Pearls so rare!
Pearls so rare!
A family has been reunited,
That's cause for joy.
We are so excited!
We'd be delighted
If you decided to stay___
On this happy day!
On this happy day!

These are the words to the chorus of the Finale song of my latest Children's Musical "Parizade's Quest, a Tale from the Arabian Nights."  The special message of this story is about the importance of FAMILY.  As always, writing the show is a mind game, but putting it into production is an adventure!

As a writer, you think and think and plan and plan and try to envision all the parts and pieces of the finished production.  You design everything from the sets, to the dances, to the costumes, to how the characters talk and move. But then reality sets in.  The biggest culprits are limitations of budget and time and of course the actual abilities of your very young actors.  How wonderful to have some validation in getting a lot "right" about what you can actually manage to accomplish.  But it is sobering to realize what simply will not fly.
So, you pare down, regroup, re-imagine, and go on!

The happy thing is that the kids seem to like the songs, the story, and the idea of the costumes that they haven't actually seen yet.  Now to get them to memorize their lines, learn their choreography, master the singing of the songs, and accomplish some real acting to tell the story.  The first few weeks are so rough.  Nobody really has a handle on what to expect.  They don't know each other.  They don't know their characters.  They have so much work to do. And as the creator and director of a brand new theatrical piece, I just don't have enough words or time to explain what is inside my head.  
          
The good thing is that they have no pre-conceived notions about the story or their characters.  
          
The bad things is that they have no pre-conceived notions about the story or any reference points for understanding the characters, setting or interpretation of the story.  
          
How come they can't just do what I see them do during my dreams at night?  

These are kids, after all.  Ten, eleven and twelve year olds.  There are just a handful who have had any experience doing a play or dancing or singing in shows.  Fortunately, those kids can be the lead characters and demonstrate to the others how to conduct themselves.  Now if I could just split myself into three or four extra people, we would have time enough to work with all the children on a more individual level.  Don't have that kind of luxury, though.  We will just go on the best we can.  Perhaps, I will think of creative ways to "steal" extra time in some other ways.

After all, what is the first law of the theater?  The Show Must Go On!

                   

          No matter how hard an author tries to imagine and plan out the script and songs for a new play, there are inevitable twists and turns as it goes into production.  For example: I have always had good luck with getting many boys to come out for the shows at the elementary school I have been writing shows for.  But this time, the ratio is roughly 4:1 -- girls to boys.  Unfortunately, that means that some girls will have to play "Royal Guards" in some of the sequences.  Although this is not unusual for Children's Theater, it is a complication and a big let down for the girls who see themselves as lovely "princesses or ballerinas."  Fortunately, these girls can be featured as females in other scenes, though.  That should ease the weeping and wailing.

          Another twist has been figuring and re-figuring how to do the magical effects.  In the story,  "Parizade's Quest" is to obtain the three wonderful things: a Fountain of Golden Water, a Singing Tree, and a Speaking Bird.  So, just how do you create a fountain of golden bubbling water, a tree with moving branches of shimmering "musical" leaves, and a bird (played by a human) in a glittering cage?

          So, I think I have figured out how to create the Speaking Bird's cage out of very lightweight tubing from the plumbing department at the hardware store.  It is the same kind of plastic tubing that hula hoops are made of.  Once spray painted with gold sparkles, it ought to work.  

          The Golden Fountain will just have to be a painted cardboard cut-out, I'm afraid.  We cannot afford the space to bring on stage a heavy cement garden fountain and we certainly cannot have real water!  Not with elementary kids!  I am thinking that the bubbling might be accomplished through some kind of puppetry, though. 

           And as for the Singing Tree... that might be created as a "flat" with bas relief trunk and hanging shimmering leaves with concealed mini wind chimes attached to strings.  We might then have a puppeteer pull the strings from behind to work the action of making the branches of leaves shimmer and the chimes tinkle in the wind.

         Another twist -- a terrific, happy discovery -- has been a young sixth grade student artist who has volunteered to design and paint the back ground scenes.  She has already come up with some beautiful designs and is anxious to get to work.  Happy happenstances like this make my worries and time all worth the effort! 


              Here's to expecting the Unexpected!  Way to go, Ceilidh!