The choir continues — slowing down and fading out:
“Na na na na na na
Na na na na na”
As the orgasm passes, she remembers Marsha and Penny are there. She opens her eyes in a panic and sees they are both watching her — as is Paul who is standing at the entry to the compartment holding the curtains open as he watches Rose masturbate.
Rose’s face flushes with embarrassment, dropping her hand from her skirt. The others don’t say anything, but Rose knows that she has been seen — and to be honest, it is a little exciting to be the object of their voyeurism.
She wonders if anyone walking the aisle might have seen her through the curtains. A little panic sets in — if the conductor had seen her, he might tell her father that she had masturbated in public.
As she processes that thought, she realizes that her father would probably have a good laugh — her mother would explode in anger and embarrassment, but her father would probably wish he had been there to watch. She had seen how her father liked looking at her friends — nothing creepy, but he was always happy when Rose brought home girls from school or church.
Choir: “Workin’ hard to get my fill
Everybody wants a thrill
Payin’ anything to roll the dice
Just one more time”
“Some’ll win, some will lose
Some are born to sing the blues
Whoa, the movie never ends
It goes on and on and on and on”
The stage lights then begin to fade to black as the choir fades out repeating:
“… and on and on and on …”
———-
The couple Meg got to play Paul and Penny are members of our congregation and are already married in real life.
Penny was uncomfortable with the idea of removing her blouse, showing her breasts to the audience, so they compromised with her wearing a camisole beneath. Penny is well endowed — at least 34D, and she is young, so her tits are still firm and prominent. When she gets aroused, her nipple extends out over half an inch — a fact Paul loved but a source of embarrassment for Penny.
She didn’t remove her blouse for the first two performances — the one in our building, in front of her friends, and the one about 45 minutes later at the building down the highway. With just the satin camisole hanging loosely over her pert breasts, her aroused tits stood firm with her nipples standing out for everyone to see.
Apparently, Paul convinced her to remove her top on the rest of the shows. Meg/Rose was shocked when Penny removed her blouse and then her camisole at the third show, in the next town. The audience audibly gasped as they saw the topless Penny on stage. When Paul kissed down her cleavage and licked her nipples, they reached a new length he had never seen before. Penny was incredibly aroused.
In the fourth show Penny had no camisole beneath, and no nylons on. She let Paul get his penis out of his pants before saying the “not married yet” line. After she said her line, while they caressed each other, Penny was gripping his cock, and Paul was inserting a finger inside Penny. Nobody in the audience could see much of anything explicit, though they could tell his cock was out — but Meg/Rose, sitting right next to them on the stage saw it all. Out of the view of the audience, Meg was stroking herself while they performed the scene.