When I first started writing this show I tried to create an on-line diary of the experience, but I found that the work moved at too brisk a pace for me to stop and chronicle it on a daily basis. Now that the show is done I have decided to keep the former updates as a working "notebook" of the creative process.
Originally I had planned to do a step-by-step journal, but because I write so fast and get so caught up in my work things have already evolved considerably. I started working on the show on the evening of December 11, 1996. As I write this it is December 28th and the first act, and much of the second is already done. While this is hardly a record for me it's still a pretty quick pace and this is the first time I've really taken a real break.
I will hopefully provide some more interesting and insightful information in the days and weeks ahead. For right now I just wanted to get the "shell" of a page up and running. I waited until I had designed a logo so there would at least be some kind of artwork.
Now here's how it all began...
It's funny how a project can start sometimes. Most of my earlier shows were created using my Amiga computer and a sequencing program called Deluxe Music. Since I've never found a good way to transfer those files over to the IBM directly I've usually just placed the Amiga monitor where I could see it and manually copied all the notes over to the IBM. I was doing this the other night when a little clarinet melody popped into my head. I stopped copying old music and started a new song file. Suddenly I was trapped! The little melody started to turn into a song and before I knew what I was doing a new musical was born!
A few years ago I wrote a a non-musical screenplay called "The Ancient Staff of Wisdom" which I had contemplated turning into a musical almost from the start. Now armed with a melody which I thought would fit the mood of that piece perfectly I decided to take the plunge and make a full musical adaptation of that script.
I find that the first few days are the most pivotal for me. I've started many shows that never got past that point. When I get in a "groove" writing is very easy and the material flows quickly and everything seems to fall into place. After more than 25 years of writing musicals I know how to "hammer" something out, but I really prefer to create things while I'm in an inspired mood. Having a completed screenplay to work from made things much easier. (As it was with "The Scarlet Letter") I went through the script and saw the logical song spots and just started writing, primarily in chronological order, which is a little unusual for me.
I was killing myself for a while there, working almost non-stop. Then three things happened. 1)The initial rush of inspiration wore off. 2)I hurt my eye in a freakish accident and also came down with a nasty cold. 3)I realized that nobody in the world was exactly waiting for a new Scott Freiheit musical to come along so I slowed the pace down a bit!
I'm mostly concentrating on songs in the 2nd Act. I also have been wrestling with some plot demons. In the original screenplay the story has a pretty dark ending which didn't seem to fit the mood of the musical the way it was turning out and also was more appropriate for film, from a staging standpoint, so I worked out a new "happier" ending. In fact, I've recently made a number of changes from the screenplay which I think will make the book of the musical much stronger. Eventually I will have a "normal" page that describes the show in greater detail, but for the moment I'm still running with this "work in progress" thing.
It's a strange feeling when the inspiration passes and you've suddenly got to "work" at creating something where just days ago everything fell into place. Fortunately I'm far enough along that I think I'll stick it out. But instead of writing two or three songs in one day I'm spending two or three days working on a small portion of one song! (Maybe if I hadn't poked my eye out I'd still be inspired, although cutting off his ear didn't seem to slow down Van Gogh.)
Scott Freiheit
January 2nd, 1997
(The day after my birthday, which I spent working on the show
with some degree of success!)
Well here it is March 5th and nothing new has happened to the show. My eye has recovered but I'm still not inspired. I've been pretty busy with other things and the "mood" just hasn't struck me to go back to work on the musical. It's funny how things like that work (or don't work as the case may be!) I did go back and listen to some of the music recently, which is always a scary thing. You never know if it will hold up to scrutiny after the initial "rush" of composition has worn off. Happily, I think it's still a solid foundation and will probably get back to work on it very soon. Not much more to report at the moment.
Scott Freiheit
March 5th, 1997
What a fascinating thing the creative process is. When I started writing this show I blazed with energy and enthusiasm, and even though I was really happy with what I was creating, somehow I just stopped working on it.
In my last "diary" entry I mention that I'm still not in the "mood" to create even after two months of inactivity. Well, four months later and I finally took a few steps forward, but now I'm moving so slowly that it's hard to categorize it as progress. I want to create, but something seems to be holding me back. Perhaps it's the stress I'm feeling from my terrible financial condition. Perhaps it's the nagging feeling that nothing I create anymore ever gets produced so why should I bother writing something new. Perhaps I've just "hit a wall" as far as inspiration goes and no I have to rely on my craftsmanship to carry on. Who knows? I just wish I could capture that spark and let it fly again.
I did come up with an even better "happy" ending than I had a few months ago, but I still need to write an appropriate piece of music to tie it all together. In fact, the first act is pretty much a musical version of the first half of my screenplay, but the second act is turning out to be entirely different. I like to have a plan, but I always let the work go where it will if it starts to take on a life of its own.
I don't get "writers block" very often, but I'm sure I'm experiencing something of that kind on this project. In a way it's a good exercise for me to try and figure out what's wrong so that I can develop some "tricks" to get through these rough times if I experience them in the future. If I come up with something astounding I will gladly share the secret!
Scott Freiheit
August 18, 1997
I have regained the use of the multi-track recording equipment that I lost some time ago and have put it to good use. Most of the first act musical tracks have now been recorded and the mere presence of that tape deck has spurred me to action. Hopefully soon I will be able to replace this rambling diary with some tangible examples of my work.
I find that I'm really beginning to like this show. That might sound kind of funny to anyone who assumes that authors always like what they write but it can actually be very difficult to distance yourself from the work and just enjoy it. The music keeps running through my mind and I can really feel the "theatricality" of the whole thing. Some shows look good on paper or sound good on tape but don't really work on stage. I think that this one will lend itself to staging quite nicely.
This project started on a whim of inspiration and has turned into somewhat of a creative ordeal, but the end is finally in site and I think the effort will prove worthwhile.
Scott Freiheit
September 23, 1997