Happy Anniversary, Canyon Kid!

2014 represented a huge milestone in the writing life of me. The first play I had written in the 21st century called THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS (now titled DEAD TUESDAY) was produced in Nashville, USA (see previous blog post A DECADE OF FRANCOIS) But what got the ball rolling occurred several months earlier when I was contacted by the best melodrama theater on the West Coast inquiring about the posiible production of one of my scripts that was found online.

That summer on June 19, The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano, CA presented as their summer attraction SONG OF THE CANYON KID or POEM ON THE RANGE. This wass the first production of this western comedy melodrama since its 1987 world premiere at the legendary Pollardville Palace Showboat Theater in Stockton, which I also directed. 

GAM cast of SOTCK and moi

Thirty years later, I was given one of the best gifts of all time by my best friend, Ed Thorpe, who more than generously flew me down for the sole purpose of seeing my creation on the Great American stage and I could not have been more delighted. Their adaptation was wonderful, doing justice to the material and giving life to a show that not seen the light of day in this century. Quite frankly, Lee Anne Mathews' direction ran circles around mine. Her staging of certain scenes, particularly the attempted hypnosis of The Canyon Kid by Nastassia Kinky (Emily Smith) became a delirious, brilliantly staged tango in her hands. Some of the changes that I allowed improved the show, while others did not. (My fight scene kicked major ass. Nyah!) But the cast was top notch all the way. Andy Pollock and Christine Arnold totally embodied The Canyon Kid and Darla Darling. There is an extension to their first scene together that was not in the original 1987 script. I added it later when I published it and has never been performed. I had to wipe a tear from my eye because in their hands, it was pretty damn touching if I do say so myself. But I have to say that the show was sent into the stratosphere by Katie Beck in the role of Charlene Atlas. She totally transformed this character, hysterically stealing each scene to the point that I couldn't wait for her next entrance to see what she do next. I would have to say Katie gave the best interpretation of anything I've ever written and one of the finest comic performance I've ever seen on any stage. Amazing. When the curtain fell on SONG OF THE CANYON KID, I leapt to my feet and gave this fine cast a triumphant standing ovation I believed they deserved. I was probably clapping for myself as well, a true victory lap.

But that wasn't all in the summer of '14. On August 29, the Footlight Theatre Company staged its own version of the same play under its original title (SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE) in conjunction with the Hurst Ranch in Jamestown, CA, not far from where it first originated at Pollardville . Bookended productions for that summer season.

From there, The Kid and his horse Thunder have ridden across the country on stages in Texas, Wyoming and Minnesota. It's high time for him to ride again. 

But until then, happy anniversary, pard.

Performance rights for SONG OF THE CANYON KID are available for both professional and amateur theater productions including community groups, dinner shows, fundraising events, high school and college drama departments.  

Royalties are $40 per performance. Script fees are completely waived so theater groups may copy as many as they require from a PDF after a signed contract.

For more info and to receive a FREE perusal script, contact me at: writtenbysc@gmail.com

Origins

This is my origin story, edited from an introduction of my comedy sketches that is no longer in print, which, after all these years, sums my beginnings in all three acts of my life thus far.

My favorite TV show of all time is The Dick Van Dyke Show. Other than the fact that the show is an acknowledged classic, one of the things that always appealed to me was Rob Petrie’s job as a comedy writer. Now, that seemed to be a perfect profession for me. Not only would I be able to create comedy all day long, but I’d have a lot of laughs in the process. Of course, the icing on Rob’s cake was that he was able to go home every night to the young Mary Tyler Moore. Woof!

I was able to live part of that dream during my time at a magical land called Pollardville, the kingdom that fried chicken built. Located just outside Stockton, California on Highway 99, Pollardville began as the Chicken Kitchen, a take-out restaurant specializing in deep fried poultry. Years later, the Pollards acquired some buildings and sets from the William Wyler film The Big Country starring Gregory Peck, which had been filmed in the area. They schlepped these down the road virtually intact and stuck them behind the Chicken Kitchen to create the Pollardville Ghost Town, a roadside attraction complete with western stunt shows and train ride. Another building they purchased later was part of an old warehouse from a nearby cannery, which they converted into the Pollardville Palace, a dinner theater that served chicken (naturally) for audiences to munch on while watching stage shows consisting of old time melodramas and vaudeville. A few years down the road, the outside of the building had an entire makeover when it was remodeled into a riverboat facade to became the Palace Showboat Dinner Theater.

