JOLLY OLDE
Good morning from London! I am here for two weeks working on the musical. I have a feeling it will be very much like working in NYC where there is very little time to eat, let alone see things. That's ok though. I’ll shoehorn something in.
Today will be meeting the UK cast and seeing the show with movement for the first time! I can’t wait. There will also be a lot of sitting in an empty room writing lyrics, which, in all honesty, is my favorite thing to do. No shade to the other elements or humans involved, they are pure gold, there’s just something about scratching away on your paper until you start a little fire on your page. That’s where it feels like inventing a crossword puzzle backward. What a thrill!
Of course, the first human I met in London who started a conversation with me was a checker in the grocery store. He’s from California. Haha! Isn’t that always the way? Another American… he is a sweet music student who is a little disenchanted, but Kim (our music director) and I gave him a pep talk which I hope helped. I was an art student in a foreign country once, I remember that it can seem disconnected. School can be a path without having to be the means to an end.
Later… Oh boy! Jet lag has me begging for a way to speed up time to where my PJ’s are. There’s a prop bed in the big studio room, and I am tempted to recline, but that might make a bad first impression, haha! Instead I excuse myself to the other huge studio and lie on the wood floor behind the piano. I worry a little that someone coming in may mistake me for dead so I don’t sleep, I just settle into myself a little for ten or so minutes. It helps a little.
Despite my crippling sleepiness I am so moved hearing some of the songs in one piece and seeing the dancers for the first time. I am in awe. What talented human beings of great patience and grace, my god! Also, British people doing American accents is one of my favorite things. Not because I want to make fun of them, but because Americans are constantly fucking up other people’s accents and I like getting it the other way. There is great levity in it. Though truth be told, these actors are quite good. I wouldn’t guess some weren’t American unless they let a “dustbin” slip out.
London is truly gorgeous this time of year and I feel so grateful to be here with my beloved creative team to see this musical start to get up on its feet. It’s been seven long years and I am so proud of everyone involved.
Collaboration can be the most rewarding form of creativity. What do you love to collaborate on?
GODDAMN do I love British tile! Swoon!
London is also lovely in the fall, in the rain! On collaboration: I'm working with an artist who is illustrating our book as a graphic novel. It is SO MUCH FUN. I've been at this craft for a long time, and I appreciate the isolation of world building and sometimes I think it's why I write. But to let someone else in, and to see them UNDERSTAND and get as excited about it, and the world expands around us ad infinitum. It's another facet of being creatively attuned that I feel so grateful for.
I often feel I have lived a life in England at some point. Although I’ve never even visited, I feel so at home with all things British: humor, comportment, accent. All except the food.
Glad you’re getting to take in the people and work on your music.