The very talented pianist and singer, Allison Rossi, was the first to offer up the name of a musical with which I am not familiar in response to a Facebook status update asking for that. THANKS, ALLISON! I hope that you will leave your thoughts/impressions/critiques of this musical in the comments along with anyone else who knows...can we just go ahead and call it "Spelling Bee" for brevity's sake?
If you are not very or at all familiar with this musical and think you would enjoy immersing yourself in this discovery and analysis along with me, then just take my appreciation in advance. Here are some resources that I'll be using to get started. Please share any that you come across that you feel might add value to the discussion.
The music, on Spotify:
Original Cast Recording – 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
The Wikipedia page:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/25th_Annual_Putnam_County_Spelling_Bee
The Official Broadway Web Site:
http://www.spellingbeethemusical.com/
The Lyrics:
http://www.allmusicals.com/19/25thannualputnamcountyspellingbee.htm
Thank you for being here!
Sarah
Blogging to Broadway
Blogging to Broadway
Friday, October 19, 2012
Wednesday, September 26, 2012
Tell Me Something Good!
So here’s where you teach me about musicals. I
hope this discussion goes off on all sorts of tangents, with me asking
questions about all aspects of musical theatre and you dazzling me with
fascinating new knowledge. Here are some prompts to get you started:
1) What
is your favorite musical? How come?
2) What
resources do you recommend to help me learn? (Post links to book reviews,
videos on YouTube and other places, articles, etc.)
3) What
makes you passionate about this art form in particular?
4) Who
or what introduced you to musicals?
5) Have
you ever performed in a musical? Written one? Please tell me about that.
Tuesday, September 25, 2012
Time
Thank you for stopping by! This
post is about giving you some insight into my motivation to launch this
project. My name is Sarah Ford. I live in a suburb north of Orlando, Florida. I
had a pretty exciting career as a singer and character actress at Walt Disney
World for 16 years. I also did a 6-month contract with Tokyo Disney Land. I
have run my own business as a private music instructor since 1999, teaching
violin, voice, piano, and a little cello and guitar. I have two children, born
in 2008 and 2010. Wanting a solid place to land once my career as a singer
reached the end of its shelf life, I went back to school and earned a Master's
degree in Social Science Education in 2011. I'm in my mid-40s, a stay-at-home
mom of 2 adorable children, and I am wondering, "What now?" I hope to
teach social studies in a few years, after my youngest starts school. I'm
burned out on teaching music lessons after 13 years, as I've always been lucky
if even 5% of my students actually practiced with regularity. I need to do
something creative. The allure of the Internet is too hard to resist. I miss
the regular conversations with adults that I used to take for granted before
motherhood. I enjoy Facebook, but at the end of the day (not the British “at
the end of the day” that means the way things turn out after all is said and
done –I mean, at the end of any ol’ ordinary day), I feel like I have
accomplished very little for my life if I’ve spent it on Facebook, even though
I learn a lot from political debates, get a lot of writing practice, and stay up
on the latest with every person I’ve ever known. Though I'm nurturing my
children quite diligently, though I am proud of them, I am personally at a
standstill. I don't ever want to live through them. My mom was a really great
person, but she lived through me at times, and it would often strain our
relationship. I don't ever want to stop
thinking of myself as a work-in-progress. I used to love composing lyrics and
music, and I've always wondered if I am up to composing an entire musical.
It’s really hitting me how fast
life goes by. FORTY-FIVE! How the hell am I forty-five already? I can remember
Vietnam and Watergate on the evening news, but still, MAN, how did time just
blur by like that? I heard a Lewis Black clip on Spotify the other night about
turning 60. It’s funny as hell, but it also left me feeling that dark urgency
to make something really amazing while I still have a chance.
Then there’s “Time” by Pink
Floyd. Those lyrics always get me.
Ticking
away the moments
That make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours
In an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground
In your home town
Waiting for someone or something
To show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then the one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun
And you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it's sinking
Racing around
To come up behind you again
The sun is the same
In a relative way
But you're older
Shorter of breath
And one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation
Is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say
Home
Home again
I like to be here
When I can
When I come home
Cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones
Beside the fire
Far away
Across the field
Tolling on the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell...
That make up a dull day
Fritter and waste the hours
In an off-hand way
Kicking around on a piece of ground
In your home town
Waiting for someone or something
To show you the way
Tired of lying in the sunshine
Staying home to watch the rain
You are young and life is long
And there is time to kill today
And then the one day you find
Ten years have got behind you
No one told you when to run
You missed the starting gun
And you run and you run
To catch up with the sun
But it's sinking
Racing around
To come up behind you again
The sun is the same
In a relative way
But you're older
Shorter of breath
And one day closer to death
Every year is getting shorter
Never seem to find the time
Plans that either come to naught
Or half a page of scribbled lines
Hanging on in quiet desperation
Is the English way
The time is gone
The song is over
Thought I'd something more to say
Home
Home again
I like to be here
When I can
When I come home
Cold and tired
It's good to warm my bones
Beside the fire
Far away
Across the field
Tolling on the iron bell
Calls the faithful to their knees
To hear the softly spoken magic spell...
So here we are, then. I’m not that young. Life’s
not that long. And there’s no time to kill today.
So What Are We Doing Here, Anyway?
We are building a musical from
nothing!
1) I’m
going to ask you to brainstorm for ideas.
2) We’re
going to discuss the possibilities in each idea.
3) We’re
going to vote for our favorites.
4) I’m
going to compose the songs and scenes.
5) I’m
going to present them here.
6) We’re
going to discuss them.
7) I’m
going to refine them.
8) We’re
going to cast the roles and workshop the musical.
9) We’re
going to see where this goes.
10) You’re
going to be my teachers. You’re going to teach me about Broadway musicals
because I am not familiar enough with them. My mother loved the Rodgers &
Hammerstein musicals, so I know those. Due to teaching voice lessons, singing
with the Orlando Gay Chorus, and having so many talented friends and
colleagues, I am somewhat familiar with some modern shows, but I have an awful
lot to learn! I also need to learn about all aspects of theatre—about acting,
stage tech, story, character development, orchestration, and things of which I
am not yet aware. Look for a blog thread dedicated to this topic just below.
So, without further ado, Step
One! What’s this musical about? The sky’s the limit with this step. It can be a
comedy, a tragedy, a comedy/tragedy hybrid. Maybe it’s sci-fi; maybe it’s
historic. Perhaps it’s derived from a book. Perhaps it’s about politics or
modern culture. Maybe there’s a news story. Maybe one person will give me a
person’s name (a famous person’s or something your brain invented), and another
will throw out the name of a city (real or imaginary). Let’s have a good time
and see where this goes.
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