Good day today. Maybe it's because seven days is what it takes to find a rhythm. Maybe it's because I am deeper into the story now. Maybe it's because 7 is my lucky number. Maybe...
Today, in part, I was thinking about how we (as writers, as artists, as creators) balance our desire to entertain with our desire to shine a spotlight on some truth about humanity. Too much in one direction = slapstick. Too much in the other = didacticism. Finding that balance.
Today's Tidbits: One book that has been tremendously instructive as I work on this musical is Jack Viertel's "The Secret Life of the American Musical: How Broadway Shows Are Built" (2016). I return to it as a wise reference book on the structure of the American musical. Here is what Viertel says about what audiences want from a musical. Do you agree?
"There are no inviolable rules for the creation of enduring, popular musicals, possibly except this one. The hero has to want something that's hard to get, and go after it come what may. The sooner the audience understands this, the better. The I Want song is the mark of an active hero... Great shows have clear stakes."