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EXT. JDL EXPRESS TRAIN—MOVING—LONG SHOT. NIGHT.

The JDL Express train making its way across a vast black landscape.

INT. ROADHOUSE—BANDSTAND. NIGHT.

THE DANDRIDGE SISTERS and the ORCHESTRA are on the bandstand rocking the Roadhouse off of its foundation.

INT. JDL EXPRESS TRAIN—OBSERVATION CAR—ROLLING—CLOSE SHOT OF. DAY.

The BOOK COVER of The Well of Loneliness by Marguerite Radclyffe Hall. CAMERA PULLS BACK REVEALING AUNTIE MAMA reading the novel at a table in the rear of the car.

In the front of the car, JIMMIE—wearing a wide-brimmed brown fedora, purple shirt, and suspenders—is putting the ORCHESTRA and THE DANDRIDGE SISTERS through their paces in rehearsal.

NOBLE makes eye contact with VIVIAN, and starry sparks seem to illuminate the air separating them. DOTTIE and ETTA notice and poke fun at VIVIAN.

INT. MOVIE THEATER—STAGE. NIGHT.

The DANDRIDGE SISTERS are front and center on the stage SINGING with characteristic panache.

EXT. JDL EXPRESS TRAIN—MOVING—SHOOTING FROM TRAIN. NIGHT.

We see distant farms and trees gliding by in the dead of night.