I'm Having Such A Good Time, I'm Having A Ball
Yesterday I returned from what you might call a pre-weekend weekend. Having two-days off from Oliver! rehearsals, I took a Fung Wah bus from Boston to New York to spend some time with Erica and work with Nehemiah on our musical-in-progress.
Erica’s been doing well, and it seems like her living arrangement is a pretty lively one, populated by colorful roommates. If it weren’t for the leaky air mattress, I’d say she’s carved out a nice little abode for herself. Sadly, I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but she encouraged me to meet with Nehemiah as much as possible, and I did.
Brick by Brick (current working-title) is really coming together. I’m a song-and-a-half away from completing the first draft of the lyrics. Now that I’m coming to the end of the lyric-writing, I’m already thinking about songs (mostly from the beginning) that I’d like to re-write. I feel like I’ve improved a lot as a lyricist since I first began in September 2005, and am itching to use that experience to strengthen (and in some cases, replace) songs from earlier in the process. I don’t have time for that, though. I need to finish the current lyrics and move on to writing the libretto. There’ll be plenty of time for lyrical re-writes should we be granted a reading of the show in the Fall.
Thursday was relatively uneventful in the musical theatre department. I got to see Mike’s apartment, where he graciously allowed us to use his printer so I could share the six-and-a-half songs I had written since I had last met with Nehemiah. Meanwhile, Mike furiously flipped through the inside jacket of Barbara Streisand’s The Broadway Album in an attempt prove that our working title was a lyric from Steven Sondheim’s “Putting It Together”. He failed, and we rejoiced.
"nice try, mike"
On Friday Nehemiah and I met outside a small, expensive restaurant drinking ice water and (in Nehemiah’s case) two Red Bull energy drinks (so that's how he does it). I sang the dummy melodies I had devised for the songs into a tape recorder so Nehemiah could get a general idea for the style I was going for in each song. Mike also made an appearance, but it was on a bicycle and much more brief.
My only real regret about the trip, aside from not spending enough time with Erica, is that Nehemiah and I were never able to find a piano to work on music with. Next time we meet it will probably be closer to me, so I’m hoping Emily Goo will allow us to borrow her piano for an evening. Emily, if you provide the piano, I promise that Nehemiah and I will provide hours of musical and lyrical entertainment. Of course, we’d also want to use your voice while we’re working on the female singing parts. It’d be good if we could get Owen over there, too. I’d include Amanda as well, but she’ll be in Australia, and that makes her attendance kind of impossible.
So now I’m home. I’m honestly putting off writing Leonard’s (the protagonist) big finale song, “Me All Along” because it’s the most challenging song I’ve had to write yet, a relatively slow-tempo song in which Leonard confesses to the police all the murders he’s committed. The toughest part will be making it compelling to listen to and emotionally effective. I’m listening to a lot of Queen (mainly “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Save Me”, and “Somebody to Love”) for guidance and inspiration.
Erica’s been doing well, and it seems like her living arrangement is a pretty lively one, populated by colorful roommates. If it weren’t for the leaky air mattress, I’d say she’s carved out a nice little abode for herself. Sadly, I didn’t get to spend as much time with her as I would have liked, but she encouraged me to meet with Nehemiah as much as possible, and I did.
Brick by Brick (current working-title) is really coming together. I’m a song-and-a-half away from completing the first draft of the lyrics. Now that I’m coming to the end of the lyric-writing, I’m already thinking about songs (mostly from the beginning) that I’d like to re-write. I feel like I’ve improved a lot as a lyricist since I first began in September 2005, and am itching to use that experience to strengthen (and in some cases, replace) songs from earlier in the process. I don’t have time for that, though. I need to finish the current lyrics and move on to writing the libretto. There’ll be plenty of time for lyrical re-writes should we be granted a reading of the show in the Fall.
Thursday was relatively uneventful in the musical theatre department. I got to see Mike’s apartment, where he graciously allowed us to use his printer so I could share the six-and-a-half songs I had written since I had last met with Nehemiah. Meanwhile, Mike furiously flipped through the inside jacket of Barbara Streisand’s The Broadway Album in an attempt prove that our working title was a lyric from Steven Sondheim’s “Putting It Together”. He failed, and we rejoiced.
"nice try, mike"
On Friday Nehemiah and I met outside a small, expensive restaurant drinking ice water and (in Nehemiah’s case) two Red Bull energy drinks (so that's how he does it). I sang the dummy melodies I had devised for the songs into a tape recorder so Nehemiah could get a general idea for the style I was going for in each song. Mike also made an appearance, but it was on a bicycle and much more brief.
My only real regret about the trip, aside from not spending enough time with Erica, is that Nehemiah and I were never able to find a piano to work on music with. Next time we meet it will probably be closer to me, so I’m hoping Emily Goo will allow us to borrow her piano for an evening. Emily, if you provide the piano, I promise that Nehemiah and I will provide hours of musical and lyrical entertainment. Of course, we’d also want to use your voice while we’re working on the female singing parts. It’d be good if we could get Owen over there, too. I’d include Amanda as well, but she’ll be in Australia, and that makes her attendance kind of impossible.
So now I’m home. I’m honestly putting off writing Leonard’s (the protagonist) big finale song, “Me All Along” because it’s the most challenging song I’ve had to write yet, a relatively slow-tempo song in which Leonard confesses to the police all the murders he’s committed. The toughest part will be making it compelling to listen to and emotionally effective. I’m listening to a lot of Queen (mainly “Bohemian Rhapsody”, “Save Me”, and “Somebody to Love”) for guidance and inspiration.