Committed

Here is the song I have worked the hardest on over the past two years.  I feel like I have finally gotten to a point where I’m really comfortable with the style of the music backing the words. I’ll post the mp3 of what I have so for early tomorrow!

This is exclusively Brady’s part of the song… in it, he is singing do his deceased daughter Rose, who happens to be the ‘imaginary person’ that Emma Rose Vedecossa sees.  They are both in isolation cells next to each other, where they will both be singing their perspectives of what happened on the infamous night that Rose was killed.  Each sings about Rose, with out the other aware that they are talking about the same girl.  Both Brady and Emma Rose are haunted by the guilt of Rose death, and both feel responsible.  The song is a way for Brady to reconcile with his departed daughter

Rose

I still remember the summer breeze,

Blowing through your hair,

A smile that’s so bright and true,

In a world that’s so unfair,

Many are the times when I will think of you,

I never go a day where I won’t think of you,

I’m thinking of you-

I still remember our autumn walks,

And all the times we shared,

We had planned for so many things,

But for this I was unprepared,

I’ve never gone a day where I could let it go,

Each and every day I feel more alone…

Here are the first set of lyrics I have created for Hilde the nurse to sing to Brady at the beginning of the show.

To set the scene, Brady is screaming in his sleep, and Hilde rushes in to calm him.

It’s okay,

It was a bad dream like the night before

It’s alright,

I think you’ll make it through the rest of the night

I know this place can get to you,

But it’s only for a while-.

Relax yourself, and get comfortable,

Come on, let’s have a smile!

I’ll post something soon with chords and rough vocals behind it.  In my head the song should almost be lullaby-ish, calm and comforting.  It will probably have a response from Brady, and then conclude with their two parts intertwining.

So based on Ian’s suggestions and my wanting to finally get something done, I have decide to set up some sort of goals through out the course of the next year.

That’s right, I want to finish up my end of the project by essentially the start of 2011. 

Here’s what I’m thinking:

2 songs a month, lyrics and chords. 

That gives me about 10 months to complete 20 songs.  If I do decide to give myself exactly a year, then obviously that’s 24 songs.  I think those numbers sound reasonable to complete, and give me enough to choose from to actually put in the show. (As many songs never are included in the final production of a musical…)

Over the course of my spring break next week, I plan to complete Rose, A Conversation between Brady and Dr. Emery, It’s Alright, and Institutionalization.  By completing this right off the bat, that will set me on the ten month track.

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Its also important to think of the other side of things, for example the script.  Much of the script is completed (from what I can recall from almost a year ago)… but I have to look at everything again, make sure the story still holds up, and see where the songs truly work in… or if dialogue has to be removed and a song inserted in its place. 

This part of things is going to prove very difficult doing it asyncroniously as I am not home in Buffalo to work on this with Jojo… and Jojo is a busy busy person.

We’ll see how that goes, but at the very least having some songs will certainly help progress us forward!

I was talking with me buddy Ian C. Anderson who is an avid blogger and he offered me a little advice to get myself out of this slump I’m in.  He suggested that I start a blog to post little bits of my ideas and work through the process of writing the Committed.  In doing so I hope to be continually motivated to continue posting, and the only way to have something to post about is to make further progress in the show.

Ian used a similar method to create is first full length album Perennials. Since I met him six years ago, he has only written about three songs a year… and according to him, only one song a year worth listening to.  So he decided to take his best songs and blog about his recording process, funding, getting album artwork done, and even the reproduction process.  He set a deadline for himself and stuck to it.

In a lot of ways Ian and I can be very much the same person, especially when it comes to getting things done… so I thought I’d give this thing a try.

I’m not about ready to set a deadline for myself as I am still in grad school and working everyday, and I have to work with Jojo and her crazy schedule… but when we get to summer, that might just change…

Here goes nothing… and let’s hope I stay committed…

So with some small ideas in place, Jojo and I decided to complete some individual brainstorming to come up with other ideas.  It was decided that I would try to write the music and most of the lyrics and then consult with Jojo on things like grammar, etc.  We were to work on the script together, and then she was going to use her English skills to polish the piece into something worth seeing.

