The Third Tier

The Third Tier - A One Hour Cable Drama - Series Synopsis

During the Gilded Age of New York City, sisters LILY and GERTRUDE, both in their early 20s, live in unthinkable circumstances. After their mother’s death, Gertrude, the elder sister, supports their family by being pimped out by their abusive stepfather. With Gertrude’s blessing, Lily concentrates on succeeding as a pianist in the theater world. They are both devoted to EMILY, Lily’s young daughter, and focus all their efforts on giving her the best life they can.

After they argue, their drunken stepfather slashes Gertrude’s face with a knife. That night, while Lily plays piano in a theater, their stepfather is murdered. As Lily leaves work, she is arrested for the crime.

The disfigured Gertrude turns tricks to support Emily as she desperately tries to find a way to help Lily. Gertrude finally manages an audience with the judge in Lily’s case. JUDGE HENRY MURTAUGH, whose rabid political ambitions are matched only by his verbosity and girth, sees a solution to a pressing problem. His best source of information, the influential MADAM NORTH, is dying of syphilis. He arranges for Lily to become Madam North’s successor. Lily, timid by nature, reluctantly agrees in order to repay him for saving her life and to finally establish a home for her daughter and sister.

Lily’s “ladies” advertise by spending time on the third tier of THE MUSE THEATER, owned by D.D. DUNWITTY. Dunwitty will take any gamble to fill the seats, damn the consequences. This puts him at odds with the Judge, who doesn’t want his source of information jeopardized in any way.

On the Tier, Gertrude tends bar while Emily, now a young beauty, sits front and center of the first row as bait to lure patrons back to Lily’s brothel. Emily becomes obsessed with the theater. She plans a future on the stage in opposition to Lily and Gertrude’s hopes for a society marriage for her.

Soon Lily’s brothel is a magnet for prominent gentlemen. Lily learns to extract valuable information from her patrons, which she passes on to the Judge. He uses what Lily tells him to coerce support for his mayoral run.

Gertrude discovers that the Judge is illiterate. (At the time, becoming a lawyer was done under the mentor system and the “bar exam” was oral.) Lily blackmails the Judge into taking Emily to an important society ball, so that Emily might meet her future husband. The Judge agrees, because, unknown to Lily, he plans to take Emily as his wife.

Seeing her potential as a big box office draw, Dunwitty casts Emily in a play that features a famous actor. Emily fights against going to the ball as she has no intention of getting married when she has just been given her big break. During an argument, Emily reveals that she knows that Gertrude is really her mother. Lily and Gertrude explain the deception was to protect her from being known as the daughter of a street whore and her pimp.

The Judge threatens to shut down Dunwitty’s theater unless Dunwitty convinces Emily to attend the ball with him. Emily is forced to choose between being the next mayor’s wife, making her devoted mother and aunt happy, and her true love – the theater.