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I'm sorry it took me so long to get here
The map was outdated
I followed a wrong right turn
I'm so sorry

The map promised me a destination
but always seemed to shepherd me in the opposite direction
It told me I didn't have enough power for the 
journey without its compass
It gave me a windbreaker that was too tight,
causing me to choke
and hiking shorts that kept falling off,
causing me to trip
They must've belonged to someone else

I must've belonged to someone else
But I'm here now I'm here sh it's ok
I promise you
I am still arriving

— written on a plane-ride home

How My Writing Style Has Changed

A friend of mine shared this graphic on Twitter, created by Cheyanna A Lepka. It’s a matrix that details different writing styles. As a person who loves taking personality quizzes, I just had to figure out where I belonged on this matrix. But I was surprised to learn that if I had taken this quiz years ago, I would have ended up in a completely different square.

Years ago, I was a Lawful Plantser. I often knew the endpoint of my plays before aiming to write. I wrote very detailed profiles for characters, faithfully following Lagos Egri’s guidance in The Art of Dramatic Writing. I felt the responsibility of knowing all the ins and outs of my characters and their journeys.

Nowadays, I’d say I’m a Neutral Plotter. I still outline, but hold it less dearly - beat sheets is probably more like it. And I do indeed feel the guilt of wanting to write detailed character bios, but not finding the time to. I’m not sure if the change means that I’ve become more lazy or more confident in my craft. Probably a little of both. I think I’ve learned enough to know that I’m not going to get everything perfect out the gate, so why put so much effort into an outline that is inevitably going to change? I’ve also learned that once the show is handed to other artists, their experience with the piece will fill in any gaps that may be present. I can build as I go.

It’s kind of freeing, actually, to see this matrix, and to realize that none of these writing styles is better than the other. So I don’t need to feel like I’ve fallen short if I no longer find myself being “Lawful.” But alas… the guilt’s still there sometimes.

Quick Hello from Charleston (Vlog #7)

It’s been a busy week down here in Charleston, SC, working on KINDA HOME. Good news is - as of today, we’ve got a full-length draft of the work complete! This was one of our goals, and it feels great to know we’ve met it! Of course, the show is far from done. There will inevitably be things to tweak, change, rewrite as we continue to move forward. But for right now, we’re just excited to be able to share a reading of the first full-length draft tomorrow at PURE Theatre!

Here’s the really short vlog I was able to squeeze out this week:

Sh... I started vlogging (Vlog #1)

For a couple years now, I’ve been trying to think how I could be using YouTube, but any idea I came up with just seemed so time-intensive. Tutorials? Interviews? Analysis of plays and musicals? It all took research or extra prep that I just did not have time for. Well, I’ve finally landed on vlogging. A simple look-at-the-camera vlog. I’ve had younger and/or newer playwrights tell me that just hearing about my journey and work as a playwright/composer has helped them somehow. So, I’m starting a vlog and maybe someone will stumble upon it and find it meaningful for them. Who knows. I’ll not make much of a hullabaloo because I’m also learning how to vlog as I… well, I explain all this in the video, so just watch if you like.

The Journey of GOLD: 8 years in the making

L to R: King Midas (Matt Standley), Queen Midas (Aly Casas), and Princess Lydia (Elisha Beston) on their annual stargazing picnic. Photo by Alessandra Mello.

GOLD: The Midas Musical opens tomorrow at Bay Area Children’s Theatre, and while it is my 9th world premiere, it actually has a past that begins all the way back in 2011. Nina Meehan, Executive Artistic Director of BACT, approached me with a commission to adapt the Midas myth into a musical for young audiences - particularly targeting those in upper elementary and above. I loved the idea of expanding this classic myth for contemporary theatregoers, and with a proposed opening of 2012, I set to work on it right away - writing sketches of about four songs and crafting a script that focused on the relationship between Midas and his daughter. But then, the direction changed.

Nina thought a stronger new work would be one that addressed Greek mythology broadly, rather than the one myth. Of course, she was right. I was just starting out as a writer, and BACT was just starting its programming for older kids. A show about several Greek myths would be more readily appealing to kids (Percy Jackson was just kicking into high gear), and had more potential for educational value for teachers. And so, Midas went into my figurative drawer, and Tales of Olympus was born. After its world premiere, Tales went on to a Bay Area school tour, a touring production in Chicago, a young actors adaptation, and will once again be produced at the Children’s Museum Indianapolis this summer. So yeah, good call on the Greek myths thing!

But I always knew I wanted to re-visit Midas. In 2016, I opened the file and started to work on it again. It was strange. In those five years, I had changed as a writer. The jokes and lyrics felt like a younger me, and I had to think hard about what of the original sketches could be retained if I were to actually finish it. I completed the piece enough to do an informal table reading at Playwrights Foundation, to which Nina Meehan was invited. After the reading, she expressed interest in seeing how it developed further. And so, I continued to work on it, keeping her up-to-date on latest script drafts. Then, she included in BACT’s 2018-2019 season.

L to R: Nysus (Andrew Mondello), Hilarion (Christian Arteaga), King Midas (Matt Standley), Princess Lydia (Elisha Beston), Queen Midas (Aly Casas), Hestia (Sheila Townsend). Photo by Alessanda Mello.

It’s very apparent to me that had I finished GOLD in 2012, it would have been a completely different show. In the eight years from conception to production, I have transformed into a much more competent, self-aware, and experienced writer. I believe I was able to bring an emotional depth to GOLD that might not have been there if I completed it on its original due date. Of course, there are still remnants of the original draft - three of those original song sketches have stayed in the show in some form, and I don’t know that I’ll ever lose my childish humor that others like to call “Min jokes.” So, GOLD feels like a sort of commemorative piece for me. A marker to show how much I’ve progressed in career and creativity. I’m proud it’s getting to see the light of day, and I hope you’ll be able to see it before it closes!