Cast of original production of LA RUE'S RETURN

My own saga began in my teenage years out in the Ghost Town. I was a full-fledged weekend cowboy, robbing the not-quite-full-scale train and performing in the aforementioned western stunt shows and gunfights on Main Street. It was a great comedic training ground for I was able to create and perform several different characters, test the improvisational waters and even write my own material.

After many seasons, I finally hung up my spurs and graduated to the college course known as Palace Showboat 101, which I attacked with a vengeance. It was within those hallowed halls that I was able to do everything I ever wanted to do in show business-act, write, direct, stand-up comedy-EVERYTHING! (Well, everything except make a decent living wage, but that’s another story) If Disneyland hadn’t already claimed it, I would have dubbed Pollardville at that influential point in my life “the happiest place on the face of the earth”.

Now the Pollardville show formula was quite simple. First up was the melodrama, a modernized version of the archaic theater form. These were your basic audience participatory CHEER the Handsome Hero, BOO the Dastardly Villain and AWWWW with pathos with the Helpless Heroine scenarios. Following intermission was the olio or vaudeville section, basically a mini-revue with song and dance numbers and lotsa comedy.

Many of the sketches and blackouts (quick gags) in the Palace Showboat productions were rehashes of classic old bits from vaudeville and burlesque shows from what seemed to be from the Dawn of Time. One could never argue their effect on audiences because they ate ‘em up with a spoon. But, being young, impetuous and thinking that I knew it all, I had to try to come up with new material to call my own. After all, I had co-authored an original melodrama for the Palace Showboat a couple of years before entitled La Rue’s Return or How’s a Bayou? with my best friend, Edward Thorpe. It was pretty well received and good enough to be revived a few years later.

So, I dove in head first, hitting my head on the bottom of the pool a few times, but eventually able to write and direct my own show within a year’s time. In fact, I almost pulled an Orson Welles by writing an original melodrama, The Legend of the Rogue and writing/directing the second half of that production entitled Life is a Cabaret. That would have been quite a feat if I didn’t get in so far over my head that I couldn’t even call for help. Of course, pride had a lot to do with that near debacle. I thought I could do it all. Ah, the arrogance of youth. The show went on despite of me, but it soured me on the experience for a couple of years before I tried it again. I thought I knew it all, though the opposite was actually true. After stuffing myself full of humble pie, I came back with a vengeance, writing and directing three shows in a row, penning a new melodrama Song of the Lone Prairie which turned out to be my biggest hit down the road and finishing up a decade of Palace Showboat productions before I finally moved on.

In March of 2007, Pollardville closed its doors for good. Cowpokes engaged in a final gunfight in the Ghost Town before riding off into the sunset. The Palace Showboat, long since dormant, held one last show on its stage, a grand finale reunion revue featuring Palace Showboat Players from its 25 year history. Needless to say, a good time was had by all, just as we always had at the magical place we called Home. Three years later in April of 2010, Pollardville was torn down. For all intents and purposes, it is now gone forever except for those who keep its memory alive in their hearts and minds including the patron saint of comedy itself, the chicken.

Forever may it cluck.

What I learned from those halcyon days of yore also helped me in my creation of murder mysteries as well since I realized that the melodramas and vaudeville sketches I wrote were as at least second cousins-big, broad characters, goofy names, outlandish plots. There even may be a future murder mystery set in a Pollardville type setting just to complete the circle of life.

My other blog, SCOTT CHERNEY'S ETC., contains several stories from my Pollardville years, gathered together on a page called TALES FROM THE VILLE.

The Canyon Kid Rides!

SONG OF THE CANYON KID (formerly known as SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE) or POEM ON

THE RANGE remains the best melodrama script I ever wrote. It represented the culmination of everything I had learned up to that point at Pollardville, the place I had considered my "college". You see, I got to do everything I ever wanted to do in show business at the place we called the Ville-acting, writing, directing, producing, stand-up, singing, dancing, improvisation and so on and so forth. This included my apprenticeship as a stunt cowboy performer in Pollardville Ghost Town all the way to my post-graduate studies as the writer/director/master of ceremonies on the Palace stage. It was the best time of my life and this show was pretty much my grand finale.

It began as a possible running character in the Ghost Town, though it never got out of the idea stage out there. The character of Two Gun Boris, however, did end up in one of the gunfights, since it was written specifically for Grant-Lee Phillips who was working there at the time. But I knew that The Canyon Kid needed to be the hero of a melodrama and so it began. Previously, I had co-written LARUE'S RETURN with my best friend Edward (Max) Thorpe and had flied solo with THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE which Bill Humphreys had admirably interpreted on the Ville stage. Ed had concocted the initial story for LA RUE before our collaboration while the script for LEGEND actually only took me a week . But SONG took a few years to put together. I had an idea here and an idea there, but nothing came together.

