Synopsis

Vern is in a bar with live Karaoke talking to the bartender (not seen) about "his Tammy Lea" (his ex) and getting up on stage and singing songs either about how wonderful he is, or how useless she was and getting drunker as the evening progresses. Despite his hurting he also claims to want Tammy back because he still loves her.

Tammy Lee has gone on from her time with Vern to find fame and fortune as a C&W singer songwriter. She is in a studio taping one of those shows where artists sing and talk about the background of their music. Her songs are about how wonderful she is and what a jerk he was. She apparently wants nothing more to do with men.

The story twists at the end as Vern in his cups confesses, he really doesn't want Tammy back, but that they aren't legally divorced and he wants half her money. Tammy, once the cameras are no longer running, cuddles with her guitar player, with whom she was cheating (the crime she accuses Vern of) long before she left Vern. In other words we see a soft stage persona and a hard bitten schemer in reality.

In other words we have the typical dialogue that occurs after the break down of a marriage only it takes place in both song and words. The set is simple. Vern and a bar to one side, a sit and talk area for for Tammy to the other. The centre is for the band who change costumes, etc. to be either the TV show band or the bar band. The songs are staged appropriately. Overall there is a lot of humour in the play, it is dark but definitely humorous, yet a couple of the songs invariably (even in rehearsal) bring tears. In essence it takes the 'logic' of the lyrics of Country and Western songs to a valid, if somewhat unusual, place.

Characters

Songs