Night

I’ve begun work on my new children’s musical, entitled Night.

I must admit, after the huge success and tour of Somewhere To Fight For, I was (and still am in some ways) at a loss as to what to do next.

My wife bounced an idea off me a few months ago that has stuck to me ever since.  That’s always a good sign: if an idea is good enough to keep my imagination turning over, there is (more often than not!) something to it.  If an idea slips from my memory in less than a week, then it really wasn’t worth pursuing.

Her idea was to work with a set that was entirely painted black.  She mentioned this while we were frantically painting the set for Somewhere To Fight For.  I don’t know why, but even in the chaos leading up to the opening and tour of the show, that idea seemed to really appeal to me.  To be honest, maybe it was because I was over painting the set, but there is something to be said for the simplicity of an all-black set; not to mention its starkness and dramatic look.

Since then, I’ve been turning the idea over in my head.  I’m yet to lock in a storyline as such, but what I have come up with are “visuals”. It’s an unusual turn of events for me because, while I often have an idea of how everything could look when I’m writing and composing, I often don’t have such strong visuals appear in my head.  Strangely, they’re not linked to a specific storyline – yet.

Now, I’m no artist (as you’re about to see).  In fact, I don’t consider what I draw anything special, so let’s add that disclaimer right here and now!  But I’m using a cool app called Paper, which can be found on the iTunes app store.  I love it because it makes even my crap drawing look “artistic”.

My first drawing is a POV perspective of the set I hope to construct.  The one colour that seems to be coming through is a fluorescent blue – probably LED lighting that is used to help give definition to each set piece.  The majority of the set will be “up”, with catwalks and steps for connection and moving around the floor.  My original sketch was done on the back of a paper plate over morning tea!

This second picture is one that also came to me quickly – a young girl climbing up a ladder towards a light.  It’s very Jacob’s Ladder, but it also reminds me a bit of The Truman Show – a film I love.

The third sketch is of the same girl as the first huddled under one of the black platforms, discovering light.  I’m not entirely sure how or why she discovers it, but that’ll come later.

The fourth sketch is one I drew after  I purchased one of those cool Plasma Balls from K-Mart.  Every time I do a show, there’s a prop that I just have to include.  The plasma ball is my pick this time!  Not the evil eyes behind – again, I’m not quite sure what their significance is, other than this is the “baddie” of the piece.

Anyways, I hope you’ve got an insight into the early stages of writing a new show!  Every show I write comes out differently – this is the beginning of Night.

Until tomorrow,

Blog ya later!

Drew