The Play's the Thing. Where's the story?

Telling a Story. Your Story. And Finding out you have a Voice."
Have you noticed how often the famous singers who serve as guest helpers to the contestants on American Idol, during the days before each Tuesday performance, implore the singers to “sing the story”, “tell the story”, “think about the words”, or “sell the song”. All of these declarations are true and should be observed.
Of course, if the performing artist needs to get the story out, how much more the creative source, the composer or songwriter? Not any story, but a "true story." The creative artist needs to get th"in touch" with something that "rings true" within. All creative expression is most powerful when it comes from that “truth” place inside of us. Whether it's a comedic song, play, or film is best when the writer is “bugged” about some quirk in humanity or society, and is perhaps poking fun at it, whether sarcastically or affectionately, the point is if there is a passionate feeling underlying the theme of the work, his or her fellow performers will feel it, as will the audience, all of us being “magnetized” by the message, all proceeding from the heart of the writer.
Ah, the writer! The least famous, least recognizable, most unsung member of the creative team in the public's awareness.
When Richard Rodgers used to meander throughout the Broadway area during the day, he went virtually unnoticed. This was the man who was responsible for top three or four smash Broadway hits running at the same time, at that very moment. These are the shows that those same crowds had traveled great distances and were spending a great deal of money to experience and enjoy, for two hours, beginning at 8 p.m. Does that seem fair? Ah, but the singers, actors, and directors know. They know that “The play’s the thing.” They appreciate the "story tellers".
By the way, who amongst us would recognize Lorenz Hart, Oscar Hammerstein, Tim Rice, or Bernie Taupin, (who wrote ALL of the words for those 50 or so Elton John hits. Song lyricists. More unsung heroes. But all of them knew how to tell a story. Often enough, a whole world would unfold in two or three minutes.
We'll encourage that here, as well. You can create a piece of a world that YOU feel. One that you're yearning for. Or trying to get away from. Lyrics. Your lyrics. The Meter. the Rhythm. (The words will inspire the last two.) And then..... Melody.
And wait 'til you've done it a second time. A third time. And the rest of us at ALT can tell a new song is one of YOUR songs. Because it has the distinctive, recognizable qualities of YOU.
In Theatre and Music we call this "finding or having your own VOICE."
What'cha think?
Yours. Leslie

Songwriting -- A Step by Step Journey

There are persistent thoughts and feelings, sparks of truth that really matter to us. They haunt us on the inside, sometimes like a moaning wind, other times they are like the fairy nymph or sprite, mysterious and playful in turns.
What I’m trying to describe here is the beauty and wonder of the words that “come” to us if we’ll free our minds to enter into the open fields of watching, and waiting; Then, writing them down. Yes, the words will come. And they should be written down. “Nothing’s better left unsaid.” A flow will follow, and with some helpful encouragement, before long the look and fragrance of poetry will have appeared before you, on the page, by your hand.
Next, we need to declare it. Poetry when spoken is heightened speech. At this point, it’s already close to the fixed twelve tones that we observe universally around the world as the building blocks of music. (the 7 do, re, mi’s and the 5 “in between” notes.) Sing it. Sing it with your voice. There is no other like it. When it’s time for performing your work in sharing time, we’ll figure out who should sing or play, whatever.
At ALT we’ll take YOUR very personal and unique words and help you sing them, from the heart and with that unique voice. We’ll help you find YOUR melody, help you “unfold” it.
And folks, to those of you who are here, partnering with us, it will turn out to be American. And if LOGRES comes down on us, all bets are off!
Sorry. I got carried away there. Actually, I'm not really sorry.
So, where were we? Oh yes. Words we have. And a melody for singing them. Now what? We want to accompany it. Keyboard, guitar. Chords. Harmonies. Much like the painter’s palette, full of color possibilities. Bono from U2 speaks of rock ‘n roll as “three chords and a song’. O.K., for starters, three chords will do. They'll give your song a good foundation and framing. I’ll help you find the right three chords for each of your songs. But almost guaranteed, there'll be more. And someone here will teach you how to play them. Together we’ll discover the “right” accompaniment for “your” song; the one that fits YOUR emerging, distinctive voice.
Next, how about we take a look at how your song can be potentially part of a “story”, one that is performed. We'll be entering into the realm of …Musical Theatre.
Until then……Leslie

Greetings from Leslie- June 26, 2007

We hope that those of you who feel some connection with either the Creative Urge or the LOGRES will desire to grow with us in the days ahead, in person, when possible, and by dialogue here, on the net, from wherever you are on Planet Earth. Either way, please consider yourself officially invited to become part of our American Logres Theatre creative community where we pledge ourselves to encourage, motivate, and inspire each other, based up here in the heights of the Green Mountains of Vermont, U.S.A.

Our talent potentials in writing of all kinds are much more than most of us believe. American Logres Theatre, as was Round Barn Theatre before it, is being founded upon this proposition: "The entire human family is endowed with an enormous range of talent potentials in creating not just in one area, but several within the various fine and performing arts . I am convinced that 99% of what we don't create is because of the first, responsibilites and "distractions" that get in the way of what may be a deep DESIRE to be able to "do", to create. Second, if oxygen and water were no more plentiful than the amount of encouragement you and I get in this world, the Amazon Rain Forests would have looked like the Sahara Desert, long ago. The lack of ENCOURAGEMENT and mentoring which enables us to "do", to create, needs to be addressed. And the third part of our threefold thought here is to provide a venue, a showcase for your work that is created here within ALT. How will it feel, knowing that a community of people who are really interested in your work are looking forward to "joying" with you in what you are doing, whether it's helping you perform and/or present it , or to being an appreciative and supportive fellow sojourner? OPPORTUNITY.

So what have we got here? DESIRE. You've gotta have that. We can't create that.
ENCOURAGEMENT and enabling. We can do that. And will.
OPPORTUNITY. We'll make that happen, also.

A Mission Statement of sorts for the CREATIVE part of ALT.


Waiting to hear from you, soon. Leslie

Welcome to all Visitors from Leslie

Greetings to all friends, including those from Staten Island, Brooklyn, Manhattan, New Jersey, and more distant parts. And to all of our new friends throughout the state of Vermont, from the past five years, here in the state of Vermont.

Karen and I hope you find our new website to be decent.

In this blog, from now on, I want to begin a dialogue on our keyword theme, LOGRES, and the two main branches that extend from that source.

The first major theme will be the wide and under engaged realm of CREATIVITY. How much potential is their in our human society for creative expression, and how much of that talent lies dormant, needing only to be encouraged?

The second theme is the all important keyword concept to us at American Logres Theatre, that of course being LOGRES.

If you have looked over the links from our homepage, you have a good introduction to what LOGRES is all about. My own growth and understanding of this spiritual "climate" change has been growing and deepening since those early days in late 1973, when this 20 year old college student, newly "revived", after my James Dean "Rebel Without a Cause" teen years, was finishing the last of the seven Chronicles of Narnia books, by C.S. Lewis. That book, The Last Battle, ends with the earth children and Narnian friends passing into new lands that are clearly related to the Narnia and the England they knew all along. But not the same. These new realms are "within" the Old, yet larger! Brighter, more solid, richer in color, richer in all of the senses. What Lewis was driving at, though I hadn't yet met his concept yet, (that didn't come until a year later), was LOGRES. The Last Battle- the last 5 pages of the book. What we used to call ,"a mind blower!" And in a so-called children's book! Mind blower! You can trust me on this. Once again. Welcome. Much more to come.