Theatrical presentation

  As you may know "I Am Alpha & Omega" has become a theatrical stage presentation. It started out as a script for cinema, but after numerous rewrites and my development as a theatrical designer, technical director, and ultimately a producer for projects in numerous formats, the project moved from being cinematic to becoming theatrical in nature. Of course, it can return to cinema in the end, but it will need to get there by way of a live stage presentation.

    There was a developing Hemispherical Theatre presentation  that may come into play in the future. That type of presentation would be a blending of technical theatre and cinema, but for the time being the focus will be on conventional legit theatre. Theatre in the round may be an interesting variation on the theme, but that too would require design specific to the venue.

   So, after a panicked search for the script notes, I actually found my journal for the new Act Three. I have been looking for my copy of Apocalypse Revealed by Emanuel Swedenborg, in which I made extensive notes about the sections in the Book of Revelations that I have chosen to highlight in Act Three. I believe I took the book with me to read in-between shows while I was doing the June 19th pageant in Bryn Athyn and I seem to have lost it. I can tell you, I have been very frustrated by that. But now, I have located my journal, where I actually transposed those notes over to a poetic structure intended for the stage. I am uncertain if what I found is sufficient for the entire third Act, but since I have determined that the form of Act Three will be Operatic, then whatever expansion that needs to take place can be musical. I've yet to thoroughly review the material I found, but I should be able to draw up a conclusion, if it isn't already there. I will be transferring those notes over to a Word document so I can published the Libretto.

   I have some concerns over a few hard disc failures that have occurred. I am uncertain as to whether or not my work on the script has been lost because of that, but I think my work in this regard was done mostly on older systems and may be preserved on Zip Drives. I will need to go back and set up those older G4 & G5 Macs so I can explore my older files.  I guess I will need to pay to recover the hard drives that failed.

    In any event, I do have a full hard copy of the script that was made, right about the time I broke off the Third Act, to make into a separate play titled "Nunc Licet" Check out The Nunc Licet Archive.

   So, I will be transferring my notes over to my laptop and, if I have to, I can retype the script copy I have into a Word document. My intention is to publish the Libretto (without technical notes) and after that is done, we can start to craft the music. Since I do have an EWI, I can lay down some tracks and print them out with Quick scribe. That will be the beginning of developing the score for the piece. I am talking to someone about composing the music, so, we'll see how that goes.

   Getting this piece published will become the priority after "The Gnomes of New Hope; Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" is published and distribution of that Collection of Illustrated Storybooks is on play.

.           The Seven Headed Dragon 

                         Refered to in

               The Book of Revelations

I Am Alpha & Omega

.         The Seven Headed Dragon

                     described in the 

                   Book of Revelations.

Update: 3/21/24  

Summary of work on 

"I Am Alpha & Omega"

     I am posting within this heading and moving the previous post down into archive.

   Well, having been discussing the music for "I Am Alpha & Omega", I have, miraculously via Divine Providence, located the last presentation I made of the materials. That presentation consisted of samples of the first few pages of each Act. I also, just today, found a photocopy of the first full script of the stage version. I expect to be reviewing that for the next rewrite that I will be doing.

   I found myself kfelling over where all the materials might be. You see, I have had numerous computer hard disc failures and I am uncertain whether or not I had a backup of the most recent work on this.

  You may have seen the post I have on the IMS Virtual Studio where I present "The Ineffable Journey", an essay where I talk about some of my spiritual experiences. In that essay, I also mention how important "I Am Alpha & Omega" is as part of my mission here on earth.

   The difficulty I face is that I am... Uncertain, about how I should actually approach this. I've written numerous versions of this project, the first was a screenplay, followed by numerous stage versions and then a version for a Hemispherical Theatre concept I had. That version was mostly a technical script.

   It's very interesting that, only a few years ago, I found out that a Hemispherical Theatre has been built outside of Los Angeles.  When I was working on the Hemispherical Theatre concept I had to stop, because the technology and computers were not yet developed and I was getting ahead of what could be done, but technology has since progressed. I could see that the technology was developing faster than I could write for it, or even conceptualize how to integrate that into what I was doing, so I decided to wait until certain technological capabilities became refined.

   So I put the project down and focused on other theatre work. As I was showing  "I Am Alpha & Omega" to people, I received a number of opinions that; the Third Act should be a separate play.

   I had begun work on a mediaeval romance as well, so work on Alpha & Omega took a back seat to that for for years.

 Until I decided to take the advice I was given and break the Third Act off into a separate drama. I began refining that portion of Alpha & Omega into a play titled "Nunc Licet". I worked on that play for twenty-five years, struggling to ferment the (very complex) material (addressing Emanuel Swedenborg) down to a workable stage drama. That play has been workshopped four times, had a public reading and a stage-on-film version is being planned as the next effort.

