A while back I got this idea. I can't pinpoint when it first came to me. It may have been when I saw Wicked with my sis back in 2006. During this same period I started getting into Journey, courtesy of one David "Fatcat" Lowery. So, I think it was the combination of these two things that gave me the idea of a rock opera featuring tunes by, you guessed it, Journey. Think Mamma Mia for guys (I mean, at least to the extent that musicals can be for guys, you know?).
Ever since I read Ender's Game in high school I've thought it would be cool to be an author, writing books and short stories and such. I've never taken this dream seriously; I guess I never thought I had what it takes (that and I rarely take my dreams seriously). And I probably don't have what it takes. But that doesn't mean I can't try it for fun, right? Somehow it worked out that for my last semester of school (which started Wednesday) I only needed nine credits to complete my degree. Well, this wouldn't do because I needed to be enrolled full-time (12 credits) in order to get free money from the government for tuition; I needed to pick up an extra class. My first choices were culinary arts or ceramics. One day I was chatting online with Trevor. We talked about writing and he suggested that I take a creative writing class. What a better way to satisfy those three credits?
Our first writing assignment is a drama piece -- a play, screenplay, teleplay, etc. My first idea was to write a screenplay for this short story idea I've had for a while. I actually started writing it today and had a lot of fun doing so. Then sometime tonight, I don't know how the idea came back to me: the Journey rock opera. At first, I didn't give it much thought. Then I realized that it would just as easy to write a rock opera as it would be to write a screenplay. Maybe easier since the songs for the rock opera are already written, I just have to manipulate them to make some kind of story out of them.
Right now the working title for the Journey rock opera is Those Crazy Nights, taken from the first line of "Stone In Love". Who knows if I'll actually go through with it.
Please go through with it.
ReplyDeletedon't stop believing, Myke. I think you're on to something.
ReplyDeleteI would like to play one of the characters in this rock opera.
ReplyDeletePlease tell me you have planned for a crazy, 80's decked-out wheel to be lowered on to the stage as the cast looks up and sings "Wheel in the Sky." That would be sweet...maybe a bit literal, but sweet.
ReplyDeleteI emailed my teacher to make sure this idea was OK and here's how he responded:
ReplyDelete"Myke:
Absolutely, and they already made the coin-op video game based on Journey, back in the day; So go for it. I just hope you don't end up Stone in Love, and then I'll have to ask you, Who's Cryin' Now?
Takin' the midnight train goin' anywhere,
MJB"
Based on that email alone, this guy is probably the coolest teacher I've ever had (keep in mind that I'm an accounting major).
This is going to be so cool. You are so cool.
ReplyDelete