At 9:50 PM tonight I completed a good working draft of a play that I first wrote 27 years ago. As some of my friends would claim (and they would be accurate) “Frogway began all this trouble with you.” Revisiting this show was an interesting experience to say the least. It provided me with the opportunity to not only rework an earlier piece but also provide a backward peek into that personal telescope from whence I came.
When it was first created, I have and always acknowledged that at the time, I was riding on Mike’s coat-tails. Really, the original play was barely a script. The production of the show was sold primarily on the music and a devil-may-care tenacity. Very soon after it was produced in Malaysia, I arrived on these shores. With suggestions from my mentors in college I reworked the script and it was staged here. Though it grew into a more credible script it was still Mike’s marvelous score that really made the show.
While I was reworking it this time there was a temptation to throw everything out and start from scratch. Perhaps I would now finally be able to craft a slick and sophisticated piece that was deserving of the music. Instead, I took the tougher route. As I rewrote I paid special attention to preserving the original charm of the show yet tighten the plot and it’s devices… more of a nip and tuck. I can walk away this time knowing that it is a tighter script. Will it still play to an audience today… I really don’t know. What I do know is that having the opportunity to rework it has quelled my own long feelings of inadequacy I held all these years about it’s original creation. That shadow has dissipated. The music is still wonderful and will still be the sparkle of the show… though now I think the script at least facilitates it better than before.
So my count today is the opportunity to re-do this show. And by doing so, coming to a resolution that it’s not about wiping out what was… but knowing that improvement is always possible and attainable.
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