    Along the way, I came to be employed by (among others) both The Bucks County Playhouse (in various capacities) and The New Hope Arts Commission as the Technical Director and principle Lighting/Set Designer. I held that position for nine years. I left that position desiring to write something simple, unlike "Alpha & Omega" and "Nunc Licet" or even the mediaeval romance (once titled "MiLady" and now) titled "Grael".

   It was then that I began to develop "The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure" as a simple puppet show (which inevitably turned into a full musical intended for Broadway)

   I should also mention that after I wrote the first screenplay for "I Am Alpha & Omega", Gene Roddenberry read it and liked it. Nothing came of that, because I took it back to rewrite it. During that rewrite process, I approached The Moody Blues about composing the score for the film. That didn't work out (my fault) and I ended up depressed and stopped working on the project.

   I got into designing outdoor feativals, which led to consulting with rock bands and producing concerts on stage. That led me back to college to study theatre, where I also produced a number of films and began writing another screenplay, which is a mediaeval romance, based on Arthurian Legend. I spent four and a half years writing that, almost went to England to work on that and ended up pitching that to a number of major studios (EMI/Shepperton, Paramount, Warner and others). After I got my degree, I ended up in Boston working in theatre and film. I was given an office in the Paramount Theatre, so I could continue my writing on "I Am Alpha & Omega". I did this while juggling other work in professional and collegiate theatre. This other work led me to New York, where I went to work for Joe Papp at the Public and Delacourte Theatres and Lorn Michaels, working on the Concerts on Central Park.

All the while I was working on and pitching my projects, most importantly

 "I Am Alpha & Omega".

   And so now, I am beginning to work on it again and I expect that will include a full rewrite, once I gather the materials and finish the layout/publishing for "The Gnomes of New Hope"

   If out are interested in my career history I posted it on the top of the IMS Virtual Studio

AG

Archive; 

     As I approach the completion of the Illustrated Storybooks of "The Gnomes of New Hope: Zach and Zebby's Grand Adventure", I expect to be moving back into music composition. That also means addressing music for the third act of "I Am Alpha and Omega". 

    That means beginning to compose the opera (based on the Apocalypse) and redressing the other two acts of the same show. This will need to take place in conjunction with my construction of the Green Screen/Sound Stage in the Studio.

    Recently I have been reconsidering the Hemispherical Theatre (which I began to design before personal computers hit the market) and that leads me to consider a green screen set-up in conjunction with a dome. That seems like the way to program a presentation, given that technology has advanced as far as it has. I'll have to give that some thought.

AG

I just had the idea that I should publish the play (of the same title), which I have since it's inception considered my Magnum Opus. Although I have published a few versions of this play, none are actually refined enough to be considered sufficient for production.

Along the way, I have shifted back and forth between this and other projects. When I thought it was completed enough to show people, one person reviewing it proclaimed that the third act should be a play of it's own.

So I took his advice and "Nunc Licet" came into being, leaving "I Am Alpha & Omega" without a third act.

After that, I spent 25 years writing "Nunc Licet" and barely addressing Alpha & Omega. However, before I broke NL off, I was writing a screenplay titled "MiLady" a mideaval romance, which became "Grael".

After "Grael" came to require a major film production, I stopped working on it, because it was out of my league. Being an independent filmmaker, the films I make never come close to the major Hollywood film scenario. Although I've worked in a few major films, I've mostly stayed away from Union work. I don't like the complexity. That's ironic, because now "The Gnomes of New Hope" is potentially in that league.

Well, after working on "Grael" and running into walls (some of my own making) pitching that film in Hollywood, I began working on "The Gnomes of New Hope".

To make a long story short, I'm feeling the impending inevitable creeping ever closer and it strikes me as a good idea to post the script for "I Am Alpha & Omega", in the event that I never get around to producing it before I depart.

The interesting thing about A&O is that I finally realized what the third act will need to be - an opera based on The Apocalypse. Yeow!

The Gnomes of New Hope project is based on the stage musical, so I am set up for composing the music for Act Three of A&O. But before I engage in serious writing of that opera, the Gnomes must produce the income objectives that I have set.

My goal is to secure the operating expenses of my living and working environment for the rest of my life. I can no longer engage in the creative process and deal with the grief and struggle for economic satisfaction at the same time.

I'm tired of it and now it affects me in more profound ways, than it did when I was younger.

I have been, for years now, taking notes on the third act of A&O, and I continue to do so, but I have not yet addressed the music end. I'm set up to do that, although I want to upgrade my workstation with a Mach Five instead of Reason and that will take time.

I do know that I want the text of the opera to be in Latin. I don't think English cuts it. Subtitles have become more or less standard, so why not Latin. I'm not proficient enough in Itailian to translate it, although I could, but I already have the text in Latin, so it's just a matter if selecting the sections I want to use.

That's all for now.

AG