In my last blog about my latest melodrama, CURSES! OILED AGAIN!, I promised my next post would be the story behind the story under the assumption there was a story behind the story. Well, there is. Read on at your own risk...which is basically a few minutes of your precious time.
Way back in the 20th century, I was deeply entrenched in a dinner theater in Stockton, California called the Palace Showboat at Pollardville. The specialty of the house was melodrama/vaudeville double bill where I cut my teeth (and cracked a few molars) a budding actor/writer/director of several productions. At one point, I had a trifecta of shows I had put together, the musical/comedy variety second half of the program, our version of what was known as an olio. The last of this series of mine was a tribute to the theater itself, but more importantly the fantastic actors I had performed with and had the honor of directing as well. The name I gave this vaudeville was IT'S SHOWTIME, FOLKS!, an allusion to the incredibly inspirational Bob Fosse film ALL THAT JAZZ.
I wrote a comedy sketch called MURPHY'S MELODRAMA, utilizing Murphy's Law of whatever can go wrong, will go wrong. Quite simply, it was take-off of the melodramas in the first half of the show, only this time, it all went to hell from the word go. The card girl had a nasty cold, cues were missed, heroine had poison ivy, the villain drunk, etc. (While this pre-dated THE PLAY THAT GOES WRONG, it was nowhere neat the excellence of that show, but mine did come first, so there.) Anyway, the sketch, longer than most that we did on that stage, was received quite well, but my producer Goldie Pollard told me to cut it because the length of the entire show went far too long. Begrudgingly, I ditched it, then it finally dawned on me: The audience just sat through an entire melodrama. Now I was making them sit through another one, albeit a skewed version, but still...
Oh well. Cut to twenty years later. Pollardville was closing for good, theater, restaurant, ghost town and all. We had a final reunion and show at the theater featuring Palace Showboat Players throughout the years. The show started as it always did with a melodrama and director Ed Thorpe chose MURPHY'S MELODRAMA to fill that spot and therefore became the last on that stage, an accolade I cherish to this very day.
Later on, I revamped my script, eliminating the wacky mishaps and transformed it into a normal, everyday melodrama that got a couple of nibbles over time which led the way to further success with my other properties. I had to put the brakes the on eventually and dive headlong into my novel which turned into a total obsession. Once I finished, I needed to get back into the script writing game again since I had a few ideas lined up. (See previous post: COMING ATTRACTIONS)
In my addled brain, I thought the best thing to start with would be an expansion of MURPHY'S MELODRAMA. Why not? The previous revamp I rattled off in just a few hours. How tough could it be?
Two years later...
CURSES! OILED AGAIN!
Yeah, a real walk in the park. During a snowstorm. Without a jacket.
It reminded me of the time my wife and I moved from one apartment complex to another which was right across the street. That was the first time I had used the phrase that never pays. How tough could it be? The answer: Almost as difficult as the move from California to Oregon. If I ever utter that rhetorical question again, I will punch myself in the face. Repeatedly.
But I got another script out of it that I'm happy with and it's another notch in my writing belt. Now if I can only get someone to produce it. How tough can it be?
KA-POW!
CURSES! OILED AGAIN! or NO CRUDE FOR A RUDE DUDE is available for download at Lulu.com.
Performance rights are available. Contact me at:
writtenbysc@gmail.com
