Okay, hear me out. I was listening to Does Anybody Have a Map and Good for You and I got struck by an idea.
1) Make Even’s mom, Heidi, black. Even is still white as a bleached sheet.
2) Make the Murphy’s a mixed family. Make Larry a step-dad that’s is Asian or Latino. Conner is still white, not mixed. Zoe is mixed and biologically both of her parent’s kids.
3) Additional ideas that would help frame the story.
1) What this does is make it so that Even’s dad (the dick that left) is an uber dick for leaving his son to be taken care of by someone who didn’t birth him but still loves Even with all she has. This makes the song prelude to the song Good for You where she says “I’m your mother, my job is to take care of you” would really take the message home to found/adopted/unbiologically related kids know that their parents do love them even if they’re very different. And “You are the only - the one good thing that’s ever happened to me, Even” takes a whole different perspective as well, I refuse to elaborate, just think about it for a bit.
2) By making the Murphy’s a mixed family, this would make them more interesting. And maybe explain some of the disconnect between all of them. The dad, because he’s probably a 1st or 2nd generation immigrant. Furthermore, if Conner’s dad died when he was like 2, he might not remember anyone else but there may be a schism there that neither he nor Larry would cross and at some point after a bunch of mixed results they both stop trying over time (this could be portrayed in pictures in Requiem in the background or in a flashback when Larry sings). It would also explain why Conner seems to pick/hate Zoe so much (even if he does care for her) because he views her as the “Favorite” since she’s biologically related to both their parents. By the same token, Zoe (being a 2nd or 3rd generation immigrant) wouldn’t understand why her father does certain things because of cultural context and while she understands her mother, she has gotten tired of how often her mom excuses Conner’s behavior. It also makes the lyrics “in these words I finally found you and now that I know that you are still here” from the mom in Requiem resonate differently because it might not just be Conner she’s talking about (personally I think during this time the words would fly off the page and make two distinct different outlines who both hug her).
3) I have a lot of thoughts on Map, Requiem, and Good for You. So I’m going to write them down. Anybody have a Map should absolutely be included as the 1st song. In it I imagine Heidi turning the corner at the end of her solo verses and then we’re suddenly following Cynthia as she gets coffee. And near the end of her solo she goes into the bathroom (under the stairs, yes they have those in some houses) and as the rest of them all leave they yell it through the door. Then and then they’re both in the bathroom singing to each other in the mirror. It’s like showing their parallels between their lives.
Also, before the song, there are clearly bills that Heidi is hiding from Even (he knows though and that could be part of the confrontation for Good for You).
Also, Requiem... I’m just gonna throw this link in here, I have never had someone draw out almost exactly what I imagined. Some staging would be different but it’s pretty much this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WT-8SDOwRh4
Good for You, I actually had a lot of trouble figuring out how to stage this. But I imagine Heidi’s pictures start singing at Even so that it’s very clearly establishes that it’s his guilt that’s going through his head. I have so many staging ideas and they all kind of conflict so I haven’t nailed that one down in my head yet.
