Learning about "The Book"

I keep hearing this term--"the book"--in reference to musicals.  This blog post is my experience of familiarizing myself with what that is, exactly. What does it look like? I watch "SMASH" (though I wonder if it's headed for the crapper), and I hear them refer to Debra Messing's character's "book" all the time--is it the script + the lyrics? Does it read like a novel? Follow me as I find out.

WHOA, check out this site! The Broadway Musical Home It's the first thing that came up when I Googled "What is the book in a musical." It didn't have the answer to my query, but it has a wealth of information on the musicals themselves. Onward.

Okay, well here's the definition from Musical Theatre/Definition and scope

"The three main components of a book musical are its music, lyrics and book. The book or script of a musical refers to the story, character development, and dramatic structure, including the spoken dialogue and stage directions, but it can also refer to the dialogue and lyrics together, which are sometimes referred to as the libretto (Italian for “little book”)."

Aaaight, so kinda what I thought. Now, I want to see one so I can learn how extensive the story, character development, and dramatic structure are, typically.

And on Wikipedia's libretto page:

"In the context of a modern English-language musical theater piece, the libretto is often referred to as the book of the work, though this usage typically excludes sung lyrics...The libretto of a musical, on the other hand, is almost always written in prose (except for the song lyrics). The libretto of a musical, if the musical is adapted from a play (or even a novel), may even borrow their source's original dialogue liberally - much as Oklahoma! used dialogue from Lynn Riggs's Green Grow the Lilacs, Carousel used dialogue from Ferenc Molnár's Liliom, My Fair Lady took most of its dialogue word-for-word from George Bernard Shaw's Pygmalion, Man of La Mancha took most of its dialogue from the 1959 television play I, Don Quixote (from which it was adapted), and the 1954 musical version of Peter Pan used J.M. Barrie's dialogue. Even the musical Show Boat, which is greatly different from the Edna Ferber novel from which it was adapted uses some of Ferber's original dialogue, notably during the miscegenation scene. And Lionel Bart's Oliver! uses chunks of dialogue from Charles Dickens's novel Oliver Twist, although it bills itself as a "free adaptation" of the novel."

Heeeeyyyyyyyy, lookee here! Musicals 101!!!!!! That link takes you right to a page about The Book. I still want to see a Book, though, so I can have that "Ooooooooooooooh!" moment.

Well HECK, it seems like you can buy the book for just about any ol' musical on Amazon! I think "The Book of Mormon" is the one I should go with. I jist lurve them South Pork fellers!

So there it is. Thank you for taking this journal journey with me. When I get around to perusing an actual Book, I will post an update.

On My Own, Pretending You're Beside Me

Okay, here's the troof: I don't like a lot of musicals. I almost always like the stories and the lyrics, but not the music. To put a finer point on it, I don't like a certain kind of orchestration--AT ALL. It's that Chicago/Annie/banjo-y/marimba-y/muted trumpet-y sound that I can't stand. So the reason I don't like a lot of musicals is because alot of them have THAT GODFORSAKEN TIMBRE. Every Thanksgiving, the Macy's parade people haul out at least one medley of numbers from a hot new musical with that timbre. That Putnam County one does too--sorry, sister Rossi. The lyrics are clever, the story is great, but I think the orchestration is what makes some people say they hate musicals because everyone's always breaking out into a damned song!

So what am I doing, wanting to write a musical? Well, it's because I do like many musicals, and ADORE a handful. JC Superstar, Godspell, Hair--love these. They have that cool 1960s sound--mellow acoustic flute and guitar mystic crystal revelations or funkadelic bass-heavy libido, where the music paints as accurate a picture of the counterculture movement as any Life Magazine photo essay ever could. Andrew Lloyd Webber--I love a lot of his stuff, although there is a question as to whether it's HIS stuff that I love. Wicked, Les Mis, Miss Saigon--beautiful music. My mom raised me on Rogers & Hammerstein. I love The Sound of Music, LOVE. The Wizard of Oz is a musical, isn't it? Gilbert & Sullivan--that's brilliant stuff. Of the Disney musicals that are being churned out regularly in this day and age, I have only seen The Lion King, and I thought it was pretty good. The song "He Lives In You" was not in the movie and was composed for the musical, and it's brilliant. It's the song that comes to mind when I hear about mothers and fathers being killed in Afghanistan. Anyway, I have seen all the Disney movies, so I know how I feel about the music without having seen the shows. Oh, and The Wedding Singer. That was, like, totally bitchin'.

So maybe I should forget this idea of asking for suggestions for musicals to study. I am familiar enough with several musicals to have a clear idea of what I love and what I don't. And maybe I should forget this idea of waiting for the blogosphere to give me ideas. That seems like something to do once a whole lot of people know you and follow you. Oh, wouldn't that be cool--for someone who is widely-known and loved for being creative to invite anyone who'd be interested to a collaborative brainstorm for the (not my hyperlink-->) next project!

That person is not me, today. Today, I am a stay-at-home mom who is talking to herself in this blog. Today, when the support of a number of people would really inspire me and make me accountable, I have to do it all on my own.

The idea that's been simmering for years is to compose an Irish-American musical. Nine of my sixteen great-great-grandparents were Irish. In the United States, Irish heritage is a big deal. Of all our American holidays, only one celebrates another nation, and that's St. Patrick's Day. I see Taco Bell trying to edge in with Cinco de Mayo, and that just makes me think about a restaurant back in my hometown, Virginia Beach, called Carlos Murphy's. Until there are loads of parades in several US cities on May the fifth, I'm going to say that the Irish are still unique in this way. So Irish Pride is not hard to come by in the USA. It means that we (Irish-Americans) know the music and history of our heritage. The History Channel serves it up every March 17th. Do they still? This family dumped cable two years ago and have never regretted it for a single second. We've no shortage of love for and exposure to Irish music here--U2, Sinead O'Connor, The Cranberries, The Waterboys, Enya, and more traditional music recorded by bands such as The Chieftains. One of my favorite movies, This Is My Father, has all but gone ignored, and I don't know why. It's a great story that I think a lot of people would really like, especially if they're Irish-American. I just happened to come across it about twelve years ago while wandering through the video store.

Irish music can sound as ecstatic or as sorrowful as it is possible for music to sound. I'd love to find or make up a really riveting story that brings together the sounds that have come out of Ireland for hundreds of years. I'd love to use Irish dance as a character in the story. I think that I've resisted this idea for so long because it seems way too big and dear to me.

25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee--Musical Study of the Week (October 19, 2012)

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

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.

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.

Lewis Black – Hitting 60

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...

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.