Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad

Oh Dad, Poor Dad, Momma's Hung You in the Closet and I'm Feelin' So Sad Summary | Scene 1 Summary

The play opens in a fancy hotel in Havana, Cuba. Two bellboys struggle to move a coffin into the bedroom of the hotel room. As they carry it, the handles break off and the coffin falls on the ground. The bellboys are horrified. Madame Rosepettle scolds the young men as her son Jonathan follows her around the room.

The nervous bellboys do not know exactly what to do with the coffin. Madame Rosepettle continues to berate them. A third bellboy arrives with a Dictaphone that also needs to be properly placed in the room. Madame Rosepettle will not be satisfied with the bellboys. Finally, the third bellboy stands up for himself. He is a lieutenant bellboy and does not appreciate being yelled at by Madame Rosepettle.

Madame Rosepettle refers to her son by different names each time she speaks to him. He hesitantly answers her while she directs the bellboys to rearrange her hotel room. She does not want any sunlight to enter the room while she is in mourning. She tips the bellboys with loose stamps from an untidy stamp collection and random coins from a coin collection, claiming they are very valuable.

Madame Rosepettle is very eager to teach her son not to care about bellboys or other people in the service industry. Jonathan struggles with a stutter and does not wish to make the bellboys upset. As Madame Rosepettle has more and more things sent into her hotel room, the growing corps of suffering bellboys is subject to her sharp tongue and manic behavior. She refers constantly to the excellent treatment she received in Buenos Aires compared to the horrible treatment she thinks she is getting here in Cuba. She asks her son to make note to have the bellboys fired in the morning.

Madame Rosepettle gives a final rant about the bellboys not feeding her piranha the proper type of cat before inquiring about the owner of a large yacht in the harbor. As the curtain falls, Madame Rosepettle makes plans to meet Commodore Roseabove, the owner of the largest yacht in several countries.