SYNOPSIS (with some song titles)
Edna Peterson, a magically realistic corpse who has spent the last three months in cold storage, only wanted to return to Stafford Springs, CT for a decent burial by the loving daughters she raised there. Imagine Edna's surprise when she learns that daughter Emily has been On a Quest and concludes that her mother Betrayed her long ago by preventing her from attending law school. Surprise changes to outrage when Emily actually strikes the corpse while insisting You Can't Have a Funeral 'til You're Dead.

Reggie Robinson, owner of the Happy Memories Funeral Home, knows The Clock is Ticking as he nervously awaits the arrival of Martha, Edna's younger daughter who has planned the funeral from Santa Fe NM. When Martha arrives, she confides to her niece a family secret and learns in return how Emily has poisoned Portia with unkind stories about her divorced father. When Martha speaks lovingly to her mother in Sorting Through Your Pictures, she earns Reggie's admiration. When she further impresses him by describing her career as a Santa Fe gallery owner, he sweeps her away in a waltz. Their brief romantic interlude, however, is interrupted by Emily, who quarrels with Martha about what Mama's Funeral Should Be and accuses her of being Our Mother's Favorite. Act I ends with the sisters both estranged and distraught after Tom, Martha's son, arrives on the scene.

Act II opens a short time later when Reggie both comforts an overwhelmed Martha and reveals his memories of her. Since Martha is overwhelmed and exhausted, he takes command to help the younger generation plan an appropriate funeral. When Tom and Portia decide to become Partners in a dance to honor their grandmother, Portia surprises all with a "found" costume, and Reggie transforms her with makeup into his Work of Art.

In the final scenes, a midnight break-in at the funeral home, Mama's advice to her daughters, and Emily's understanding of the real cause for her unhappiness allow the family to finally bury Mama both metaphorically and literally.