Mountain Rehearsals - Week Four

This week, I made a very exciting discovery. It came out of the need to reformat some of my piano scores so our music director wouldn't have to deal with so many awkward page turns. That's right, I finally discovered the Page Break and System Break functions in Sibelius. It sounds small, but I was so delighted and surprised to discover that with the simple push of a button, I could put page breaks in less-busy measures to allow for easier page turns. I had thought the task would require endless re-spacing and shifting of bars, but nope! I'm happy to add another notch on my Sibelius-literacy belt.

A lion mask in progress.

In other perhaps more interesting news, the props for our show are being completed, and we are starting to see more of the visual aesthetic take shape. Our set, props and costumes are being built from scratch by some top-notch designers, and each piece we see elicits "oohs!" and "ahs!" from the cast and myself.

I also think I'm finally realizing that another show that I've written is being produced! Silly as it seems, it often takes a while for such moments to hit me as reality. Sometimes people will ask me "Aren't you so excited that your show is opening soon?" and I'll answer with a simple "Yes." And you can tell, folks are let down by the nonchalant affect in my response. But it's not because I'm faking it or because I'm emotionless. Internally, I am excited all the time about the opportunities I've been given. But in the midst of the creative work, the impact of that reality is often kept at bay. Well, this week, I'm feeling the impact. And yes, I'm excited that my third show will be opening soon!

Mountain Rehearsals - Week Three

Happy New Year! It is the Year of the Horse for those who may not know the Lunar New Year traditions. Usually, the Lunar New Year is just another day for me, but I think I'm more aware of the event because I have been working on Asian-themed shows this year (The Song of the Nightingale, Mulan Jr., and now Where the Mountain Meets the Moon). In preparation for writing Mountain, I did my best to research various aspects of Chinese culture. In discussions with Mina Morita and Oona Hatton (the director and dramaturg, respectively), we decided that just as Grace Lin had taken Chinese folklore and re-contextualized them to tell Minli's story, we would bring aspects of Chinese and other Asian cultures and re-contextualize them for our stage version.

Chinatown, San Francisco

This meant a variety of research in many forms. Web searches and YouTube videos were a great place to start - reading Wikipedia articles and watching footage of the Dragon and Lion dances. On one occasion, Mina and I walked through Chinatown, San Francisco in order to see if objects and musical instruments might inspire the sound and look of the show. I had the joy to sit in on a Chinese orchestra rehearsal in order to take cues on what Chinese instruments sounded like. Now there is an erhu, a two-stringed bowed instrument, included in our show. We also learned about Grace Lin and her artistic process as she wrote and illustrated Mountain. It seems she too dove into research of all kinds to create the book.

The fruit of our research labor is evident in our rehearsals. I believe we have an understanding of the world we're trying to create with Mountain. We know the boundaries of reality and fantasy as they apply to this show. We have a particular aesthetic and style in mind that borrows from Chinese and other Asian cultures. We aren't grasping at straws to make stylistic choices, because those discussions were had long before. I see more clearly now how doing good research will lead to good writing and good theatre. Even if the audience doesn't pick up on it, I think they will sense that something about this show feels firmly supported with a sturdy foundation.

Mountain Rehearsals - Week Two

It wouldn't be a Mountain rehearsal without our tufts of muddy rice!

We're hitting the end of Week Two of rehearsals, and tonight is our first stumble-thru of Act One! It definitely feels like the creative team and cast have found our groove as a group, and the past few rehearsals have not just been productive but fun! I also find myself in the long-awaited position of simply being the playwright/composer in the room, instead of running double duty. For my previous two productions I also worked as Music Director, which made sense since I knew the shows so well. However, for Mountain, it has been very liberating to be able hand Music Director duties to someone else's capable hands and focus solely on finessing the script & score.

What exactly do I do in rehearsals then? I check to see how the script and score play out in the room. Sometimes the script no longer works, or a moment of song/dialogue is no longer necessary, because of what we discover with the actors, set, costumes, sound & props. So I give a quick assent to cut or modify. I also answer questions about my original intent, usually to help bring clarification to a scene. If a rewrite is needed, I might start working on that while rehearsal continues (I recently made minor tweaks to six Act One musical numbers, and I'll see how those changes work at tonight's stumble-thru). I will also initiate discussion if I feel like what I see or hear in the room is going in a different direction than the writing. But mostly, I observe and I listen, and watch the skeleton of the show grow tendons, muscle and sinew, as if by magic.

Mountain Rehearsals - Week One

Rehearsals have officially begun for the world premiere of Where the Mountain Meets the Moon. These early days are fascinating because what began as words and sheet music slowly starts to get its own skeleton as a performance piece. We are in a modest dance room in Oakland. We use some props that are just for rehearsal, and sometimes props that will make it to the actual production once they are painted and embellished. We try things, throwing ideas out and taking cues from each other. There is spike tape in a variety of colors outlining our imaginary set. We have looked at sketches and color swatches. We've listened to sound samples. There's a lot of waiting, discussion and thinking.

Minli's dining table in the rehearsalroom. Inside the bowl are two coins, one of which starts our protagonist on her journey.

Perhaps what fascinates me the most is that the final product will be built upon this skeleton, but only after much has been pruned and plucked away. To the audience's eyes, it will arrive as a complete package. But those of us in this dance room will know the sparser versions of the show that had to come before. The discarded drafts, the revised movements, the great ideas that ultimately had to be cut will still be with us. As well as the joy, the jokes, the shared memories that come from working together on this project. It's funny because from day one of rehearsals, the end is always in sight. But I already know that the end will come much too soon.

So I take to heart the lesson that Grace Lin teaches us through her novel. "Thankfulness."

I am thankful to be here in the midst of this creating, as it unfolds before me.

My Trip to Cars Land

Over the holidays, I finally got to revisit "The Happiest Place on Earth." It has been several years since my last adventure at the Disneyland Resort, and I was excited to see as much of the new attractions as I can. I was, perhaps, most impressed by Cars Land, the brand new area in California Adventure, based upon the Pixar Cars franchise. The layout of Radiator Springs is replicated in such a true-to-the-film fashion that I actually felt like I was in the movie set! It was such a treat see Sally's Cozy Cone Motel and Flo's V8 Cafe before my eyes. The figurehead of Cars Land is Ornament Valley, where the Radiator Springs Racers attraction is housed. Looking at the automobile shaped rocks was stunning. I knew the rock walls were fake, but the forced perspective work is done so well, I felt dwarfed by the setting. The careful work that Disney put into Cars Land inspired me to be just as thoughtful in my own craft. Of course, writing for theatre and Imagineering an attraction are different things. But they both involve telling a story. Having created a unique and quirky universe in the films, Disney/Pixar went to great lengths to make sure the audience buys into the story at the park. The minor details make a difference, even if the audience doesn't quite perceive them. In a similar way, I should remember the importance of imagining the worlds of my musicals, making decisions about details so the audience buys into the reality of the story I'm trying to tell, especially if the story is fantastical or mythological. I would love to visit Cars Land again (when it is not crowded by holiday visitors) and just take in its handiwork.

Oh, and be sure to catch a glimpse of Cars Land at night to catch the neon lights, which appear at a poignant moment in the first film. They are just as poignant in person.