Book by Kate Atkinson & Karen Harris
Music & Lyrics by Dan Fogelberg
Music & Lyrics by Dan Fogelberg
Part of the Plan spans three decades in the lives of a baby boy and the unwed pregnant teenager who is forced to give him up for adoption.
This American story is told through the prism of 1950s post-WWII boom times, the sexual and cultural revolution of the 60s, and the 1970s political upheaval ignited by the Vietnam War.
The curtain rises on 1949…
Rebecca Morgan, the rebellious teenaged daughter of a wealthy Long Island couple, has fallen in love with -- and become pregnant by -- Jake, a Jewish waiter at the Morgan's country club. Under pressure from her parents, and to protect Jake's budding career as a musician, Rebecca decides not to tell him about their child. A working-class couple from West Virginia adopt the baby boy and name him Sean Patrick O'Conner.
Once she graduates from college, Rebecca rejects her upbringing, and moves to New York City to pursue her love of art. After years of searching for Rebecca, Jake hits rock bottom - falling from top of the charts to busking for coins. On a street corner in the East Village at Christmastime, Rebecca runs into Jake, their love is rekindled, and they begin a new life together. With Jake's insistence that "the past is the past," she makes the choice to keep the secret of their first child from him, even as they bring a new one into the world.
Meanwhile, in West Virginia, young Sean O'Connor bears witness to the disintegration of his adoptive parents' marriage. Sean’s mother, Bridget, an Irish immigrant stuck in a loveless union, ultimately leaves her husband Kevin and 13 year-old Sean in search of the American Dream. At 19, Sean signs up for Vietnam and marries his sweetheart, Josie. As the war rages, Sergeant Sean O’Connor meets Privates Mendes, Jackson, & Hirsch, and soon enough, their unit ships out. In the trenches, they develop a lasting bond… a true band of brothers. Sean's world is rocked to its core when his father dies, and the life that he's built for himself collapses under the ravages of war.
Back on the home front, Rebecca and Jake face their own tragedy, and their marriage plummets into a downward spiral.
Separately, Sean & Rebecca are forced to confront the betrayals and turmoil of the past in order to find the future that awaits them. They recognize that the existence of the other is the key to healing themselves. In following these two people who are so deeply connected, yet worlds apart, we recognize the power of love, loss, redemption, and fate.
This American story is told through the prism of 1950s post-WWII boom times, the sexual and cultural revolution of the 60s, and the 1970s political upheaval ignited by the Vietnam War.
The curtain rises on 1949…
Rebecca Morgan, the rebellious teenaged daughter of a wealthy Long Island couple, has fallen in love with -- and become pregnant by -- Jake, a Jewish waiter at the Morgan's country club. Under pressure from her parents, and to protect Jake's budding career as a musician, Rebecca decides not to tell him about their child. A working-class couple from West Virginia adopt the baby boy and name him Sean Patrick O'Conner.
Once she graduates from college, Rebecca rejects her upbringing, and moves to New York City to pursue her love of art. After years of searching for Rebecca, Jake hits rock bottom - falling from top of the charts to busking for coins. On a street corner in the East Village at Christmastime, Rebecca runs into Jake, their love is rekindled, and they begin a new life together. With Jake's insistence that "the past is the past," she makes the choice to keep the secret of their first child from him, even as they bring a new one into the world.
Meanwhile, in West Virginia, young Sean O'Connor bears witness to the disintegration of his adoptive parents' marriage. Sean’s mother, Bridget, an Irish immigrant stuck in a loveless union, ultimately leaves her husband Kevin and 13 year-old Sean in search of the American Dream. At 19, Sean signs up for Vietnam and marries his sweetheart, Josie. As the war rages, Sergeant Sean O’Connor meets Privates Mendes, Jackson, & Hirsch, and soon enough, their unit ships out. In the trenches, they develop a lasting bond… a true band of brothers. Sean's world is rocked to its core when his father dies, and the life that he's built for himself collapses under the ravages of war.
Back on the home front, Rebecca and Jake face their own tragedy, and their marriage plummets into a downward spiral.
Separately, Sean & Rebecca are forced to confront the betrayals and turmoil of the past in order to find the future that awaits them. They recognize that the existence of the other is the key to healing themselves. In following these two people who are so deeply connected, yet worlds apart, we recognize the power of love, loss, redemption, and fate.