Ok, while I'm full of energy, let's get this story moving. Everyone ready to audition for Mammoth Pictures? ;)

Micky: You bet! :D

Mike: Let's show these guys what REAL musicians do! ;)

Peter: This is going to be fun! :)

Lauren: Yeah! :)

Davy: Yeah. All those flappahs... ;)

(Cut to the front gate of a movie studio, circa 1929. A bored-looking cop stands in front of a set of gates under a huge sign that says "Mammoth Pictures." Big, fancy cars drive stars in and out. One girl in a red car stops at the gate; she has flaming red hair and red cupid's bow lips, and is dressed in low-waisted, pleated skirt and blouse, her stockings rolled to the knees.)

Cop: Where to, Miss Martine?

Miss Martine: The set of "The Mammoth Revue," O'Leary.

O'Leary: If they're still makin' it, darlin'. The big cheeses are in conference now to figure out what to do about all these accidents and Big Eddie's boys.

Miss Martine: (Makes a face) That asshole is just a blow-hard.

O'Leary: That's not what the papers be sayin'.

Miss Martine: I'm gonna find out what's goin' on. (She drives in)

O'Leary: (Calls after her) You be careful, Miss Martine!

(The camera moves from O'Leary to around the corner, on a quiet side of the studio. There's soft blue lights in various shades, and the Monkees and their significant others suddenly appear.)

Mike: (He wears a black suit, tie, and matching fedora) Well, gang, we seem to be here.

Micky: And in one piece. *flicks the brim of his purple hat; smooths out his suit jacket* How did I end up in purple? *glances at Lauren* ;)

Emma: (Makes a face at her low-waisted red dress with it's simple, flared skirt...and tight top that fails to hide her ample bosum and yellow beads that refuse to hang straight) My chest wasn't made for this era. :p (Straightens her red cloche hat, which is trimmed with a yellow ribbon and a yellow rose)

Lauren: *shrugs* I like purple, Mick. Besides, I couldn't exactly get what I wanted. *makes a face at the lavender dress she wears* I HATE dresses! :P

Emma: Sorry, honey. Women were just beginning to wear pants around the house in this era. They wouldn't start wearing them in public until later in the 30s and during World War II. ;) :p

*Lauren grumbles.* :P

Davy: *in an off-white suit* Not bad, actually. *grins at Daphne* VERY not bad! ;)

Peter: (He wears a very simple sweater, shirt, newsboy's cap, trousers, and shoes...with a hint of his beads under the sweater) It's kinda nice! :)

Daphne: *in a muted pink dress* I like it! :)

Valerie: (Grins at her gold and brown plaid suit, gold cloche hat, and pearls) I feel so elegant! :D

Mike: Well, let's see if we can get some jobs on the set. We're gonna have to find a place to stay while we're doin' this production, too.

(The group walks up to O'Leary's booth at the gates. The cop is now reading "Time Magazine." Mike taps on the side of the booth.

O'Leary: (Finally sticks his head out) Don't be doin' that, laddie.

Mike: Sorry. We wanna know, do they have any need for musicians here?

Emma: And writers?

Valerie: And businesswomen?

O'Leary: Musicians? Did you say you play instruments?

Mike: Yeah, we're a group.

Micky: Isn't it obvious? ;)

O'Leary: You're just what we be needin'! Every studio in Hollywood's gone completely mad over sound, and especially musicals! They're hirin' new people everyday, they be! It's total bedlam here!

Peter: They could use us?

Micky: I like bedlam. ;)

Lauren: *groans* Mick... :P

O'Leary: They're grabbin' every Joe and Josephine off the street who ever claimed to have any kind of musical or stage trainin', though if you be askin' me, most of these kids have never seen the inside of their high school auditorium, much less a professional theater. Some of them can't sing, and I know most of them have never danced more than their own moves off the top of their head at some school function. :p

Mike: So they need people with talent?

Davy: That would be us, then. ;)

Micky: Better believe it! ;)

O'Leary: With or without talent, though havin' the talent would sure help these movies they've been churnin' out, especially that poor revue. It just keeps on goin' and goin', and nobody knows what to do with it.

Mike: Poor revue?

O'Leary. Eye, laddie, every major studio in Hollywood be clamorin' to make their own revue with their own house talent! MGM put out "The Hollywood Revue" a couple of months ago, and suddenly EVERY studio wants to get into the act and show off their new and veteran players!

Mike: But...a revue? In the movies?

O'Leary: (Shrugs) The talkies are new, laddie. No one knows what will really work with them, or not work. Who knows anything these days?

Mike: Do they need bands for the revue?

O'Leary: So, you be a band, do ya?

Mike: Yeah, we're the...well, we're a band.

O'Leary: There may be an audition for "The Mammoth Revue of 1929" in about fifteen minutes, if they don't decide to shut the whole show down by then.

Valerie: Why? What's wrong?

O'Leary: (Makes a face) Some nasty big cheese of the name Eddie Raffertson has been leanin' on the heads of the studio to shut down the production. There's already been some accidents. No one got hurt, but the accidents ruined scenery or equipment, or delayed the filming. I don't know if it's Eddie or someone else, but SOMEBODY doesn't want the show to go on. :p

Micky: Well, that sounds right down our alley. ;) :P

Mike: Well, if there's gonna be an audition, we'd like to attend it, please. We're new in town, and we need the money.

O'Leary: Say, if you're new in town, would you be havin' a place to stay? My wife and I have a nice boardin' house down by the beach. It ain't nothin' fancy, but it's clean and not overly expensive, and me old woman can cook a mean Irish stew. :)

Mike: (Nods) We'll have to look into that, sir.

