On the Wonderful Road to Qatar!

Well, January is swiftly flying by. We are now in the home stretch before the first preview of The Road to Qatar! We began rehearsals right after New Years with a marvelous comically brilliant cast, only two of whom did their roles last year in Dallas. The space at the York Theatre Company is ideal for this show. Last year we did it on a large stage and it worked, but now with the intimacy and smaller scale, combined with a really clever set and bold comically colorful costumes and props, the show is finding it's natural home. It was born for off-broadway and that's where it's going. Although we did very well in Dallas, got wonderful reviews and were named Best New Musical of 2010, we have continued to hone and change and rewrite to make it even better. Just yesterday, during the first tech rehearsal we added a button for the opening song Come Down to Dubai and wrote (in record time) a short verse for the only ballad in the show. Why a new verse? The song played well in Dallas. Our wonderful director Phillip George had a smart thought. After 80 minutes of brakeneck farce and comedy we are suddenly putting on the brakes to take a moment and figure out why the boys (the two short writers of musicals) are even doing this when everything points to imminent disaster. The song tells us that they have a bigger purpose (they are only discovering that for themselves) to bring peace and love to the other side of the world. Subtexually they two very different personalities bond during this song. They finally become friends for good. So to get over the hurdle of just slamming on the comic breaks, we wrote a verse to the song, which emerges from one of the writers melting down. Michael answers him in song that is in the new verse uptempo and funny but slowly as he says, "who knows" slows down to something more questioning and contemplative

JEFFREY
Why are we doing this? Did we do something wrong in some past life? Why are we here?

MICHAEL
SURE, WE'RE UP TO OUR ASS IN CAMEL CRAP
THE PRODUCTION COMPLETELY BLOWS
AND YOU ASK ME WHAT ARE WE DOING HERE?
WHO KNOWS? WHO KNOWS?

WHO KNOWS WHY WE WERE CHOSEN?
WHO KNOWS HOW WE WERE FOUND?
BUT SOMEHOW WE BOTH HAVE BEEN GIVEN THE CHANCE
TO MAKE A JOYFUL HEALING SOUND
AND THAT SOUND WE CREATE
WILL REVERBERATE FAR AND WIDE
BRINGING PEACE AND LOVE
TO THE OTHER SIDE
OF THE WORLD

ETC.

I am very proud of this new rewrite. The interesting part is that on the weekend, we all decided, no changes for this week until the previews. But meanwhile with the input of the theatre and our own instincts, we have put in about 18 changes including this new verse. Today the band of five strong meets the cast of five strong and they will make beautiful music together for the first time. The Road continues...Next week we face our first audience. It's terrifying and exciting and every other emotion you can wish for or not wish for. I am confident and scared all at the same time. This show is unique. It's our lives up there. But then when you write with passion and love, isn't it always your life up there?