As you all know, I’m out in Portland right now for the very first production of Somewhere in Time.  Audiences are loving the show and we even got nominated for a bunch of the local Portland Musical Theatre Awards last week!

But honestly, kudos and ovations are not why we’re here.   We’re here because we want to be somewhere else in the not so distant future (somewhere that rhymes with Schmoadway) . . . and that means the Authors (of which I am one) are watching each and every moment in front of that audience to see where we can improve the story telling, enhance the experience, and make the entire show even more of a thrill ride.

While Authors can learn a lot in table reads and workshops, the most learning comes when the show is in front of a live, paying audience, with full costumes, lights, scenery and more.  That’s when the game is truly on.

I learned something over the weekend about our musical, which caused me to make a quick change (which in my opinion helped us take another leap forward), which I think applies to all musicals, so I thought I’d share it here.

When you were a kid, and you were on your way to Disney, or Wet ‘n Wild, or any place you were amped up to go . . . what was the last thing you wanted to do?  Stop at a rest stop for 20 minutes.  Right?  You wanted to get there.  Who cares if Dad needed a quick power nap.  Or Mom needed to pee.  Or your little brother was throwing up all over his Power Rangers blanket.  You just wanted to get back on the road and get there, in the quickest and most efficient way possible.

Over the weekend, I noticed that a very short scene I wrote in Somewhere in Time was a rest stop.  While sure, it was setting up a moment that would occur later on in the show (and an important one), the scene was slowing down the pace of getting to where the audience wanted to go.  And I realized that I could accomplish the same thing with one line . . . and with the mere appearance of the character on the stage (something you can’t see as well when you’re writing on a computer or in a reading).

So I cut the scene.  And we kept the audience on the journey even more.

Musicals have to be efficient.  A lot of story telling is usually tucked into those two to two and a half hours, and you can’t afford rest stops along the way, nor can you afford letting your audience’s excitement level wane.

Sure, Mom will still need to pee.  And Dad needs a nap.  And even I need a Kit Kat to tide me over.

But that’s what intermissions are for.

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