I Am Alpha & Omega, rewrites

  

UPDATE 4/17/24

   I am gearing up to dive into this piece again. I pulled some of the older material and I found myself feeling uneasy with the structure. Well, I think I did a good job with the material, but somehow I want to address the material in a less external way. 

   I know how I dealt with certain aspects and I have felt satisfied with those scenes, but some of the earlier scenes were not as abstract in the concepts. I'd like to revisit those scenes and explore alternatives to the present approach.

   I think this comes from the fact that I did an in-depth investigation into what might be called the sub-plot of Act Three, the new Act Three.  After removing the first Act Three and turning it into "Nunc Licet", which was in development for around twenty-five long hard years.

   So the new Act Three is still developing, but I'm happy with the potential.

   So, after reading an older version of Act Two, I'm not real happy about it's structure. I can see that it was improved over the first few versions, but what I read so far doesn't measure up to the new work for Act Three. I'll have to redress that.

   Admittedly, what I was reading is not the latest version. So I'm working on getting the files transferred up to my current work station and getting all the materials updated to the new format that I would like to see. By format I mean the creative aesthetics. Truthfully, it's been decades since I last worked on this and my perspectives are quite different than they were when I started it.

   So, overall, I expect the piece will grow into what I have always imagined it could be, but it will be quite different than I thought it would be.

AG

 ARCHIVE:

 I have begun transposing my prose over to a working document that I can use to structure the Third Act of A&O. 

   As I was kfelling over what to do about the Third Act, after I removed the one I had and turned it into "Nunc Licet", the Lord revealed to my mind that it was to be an opera based on the Apocalypse.

   So I began researching the material. I had extensive notes in my copy of Apocalypse Revealed, but apparently I took it with me when I was working as an actor on a production (to read while waiting to go on) and I must have left it behind, because I cannot find it. Not great, I guess I can reconstitute what I did to select sections of Johns writings.

   But what I did do in regard to material for the play, was to write prose on the subject and I found a few journals with material I might be able to use.

    The difficulty lies in establishing the visual elements and determining what the method of delivery should be. 

   For now, I am going to transfer the notes and structure an outline of the sequence of events. I expect that there will be events that can be interpreted visually and surround the prose, creating a multi-layered effect. 

   In terms of Operatic expression, I will need to extract characterization from elements in the Apocalypse that were simply visions, but in that case there is nut much room for character development, buy I will try. I'm having ideas that are based on my performing John in the June Nineteenth Pageant, something I did for probably twenty years (or more).

   I have the same difficulty with the First Act, where there is nothing but the Mind of God in a representation of Creation.

   So I guess, at this point, the work will be literary, with theatrical conceptions that are fluid, in terms of execution.

History;

    I began writing "I Am Alpha & Omega" when I was 21 in Berkeley, California in 1974.  It started out as a screenplay that had a science-fiction nature to it. It was a narrative that grew wholly from my mind and was structured to be a story of the Second Coming of Christ. 

  That first version grew out of my journey to Hollywood in an effort to make movies and that screenplay arose from an education that insisted that the first thing needed to produce a film is the screenplay. 

    After I completed that screenplay I showed it around Hollywood and I was told to take it to Bob Hope, which shocked me. I showed it (and some of my lyrics) to the agent Carter Wright and he wanted me to join the Song Writers Guild. I got to one of the top agents at Creative Artists Agency and he asked me what I wanted him to do for me. I was young, uninformed and I didn't have an answer, so that didn't pan out. The script ended up in Gene Roddenberry's hands (thru my association with Chaka Kahn) and he liked it. I got scared and decided I needed to improve it, so I took it back and started rewrites. Circumstances in Hollywood were difficult, amidst many adventures and foibles,  so I left California returned to Bucks County, Pennsylvania.

   I set up Image of the Mind Studios in 1977 and it was my intention to continue to advance A&O. I concluded that I needed to have other established people onboard. So I started thinking about the music for the soundtrack. I was very much interested in The Moody Blues music and I got the idea of having them write the soundtrack stuck in my head. So I started working to set up a meeting with them to propose that they write the music for A&O.

   I succeeded on setting up a meeting, backstage at the Spectrum in Philadelphia. Made eye contact with Justin Hayward, where we acknowledged each other, but he was occupied so I moved to greet John Lodge. I had an excellent conversation with John who introduced me to their agent. My discussions with their agent did not go well. I was excited about a film idea I had for their music and I had an excellent vision of what I would do. I started to convey that to their agent. He made me feel small & insignificant and insulted me for even suggesting that I had something to offer them. Needless to say, I was crushed. I moved away and Justin Hayward came over to shake my hand. As we walked over toward the group, I asked him if he had seen the materials I sent them. I waited for an answer. I asked again and I got a grunt. Well, after being belittled by their agent, I said to myself "I don't need this" and I turned and walked away. Like a dope I walked into a dead end and I had to turn around. I walked past their limo, knocked on the window, it rolled down and is said; "Please thank (their tour manager) for setting up the meeting" then I left. Other things have happened around this over the years, but that decision to walk away has haunted me for nearly fifty years.

   I continued to consider the project, after that and this time I thought maybe Rick Wakeman might want to do the music, so I set up a meeting with him. He was interested and we agreed to set up a deal through his agent, who was there at the meeting. He worked out of NYC and I tried to communicate with him numerous times, but he never responded to me, so I dropped it.

   I then began producing concerts at The County Theatre in Doylestown and ended up going back to college to study theatre. I was engaged in many other film and theatre projects, so A&O was put on the back burner.

   Then I ended up in Boston and I was pitching A&O in conversation, which resulted in being offered an office in the Paramount Theatre to work on the piece. I think it was then that the screenplay turned into a theatre piece.