 On a Clear Day YOu
Can See Forever
A Musical in Two Acts, 11 Scenes; Book and lyrics by Alan Jay Lerner;
Music by Burton Lane.
Opened 17 October, 1965 at the Mark Hellinger Theatre and closed 11
June, 1966 after 280 performances.
SYNOPSIS
ACT ONE
At the Bruckner Clinic in New York City, psychiatrist Mark Bruckner
is demonstrating hypnosis to his students, but a member of the audience,
Daisy Gamble, proves more susceptible than the subject at hand. After
class, Daisy asks the doctor if he might be able to help her stop smoking
through hypnosis; she's afraid her addiction will hurt the promising
career of her fiancé, Warren. During their conversation, Daisy
reveals to Mark her powers of extrasensory perception: she knows when
a phone is going to ring or when someone is about to drop in. She can
even make flowers grow by talking to them.
Mark puts Daisy into a trance, during which Daisy reverts to what appears
to be a previous life: she becomes Melinda Welles of 18th-century England.
We see Melinda rejecting assorted suitors (Tosy and Cosh) and falling
for portrait painter Edward Moncrief before Daisy awakes. Mark does
not tell Daisy what she has revealed to him, but he does tell her that
her E.S.P. is nothing to be ashamed of.
On the rooftop of her apartment, Daisy, who forgot about her date with
Warren, tells some friends of the adventure she had with Dr. Bruckner.
Back at the doctor's office, the hypnotised Daisy travels back to the
salacious Hellrakers' Club in London where Melinda first met Edward
when he rescued her from the clutches of another. Melinda finds herself
unable to resist Edward, who gradually succumbs to her charms. They
marry, but the artist husband finds himself unable to resist making
love to his subjects.
Mark finds present-day Daisy "an aspiring conformist,"
but finds Melinda irresistible. And he is now convinced that Daisy's
story is not a fabrication and that Daisy, who only wants to be like
everybody else, is the reincarnation of free spirit Melinda. In a trance
again, Daisy travels back to the night Melinda walked out on Edward
and sailed for Boston. But the good ship Trelawney was not destined
ever to reach its destination. Mark tries to save Melinda from her
fate, but before he can, Daisy wakes up.
ACT TWO
Without revealing the identity of his subject, Mark has reported his
experiences with Daisy to his fellow psychiatrists, who ridicule his
findings. Learning of Dr. Bruckner's belief in reincarnation, Greek shipping
magnate Themistocles Kriakos arrives at the clinic. Kriakos offers to
finance an investigation of the events of Melinda's life if Mark will
help him find out who he's going to be in the next life so that he can
leave his fortune to his future self.
Alone in the office, Daisy accidentally learns that she is the woman
with a past life, and that Mark prefers Melinda to Daisy. On the rooftop,
Warren outlines to Daisy the secure future he foresees for them. When
Mark arrives, Daisy tells him she's "through being a go-between
for you and your dream girl. You're not going to go on using my head
for a motel."
At his office, Mark attempts to bring Daisy back to him through extrasensory
control, and finally succeeds. He tells her he's now comfortable with
her two existences, but Daisy cannot accept them, and leaves.
At the airport, Daisy's powers warn her that the plane she's about
to get on will crash. Then she learns the name of the aircraft: the Trelawney.
Daisy's premonition turns out to be correct: the flight is cancelled
due to technical problems. Daisy finally acknowledges that she may have
lived before. She and Mark go off to explore the possibilities of a phenomenal
future together.
KEN MANDELBAUM
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