Then I hit on the idea of the albino hanging judge as a villain, probably inspired by Stacy Keach's character Bad Bob from John Huston's LIFE AND TIMES OF JUDGE ROY BEAN written by John Milius. (Yes, I just mashed Bad Bob and Judge Roy Bean together and came up with an albino hanging judge. I always was the clever boy) Some of the early drafts involved a lot more about Judge Basil Kadaver that, unfortunately, got lost in a fire. There had been a great scene involving the judge as a baby, throwing a hangman's noose over the side of his bassinet. I never could recover those bits nor could I muster up the inspiration to recreate them, unfortunately. The other characters that popped out of my head-Charlene Atlas, the female blacksmith and Two Gun Boris' hot as balls gypsy fortune teller sister, Nastassia Kinky, more than made up for it.

I had a brilliant idea of an ending for SONG-a fight scene to beat all fight scenes, one that would involve every member of the cast and from everywhere in the theater-on stage, off stage, in the audience and so on. And so it was. The Canyon Kid fought Dalton Doolin. The Mayor had it out with the Judge. Darla and her mother took on Nastassia. And finally, Charlene punched it out with Boris. They all duked it out in the name of entertainment. It was my version of the BLAZING SADDLES fight and put this show over the top.

SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE opened November 6, 1987 and ran until May of 1988. What a great run and, if I say so myself, a great show as well. In 2013, I wrote a novelization of this script, re-naming it SONG OF THE CANYON KID at the same time the show was produced by the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville Theater in Oceano, California. Since then, it has played across the country in theaters coast to coast.

REVIEW OF SONG OF THE CANYON KID NOVEL

Performing rights for SONG OF THE CANYON KID are available for both professional and amateur theater companies. Royalties are $40 per performance with no script fees. To obtain a FREE perusal script, contact me, Scott Cherney at writtenbysc@gmail.com

AND

THE SONG OF THE CANYON KID-The Novel
A Western Comedy Romance
NOW ON SALE IN PAPERBACK
and on
AMAZON KINDLE

Take a Bow!

 

I've been involved with the thea-teh most of my life, both on and off the stage, the latter of which some might see as a blessing. ("Yeah, he belongs on the stage alright...the first one leaving town!")

The thing is I believe it is a viable art form, one that can be embraced on every level of society, hence, its longevity in an era when virtual is beginning to take hold. Post-Covid, if there will ever be such a thing, theater was clinging on by its very fingernails, on the very brink of becoming totally extinct in this lifetime. When the tentative "All clear" sounded, there was a resurgence and once again, the hills are alive with the sound of applause when the curtain blissfully rose again. 

The following theater groups have been very, very good to me in the past few years I've enjoyed as a produced and now published playwright. I want to return the favor to these good people by showcasing them here with links to their websites or Facebook pages. Give them a click, check them out, show your support. If they're in your area, so much the better. Stand behind them. They're good for the community. They're also good for business.

These are the the theater groups that are, as of this writing, still in operation. Click 'em, give 'em a look, support 'em if you can.

GRAHAM REGIONAL THEATRE  GRAHAM, TEXAS

THE GREAT AMERICAN MELODRAMA THEATRE  OCEANO, CA

MANTORVILLE THEATRE COMPANY MANTORVILLE, MINNESOTA

STATE COLLEGE COMMUNITY THEATRE STATE COLLEGE, PA

SANZMAN PRODUCTIONS  LOS ANGELES, CA

RIO LINDA/ELVERTA COMMUNITY THEATER  RIO LINDA, CA

THEATRE SUBURBIA  HOUSTON, TEXAS

GOLDEN CHAIN THEATRE  OAKHURST, CA

DELTON ACT DELTON, MICHIGAN

STAGECOACH THEATRE  LOUDON COUNTY, VIRGINIA

SAN LUIS VALLEY THEATRE COMPANY   FORT GARLAND, COLORADO

MT. VERNON COMMUNITY THEATRE  MT. VERNON, MISSOURI 

ACTORS STUDIO INC. BAKER CITY, OREGON (re-located to Hemphill, TX)

BRICKSTREET COMMUNITY PLAYERS  CLOVIS, NEW MEXICO

BRAZOS THEATRE OF WACO  WACO, TEXAS

AVENUE THEATER  WEST PLAINS, MISSOURI

SUGAR HIGH THEATRICALS  GALESBURG, ILLINOIS

ROGUE THEATER  STURGEON BAY, WISCONSIN 

CHEYENNE LITTLE THEATER PLAYERS  CHEYENNE, WYOMING

BLACK BART PLAYERS (now MURPHYS CREEK PLAYHOUSE) MURPHYS, CA

TAKE A BOW, PEOPLE!

