A Musical is Born! - Part 3 - The Slog

It was a good thing I had new inspiration to propel me, because the next step was not a fun one. I had to put down on paper what I heard in my head; every note and every rest had to be painstakingly recorded in order to pass the music onto the singers and the musicians. I downloaded a free music notation program called MuseScore, and started to learn how to use it. It was frustrating at first, but I was rewarded. How exciting it was to see my songs written out! And how even more exciting it was to hear my students in the class sing my harmonies! In February 2022, my students performed two songs, "Castle Siege" and "Being Wanted", in the class-end showcase. We took our bows to thunderous applause.

At this point, KW and I started talking more seriously about performing the musical in our next winter session. But I still had lots of work to do. I kept tweaking the script and the songs (a line here, a lyric there) and began to orchestrate the show (a fun but daunting task!) I had originally thought that the show should be performed with only piano accompaniment, but I decided that it would be better to round out the sound by adding bass guitar, violin, percussion, and drums. Then, I had to think about music for between scenes, music for when the "magic" happened, and music for the bows. Lastly, how to get the music bound in a way that the music would lay flat on a music stand? After doing some brainstorming and researching, I decided that the best route was to print them through Office Max.

I also needed to make the script into a book. Thankfully, I had experience with Amazon's "Create Space" (now called Kindle Direct Publishing) and so I knew that was the best way to get the scripts bound in a sturdy book form. (I won't bore you by describing this process. Because a script is not laid out in paragraphs like a story, I had to go through the script and make sure everything was indented, bolded, or italicized correctly.) I also needed a logo! My husband, who is a full-time pastor and has a graphic design background, worked with me on this. He created an image that will go on posters, programs, T-shirts, and librettos. We had some sketches that looked more serious and Victorian, but we went with a more fun and whimsical look.

And then finally, FINALLY!, I had two books in my hand!

But these were only the proofs. KW and I went through and marked up anything that needed correcting (lots of sticky notes!) Then back to the computer I went. 

This was my summer. I took advantage of our more relaxed schedule to plow through as much editing as I could. Whenever I felt tired of the process, or discouraged, I would get a nudge of encouragement from a family member, a friend, or KW. In July, CYT had a picnic in a local park to announce the shows for the new season. When Five Children and It was revealed, I was surprised to find myself bursting into tears amidst the cheering and the clapping! Everyone was so excited. The musical was becoming a reality!

With new motivation, I finished the work. Weeks later, I received a heavy box on my front porch. 34 scripts!

And just ten days before auditions, I had copies of the orchestral score ready for each of the five musicians.

The computer work was done!! Now, it's time to take the show from the page to the stage!