"Mary Elizabeth" Lola Cep (portrayed by Lindsay Lohan) is a 15-year-old girl who grew up in New York City and wants desperately to be a famous Broadway actress. Lola narrates the story. Much to her annoyance, she moves with her family to the suburbs of Dellwood, New Jersey, but she confidently tells the audience, "A legend is about to be born. That legend would be me."
Background[]
At school, Lola makes friends with an unpopular girl, Ella Gerard, who shares her love for the rock band Sidarthur. Lola idolizes the band's lead singer Stu Wolff. She also meets Sam, a cute boy who takes a liking to her, and makes enemies with Carla Santini, the most popular girl in school.
When Lola auditions for the school play, a modernized musical version of Pygmalion called "Eliza Rocks", she is chosen over Carla to play Eliza, and Carla promises to make her life miserable. Lola also beats Carla on a dancing video game at an arcade, where Carla reveals that she has tickets to the farewell concert of Sidarthur, who recently decided to break up. Afraid of being one-upped by Carla, Lola falsely claims that she and Ella have tickets, too. She loses her chance to buy tickets and new clothes when her mother takes away her allowance, and the concert is sold out by the time she persuades Ella to pay for the tickets. But Lola explains that they can buy tickets from a scalper, and she gets Sam to sneak Eliza's dress out of the costume room for her to wear at the concert.
On the night of the concert, Lola and Ella take a train to New York City, but Lola loses the money for the tickets, and her plan to sneak into the concert doesn't work. Lola and Ella finally give up and walk through the city to Stu's after-show party. When they get there, Stu stumbles drunkenly out of the building and passes out in an alley. The two girls take him to a diner to sober him up, but he gets in trouble, and they end up at a police station, where Lola gives her father's New York City address.
At this point, Lola's dishonesty becomes a problem. When she met Ella, she tried to impress her by telling her a dramatic story about her father dying years earlier. Ella highly values honesty, so she becomes infuriated when she discovers that Lola's story was a lie. After Lola's father arrives, and they explain what happened, Stu gratefully takes them all back to the party, where Ella forgives Lola for lying, and the two girls see Carla, who sees them as well and looks upset. Lola talks with Stu about his work but is disappointed to discover that he is a drunk.
Back at school, Carla humiliates Lola by denying that she saw Lola or Ella at the party and calling Lola a liar. None of the other students believe Lola's story about being arrested with Stu and leaving her necklace at his house.
Afterward, Lola goes home, depressed, and refuses to perform in the play, but she is spurred on by Ella's encouragement and arrives backstage just in time to prevent Carla from taking over her part. As she is about to go on stage, her mother wishes her good luck and finally calls her by her nickname, "Lola". The modernist interpretation of Pygmalion (Eliza Rocks) ensues. After a great performance that brings a standing ovation, the cast goes to an after-party at Carla's house, where Stu arrives to see Lola. Carla tries to save herself from humiliation by saying he is there to see her but is proved wrong when Stu gives Lola her necklace in front of everyone. As Carla's lies become apparent, she backs away from the crowd on the verge of tears and falls into a fountain, greeted by everyone's laughter. In a conciliatory gesture, Lola helps her up, and Carla accepts defeat. After dancing with Stu, Lola dances with Sam, and they eventually share a kiss.
Trivia[]
- According to the author Dyan Sheldon, Lola is a Pisces.
- Hilary Duff auditioned for the lead role.
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