I also made contact with two other former teachers of mine, Mr. K and Mr. Fu.  The K-man is a mentor to me, and he’s the one that initially taught me how to sing. I am apt to believe that he has made a hobby out of playing the devil’s advocate when going to him for advice.  He’s directed probably close to 160 shows in his years of teaching and directing his theater company… so he’s a pretty helpful guy to chat with.  More importantly he has written two musicals.  One was called Ramona based off of a novel under the same name.  He has also written a short Christmas musical.

Mr. Fu was the first person to teach me music. Period.  He’s a pretty witty fella, but I had him so early on in my educational career that I never really knew him from an adult perspective.  After talking with the K-man about how he came to complete his musical, he told me that Fu had arranged the entire show for him.  He suggested maybe I do the same.

So I was fortunate enough to get a hold of him, and met with him for coffee (now almost two years ago) and exchanged ideas.  It’s been along time since then, but we have most of the show written, with execption to the songs.  He seemed interested… so Jojo and I may have an arranger!

Brady Lockhart

Somewhat of an antihero, Brady is married to Jenny, and is the father to Rose. He was late picking his teen-aged daughter, up from an after school event.  About a thirty minutes prior to Brady’s arrival to pick up his daughter she was hit by a car and killed.  The incident was hit-and-run.  The death of Rose and his belief that his tardiness is the reason for her death sends him into depression and suicidal thought.

Jennifer Lockhart

Is the concerned wife of Brady Lockhart.  She has handled her daughter’s death better than Brady, and Brady feels as though she blames him for Roses’ death.  She tries to help Brady, but he refuses to talk to her. She finds that she is increasingly attracted to Dr. Emery, as there are certain qualities that remind her of Brady.

Rose Lockhart

Is the deceased daughter of Brady and Jenny Lockhart.  Was killed in a hit and run accident. She is also the “imaginary friend” of Emma Rose Vedecosa.

Emma Rose Vedecosa

A teen-aged girl who was the driver in the hit-and-run accident that killed Rose. Since the accident, she has seen Rose as if she was another person right next to her.

Billy Bob Benson

Has multiple personalities, Billy and Bob.  Has a optimistic side, and a pessimistic side.  Ironically, his good side checked himself into the institution so he can technically check himself out.

Richard Emery

A seemingly caring doctor who tends to the patients at the institution.  He too has supposedly lost his wife, and his daughter.  Because of his loses, and longing for another he falls in love with Jenny Lockhart  through the stories Brady tells him during their private sessions.  We later fine that his daughter was killed by Mariah, his institutionalized wife who suffered from post-partum depression and claimed insanity in order to stay out of prison and in the ‘care’ of her husband.

Max Dwindle

An obsessive/compulsive germ phobic patient at the institution. Corrects things like grammar constantly. Is always doing things like cleaning his fingernails, or brushing his hair. Obsessed with routine and structure.

Nurse Hilde

The token, tough love nurse, (preferable black or southern) who’s growing concern for Brady ends up saving his life.

Summer Darkstein

A bipolar character

Mariah

A basically catatonic character, who just wonders but never speaks. The secret wife of Dr. Emery

After some some discussion Jojo and I came up with the entire premise for the show.  The show would take place in a mental institution. The protagonist would be there because of his depression caused by the loss of his daughter.  While in the institution the protagonist meets the lovable nurse, the scheming doctor, and the corky cast of characters that overly dramatize different mental-illness like OCD, multiple personality disorders, and manic depression. There would certainly be a love-triangle of sorts, and maybe even a devious plot to escape.

We discussed the importance of acknowledging how serious those different disorders are, and how we can tastefully exhibit those disorders while still bringing elements of drama and humor to them.