Route 66 learns to sing (and dance)!

Musicals have always played a big role in my life. I was nine years old when I first fell in love with them, seeing You're A Good Man, Charlie Brown at my hometown community theater. I loved the songs. I loved the humor. I loved the performances. But I especially loved the fact that the actors were people I knew from around town. Seeing them bring those beloved comic strip characters to life was a new form of magic for me, and that magic continued for all the other shows I saw on that stage, from Mame to Camelot to 1776.

Not surprisingly, cast albums played a big role in my life as well. Every summer, when my family piled into our station wagon for our annual two-week camping trip--sometimes east, sometimes north, usually west--it was often cast albums that provided the soundtrack. Our favorite, the one we nearly wore through from replaying and replaying, was My Fair Lady. As I looked out the window, the spectacular mesa-dotted landscapes filled me with wonder, but a part of me found that Lerner and Loewe score to be just as wondrous.

Then there was the time I decided to crack open the big freestanding cabinet in our basement--the one which was primarily used to hold up my dad's ashtray and had remained unopened for years--and discovered it held a veritable treasure trove of cast albums. The shows represented were a little weirder than what the community theater or our summer camping trips offered. I remember Li'l Abner was there. And something called Fiorello! But West Side Story was there too. That album was the one I snuck up to my bedroom so I could fall asleep to those brilliant, heartbreaking melodies every night.

So yeah, musicals have always been important to me. But I never dreamed I'd help write one.

Which is why I was so thrilled six years ago when Pioneer Drama Service approached me about turning my play The Enchanted Bookshop into a musical. And why I'm just as thrilled that they've now offered to do the same for It Happened on Route 66.

The title of this musical jaunt down America's Highway? A very succinct Route 66.

Last time, Pioneer contracted Stephen Murray to provide the music and lyrics. This time, it's the prolific Scott DeTurk, who has worked extensively in TV and industrial films and has been produced at important regional venues like Denver's Buell Theatre and Minneapolis's Guthrie Theatre. And did I mention he studied under the late great Lehman Engel?

I'm excited to see what he comes up with. The play features not one but two romantic couples so I expect there will be some great love songs. But there's plenty of potential for comedic tunes as well, from diner owner Cookie lamenting Otis's gluttonous ways to Sally teaching Lovey that colorful diner lingo. Of course, seeing that the play is set in the 1950's, it's a no-brainer that the score as a whole will be inspired by those great early rock 'n roll songs.

Look for Route 66 to come out sometime in 2025.