Micky: Stew? ;)

O'Leary: O'Leary's the name, laddie, Collin O'Leary. Security officer for Mammoth Studios. (Nods) You kids be gettin' on, now. If they are going to run that show, they'll be needin' good people to play some real music for them. The music department is third door on your right.

Mike: Thanks, Officer O'Leary! We'll get back to you about the boardin' house.

Peter: (As they walk towards the building) I like Officer O'Leary. Why can't cops be that nice in 196...

Mike: (Clamps a hand on Peter's mouth) X-nay on the time-ay, Pete! We don't need to give away that we ain't supposed to BE here! :p

Peter: (Pulls away, blushing) I'm sorry, Mike! It slipped. :p

Micky: I'd be willing to bet they've got looney bins now. :P

Davy: They probably got a room waiting for you, mate. ;)

Micky: Funny. :P

*Lauren chuckles.* ;)

Emma: Let's put it this way, Mick. Alcatraz was in operation at this time. :p

Micky: I'd rather NOT study it from the INside. :P

Valerie: You're going to have to temporarily change the name of your group. I don't think anyone's going to hire a band called "The Monkees" in 1929.

Peter: What did they call bands in 1929?

Micky: The "something-something" band. ;)

Emma: Either the "Something-or-Other Trio/Quartet" or whatever, or "Someone and His/Her Orchestra." :p

Lauren: I think the orchestra would be fitting for us. ;)

Emma: We're NOT a full orchestra, though! I don't play anything!

Daphne: Maybe not, but we've got enough people for one. ;)

Valerie: I know some old standards. I could take the piano.

Peter: Do any of you guys play any orchestra instruments, like the flute or something?

Valerie: (shrugs) Just the piano.

Lauren: *shakes her head* Percussion, that's it for me. :P

Mike: The organ and harmonica in addition to guitars.

Daphne: I used to play the flute a little. It's been a while, though...

Emma: A tiny bit of piano...and the songs I play haven't been written yet! :p

Micky: *wide grin* I want a tympani! :D

Lauren: Oh, good Lord. :P

Mike: You would. :p

Micky: Of course! ;)

Mike: Maybe we could say we're a smaller house band for a radio station that needs a wider-reaching gig.

Emma: That's believeable. Radio was just getting started itself in these days.

Davy: And easiah on us.

Mike: We'll be the band. Em will be our girl singer. ;)

Emma: (Blushes) Oh, man. You want me to sing in the movies? I'm hardly Jeanette MacDonald!

Mike: Neither's Fred Astaire, and he does ok. ;)

Micky: Good one. ;)

Emma: Still... (indicates her large figure and round face) I’m not Clara Bow or Joan Crawford.

Mike: Honey, you'll do fine. ;)

Peter: You do fine in front of the nightclub crowds when we ask you to sing, Em!

Lauren: Yeah, Em! You'll be great! :)

Emma: Yeah, but that's at home. You forget how primative the recording is. You heard what "Hollywood Nights" sounded like! :p

Mike: I'll make you sound decent and be heard if I have to go in the editing room and threaten the sound engineer myself. :p

Emma: Honey, don't do THAT. ;)

Micky: But you know he would if he had to. ;)

Emma: Besides...(quietly)...the movie was never made.

Mike: What?

Emma: Someone sabatoged "The Mammoth Revue." It was never released, though bits and pieces of it came out as part of musical shorts later.

Peter: Why didn't they ever release it?

Emma: By the time they got enough footage after all the accidents that plagued the production, revues were dropping at the box office like flies on a pancake griddle, and they lost a lot of the footage in a fire that took a quarter of the Mammoth lot.

Valerie: Oh, good lord!

Lauren: Wow...

Davy: That's terrible!

Emma: They threw the salvaged footage into a bunch of shorts, wrote the whole thing off a bad idea, and never tried to make a revue again. Most of the other studios' revues flopped pretty badly, though "Paramount on Parade" went over fairly well and "King of Jazz" finally made back it's huge cost in a rerelease.

Mike: We've got to stop that fire.

Peter: How? Wouldn't that be interferring with history?

Mike: Ain't we doin' that just by bein' here?

Micky: Yeah, we are.

Valerie: (Shrugs) We've put the Devil in jail. How hard could it be to round up a few gangsters? ;)

Emma: It might not be ENTIRELY the gangsters...

Peter: What do you mean?

Lauren: Huh?

Emma: How would the gangsters know when or what to sabotage? They aren't crewmembers or actors. Someone's telling them just where and how to stage those accidents.

Mike: (Nods) I know what she means. Big Eddie and his boys are gettin' some information from the inside. Mammoth Studios has a snitch. :p

Micky: So we'll find the snitch. ;)

Lauren: Could be easier said than done. :P

Mike: We've gotta nail this audition somehow and keep the "Mammoth Revue" runnin'. It would get US on the inside.

Micky: Where do ya want me to nail it? ;)

*Lauren groans.* :P

Emma: But what can we play? Do you guys know any songs from...(looks at Mike, who grins) Look at whom I'm asking, the man who worships his collection of 78s. ;)

Mike: I think we can scrape up a couple of songs and work them around a little to make them sound more or less authentic. ;)

Valerie: I could tell them we work with...different...instruments. ;)

Emma: Do you think it'll work?

Davy: It couldn't hurt.

Mike: It beats the hell out of GETTIN' beaten up by devils. :p

Micky: *mutters* Damn right. :P

Peter: (Points at a small brick building that says "Music Department" on a brass plate on the side) Here's where we're going, guys! (The entire group enters through the side entrance.)