3 Responses to Insanity: Which Are You?

What do you do when the world explodes? 

Do you hunker down and hope the storm passes?

Do you strap on your survival gear and explore the changes?

Do you hide behind your window and ignore the pretty, pretty disasters?

Me? I disappear and take up a new hobby. 😆 Apparently. With cheese. 

I don't know if anyone even comes here anymore because I've been so stinkin’ absent. So...

Things I've been up to:

• Teaching. Like literally, in a school setting. (Creating curriculum from scratch.) I taught several writing classes, a music writing class, geography, even preschool. *gasp* (Not full time. Nope. Too busy teaching my own kids the rest of the week.)

• Producing Musicals (and a play). That's right. 4 under my belt, two of which I cast and directed (and designed lights/projection, and so, so much more!). Tuck a talent show in there too (including all production aspects—finding a venue, tech design, all the way down to rehearsals with the talent) and we tally 5 separate shows. In two years.

  

• Running writing contests and playing editor for a couple anthologies.

• Had a son get married.

• Sent a daughter to the other side of the world serving a church mission.

• Graduated a third child.

• Reestablished a Drama Program: from fundraising to tracking down venues to building teams to casting... I've done it all AND wrote the manual for my successors. (Seriously though, 45 pages of best practices.)

• Revised and workshopped MY musical. (Two years and counting, baby!) (“My" is a loose term referring to the Collier team, hubby and myself.)

• Held 2 low-key readings of my musical. (I say low-key, but that included creating rehearsal video for ALL music parts for ALL characters for a TWO HOUR SHOW. 1 to 12 vocal parts per song – let that sink in — and holding rehearsals/coaching sessions for performers. Whew!)

• Mixed 2 hours worth of orchestrations for a live performance. 😶

• Begun casting for a professional staged reading for IMMORTAL THE MUSICAL.

Those are just some of the highlights. 

What have you been up to?

Shameless plug: We’re looking for talent local to the Orlando area (singers/actors/sight readers). Know of someone? Send them my way!

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Are you hunkering down? Taking the world by storm? Kicking the trash out of your goals? Hanging on by your nails?

Decisions: dream or die?

I've made the choice a hundred times. The first time resulted in working for a music/video production company. The second time meant learning how to be a studio singer. The third time meant overcoming my fear of intricate computer programs. The fourth time required moving to New York City...

So why is it so hard to make that decision, yet again? Maybe because this time I know it's serious, that other people will be involved, that I'm going to have to fight for my artistic vision or worry about industry scavengers trying to embed their own seal...

If you're new to my blog, you probably have no idea what I'm talking about. Well, that pretty link on the side there, Immortal the Musical, that's my baby and it finally has a producer.

After a brief hiatus we are about to go into discussions--the scary kind: the kind where we look at that ginormous endeavor (the one we've spent the last 8 years of our lives building,) and figure out how to chop the pie.

Who will be doing what? Who will be paid what? Who will retain the rights for this or that?

*gulp*

When you write a book no one quibbles over lyric royalties vs libretto rights. Granted, these are my shaking knees speaking. I have no idea how this will play out. I only know this is the beginning, the real beginning. There will be no going back. No second guesses. Past the point of no return.

Oh boy. I think I need some muenster to settle my nerves.

Okay professional nail biters, how do you deal with moments like this?

The Secret Project: Revealed

This will not come as a surprise to some of you, but 8 years ago I wrote a musical about a vampire. For the last 4.5 years we've bouncing between NYC, Upstate NY and Florida in pursuit of this project, including several false starts. If you want to read about that I've blogged it in my blog section (the one on the website).

That's not the secret.

INTRODUCING THE SITE: 

www.immortalthemusical.com

Highlights: 

Intro: front page--listen to the opening number...except for the vocals. They will be added shortly...relatively speaking.

1. Story: Read the teaser

2. Music: Listen to 6 selections of the 34 songs. People who have experienced the entire musical will tell you what you hear represents only a minor dynamic of the show. It is much more varied, and in the next several months we hope to add MANY more numbers (including updated ones of the current features). 

3. Characters: Meet the characters. They have been with us eight years. We love them. You will too.

4. Volunteer: SHARE THE SHOW!!! E-mail a link to everyone! Like it on Facebook. Share it on Facebook. Twitter it! Sign up for a newsletter and receive updates instantly. Donate...if you feel so inclined. In the future there will be more opportunities to get involved. (Contests, event, etc.)

5. Creative Team: Say hello to our AWESOME support group. They totally rock. 

6. BLOGS: This is where content will change EVERY WEEK. A general news blog will keep you up to date, and you can get to know our fabulous team through their own words. BEST OF ALL, get the inside scoop from the characters! They've agreed (though some very reluctantly) to share their story with the world, and you could be the first to learn it!

THE FUTURE HAS ARRIVED (Where you come in): We are not going to shop the show through conventional means. We don't have money, and we don't know anyone with clout. SO, the only other method at our disposal is a viral approach. We will be promoting the site through contests, youtube videos, and potentially, through an online reality show. If we have enough fans (because we really deserve them, we hope), then we don't need money or clout. We just need you. AND EVERYONE YOU KNOW!