The premiere of The Last Oz Story, our new musical, will be on Friday, April 8, 2011, at the John W. Berry Fine & Performing Arts Center Theater, University of Rio Grande, Rio Grande, Ohio. A second performance will take place on Saturday, April 9.
Putting the show together has been an interesting process. I have been making script revisions via email based on feedback from rehearsals and other sessions I haven’t been able to attend owing to the distance between Columbus and Rio Grande. And I do not expect I will see the show before it opens.
However, I am confident that Scott Michal, my collaborator, and all the good people at Rio Grande will do their best to translate the script to the stage. They have posed some really good questions which have helped me to refine and, I hope, improve the storyline. Seeing something you’ve written come to life on the stage is an amazing experience. I still go to see our earlier musical, The Last Christmas Carol, as often as I can because I learn something each time.
When I write, there is very little calculation involved. Most of it is pure instinct. So when I am asked “why?” a character says or does something, I have to think about it. I may create the characters, but once they are created they act and react the way they do because it feels right to me. I play all the parts in my head in a process of improvisation and revision. I don’t normally sit back and diagram it all out.
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March 23, 2011 at 7:20 pm
Mary Rose
Hi David. I am thrilled that your new musical is being staged and I so wish I could attend! I am both an actor and writer and I was taught that it’s the actor’s job (with prodding from a good director) to figure out why a character does what he/she does. That is their work. The writer’s work is more instinctive, as you suggest. The characters take on lives of their own and they basically tell you what they are going to do, without explaining. I love that you mentioned this in your article. I hope to see your both of your shows when they are staged in Columbus.