A Sleeping Show Returns

You may recall that nearly two years ago, when I started this blog, I mentioned a show I was working on called “Wonderland” that was going to be a re-imagination of the classic Lewis Carrol stories. Eventually, I abandoned the concept, but it has come up again in conversation with a local theatre company that’s looking for a spring show. They’ve expressed interest in it, so I wrote up the show’s outline in three days, retitled the project as “Alice” and sent it off to them. They’ve said it will be a little while before they make a decision on what they want to do, so in the meantime I’m going to start on the script so that if they do choose “Alice”, I’ll have a head start.

If “Alice” gets the green light, the company and I have both agreed that (though I still want to do it as a musical) it would be best to put it through this first run as a straight play, due to time constraints. I’m looking at this as a good thing, though, because it gives me time to build the characters and story before adding in the added element music would bring. As for the music itself, I’ve turned away from the idea of electronica and have decided to do it with more straight up rock. And I’m not talking “musical theatre rock” like RENT or next to normal, I’m talking U2, Green Day, Coldplay, Pearl Jam rock.

As for edge, I will still be working on the show, but I may take a break from it if “Alice” gets produced. Nevertheless, I still love the characters and the story, so it will simply be put on the back burner for now.

I’m really excited about this opportunity, and it’s really rewarding that a show that I’ve been building on for two years might finally get a chance to be produced!

60

As of today, there are 60 days remaining until the beginning of the third annual Script Frenzy. This is also the time when I begin to question the solidity of my concept, and this year, like last, I’m finding that a fresh idea in my head seems more appealing than the one I had planned. As of 10:55 this morning, I have decided not to pursue WONDERLAND or METROPOLIS for Script Frenzy. The concepts of both shows just seems a little overdone. Instead, I will be writing a dramatic musical currently titled Heartland. Heartland will follow the struggles of a seemingly perfect family (the Weston family) as they unravel after the death of the patriarch. Affairs, murder, scandal, abuse, and drug addiction are all issues dealt with in Heartland. I may post again sometime with a little bit more plot information, but as of right now, this is all that I am releasing.

I may return to work on WONDERLAND in the future, but I think that may be pretty far ahead in the future, if ever. As for METROPOLIS, all interest in this project has strangely died out. The concept just wouldn’t go anywhere. I could never come up with the right way to begin the show.

Alright, so there are 60 days left until the Fenzy begins. 60 days left until I descend into Heartland.

The Countdown is Ticking…

The title of this post has two meanings:

One: Script Frenzy is only 75 days away, and that means it’s time to start really delving into character development. I’m going to leave the plot development untouched, pretty much. I might do a little bit, decide what the overall premise of the plot itself is, but I don’t like giving myself a blueprint for a show, I always feel like it constricts me, and that’s when I lose interest. I’m also hoping to do some sketching of some of the costumes I have in my mind and post them here on the blog…WARNING: My drawing is pretty awful, so don’t expect much, if anything.

Two: I’m soon going to begin writing a show called METROPOLIS, a modern opera. METROPOLIS is going to be based heavily on the classic story of Romeo & Juliet and will take place in a large, futuristic city called, you guessed it, Metropolis. The premise of the show is that a corporation called SYNDICITE has taken control of the government and has basically brain-washed the entire population, save for the lucky few who can resist conformity. Barrin is one of the few, and he has gathered the ones who did not conform and he has formed a group of rebels called The Resistance. Fal, Barrin’s right hand man, gathers the rebels and starts a countdown: 30:00:00. Days:Hours:Minutes. It’s a countdown to the day they fight back. The rest of the show takes place within this time frame. As the show progresses, Barrin forms a relationship with Carawin, the daughter of the CEO of SYNDICITE. Barrin soon begins to drift away from The Resistance, not wanting to go through with the battle, but he stays on, knowing that if he gives up all of the ones who follow him will lose hope. The sound of METROPOLIS will be a blend of your classic musical orchestra (strings, woodwinds, percussion, etc.) and modern rock instruments (electric guitars, acoustic guitars, synthesizer). I’m really looking forward to working on METROPOLIS while I plan for WONDERLAND.

I’ve given myself a lot of projects right now, but I really want to go through with both of these shows, and I can’t wait to begin writing for both of them!

Closer to April Every Day

It’s almost time for Script Frenzy! Well, if you call an event that’s a whole 3 months away close! WONDERLAND is going to be a lot of fun to write, I think. Especially since it has to be written in 30 days!

