Thursday, March 10, 2005
Progress
On the 2005 creative front, things are going pretty well. I've finished three key songs in my musical, and though the finale stumps me (and has for the past four years) I'm going ahead with the next stage. In my study of the American musical format, I've come to realize I've done things backward, writing songs first. Actually, the first thing I did was to study the text for about six months and ponder how I'd structure the production: which passages would be songs, who would sing them, how I might use non-Tobit passages like Psalms to flesh out some spots. Then I began writing songs, and found a theatre friend to bounce ideas off. Then I took about two years off when I moved to the country.
The plan over the next few weeks is to write the dialogue with most of the material left over from the songs. My wife didn't think much of my original plan, which was to set the whole thing to music, mix in some psalms, and create an operetta. I have nine songs, and there might be as many as three or four more, but I think it's time to create some speaking parts, then go back to the music aspect and see what happens. Tobit 13 definitely needs music, and a blow the roof off cast finale, but I'm not satisfied with the two ideas I've come up with for it. In the meantime, I need to find someone experienced in theatre to review the whole thing and help me assess its worthiness for the stage. At the very least, it will get done in the parish, maybe as early as next Spring.
Any theatre folks with some ideas or good advice?
