#i stayed up way too late for this dhshd

[bybdolan]

HOLY GROUND - A Taylor Swift jukebox musical

“Holy Ground is a jukebox musical featuring the songs of American Singer-Songwriter Taylor Swift. The film’s plot is based on the 1953 classic Roman Holiday, starring Audrey Hepburn and Gregory Peck, in which a runaway princess falls in love with a journalist over the course of a day spend in Rome.”

OR: A rather rough idea for a Taylor musical, inspired by the anon who asked me if I had more ideas regarding the edit the quote above was written for.

PLAYLIST

The movie starts with the title screen and credits (old-fashioned style), with an orchestral version of State Of Grace. Then, we are introduced to the princess, Mary, our protagonist. She's at a ball, surrounded by many people and the press, she's stressed and she feels lonely (mirrorball). The song is accompanied by a ballroom dance that is sort of mechanical and unnatural and the princess is tossed around by her partners. During the bridge, it almost seems as if they are pushing her around the way playground bullies do and she is lost and alone in the sea of twirling ballgowns.

There's a bit of dialogue where we get some information about Princess Mary (she's on a tour of the European capitals to strengthen the bond between the countries) and when she boards the plane to Rome, she starts to sing Love Story, daydreaming about real love. During the song, we are introduced to the journalist, Stephen, (Dev Patel), who is walking around Rome trying to write a story that is good enought to keep his employer from firing him. (He's struggling.)

We fast forward through a few meetings and press conferences until it's nighttime and Mary has a breakdown in her room because she is overwhelmed by her duties. She is given pills that are supposed to make her fall asleep within the next few hours. Finally alone, she takes a look out the window and sees a party going on in the streets. Intrigued by the laughter and the light and overcome by the wish to finally do something just for herself, she decides to sneak out of the hotel. She manages to get past the guards in a garbage truck.

Outside, she joins the parade (New Romantics). However, the pills start to kick in and Mary, all drowsy and unequipped to deal with the real world, decides to lie down on a bench to sleep. She is discovered by Stephen, who is worried that something will happen to her and takes her home with him. He doesn't recognize her. Due to her delirious state, Mary is a hassle to deal with and some antics ensue (for example: she demands that Stephen helps her undress and doesn't accept that she has to sleep on the couch). They both eventually fall asleep (Stephen takes the couch).

The next morning, Stephen accidentally sleeps in and misses his scheduled interview with Princess Mary. In order to not get fired, he pretends that he actually went to the interview in front of his boss. But he has bad luck: The princess' publicist has send out emails and articles that claim the princess had fallen ill and therefore had to cancel all interviews as a cover up for her disappearance. When his boss angrily shows him a picture of the article announcing the princess' illness, Stephen realizes that the she is the girl sleeping in his bed. He begs his boss not to fire him and tells him that he has an idea for a hit story about the princess. His boss reluctantly agrees to keep him employed, but tells him that he'll be out of a job if he doesn't deliver.

Stephen races back to his apartment where Mary is still sleeping. On the way there, he calls his friend, a photographer, and tells her about his plan to show Mary around Rome and asking her personal questions while his friend – Corinna – takes pictures for the article.

When Mary eventually wakes up and gets over the shock of being in a stranger's home, she asks Stephen if she could take a shower and maybe borrow some clothes, claiming that she needs them because her dress got dirty the night before. She keeps her true identity a secret, saying that her name is Marjorie. When Stephen tells her to choose an outfit, she picks baggy clothing and a baseball hat to hide her hair, in the hope that she won't be recognized. Stephen offers her a tour of the city, with assistance by Corinna, who he claims is the best tour guide he knows. Mary, having never been out and about alone and feeling unsafe without her entourage of bodyguards, agrees. They go to small café and make up little stories for the other customers there while waiting for Corinna to arrive, which is something Mary likes to do at political gatherings in order to combat boredom and loneliness (Begin Again). However, their plan to stroll around Rome and look at all the tourist hotspots gets foiled when Mary recognizes a guy in the streets as one of her guards who is looking for her. She grabs Stephen and steals a motorbike that's parked nearby and they drive away – since Mary doesn't know how to drive a motorbike it's a near death experience for both of them (I Know Places - Instrumental). They end up in a less crowded part of town and hide in a crowd of wedding guests. They stay a bit in order to listen to the band play and dance (Paper Rings – ideally with a celebrity cameo for the wedding band). Mary blames her bike freakout on her fear of big crowds, so Stephen offers her to show her his personal favorite spots of the city instead of the tourist attractions. They reunite with Corinna and spend some time in the small streets surrounding the city center. Mary finds herself developing a crush on Stephen (Hey Stephen/Fearless).

The day progresses without any major troubles, until they accidentally run into the guards once again. Mary and Stephen flee from them and hide in a small alleyway between two houses. Mary takes advantage of the fact that they are tightly pressed against one another and kisses Stephen. He reciprocicates. After the kiss, Mary tells him that she is the lost princess and Stephen confesses his plan to write an article about her. He promises to not do that now, but doesn't mention that that decision will cost him his job. They both agree that it is best to get Mary back to her hotel soon in order to keep her safe (Wildest Dreams). However, Mary asks for one more thing: She wants to make a wish at Trevi fountain. Stephen takes her to the fountain and Mary tosses a coin into it. They both think about the time they spent together (The 1 - BIG crowd dance scene that ends with people jumping into the fountain). Afterwards, Stephen takes Mary back to her hotel and watches as she goes inside, back into her gold cage (acapella reprise of the chorus of The 1).

The press conference that was cancelled due to Mary's "illness" is held the next morning and both Stephen and Corinna attend and stand in the first row. When being asked about which city in Europe she liked the most, Mary answers Rome and says that's she'll never forget her stay, all while looking at Stephen. She insists on personally greeting some of the members of the press. When she gets to Corinna and Stephen, Corinna hands her an envelope with the photos she secretly took of her tour of the city, and Stephen and Mary share a final dance in a dream sequence that mirrors the mirrorball scene from the beginning, with the exception that the room is empty except for them (Dorothea). When Mary leaves the press conference room, Stephen stays there for a long time, until everybody else has left (Wildest Dreams - Piano).

Holy Ground plays during the credits.