The wheel is spinning madly... (image courtesy of boardgamegeek.com)
Okay, we’re going to do it. We’re going to finish Wheelhouse. For real.
For those of you who don’t know anything about this, Wheelhouse is the 2nd GrooveLily concert-musical-hybrid thing, the one we started in 2004-5, after Striking 12 was proving to be a successful venture and we wanted to do more of the same.
TheatreWorks supported us with a writers’ retreat in January of 2005, and a workshop in their New Works Festival in April-May of 2005, and we made significant progress. Then we stopped.
Why?
Well, for one thing, perhaps an autobographical show about the worst 22 months of our life is not the most commercial idea. One of the nice things about Striking 12 is that it’s licensable–other people can do it, and the large-cast version of the show is actually better than the 3-person version, in my humble opinion. But with Wheelhouse, we’re pretty much the only people who can do it. Because it’s about us.
No licensing possibilities equals little if any interest from potential commercial theater producers. So we put it on the side burner and left it there for YEARS AND YEARS.
The thing is, we can’t stop thinking about it–not a week goes by when I don’t play some of the demos or live recordings in my itunes library and think think think think think.
Every time we get together to rehearse or sound check before a concert, we play songs from Wheelhouse.
Well, it’s time. We live on separate coasts, we are wildly busy with other stuff, but we’re just going to do it. Gene’s flying out later this year to spend five days finishing the writing with me and Val, and then we’re going to record it cheaply at our respective homes, and put the darned thing out. And tour it. And make a powerpoint presentation. Seriously.
More news soon.
4 Comments
OK, so I am partly replying to note amusement that you used an image from one of my own geek sites, as a not-so-closet boardgamer. But also because it’s been far too long since I/we saw you guys, and this project would be a delight. Looking forward to it very much.
I certainly hope that the CD will include the PowerPoint presentation. Seriously.
Yay! I loved many of the tunes I heard when you-all performed them in Lansing! Best ones: the tune about the smarmy RV salesman (Gene played this character chillingly well), and the tune about couch surfing and having to stay in homes w/ pets and “Oh, we’ve got Benadryl for that!”
So looking forward to Wheelhouse.
gpk
Hooray! Loved the bits and pieces of Wheelhouse we’ve heard over the years (before you went all NY and West Coast on us “cool entertainment-starved” SE-PA folks.) Particularly enjoyed Val’s pulling out a beat up piece of notebook paper with the lyrics for – I think – the couch surfing number. We miss you here (not that we offer the greatest venues) and I’m really excited that you’ll be in West Chester in Nov.
Having followed you for what seems years, even being a PP, I’m really happy for all of you for your successes – professional and familial – just want to see/hear more of it!