Opening night of our rock opera, “The Clowns,” was a huge success. Over the last eight days, the actors, musicians, and director have taken our original vision and brought it to life, and in the process, the show has become so much more complete.
Most surprising for me has been how the actors have informed my vision of the characters. In less than two weeks, each of them has used the script and score to develop their characters into more compelling, fully realized beings. From improved dialogue to newfound aspects to a character’s personality and backstory to something as simple as the way a character walks, the actors have provided me with an enormous amount of material for future revisions.
In many ways, they have come to know these characters better than me. I couldn’t be more grateful. I’ve stolen so much from each of them and plan to do so much more.
As a novelist, I suddenly find myself wishing I could have professionals like these perform each scene in my manuscript. I fear I could learn so much more about my characters if I involved actors in the process.
Maybe someday I’ll give this a try.
Of course, I’ll need enough money to keep professional actors on staff during the writing process, but there is always hoping.
Actually, maybe Kickstarter could help. Would readers be willing to fund a project like this in return for a signed first edition of the novel (signed by the author and the actors), plus complete video footage of each scene as performed by the actors involved?
The more I think about it, the more interested I become.
Our second show kicks off tonight at 8:00 PM at The Playhouse on Park. If you’re local and would like to attend, please call the Playhouse on Park in advance. We may be sold out for the Saturday performance.
In the meantime, here is a sneak peek of the show. We recorded this a few days ago during one of our music rehearsals. The song is called Forever, Wrapped Up in a Day, written and composed by my writing partner, Andy Mayo.
