Second "Authors" Rehearsal
I'm not really used to the whole "author's rehearsal" concept. In the past, either I haven't been around for rehearsals, or I have directed my own stuff. Or, I directed other people's stuff and I simply made my own "director's edit of the script" and passed it to the author with a note: "How's this as a cut?"
But to sit around in a rehearsal where we collectively decide to cut... it's strange to see a full-length script you co-wrote covered in a sea of cross-out pen. Because usually I prefer pencil.
So long as it goes well for the script and the show, I have no problem with it though. There is always extraneous material. Often it's mine, as I tend to overwrite (with the intention of cutting) rather than underwrite. And so in these early rehearsals, we're trimming as much fat as possible. Which is good. The less the actors have to come up with excuses for why they would say that, the better.
And the best part about it is all the new lines that keep popping up. The funnier way to say things. I've always felt like "Oedipus for Kids" was a musical that should have the feeling like it was created by a three-person improv troupe. As we do our last-minute script changes, and the actors are being given more free range with their improv moments, it's definitely feeling more and more like that every day.
So I never did mention how Bobby got onto this project. He and I had worked on projects before, and so when we had a first draft of script and lyrics ready to send to NYMF, I called him and said, "want to write music for this show?"
"Sure, Gil."
"Good. You have ten days to write the music for half a dozen songs... Go."
And I must say, some of those first songs are still my favorites in the whole piece. Originally the songs we sent included Once Upon A Time-Ipus, an early version of Lullabye, A Little Complex, a rhythm-only What is It Like When You Get The Plague, and a very different Be Kind To The Blind that I still have a soft spot for.
We then kept working on the book and score after it was submitted, adding song after song after song until the holes were filled in. In the words of Greg Brown, "how come with every song I arrange, I still feel one step closer to being half-done?"
Next week, I actually get to watch the thing get up on it's feet. More then.
But to sit around in a rehearsal where we collectively decide to cut... it's strange to see a full-length script you co-wrote covered in a sea of cross-out pen. Because usually I prefer pencil.
So long as it goes well for the script and the show, I have no problem with it though. There is always extraneous material. Often it's mine, as I tend to overwrite (with the intention of cutting) rather than underwrite. And so in these early rehearsals, we're trimming as much fat as possible. Which is good. The less the actors have to come up with excuses for why they would say that, the better.
And the best part about it is all the new lines that keep popping up. The funnier way to say things. I've always felt like "Oedipus for Kids" was a musical that should have the feeling like it was created by a three-person improv troupe. As we do our last-minute script changes, and the actors are being given more free range with their improv moments, it's definitely feeling more and more like that every day.
So I never did mention how Bobby got onto this project. He and I had worked on projects before, and so when we had a first draft of script and lyrics ready to send to NYMF, I called him and said, "want to write music for this show?"
"Sure, Gil."
"Good. You have ten days to write the music for half a dozen songs... Go."
And I must say, some of those first songs are still my favorites in the whole piece. Originally the songs we sent included Once Upon A Time-Ipus, an early version of Lullabye, A Little Complex, a rhythm-only What is It Like When You Get The Plague, and a very different Be Kind To The Blind that I still have a soft spot for.
We then kept working on the book and score after it was submitted, adding song after song after song until the holes were filled in. In the words of Greg Brown, "how come with every song I arrange, I still feel one step closer to being half-done?"
Next week, I actually get to watch the thing get up on it's feet. More then.