Texas How to Enchant makes a magical place

It must be the height of theater season because I've got another TV spot to share with you today. This one features a production of How to Enchant a Bookshop by the Sherman Community Players in Sherman, TX. You can watch the clip here.

Director Lynda Leach, artistic director Darrah Dunn, and cast member Grace Sanchez joined KXII TV host Caroline Fletcher to talk about the show. Much of the discussion revolves around the magic in the play and of the wonderfully immersive (and immense!) set the theater's crew built for it.

My favorite part, though, came when Caroline pointed out that the Honey McGee Theater where the play will be performed is already a magical place.

That's really true, isn't it? Whether the story revolves around fairies and magic spells and book characters come to life, like my play does, or whether it's grounded in the reality of the world today, the theater itself remains a place where magic happens, night after night after night.

Need a little magic in your life? Then you won't want to miss this "delightful" show (their word, not mine!), which runs March 9-16. Click here for all the deets.

Tulsa Purrfect Crime to bring love and laughter

None of the children's theaters that perform my plays get as much local TV coverage as Tulsa's Spotlight Children's Theatre, and they were back at it again today with an interview of three gifted actors from their production of my cat inheritance comedy The Purrfect Crime. You can watch the video here.

The play runs the next two weekends, and the young actors are very excited to be in it, as the interview makes clear.

My favorite part was when the host asked the kids what they hope the audience gets out of the play. Natalie Mayes, who plays Annie, answered simply, "a lot of laughter, hopefully," while Ray Sawyer-Karloski, who plays Little Bob, quickly added, "it also sends a message to appreciate your loved ones while they're still around."

Guess what. Both answers are correct!

Break legs, everybody! And a big thank you to this amazing theater company for their continued support. They've already scheduled a production of my western comedy The Stinky Feet Gang for August (my sixth production with them!) and I can't wait to see what the kids have to say about that one!

Too Many Ghosts is now available!

Just eleven days after my 30th play (Route 66) was released, my 31st play has now been published. This one is titled Too Many Ghosts, and I can't wait for you to read it.

Here's the blurb:

Jo Crenshaw dreams of turning the abandoned house she inherited in Salem, Massachusetts, into a successful bed and breakfast. But that could be a problem when she and her teenage daughter discover the place is home to five rambunctious ghosts. And none of the ghosts are particularly keen on sharing it with an endless parade of guests.

The level-headed Jo quickly lays down the law. There will be absolutely no haunting of the guests. But Roland, a cobbler from the 1790s, can't help himself. He ends up scaring off the very first guest they have: a popular travel blogger who dubs the place "the most haunted B&B in New England." Within days, the place is mobbed by thrill-loving tourists seeking their own ghostly encounters. 

 

Unfortunately, this draws the attention of Julia, the greedy owner of the largest hotel in town. After her plans to sabotage the property fail, she decides there's only one way to put the B&B out of business: hire a trio of "ghostbusters" to get rid of the ghosts for good.

The play has a cast of 24 (7M, 11F, 6 any) and runs about 90 minutes. The scenes primarily take place in two locations: the lobby of the B&B and a guest room. To eliminate need for set changes, these locations share a split stage, with three brief scenes being played in front of the curtain.

I'm super proud of the play. I think it's just as funny as any of my earlier comedies, but it goes much deeper into the emotions of the characters and there's an element of melancholy, of sadness even, which will hit audiences right in the heartstrings.

Too Many Ghosts didn't start out that way. I originally planned it to be a straight, laugh-out-loud comedy. But the very first character I came up with was a young ghost who was searching for a locket she'd lost. Although the character herself wasn't pushy by any means, she almost immediately took over the storyline and as I delved into how she lost the locket and what it meant to her, the story of her previous demise turned out to be rather tragic.

In the original version of the story, the young ghost was named Pip and she was only ten years old. I wrote the first two scenes in a couple weeks, and although I liked them very much, I ended up setting the script aside. The idea of a young ghost meant that the character herself must have died young, and I came to realize that this made the story almost completely unmarketable (Casper the Friendly Ghost notwithstanding).

Still, young Pip kept calling to me. She wanted to come to life, if only in spectral form. I had to figure out how to make it work.

It would be another sixteen months before I returned to the script. And that's because it took me that long to admit what I'd known all along. The girl had to be older. Like nine years older. Yes, the death of a nineteen-year-old is just as tragic as that of a ten-year-old, but it's somehow more palatable to audiences.

I wish I'd figured that out earlier. Because as much as I'd fought the idea of making her older, once I had, the writing flowed. I changed her name to Sophie, which was driven by a surprise twist near the end of the play. And instead of a lively preteen who was interested in dolls and cheap jewelry, she became a giddy young woman who was madly in love with--

Well, you'll have to read the script. But trust me. It's really, really good.

Even from the beginning, this young ghost developed a close friendship with the daughter of the woman who inherited the house. Well now, to make that friendship more meaningful, I had to make the daughter older as well. So twelve-year-old Millicent became seventeen-year-old Lily. And instead of being afraid of ghosts, she became an avid horror-movie fan, which gave me all sorts of stuff to have fun with.

 

The lesson for writers? There are two:

1) Don't fall in love with your writing.

2) Don't fight the changes you know you need to make.

It may take some time and a lot of effort to rewrite what you wrote, but in the end, it will all be worth it.

So, yeah, Too Many Ghosts still has some sad parts. But the ending is so full of hope and love and joy that I'm sure it'll make your heart all toasty and warm inside.

Oh, and if you want to read a sample or order a perusal copy of the script, click here.

Sophie would approve.

Route 66 musical is now available!

Big news! Route 66 has just been released by Pioneer Drama Service. This tuneful adaptation of my megahit diner comedy, It Happened on Route 66, is my 30th play but only my 2nd musical.

The musical includes all of the dialogue of the straight play while adding nine songs as well as a chorus of customers and diner staff to the cast. These songs were penned by the super-talented Scott DeTurk, who I blogged about before.

Here's the blurb:

It's 1955 and Sally, a waitress at Cookie's Diner, loves her town of Winona, Arizona, especially now that it's a stop on the famous "Route 66." She also loves the glamorous lives of the movie stars in her favorite tabloid, "Screen Scene Magazine."

Sally is especially excited today. Not only is she sure her longtime beau, Roscoe, is finally going to propose, but it's also the day that movie start Lovey Lamour is marrying crooner Johnny Jerome. What a surprise when the next customer at the diner turns out to be Lovey herself, who has fled her wedding and needs a place to hide! Sally is sure she can help Lovey keep her identity by helping her pose as a waitress. She teaches the Hollywood star the "Diner Lingo" she needs to know, but their entire scheme threatens to unravel when a nosy tabloid photographer discovers Lovey's identity ("I Found Her!") and tips off Johnny as to her location.

This 1950s musical is packed with fun, entertaining tunes that feature your actors' voices as well as a chorus of customers and all the hilarious characters -- a short-tempered cook, Sally's geeky boyfriend (who doesn't propose -- he's "Moving to Chicago!"), an ever-hungry customer who has everyone limbo dancing, the world's worst auto mechanic, and even "Travelin' Man" Elvis Presley before he was famous!

I've listened to the songs, and I've got to say, they're a lot of fun. The tunes are catchy, the lyrics are clever, and they add another whole dimension to the characters I created.

I think you'll like them too. You can listen to the song clips by visiting the musical's web page and clicking on the Song Samples button about two-thirds of the way down.

And while you're on that page, why don't you book a production (or at least order a perusal copy of the script)? After all, somebody's got to be first. Why not you?