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Starting a new project, “Four Part Harmony.” Check out the index page for an overview, but it is a film about a group of women in their early 60ies who were friends in college and are reunited when one of them dies.
Angela Parkins (79)
Project: Film (Four Part Harmony)
Known as: Ange, Angie
Real name: Angela Parkins
Group affiliation: Extra Adar Rhiannon (EAR – a college A Capella group)
Physical description: Angie is thin and attractive and in her early 60ies. She has salt-and-pepper hair (with perhaps more salt than pepper). She dresses well but not extravagantly.
Personality: Angie is organized and industrious. She has a keen sense of responsibility to others; sometimes too much so. She can be a bit anxious and hard on herself when things don’t go according to plan. She can also sometimes get exasperated when others fail to follow a plan. At the end of the day, however, she is loved by most because she sincerely cares about others.
History: Angela grew up in a middle-class family in a small town in Ohio. She was an easy child to raise – studious, respectful, obedient and friendly. She didn’t meet too many extracurriculars she didn’t like and was often the leader of her endeavors (e.g., captain of her basketball team, president of a number of clubs and her class, etc.). One exception was chorus, where she had a good voice but wasn’t “solo material.” She had big plans to start or run a business. While she understood she was disadvantaged as a woman, she used this as fuel to work harder (she was the type to succeed no matter the impediment).
She got a scholarship to attend Ohio State University in the seventies. There she continued to excel, though her first semester was harder than she anticipated. Leaving home and moving to a bigger pond was a challenge, though like all challenges she was up to it. Still, while she came to the university to build her career, she found she missed all her extra curriculars and friends. After attending a chorus concert, she somewhat impulsively decided to start her own A Capella singing group. Inspired by the three mythical singing birds, she decided the group would be “Adar Rhiannon” (and was aiming for three members).
This proved trickier than she expected. Most of the stellar singers were already in the music department and involved in existing groups. Angie was nothing if not persistent, however, and she targeted a few good singers in her dorm. She reached her three, but the group was failing to gel. That was when Harmony joined.
Harmony was a free-spirited force of nature and chaos that shook each member of the group to challenge their personal status quo. For Angie, this meant making her accept that unplanned things happen in life and sometimes they are the best thing (Sheldon, her eventual husband, was an example). The group was filled with diverse personalities and Harmony’s stirring of the pot lead to the group coming together (now more than three, they became “Extra Adar Rhiannon” or EAR).
After college, some stayed friends but drifted apart. Angie showed she did indeed have a talent for business and rose up the executive ladder across several companies. Once she proved to herself she could succeed, she found the work unsatisfying. Ultimately, she started her own non-profit to support the arts in schools (a national and very successful organization while she ran it).
Now retired, she is restless. Having been a workhorse her entire life, she found all the projects she retired to work on were addressed in short order. She finds herself unsettled, without knowing exactly why (she and her husband are happy and have no major needs). She then gets an invitation to return to Columbus because Harmony has passed away (this is the beginning of our film).
After Harmony’s funeral, Harmony’s partner calls the former members of EAR together to share Harmony’s unusual deathbed request. Harmony has been cremated and her remains have been divided. She has left special instructions for each of the members of EAR on what they should do with their assigned portion of her remains. It quickly becomes clear as each gets her instructions that Harmony is again shaking up their status quo from beyond the grave. Angie, who gets her instructions last, is stressed. She both has to help the other members get through their changes and is dreading what she’ll be asked to do (Harmony was also intimidating – she peered into your soul). Angie is worried about what Harmony might make her (Angie) face.
Role in the narrative: She’s one of our protagonists and all-around good egg.
Abilities: She is smart, organized, motivated and caring. She is a sharp business person.
Inspirations: I’m not sure exactly where this came from (I am enamored of the idea). Certainly, it’s not new to have a group of older characters reflect on their lives and flashback to an earlier time (Momma Mia is a recent example). So, some well-traveled devices here. Still, I’m not sure if I know where the idea of divided remains comes from (although there are plenty about scattering ashes – e.g., https://scattering-ashes.co.uk/news/scattering-ashes-in-the-movies/). I did some web searches and didn’t come up with much. Maybe it is that I just like the pun around “four part harmony.”
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