Katherine Jarema

Research Paper #1

The song that I choose is Dont Wanna be Here from the musical Ordinary Days. The

music and the lyrics were written by Adam Gwon. He is a newer composer and has worked on

many smaller musicals such as String, but Ordinary Days is his most recognized piece of work.

Ordinary Days follows the lives of 4 New Yorkers, Claire, Jason, Deb, and Warren. Claire moved

to New York with her boyfriend Jason. Jason is Claires boyfriend and he is a romantic. He tries

to further their relationship, however, Claire keeps resisting. Warren is cheerful and annoyingly

optimistic. He is a struggling artist that is trying to get his work seen. All four of them are

struggling to find what they are all looking for whether it be happiness, love, growth or just a

taxicab.

The song Dont Wanna be Here is performed by the character Deb. The original

performer of the song is Kate Wetherhead. Deb moved to the city to attend graduate school. She

is extremely cynical about how her life has been going so far. She just cant seem to figure out

what she wants to do. All she knows is that she wanted out of every situation that she was in

previously. The song is her opening number and it serves as an explanation on how she ended up

in the city and where she is coming from. Later in the show she loses her most prized possession

and she sparks the chain of events, entangling all of the characters, and turns the ordinary day

into something quite unique.