Those that didn't make the list are no longer in operation, such as the late, great Palace Showboat Theater at Pollardville in Stockton, CA where it all began for me, Mel O' Drama Theater in Nashville where the angel who walks on Earth, Mel Roady convinced me to write a couple of goofy-ass murder mysteries, the Foothill Theater Company in Jamestown, CA and the Gaslight Theatre in Campbell, CA.

Also a big shout to another of my own stomping grounds, STOCKTON CIVIC THEATRE in Stockton, CA where a lot of my friends and former colleagues are still hoping to trod the boards once again.

These are but a few. There are more out there than you can imagine. Try this link for more info about community theaters across the country.

AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF COMMUNITY THEATRE

To all of you out there-actors, singers, dancers, musicians, writers, directors, producers, stage hands
 and all theater personnel in one form or another...

BREAK A LEG!

We're going to need it.

SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL THEATERS!

Song of the Canyon Kid or Poem on the Range

This here's a song of the lone prairie

It's a tale of woe and of misery

It's a tale of right and a tale of wrong

All about the weak and the very strong

(sung to the tune of BURY ME NOT ON THE LONE PRAIRIE)

So begins SONG OF THE CANYON KID or POEM ON THE RANGE, a western comedy melodrama originally written by Scott Cherney and first produced on the stage of the Palace Showboat Dinner Theater at Pollardville.

When the straight shooting, and guitar strumming singing cowboy hero known as The Canyon Kid, returns to Dirt Clod, Missouri, he finds his hometown in the grips of a tyrannical albino “hanging judge” named Basil Kadaver and his evil co-horts, including the slinky gypsy seductress Nastassia Kinky and her half-wit brother, Two Gun Boris. To make matters worse for The Kid, he also discovers that his childhood sweetheart, Darla Darling, is engaged to Dalton Doolin, a known desperado who is now the town sheriff. The action culminates in a knockdown, drag out slugfest on the streets of Dirt Clod when justice at last triumphs and The Canyon Kid saves the day.

CAST OF CHARACTERS

 

THE CANYON KID…………….the straight shooting, guitar strumming, two fisted cowboy hero 

DARLA DARLING……………..the schoolmarm childhood sweetheart of The Canyon Kid 

JUDGE BASIL KADAVER…….the villainous albino known as “The Hanging Judge” 

SHERIFF DALTON DOOLIN….the supposedly reformed outlaw who now wears a badge 

CHARLENE ATLAS…………...the town’s female blacksmith who is no smarter than the anvil she pounds 

MAYOR DARLING……………the absent minded elected official and Darla’s father 

NASTASSIA KINKY…………..the slinky gypsy seductress who runs the saloon, The Golden Goulash 

HONEY DARLING…………….the mayor’s wife, Darla’s mother and dingier than a church bell 

TWO GUN BORIS……………...the fastest gun this side of the Ukraine 

Previous productions of SONG OF THE CANYON KID 

PALACE SHOWBOAT DINNER THEATER AT POLLARDVILLE-STOCKTON, CA

GREAT AMERICAN MELODRAMA-OCEANO, CA

FOOTHILL THEATRE CO.-JACKSON, CA

CHEYENNE LITTLE THEATER PLAYERS-CHEYENNE, WY

BRAZOS THEATRE GROUP-WACO, TX

THEATRE SUBURBIA-HOUSTON,TX

MANTORVILLE THEATER-MANTORVILLE,MN

CATS PLAYHOUSE-LUBBOCK,TX

Performance rights for SONG OF THE CANYON KID are available for both professional and amateur theater productions including community groups, dinner shows, fundraising events, high school and college drama departments.  

Royalties are $40 per performance. Script fees are completely waived so theater groups may copy as many as they require from a PDF after a signed contract.

For more info and to receive a FREE perusal script, contact me at: writtenbysc@gmail.com

CLICK HERE TO READ AN EXCERPT OF SONG OF THE CANYON KID

SONG OF THE CANYON KID has also been adapted into a novel and is available in paperback or Kindle from Amazon

CLICK HERE FOR SONG OF THE CANYON KID ON AMAZON 

La Rue's Return or How's a Bayou?

 Time to switch gears as we head into the wonderful world of melodrama.

Evil always returns...
only this time, it has a bad French accent!

First production of LA RUE'S RETURN at Pollardville

Oh, he's back alright. Jacques La Rue, that is. He's the villain in the very first theatrical venture show written by Edward Thorpe and myself. a little melodrama called LA RUE'S RETURN or HOW'S A BAYOU?.