Synopsis

Long Story Short follows Alison, a teenage girl determined to rise above her unstable childhood and build a life of financial success and independence. When she falls for a wealthy, older boy, she sees a way out—escaping her toxic home life and stepping into the glamorous world she’s always dreamed of. But after turning away from her longtime friends, Alison’s new reality crumbles when her husband secretly gambles away everything and abruptly leaves. Left with nothing, she must confront the pain she’s long avoided—rebuilding broken friendships, standing up to her parents, and redefining what love and strength truly mean. Set entirely to the music of Taylor Swift, this coming-of-age jukebox musical celebrates all forms of love and the courage it takes to choose your own path.

“A journey through love, loss, and self-discovery, told through Taylor Swift’s music”

Overview

Long Story Short is a jukebox musical using songs written by Taylor Swift. Swift's songs are used unchanged from the original, but these songs are woven into a narrative story. The plot uses the songs to enhance climactic moments and move the narrative along, and often times the songs are sung in a different context than how they were originally conceived by Taylor Swift, even though the songs are not altered from their original. The result is a compelling, plot-driven musical with well-known and well-loved music.

Central Themes

● Love in all forms: Romantic, platonic, and familial love explored with nuance

● Resiliance & Redemption: Growth through failure and self-discovery

● Identity & Self-Worth: Navigating pressure, expectation, and self-definition

● Modern Musical Expression: Uses Taylor Swift’s music to reflect today’s teen emotional language

Casting Breakdown

● Main roles: Alison, Christina, Thomas, Valerie, Calvin, Joe

● Cast size: 8 Speaking roles, 8 Singing roles, plus large ensemble. Total cast: between 30 and 40 people

● Gender Flexibility: 3 smaller roles are gender flexible

Music Source

This jukebox musical is told through Taylor Swift’s songs, including a few custom mashups created specifically for the show. The songs are used as Taylor Swift originally wrote them.

Tone and Style

Tone is hopeful, emotionally charged, and introspective with a contemporary, youthful edge

Style is modern, lyrical, narrative-driven, accessible and youth-oriented

Set Design and Visuals

The world of Long Story Short would feel intimate, contemporary, and emotionally expressive, using minimalist, flexible staging with stylized, symbolic elements to reflect Alison’s internal and external worlds. Since the show is driven by Taylor Swift’s music — which often evokes vivid, personal, and cinematic imagery — the visuals would lean into heightened realism with bursts of fantasy and dreamlike staging during pivotal songs.

Choreography

Dance and movement is an important part of this musical. Not only does the music lend itself to dance, this will enhance the storytelling

Target Audience

Primary audience: Young adults and teens (ages 15–30), and Taylor Swift fans (Swifties)

Secondary audience: Musical theatre lovers who enjoy jukebox musicals and character-driven coming-of-age stories, and people who love intimate, emotionally charged dramas about friendship, heartbreak, and personal growth (think fans of Dear Evan Hansen, Mamma Mia!, Next to Normal, In The Heights or Spring Awakening)

Licensing

We are working on securing rights to use Taylor Swift’s catalog. Once the decision is made to mount this musical, we will obtain licensing to produce the musical at your school. We will be contacting Taylor Swift's Publishing Company UMPG to obtain a Grand Rights License to produce the musical. As well, payment for the PRO license (SOCAN in Canada) will be made to compensate for all songs being performed on a per show basis.

Plot

ACT I

The musical begins with Alison, aged as of the end of the musical in the 2010’s, telling her story (Wonderland).

Rewind. The time is in the mid-1990’s. Thomas and Valerie are a couple in love (State Of Grace). They get married and have a baby named Alison.

9 years later, Alison and her best friend Christina vow a lifelong friendship to each other (Long Live). Through the song the girls grow into their teenage years. Christina is a beautiful, popular young woman whereas Alison is subdued and quiet. Thomas has turned into a controlling, alcoholic father, making life at home challenging for Valerie and Alison.

