It's been sometime since I have written anything in this blog, but I noticed there are quite a number of people who have been visiting the site so I'll give an update.

SUMMER WORKSHOP 07

At Western Stage ( the theater company that' producing the work), we had a workshop of scenes from the second act. The performers were quite committed to the process.  No audience was allowed to view the work which was different for me. Usually, I do get feedback from the audience after a workshop. I find it very useful.

In any case,  it was interesting.  It's very much developing like a hybrid between musical theater and opera. It reminds of the structure of Soundheim's Sweeney Todd, a masterful work.  Unlike the first act, most of the second act is either sung or underscored.

The first scene of the second act is underscored with song interspersed. It opens with Sara, Maria's daughter, coming to the Dead Forest. ( Note: Sara is the child that will be sacrificed to the river). The Shaman has tricked young Sara to leave the safety of her home.  She is searching for a bird, hidden in the shadows of the great Ceiba Tree. The bird is the Shaman's familiar, his helper. In this scene the Shaman reveals that there was girl much like her that once lived in this ancient forest.  When she left and deserted her kind, the river left this place. Both the Xochil, the indios that lived here, and the forest soon died. The legend, he tells young Sara, is that it is foretold that one day a child of sweet and tender age shall sing the ancient blood song of the river and when she does, the river shall return and the people shall rise again. Little does Sara know that her mother, once known by her Xochil name - Sichwa, was the little girl that left so long ago. She left because she fell in love with an earth walker - one whose skin is as white as the utahl sand.

Well, that'a lot of info.

I'm pretty much finished with all of the music with exception of the final scene - the sacrifice of Maria's only child to the GREAT RIVER.

I'd very much appreciate any feedback or questions.

Till next time.