Exhausted, I am.
I’ve finished two of three submissions for awards given to musical theatre writers. They’ve yet to be mailed, but the postmark deadline is 9/15 (the one not done yet is 9/17), so I’m somewhat ahead. The two today are the longest of long-shots, but this year I’ve added confidence since my libretto’s been gone over so many times by an amazing young director who sweats every detail. That’s a bonus. Winners won’t be announced before May.
And then there are the score chores. In recent weeks, my director, my musical director and I pored over all the Such Good Friends music, coming up with little ways to improve everything: accompaniment figures, cues, intros and play-offs, scene change music, scenic underscoring, dance music; even the voicing of chords. I’m now listening to tapes of ten hours of meetings, and making all sorts of changes. Today I got through number #6, so I’m not even a quarter of the way there.
The only time I left this desk was for a production meeting. The mistress of the props has a great attitude: “Just point me towards a junk yard and I’ll find whatever you need.”