On more of a general note, January is apparently the month of the Angel of Death for Broadway. Last night, 13, Grease, Hairspray, Liza, among many others, closed. It’s hard to believe that Hairspray closed with it’s cult follwing, but t did, along with Grease.

Anyway, I just wanted to post, since I hadn’t posted in a little while. I promise, posting will pick up when Script Frenzy begins. Right now, I just don’t have much to post about. Maybe the next few months of the New Year will have me posting more on here!

The Sound of WONDERLAND

Alright, so I know I explained what the sound of WONDERLAND was going to be like in my first post, but I wanted to go into more detail. Basically, the whole basis of the show will be electronica and rock music. Then, I’m adding in a mix of classic musical theatre, epic fantasy score, and a little bit of opera, possibly. I’m taking the inspiration of the music very heavily from PARADISE LOST: Shadows and Wings, an electronic opera by Eric Whitacre, which made its world premiere in California in Summer 2007. The music for that, however, did not take as much inspiration from musical theatre and rock, it stayed strictly operatic with an epic, fantastic score of electronica. WONDERLAND will definitely take its roots in rock and epic fantasy.

Another inspiration I’ve found for the sound is The Lord of the Rings the musical, which closed in London in June 2007. It has a large, sweeping, epic feel, which I really want to convey in WONDERLAND. I want the audience to feel like they’re in this strange, unknown world that Alice is travelling. It’s going to be a very vast, complex score that I think will really bring out the fantastical, other worldly element in the entire script. It’s definitely going to be a fun score to write, when the time comes for composing the music.

First, though, I will have to write the book and lyrics. That is why April and Script Frenzy must happen. Then, I will write the score using a MIDI Keyboard and Notation software, which I will be buying sometime next year when I gather the required funds.  Anyway, I am afraid I have to leave, there are other things I have to do. I’m glad, though, that I got the opportunity to explain the sound of WONDERLAND with a little more detail.

The First Note

Welcome to my all new blog, Before the Overture. Some of you may have read my other blog, One Writer’s Terrors, which is my blog that follows my novel writing adventures. Before the Overture will be a venture in the same vein as One Writer’s Terrors, as it will follow my adventures in writing plays and musicals. I’m very excited to begin working on this blog, and I’m sure that this blog will follow much more of the development of shows as opposed to the sister site (One Writer’s Terrors) where I simply find an idea and post about it. My goal with Before the Overture is to include this blog’s audience in the developmental process of my writing.

That being said, today’s post will be a venture off that path. I’m currently preparing myself to begin working on Script Frenzy, which will go into its third year in 2009. Script Frenzy is a competition that takes place in April every year and challenges people to write 100 pages of a script in 30 days. I have participated and won the Frenzy both times and wrote two complete stageplays that are now collecting dust on my computer’s hard drive. This year will be no different, as far as the stageplay writing aspect goes. I have decided to pursue a project that will be not a remake of the Alice in Wonderland stories, but rather a reimagining. In my Script Frenzy project, currently titled WONDERLAND, Wonderland will be a darker place, filled with differet creatures than in the original stories. The show will be a musical, set to a score that is a mix of electronica, rock, and epic fantasy music. The overall tone of the show’s music will be somewhat reflective of PARADISE LOST: Shadows and Wings, a show that combined sounds of traditional musical theatre with opera and electronica. WONDERLAND will not be a copying of their idea of the music, but more of a continuation of the revoloution of musical theatre that they began.  I have a lot of planning to do for the show and a lot of time to do it. The note must be made, though, that although WONDERLAND is a reimagining of the Wonderland stories, it will not follow the exact same plot as the stories. The main elements of the stories will be evident in many of the characters and in the world itself. There will be as many allusions to its Lewis Carroll roots as possible, but the plot will be original. I guess you could compare WONDERLAND to the Sci-Fi channel’s mini-series Tin Man, in the aspect of reimagining the world and plot. Tin Man had many characters and places to serve as allusions to the original Oz tales, and that is exactly the sort of thing that WONDERLAND will do.

I’m rambling on, though, I should really stop. I am excited about doing WONDERLAND, mainly because it seems like such a solid concept. Of course, the whole thing is, really, a house of cards (no pun intended), because if one minor detail is screwed up, the entire show will come crumbling down. I feel it might be a difficult show to get produced, but workshops and production happen after the writing. Anyway, I need to go. I have a lot of work today, but I will be back. I have too much of a story to tell.