This weekend promises to be very busy. Tomorrow will start off with Anne recording in my studio, before we will take the kids of the Aladdin cast to see the Wizard of Oz. This is a fantastic production, starring our own Michael Brownhill as the scarecrow.
For the set, Startimers uses a very clever idea. The backdrop is made up with a huge "book" that fills the whole stage back. During scene changes, the book's pages are simply flipped behind closed curtains. It is very quick and allows for a large number of different scenes, each with a different backdrop.
The day after tomorrow (Sunday) we are getting together at the warehouse to start planning the set for Aladdin. Aladdin will also require a fair number of different scenes, and we may consider the same idea. Alternatively, we may go for the more traditions idea of a large canvas backdrop.
Our previous production, Bottoms up, needed only one set for the whole play. All the scenes were played out inside a living room of a flat in downtown Liverpool. For that production, we designed a "box set". This means we've built the room onstage, complete with doors, cupboards and furniture. A box set allows for far more realistic scenery and more intricate details.
Below is a story board presentation of act 1, scene 1, from the musical, The exile, with the opening song, Freedom day. It shows my idea of the backdrop for this scene.
The exile will require a fair number of different backdrops for the different scenes. The idea of a book as backdrop, as used in the Wizard, may just work very well.
Thanks Ken. He gives Andrew Lloyd Webber as examples of using this concept. i am sure there must be many more. If you know of others, please mention it in the comments below.
I was not even aware that he concept of a concept album needed any bringing back! My ignorance aside, this is a brilliant idea and one of the most basic tools to the disposal of the writer / composer of musicals.
I have gone the concept album route for The exile. I have not done it with the hope of making lots of money from it, but rather as part of the development process. To add to Ken's post, let me list the reasons why you may want to do a concept album.
Firstly and most importantly, it serves as a basic tool to help you sell your musical to an interested producer. Without the concept album recording, the best you can do to sell your musical is to lie, beg or plea to producers to believe in a script, with empty promises that the music will be brilliant. Maybe you can bring your own piano and sing some of the songs. Unless you are Bon Jovi, you are more likely to bore or scare the producer. People are much more likely to take you serious if you have a professionally recorded CD. You may even leave a CD with interested people, and yes, it will give your ego a huge boost if somebody phone or contact you afterwards to tell you which song is his or her favourite! Which brings us to the next point.
It gives you a chance to get feedback from people. Very valuable feedback. This is free feedback you can use to invest back into your show. I have received lots of feedback from people on my concept album. Most people told they just loved "that blues song". I had some requests from people interested in licencing and recording "that love song". Others told me how that song about democracy had them in stitches. Knowing what the crowd favourite is, gives you a heads up on what you can use to sell your show to the next producer you talk to.
The concept album is just that, i.e. a concept album. It is a development tool. It gives you a chance to try things out and change these things. I had some people making suggestions on how to improve the show. The most common idea is to add another big company sing-a-long somewhere in the middle. My show opens with a company number and close with a reprise of something on the same theme. People would love to have a break in the story somewhere in the middle as well, similar to Les Mis did with Master of the house. During the recording process I could pick up when a song just does not work. This gives me the chance to re-write that song.
It serves as a milestone. It gives you something to hold and treasure. It gives the feeling that you have achieved something major. Your show have moved on from just paper to something concrete.
Recording a concept album is not cheap. It is much cheaper than in the 70's when ALW did Superstar, but it still requires some investment. In the next few months I will touch on the behind-the-scene process of producing a concept album. So, untill then. Leave some comments below about what you want me to talk about, and tell me which song did you enjoy the most from my concept album recording. You just might be able to say some day that you gave some significant input into the next hit on Broadway;)
Album: The Exile, concept album recording
Artist: Eric Swardt
The opening song for the musical, The Exile, is Freedom day. This song is also the first song on the concept album, now available from CDBaby.
This song is a 'scene setter'. In a musical you want to set the scene as soon as possible. The idea is to introduce your audience to the basics of the show. In what time is the play? Where are we? Who are the people.
This song sets the time for the show firmly ten years after the first democratic elections. It sets the place as South Africa. It introduce the audience to the first important characters, i.e. Tyler, Anthony, Pamela and Melissa.
When the song starts with an instrumental section, Pamela invites her friends into her house. It is a simple, small government sponsored economic housing scheme house. The occasion is the Freedom day celebrations. South Africa had the first democratic elections and the people are now getting used to being free. Not only are we celebrating democracy, but we are also paying specific tribute to the people who sacrificed their lives to bring us the democracy.
The first three verses tells us that we are having freedom day celebrations:
"We are gathered here as free men
to remember the war
We celebrate those who fought
to set us free
We are gathered here as free men
to celebrate freedom day
Our country was set free
ten years ago
We are free, free to go
We are free and live as one
Now we stand as a nation united
so we'll remain, united and free"
These are typical "company numbers", ie. the whole ensemble sings together in a sing-along fashion.
In the 4th verse Pamela introduces us to Tyler, her son. She gives us the first hint what the story is all about.
"Son you have the blood of a hero
running through the veins of your heart
In these footsteps one day you will follow
In our future you will play your part"
Tyler's father is a hero and she believes that Tyler will stand up to the legacy and follow in the footsteps of the great man. She hints to the plot of the story by telling him that he is likely to change their destiny.
While everybody is happy for the democracy, not everything is as rosy as they wanted it to be. Ten years have gone by and people have not magically became rich. Even though democracy has made political life easy in South Africa, it has not yet created enough jobs. There are more than 5 million unemployed people in South Africa. Democracy is fine for the 1 million who did get jobs, but the others have not seen any benefits from democracy yet. We are introduced to one of them, Anthony:
"And now we stand as a nation free
free to live in poverty
What did we get from democracy
Why don't I feel so free"
Clearly Anthony is not feeling all that happy. Democracy did not give him what he expected. We are only hinting to it for now. The next song will tell us much more about Anthony.
While Anthony is trying to put water on the fire, the rest of the company is trying to ignore him.
"We are free, free to go
We are free and live as one
Now we stand as a nation united
So we'll remain, united and free"
This verse is a repeat of the second verse. In pop music we often see sections being repeated. We usually call it the chorus. In musicals we often get the chorus as well. In many modern musicals we have however done away with the verse, chorus format for a song.
Greats like Lloyd-Webber and Sondheim, who established the modern "mega-musical" concept rarely repeats sections in their songs or have choruses. The reason for this is simple. In a musical we want to move the story forward. Repeating a verse or chorus is not moving forward. It is repeating.
Then, why are we repeating a verse here?
The answer is simple. By repeating this verse, we are moving the story forward. Makes sense? Let me explain. We have already established the happy democracy feeling of the crowd. Ten we want to tell you about the minority who are disillusioned. We however do not want to establish this play as a political play about the problems of the new South Africa. By repeating this verse, the crown is dismissing Antony's complaints. They are here today to celebrate freedom and not complain about it.
Are we however trying to say everything is rosy? No. Everything is not rosy. People do have a lot to complain abut. That is exactly what we will be discussing in the next verse.
