Just vamping here for a bit...
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A ragtag collection of songs I wrote this, that, or the other; most are for this Mike Funt guy.
After my post from nearly two weeks ago about needing to STEAL FROM THE BEST so I could fulfill a request from an international clown (Mike Funt) to write “two showstopping dance numbers,” I thought that I would by now be able to report on what he wants.
Mike grew up in my theatre, the Newnan Community Theatre Company, and has gone on to live an incredible life performing: stand-up comedy, teaching circus arts and clowning, writing stellar one-person shows and performing them, being the second-highest Groucho impersonator in the country, being The Grinch at Universal Studios here and abroad, etc., etc.
You would think he’d be more on top of things when dealing with his resident composer.
For reference, here are the questions I asked him to answer in a Google doc:
Thank you for your attention to this matter.
You recently hit me up to provide “two showstopping dance numbers” [hereinafter SDNs] for some nebulous show you’re creating for “later in the year,” musical bits you said should resemble those in Moulin Rouge or The Greatest Showman.
Before I can start on these things, I have questions.
What, exactly, is this purported “show” about? Is it serious? Parodic? Silliness? Heartbreaking? [N.B.: Any answers along the lines of “about 90 minutes long” will be dealt with with extreme prejudice. We see you.]
When, more or less, will this show start rehearsals?
What is the nature, the mood of the two SDNs? What vibe/orchestration/et al. are you expecting?
Do these two SDNs have titles?
How long are you thinking these SNDs should be?
What is the trigger in the show for each SDN?
Is there a main character focus for either SDN?
Are these SDNs songs, i.e., lyrics, vocal ranges, parts? If so, give an estimate on SATB part distribution, soloists, etc.
How many people will be performing each SDN?
Please suggest — with links if available— at least one model for each of the SDNs so that I can STEAL model these pieces on them.
Do you have any other preferences, advice, requests, or warnings?
Disclaimer: Any answers you provide may or may not end up published in a blog post on Lichtenbergianism.com so that the whole world can see how outrageous your expectations are watch our collaboration from ABORTIVE ATTEMPT to ABANDONMENT.
Weeks later, Mr. Funt — if that is even his real name even — has not answered my questions. His excuse was that when I sent the link to the document, he had been in Los Angeles for days — days, I tell you — and he needed to unpack, etc., before he’d be able to avoid me give me answers.
Fine. I’ll just keep working on the world premiere of Ten Little Waltzes. Yesterday I met with the dancers in the Dance Without Limits class at Southern Arc Dance, and I had a great time. As a former library media specialist at both the high school and elementary levels, I’ve always found special needs students to be among the warmest, most open people around, and the DWL dancers were no exception. I’ve made some new friends.
We played with the big white scarf thingies I made, and they were okay. I think with taller dancers and longer scarves they might have worked better. We then switched to the 6’ white gymnastic dance ribbons, and those worked a lot better than the scarves, so we switched. (No photos because of privacy issues; maybe later in the process.)
There’s not really anything else to report. I’ve started submitting some older musical works to competitions here and there, but since those are black boxes I probably won’t say anything about them until I get the rejection email.
