"We're never going away."
-In Control (early version)
This past Saturday, the first official developmental reading of the revised "In Control" finally happened, two years after the premiere of the first draft. The cast was fantastic, despite some late-period shakeups that led to emergency recasting. Overall, the changes in the book were extremely well-recieved:
After the reading (we're now about five pages shorter than the premiere version, making the time much more manageable), we had a talkback session, where several interesting opinions were offered. I'm going to post some of the feedback here, to give examples of the way these sorts of events shape the finished product.
- Increased focus on Steve's cancer in Act 1 and less time building TO that plotline
- Fisher is now Steve's former college roommate and not a creepy guy in his thirties
- Keith's split with the band and friends is less acrimonious and angry, more a maturation process
- Mary Sue and Jude fleshed out, added to "Easier Said Than Done" (formerly titled "Life Is, Love Is")
- Steve now pushes Rachel away, instead of Rachel breaking up with Steve herself
After the reading (we're now about five pages shorter than the premiere version, making the time much more manageable), we had a talkback session, where several interesting opinions were offered. I'm going to post some of the feedback here, to give examples of the way these sorts of events shape the finished product.
- Perhaps there is now TOO much focus on Steve as cancer survivor and too little on Steve as friend, boyfriend and brother- drop some cancer material in Act 1?
- Reese as capable of psychic episodes is alluded to in a joke before his flash of insight during "Shadows" (now re-conceived as a moment of psychic connection with Steve's "spirit"); perhaps make this a running gag so that the eventual vision doesn't feel too jarring.
- The music in Act 2 is mostly heavy, dark piano-led music. While the readers all requested more lightness and levity to break the mood up in Act 2, they also suggested that the breezy, Sara Bareilles pop stylings of "Easier Said Than Done" may be TOO cheerful and light.
- The afterlife sequence seemed longer than necessary to the readers. They suggested either cutting or drastically abbreviating one of the three songs ("Letting Go," "Steve's Epiphany," "Showdown") or else combining the entire segment into an extended music sequence, a la the last fifteen minutes of Act 1 where music, dialogue and dance are all integrated into one solid, monolithic music sequence.
- Though the cast enjoyed the music and the concept of "Where The Chicas At," they found that the actual lyrical content, hinging as it does around a slightly awkward bit of slang from the Greensburg-Latrobe area, would probably confuse or alienate audiences. They suggested a new musical number to replace "Chicas" with the same concept of heading to the mall with the intention of meeting girls.
- "Now That You're Gone" is STILL everyone's favorite song in the entire show.
At this point, the question is, "what is the next step?" Well, that's an open answer. Once the revised script and a few replacement songs are prepared, my next step is to finish the orchestrations, which were left somewhat incomplete at the time of the first staging. Next, things start to branch. I could look for another production opportunity, or try and get a workshop of the material. I could start raising money for a concept album to promote the show. Finally, I could start shopping the show for grants and awards, once submission season opens in the summer or fall.
Well, we've made it through almost five years of development now, and things are finally starting to look solidified for real. We have a few script edits to make, a few new songs to write, and most of the orchestrations to rewrite. Do you agree with these changes and suggestions? Disagree? Have thoughts of your own? If so, please comment and let me know what you think!
Well, we've made it through almost five years of development now, and things are finally starting to look solidified for real. We have a few script edits to make, a few new songs to write, and most of the orchestrations to rewrite. Do you agree with these changes and suggestions? Disagree? Have thoughts of your own? If so, please comment and let me know what you think!