Great Balls of Fire!

So we blocked the first section of Act I of Forbidden Planet last night. What a relief! My ideas work and the show is every bit as funny as I hoped it would be. Even in this very early stage, it's really, really funny!

And just as wonderful is this: every actor in the show is so willing to be silly and ridiculous, to throw themselves to the floor when the ship crashes, all of them screaming and singing as they pass through the meteor storm (hence the title of this entry), all of it... It's a very physical show, and every bit as wild and wacky as Bat Boy or Urinetown. And everybody seems ready and willing to go for broke. As we like to say, it's all about "the depth of sincerity, the height of expression" -- the emotions are honest and real, the stakes are high, but the style is BIG and outrageous (like Bat Boy, Urinetown, Little Shop). It's going to be a very funny rehearsal process...

The other cool part is that I'm sure now that this was a good show to put in our season. Having never actually seen the show onstage -- and despite the many, MANY truly terrible YouTube videos of college productions -- I read it and listened to the cast album and felt that this was a really original, interesting show, something our audiences would enjoy, high energy, big laughs, a bit of seriousness underneath it all, and my favorite thing of all -- a genuine roller coaster ride.

We've only staged 17 pages, but I am so sure now that audiences are going to fall in love with this bizarre show. I can't wait to share it with them! After all, we do all this for the audience -- without them, it's not a show, it's just a run-through...

Long Live the Musical!
Scott