A Veritable Crowd

A Veritable Crowd is a musical comedy by Todden Lane about a Bhaluan student, Jalo, who finds themselves in the big city. It was selected to be the next play performed by the Ingenuity Players as a more "accessible" play after the disaster that was The Wind of the Night and the Candelabra Incident. Featuring musical numbers like "Quit Wafflin' Around" and "Ride Along the Bhalua City Express", it's sure to be a crowd-pleaser.

Plot Summary
Jalo, a young student from Bhalua, finishes up their secondary school education and moves away to the big city (Bhalua City) to go to college studying gastronomy. Their biggest dream is to open their own restaurant, specializing in waffles.

When Jalo gets to the city, they think nothing can dampen their spirits. Soon, though, they find that one of their professors, Plax, seems to despise them and their cooking -- Plax is of the opinion that cereal is the best possible breakfast, rather than waffles. (Jalo and Plax debate in a song called "The Most Important Meal".)  Jalo's tough start in the city continues when they trip and splatter their crush, Lumena, in pie filing; and the waffle stand they try to open in the city square gets rained on, leaving them with nothing but soggy waffles. On top of this, their roommate, Sila, never talks to them, and they suspect their RA is running a drug-smuggling ring (specifically a mild hallucinogenic that greatly resembles brown sugar). Jalo is teased for their country mannerisms, and told they'll never make it in the big city.

Throughout the course of the musical, Jalo solves all these problems with hilarious hijinks, baking skills, and song and dance, culminating in a class project where they serve their signature waffles to the veritable crowd of new friends they've made along the way. They realize at the last moment that they've accidentally topped the waffles with the RA's "brown sugar", and save the day by preventing everyone from eating them, instead teaching their new friends to cook waffles in one final musical number "Pass the Syrup". The show ends with Jalo and Lumena holding hands and dancing offstage, about to go on their first date.