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THE FASTEST WOMAN ALIVE

WHAT CRITICS SAY about
THE FASTEST WOMAN ALIVE


"A thrilling play...amazing…a marvel…unfolds like a rocket…a wonder it’s not in a Broadway theatre”

NYTHEATRE.com

“...like TOP GUN for women…empowering piece; its effect is undeniable. I left feeling proud to be a woman.”
THE STAGE, UK, Edinburgh Festival

“Funny and thrilling… Simultaneous action and jump cuts... directors and casts will find the play foolproof. Because it's a cinematic natural, expect Jackie to zoom around the big screen. 
PLAYS INTERNATIONAL, London
PLAY and SCREENPLAY
Thrills of a 3-ring circus on a dime--
Jackie Cochran begins as barefoot starving white trash, becomes the first woman to break the sound barrier; buddies with Amelia Earhart, Chuck Yeager, Ike, LBJ; founds the WASP and Mercury 13, captures and holds more flight records than any pilot ever.

WHAT MORE CRITICS SAY --
“Kaleidoscopic…fascinating true story...streaks forward. … creative theatrical thread… clearly displays that Sunde is more than a mere chronicler ... believable and moving.                                                  TALKINGBROADWAY.com
 
“Unwavering desire to soar, boistrous, daring… five actors play a whole nation!       BACKSTAGE 
 
“Spitfire…wildcat ‘…CALL ME MADAM meets A LEAGUE OF THEIR OWN’... the never-ending appeal of won’t-take-no-for-an-answer broads… sweeping across the stage.”  
                                                    AMERICAN THEATER WEB

 

ABOUT JACKIE --
The astonishing and glamorous Jackie Cochran soared through life. She was the first woman to break the sound barrier; she battled the military to create WASP (Women Airforce Service Pilots), 1,000 women who risked their lives flying more than 75-million miles while testing and ferrying every military aircraft flown in World War II. She was named Business Woman of the Year, became a soul-mate to both Amelia Earhart and Chuck Yeager, and to this day she holds more flight records than any man or woman who ever lived. The Fastest Woman Alive whirls us through her adventurous life in dramatic and touching scenes giving us a picture of this quintessential American who began her life in hopeless circumstances, seized her dream, and achieved more than anyone imagined was possible.

FASTEST was born at the insistence of

JOHN LARS EICKELBERG

a design engineer at Boeing Aircraft

after he wondered why 

they had a "Cochran Conference Room"

SAMPLE from SCREENPLAY 
THE FASTEST WOMAN ALIVE


EXT. SKY - DAY
A clear blue sky - empty of all but a few clouds. All is quiet. Then...!

EXPLOSION OF JET ENGINES: Two silver jets blast upward cutting through sky.

INT. SABRE JET F-86 - DAY

JACKIE COCHRAN, ravishing blonde, 45, eyes on sky, ecstatic.
Radio buzz-
                     
                YEAGER (RADIO VO)
      Tell the tower you’re going

      for it, Jackie.

                JACKIE
       Why worry ‘em? 25,000 feet.

EXT. TWO F-86 JETS - DAY

Jets climbing together at incredible speed.

EXT./INT. SABRE JETS - DAY

CHUCK YEAGER, 30, easy grin after years of combat, wing on wing with Jackie.
            
               JACKIE (RADIO VO)
        Don’t fly so close to

        me, Yeager!

                 YEAGER
        Gotta see your hands on the

        controls, Jackie.

INT. SABRE JET - DAY

Jackie opens throttle, surging higher. Altimeter: 37,000
feet. She looks at sun but SEES A GRASS FIRE.

INT. EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, CONTROL TOWER - DAY

US Air Force and Canadair MONITORS eagerly scan dials
and sky.

CHART reads: “May 19, 1953; Jackie Cochran, pilot, test flight #3, Sabrejet F-86. Maj Charles “Chuck” Yeager flying chase. Take-off 8:05 AM.


               MONITOR
     She’s still climbing. Which

     test is this?

EXT./INT. SABRE JETS - DAY/NIGHT

Jackie thrilled, seeing daylight fade to stars. Altimeter:
47,000.

              JACKIE (VO)
       My God. Stars!

They are in clear space night. Millions of stars.

INT. or EXT. of either jet

             YEAGER (VO)
       Most guys would look back

       to earth. Now, Jackie...

             JACKIE (VO)
       I’m ready, Yeager.

             YEAGER (VO)
       ...a pack of mighty men lost

       nerve half-way down. There’s

       no skin off no lady who

       does.

             JACKIE (VO)
       I’m diving now. You can sit

       up here working your jaw, or

       you can come along.

Jackie splits an S curve, dives full-throttle straight down.
Blood rush to her head.

            YEAGER (VO)
        Damn, woman!

Yeager peals off to “chase.” Jackie’s plane shaking. She holds
tight.
            YEAGER (VO)
       Speed?!

            JACKIE (VO)
       Mach .(point) 96... Shit.

            YEAGER (VO)
       Your right wing’s dropping.

       Talk to me.

Jackie’s wing twisting, about to snap off; the other starts dipping.


             JACKIE (VO)
       I can’t seem to... .97

            YEAGER (VO)
       Stay conscious. Jackie?

            JACKIE (VO)
       Don’t know if I can....98.

Violent shaking. Jackie works controls; they do not respond.

            JACKIE (VO CONTD)
       Nothing works. We’re about

       to explode. .99. Ahhh...! 

       (Her yell echoes on into-)

VO CHEERS of crowd.

[as Jackie becomes 1st female to break the sound barrier]


The Fastest Woman Alive Fredericksburg HS, TX
Director Randi Minjauw
Cast of The Fastest Woman Alive - Steele High School, Shertz, TX Director John S Wright