A "Dream" Staged Reading in 2027
We're still working toward a staged reading in early 2027. Little details like where and when are still in flux (but I'll let you, the teeming dozens, know!)
The staged reading caps a year-long development project. It's yielded a very different script, with far more humanity balancing its satirical focus on the Odyssey. Holistically, while it's a hell of a show to sum up in a synopsis, its parts are yielding a more and more satisfying whole... And along the way, a lot has changed.
In fact, I have dropped 11 songs, added at least 6 (not counting reprises and re-imagined songs), and, if anything, have done more with the book (the non-lyrical part of the script) than with the songs.
Yet the moment I decided the script was locked, I saw a million improvement opportunities! That's the kind of thought that keeps a show un-staged for seven years. And so, the show progresses to the hands of musical reviewers.
And as they work, it's time for me to think about next steps. Now don't get me wrong. A lot depends on incorporating the reading, which is, after all, a development step.
(This is notwithstanding the staged reading in Tick, Tick, Boom!, Jonathan Larson's show about staging his earlier show, Superbia. The reading in Tick, Tick, Boom! is depicted as a single make-or-break moment, after which the protagonist must move on and admit defeat. In reality, he had plenty of industry types at his reading and he got positive feedback from Steven Sondheim, which never happens. Well, definitely not anymore. But I digress.)
My goal is to have a production of this, with actors off-book and in-costume, sets, costumes, real lighting and sound, etc., by late 2027 latest -- at least one, even if only a short run or workshop presentation. And like it or not, I'll be taking you with me, chronicling the journey from page to stage as it happens!
I've been writing Dream for seven years, and composer Justin Rayna first began contributing on the musical side early in 2022... so it is definitely time to see this up on its feet!
One more thought: some of those 11 eliminated songs... with a little context from Homer before each number... might make the basis of a dandy cabaret! I'll let folks know if, as, and when the cabaret idea gathers steam!
It's time to stop dawdling on the diving board and jump! Anybody with advice or thoughts, we're thrilled to have them, as we plummet boldly forward!
Comments