Full Synopsis

Act One

The Taxi Driver appears onstage and welcomes the audience to the city of Madrid. As the music grows and the stage is filled with inhabitants of the city, we meet the main characters and learn more about the city ("Madrid").

Pepa, an actress, is jolted awake from a dream by the ringing phone. The answering machine takes the call; it is Ivan, Pepa's lover. He tells her that he does not deserve her and must leave her.

We now move into the Dubbing Studio. Pepa has arrived late to work and Christina, a nosy receptionist, is quick to point this out. It is revealed that Pepa was scheduled to lay down vocal tracks for a duet with Ivan. She is disappointed to find, however, that Ivan had come in earlier to record his vocal track. As she sings to his recorded voice, we hear her inner thoughts ("Lie to Me").

At the conclusion of the song, Pepa faints. A doctor arrives, and the singer admits that she has been feeling nauseous in the morning for the last few weeks; she has been feeling lovesick ("Lovesick"). Pepa takes off to Ivan's apartment but comes to find that he hasn't slept there in weeks. Pepa leaves a card with Ivan’s Concierge, but it is snatched away by a mysterious woman. With the help of the Taxi Driver, Pepa pursues her.

We come to discover that the mysterious woman is Lucia Beltran, Ivan's ex-wife, who is suing him for abandoning her 19 years earlier. Carlos, her shy and timid son, and his fiancée, Marisa, are found in her apartment. Lucia treats Marisa as a maid and clearly dotes on her son. Paulina, Lucia’s lawyer, arrives, and they discuss the impending lawsuit against Ivan (“It’s You”).

Carlos informs Lucia that he and Marisa will begin to look for apartments in anticipation of the wedding; Lucia once again feels betrayed and abandoned, prompting a late night eviction, complete with Carlos’s belongings being flung out of the window. Pepa witnesses the family brawl from a payphone outside. She finds a photo of Ivan and Carlos, realizing that Ivan has a son.

The next morning, Pepa returns home to find her machine full of messages from her best friend, Candela – a fashion model and romantic. She is in love... but she fears that her new love interest, Malik, might be an international terrorist ("Model Behavior"). At the end of Candela’s frantic messages, there is a clipped message from Ivan. Pepa rips the phone and machine out of the wall in frustration.

Carlos and Marissa rehearse their wedding dance while discussing details of their nuptials. Lucia returns with a fresh stack of mail, Ivan’s mail. She learns that Ivan is planning a trip for two to Ibiza that very night.

Back in her apartment, Pepa begins making gazpacho laced with sedatives and remembers the life that she shared with Ivan (“Island”). Candela arrives, and the two commiserate before Pepa rushes out to get her phone fixed. Candela resigns to watch TV, where a news bulletin is seeking the whereabouts of suspected terrorist, Malik. To complicate matters, Pepa's apartment has mistakenly shown up on the list of apartments to rent for Carlos and Marisa, who have just arrived.

As everything is unraveling, Pepa learns that Ivan is leaving town with another woman... and that Pepa is pregnant, and Marisa realizes that her future with Carlos is more uncertain than she thought. Candela, stressed and petrified, jumps out of the penthouse terrace. ("On the Verge").

Act Two

The Taxi Driver and ensemble open Act Two with a rousing entr’acte, “My Crazy Heart.” Transitioning back to Pepa’s apartment, we hear Candela screaming for help from the terrace ledge – she decided not to jump, after all. Pepa and Carlos pull her back to safety and learn of her wild romance with Malik, the wanted terrorist. Candela fears being arrested and has yet to tell the police. Meanwhile, Marisa unwittingly drinks the Valium-laced gazpacho and passes out, snoring. Pepa leaves Carlos to watch the shaken Candela and slumbering Marisa as she heads to Paulina’s law office. Outside of her apartment, Pepa finally has a chance to process the news of her pregnancy ("Mother's Day"). All of a sudden, her pious Concierge – who has sensed her troubles – tries to reassure Pepa that everything will work out the way that it should.

The Taxi Driver takes Pepa to the offices of Paulina Morales, Lucia’s lawyer and also the woman with whom Ivan is romantically involved. Pepa is unaware of this as she heads to the office in the hopes of helping Candela. Despite her attempts at rejecting Ivan, he successfully woos Paulina ("Yesterday, Tomorrow and Today"). Pepa arrives to a very hostile Paulina. After an altercation, Pepa leaves in haste and hops back in the Taxi Driver’s car.

Back at the apartment, Carlos and Candela are surely growing closer. We find out about a note that has been discovered and highlights Malik's plans for an attack on the local courthouse. They anonymously call the police to warn them ("Tangled"). At the courthouse, Lucia is presenting a petition against Ivan to the Magistrates ("Invisible").

Lucia quickly unravels, and her case is dismissed – she decides that there is only one solution: remove Ivan for good. Pepa returns home to inform Candela that the best choice is to leave town ("Island Reprise"). Just as they are about to depart, the police arrive. Lucia arrives shortly thereafter in search of Ivan.

Pepa realizes that she now must get to the courthouse, where Ivan is. She convinces two of the police officers to drink the gazpacho – they do. Before she can stop her, however, Lucia grabs the police officers' guns and heads to the courthouse. A chase ensues. Pepa arrives just in time to save Ivan from Lucia's gunshot, which actually ends up wounding Malik.

Through all of this, Ivan finally realizes that Pepa is the one he truly loves ("Lie to Me – Reprise"). Pepa recalls the Concierge's words and rejects Ivan's offer. She leaves.

In the end, the women all join together to look towards the future ("Finale").