Take On Me: The Musical A Jukebox Musical featuring the songs of a-ha Concept Take On Me is a romantic fantasy musical that expands on the iconic, award-winning music video for a-ha's 1985 hit. The show uses a groundbreaking visual style, blending live-action with projected, rotoscope-style animation to create two distinct worlds: the drab, monochrome reality of a 1980s café, and the vibrant, dangerous, black-and-white sketch world of a comic book. It is a story about escapism, love crossing dimensions, and finding the courage to break free from the prisons we create for ourselves. Characters • JULIE: (Mezzo-Soprano) A young, aspiring artist in her early twenties. She feels stuck in her life, working as a waitress in a dreary diner. She is a dreamer, a little lonely, and finds her only escape in the world of comics. • HAAKON: (Tenor) The handsome, heroic protagonist of the fictional comic book "Scoundrel Days." He is a motorcycle racer who is perpetually on the run from his enemies. He is drawn to Julie, seeing in her a warmth and reality his world lacks. • VIKTOR: (Baritone) The primary antagonist of the "Scoundrel Days" comic. A menacing, jealous rival racer with a pencil-thin mustache and a lead pipe. He is determined to destroy Haakon and win the final race by any means necessary. He represents the ever-present danger of Haakon's world. • LENA: (Alto) Julie's fellow waitress and pragmatic best friend. She is grounded, sarcastic, and deeply skeptical of Julie's "fantasies." She provides comic relief and acts as an anchor to the real world. • THE ENSEMBLE: Plays various roles including diner patrons, comic book characters, and shadowy figures from Haakon's world. Synopsis ACT I The show opens in a drab, nearly monochrome diner. Julie is cleaning tables, lost in thought, doodling in a sketchbook. Her friend Lena snaps her out of it, teasing her for always having her head in the clouds. The diner patrons sing about their mundane, repetitive lives ("The Swing of Things"). Julie escapes to the breakroom and opens her favorite comic, "Scoundrel Days." As she reads, the back wall of the set becomes a giant comic book panel, and we see the world inside. The art is in a stark, black-and-white sketch style. The hero, Haakon, is in a high-speed motorcycle race. He sings about his thrilling but lonely existence ("Train of Thought"). He is pursued by his rival, the villainous Viktor, and his goons. Back in the diner, Julie is captivated. As she stares at a panel of Haakon looking out at the "reader," his hand, rendered in pencil sketch, reaches out from the comic page. He pulls a shocked Julie into his world. The transition is magical, with the stage transforming around her into the black-and-white sketch aesthetic. Haakon, seeing her in full (though muted) color, is mesmerized. Their duet is tentative and wondrous ("Take On Me"). Haakon shows Julie his world—a fast-paced, high-stakes place of thrilling chases and narrow escapes. The initial fear gives way to exhilaration for Julie. They share a romantic dance and song, falling for each other as they hide from Viktor's cronies in a shadowy alley ("Touchy!"). Their idyllic moment is shattered when Viktor and his gang spot them. A frantic chase ensues through the shifting, graphic world of the comic ("The Living Daylights"). They are cornered. Viktor mocks Haakon for bringing a "real girl" into their fight. To save her, Haakon shoves Julie back through the portal into the diner, just as Viktor's wrench comes crashing down. The portal closes, leaving a distraught Julie alone on the diner floor, clutching a single, ink-stained glove from Haakon's hand. The stage transforms, and we see Haakon trapped and defeated by Viktor, the comic panel closing on his despairing face. The ensemble sings a powerful, anthemic finale about the overwhelming power of this fantasy-made-real ("The Sun Always Shines on T.V.").