'AFTER THE TURN' - The Road To Making A New Musical

The birth of a new musical involves a mixture of passion, inspiration, frustration, hard work, an element of luck and the coming together of a group of individuals who have the desire and will to make it work. All of those elements have been present in the Early Stages of the development of a brand new musical I've been fortunate to be involved with - a musical entitled After the Turn. 

The show began as an inspired idea in the mind of Caden Jones, a composer/lyricist based in Birmingham. About three years ago, purely by chance, he and I came into contact via Myspace (yes - I kid you not!) and once he spun his idea at me, I was totally hooked and was desperate to begin work on crafting the Book and Lyrics. Caden had already written a handful of songs which I was able to incorporate into the fabric of the show and lyrics for new songs emerged almost like magic as I worked on the Book. Then something even more magical emerged - the beautiful and powerful music score that Caden wrote to accompany my lyrics.

After a series of rewrites and many months of work in the studio recording the songs, we decided we were ready to begin work-shopping the show - trying it out with a group of actor/singers to find out what worked - or if it even worked at all. We had three members of the small cast already committed to the show - who had been involved with the recordings. But how did we find the other crucial cast members? (Especially when we have no money available to fund the show!) The answer - BroadwayWorld! After posting a simple message on the West End Theatre Message Board, volunteers miraculously came forward and we found the final (incredibly talented) members of our cast.

So the workshop went ahead in Birmingham - with cast members Hannah McCormack, Jonathan Sterling, Caden Jones, Mara Ashton and Rick Carter, directed by Clare Smith - and at last what had previously simply been words on a page started to come alive. A new piece of musical theatre started to emerge. The show is very much in an embryonic state and there is still much to do - further rewrites (and a new song in the works) and plans to take the show to its next stage: trying it out with an audience. Hopefully when we present it on stage in Birmingham later in the year, the audience will begin to care as much about the characters and the music as our team of creators and performers already do.

In a time when mainstream musical theatre has almost been taken over by Jukebox Musicals and Revivals, we hope we will succeed in creating a brand new piece of musical theatre that is sincere, powerful, "edgy" and entertaining. Will we make it? Watch this space!

"After the Turn is a musical about grief, guilt, self discovery, love - and music!

Michael Brookman is a 21 year old highly gifted musician with serious emotional and psychological problems who four years ago witnessed the hit-and-run accident that killed his mother. Ever since then he has suffered from severe depression, and has not spoken a word. He communicates only by typing his words on a lap-top. (His words are spoken and sung for the dramatic purposes of the musical by the character of Michael as a teenager, who also acts as a mirror of Michael's inner-self.)

Lauren Danner is a 23 year old nurse, dedicated and caring and - at least on the surface - bright and strong-willed. The musical begins with her arrival at Michael's apartment in New York city - escorted by her employer and Michael's psychiatrist, Doctor Black - as she commences her duties as Michael's carer - a job she personally requested and is totally committed to.

The story of Michael's past is gradually revealed through a series of flashbacks as the primary plot-line reveals the development of the relationship between Michael and Lauren. Initially Michael is totally hostile until gradually he begins to accept Lauren first as his nurse and later as his friend. Eventually, through a series of disturbing and heart-breaking plot twists, as both Michael and Lauren learn to face their individual fears and hang-ups, they begin to discover the meaning of love."

www.aftertheturnthemusical.webs.com