Alison works in her parents’ CD shop. When Joe Miller, a popular high school football star, wanders into their shop, he invites Alison and Christina to his party. Joe has his eye on Christina, though Alison likes Joe. At Joe’s party, Alison is enamored with Joe at a distance and tells Christina she would love to date him (Enchanted). Alison must leave the party early against her wishes, as she has a curfew by her controlling father. That night Alison has a dream that she dances with Joe (Enchanted - continued). Meanwhile at the party, Joe falls for Christina and they dance and kiss (Enchanted - continued). The next day Christina tries to tell Alison that she and Joe got together at the party, but Alison interrupts her with anger (Better Than Revenge). Finally Christina tells Alison that she and Joe were together. Alison is furious with her friend. Alison cries to her parents about Joe. Her father, Thomas, advises her that someone like Joe would never want to go out with such an ‘ordinary’ girl as Alison. Sticking up for her daughter, this causes a fight between Valerie and Thomas (Other Side Of The Door). Alone in her room, Alison looks at herself in the mirror (Tied Together With A Smile) and decides to be the girl everyone thinks she should be. The next day she is dressed provocatively (Bejeweled), turning heads, and befriends the rich, cool kids, moving away from her friendship with Christina. Through her new friends, Alison is invited to Calvin’s house for a party, a rich playboy, (Electric Touch) and she and Calvin fall in love.

Christina and Joe fall deeply in love (Love Story), and at same time Alison and Calvin fall in love (Lover). Both girls are proposed to by their respective man.

Alison arrives at the CD Shop to tell her parents she is engaged and she will be quitting her job. Thomas is furious as he expected Alison to take over the shop one day. After their fight, Alison leaves the shop in tears (Tell Me Why).

Alison and Christina get together to inadvertently show each other their engagement rings. Christina tells Alison that Calvin is not right for her, Christina liked Alison the way she was before meeting him, and that she misses their friendship. Alison believes Christina is jealous, as Christina has always been the popular one and has now lost that role (Long Live Reprise). Christina attends Alison and Calvin’s wedding, but feels bad about the deterioration of their friendship (Story Of Us). Thomas gives a father-of-the-bride speech but in his drunken stupor, ruins the evening. This causes a rift between Thomas and Valerie at home later that night (My Boy Only Breaks His Favourite Toys / You’re Losing Me).

Meanwhile, Calvin has been sneaking away to gamble. He wins big at the racetrack and sneakily returns home in a good mood, wanting to throw a big party, much to Alison’s dismay. Alison is unaware of where the money came from.

Alison and Calvin throw a huge party (Cruel Summer). Christina is not invited (The Outside). Days later, Calvin again sneaks off to gamble. He clearly has a gambling problem (I Did Something Bad). He ends up losing everything.

ACT II

Cavin returns home in a panic, telling Alison they need to leave quickly as there are creditors and police after him. Alison doesn’t understand, so Calvin explains his gambling losses. Alison refuses to leave (Bad Blood), so Calvin says he needs to leave without her as he can’t go to jail. After a bittersweet good-bye (Lover (Reprise)) he leaves through a window. The police arrive looking for him. Alison is distraught over her losing Calvin (Haunted). The police, the casino thugs and the banker take away her possessions (Castles Crumbling). Alison is finally left alone, destitute and poor.

Meanwhile, during the fight Thomas and Valerie were having after the wedding, Thomas packs a suitcase and leaves (You’re Losing Me). He sits in a pub with a drink, thinking about what he is going to do. Christina and Joe bump into him. Christina introduces Thomas to Joe, telling Joe that Thomas was like a father to her when she was a child. This takes Thomas back to the early days of first love with Valerie (This Is Me Trying), and, pushing his drink away, he decides to clean up his life, go back to the house and make amends (Back To December, State Of Grace (Reprise)).

Alison realizes she has no one to call for help. Suddenly Christina shows up to help Alison (Change, Long Live (Reprise)). Together they mend their friendship. Christina encourages Alison to rebuild her relationship with her parents. By the final song, peace is restored and they look to the future hopeful (Long Story Short / Long Live).