Johnny Tremain
I've been rereading Johnny Tremain lately, an old, old favorite. So beautifully written--absolutely not written down to children, there's so much subtlety and understatement in the tone. "'I'm too young to be lascivious.'" And "So the old man was after his for his pride again, was he?" And "everything seemed to groan 'this is the end, this is the end.'"
It occurred to me last night that this would be a fantastic subject for a musical--I wonder if anyone's ever thought of it? I can think of so many musical moments--the opening scene in the silversmith's shop, Johnny's "dark night of the soul" after his injury, the speech that Otis--or is it Sam Adams?--makes with its repeated refrain "A man can stand up," and that beautiful, poignant ending "Grandsire--Grandsire..." And just think of all those wonderful old colonial instruments you could use for the orchestration--drums, fife, etc. I can't believe no one's ever adapted this!
It occurred to me last night that this would be a fantastic subject for a musical--I wonder if anyone's ever thought of it? I can think of so many musical moments--the opening scene in the silversmith's shop, Johnny's "dark night of the soul" after his injury, the speech that Otis--or is it Sam Adams?--makes with its repeated refrain "A man can stand up," and that beautiful, poignant ending "Grandsire--Grandsire..." And just think of all those wonderful old colonial instruments you could use for the orchestration--drums, fife, etc. I can't believe no one's ever adapted this!