The Creative Journey

Certain plants wait decades to flower. Like those tropical late bloomers, "Ariel's Way" is a show that's been decades in the making. It's the fruit of a lifetime. Mine.
I originally wanted to write a musical in 1973-74, but the need to make a living and the chance to tour out of Nashville with a very good band caused me to shift my focus. That focus shifted again when I chose to pursue a Ph.D. at Duke University, and then again when I married Jan Tedder. Soon enough I began to focus my energies on raising two sons to maturity. For three decades now I've practiced the craft of teaching and school administration, and during that time I continued to work and grow as a musician and a writer--and, hopefully, as a person, too. Most recently I made a priority of seeing my parents through to their final resting places.They both got there.
Now it's time for "Ariel's Way" to come to life.
In early 2001 I was involved with consecutive productions of "The Tempest" and of "West Side Story" at Carolina Friends School. Why has nobody done a "West Side Story" version of "The Tempest?" I wondered. The more I thought about it, the more the project drew me in. Here was the vehicle for that musical I wanted to write, and I discovered as I got started that I had been training to do this work for thirty years.
A near-death experience resulting from a humble tick bite made me determined not to put off any longer the creative task that was calling me to be my best. "Sweat equity" real estate investments permitted Jan and me to self-finance a sabbatical year, during which I wrote several drafts of the script and most of the songs. As seniors at CFS, the Love twins (Eric and Andrea) devoted a fall term class period in 2005 to reading the script and planning the production with me. By the spring of that year many other talented young people were giving their best to this work too. My colleagues, Susan Kincaid and Carrie Huff, directed, and Annie Dwyer (and her students then, Leah Wilks and Eric Love) choreographed.
Since that initial production, the script has evolved, shrunk and tightened up; it's much better thanks to the professional suggestions of Adam Sobsey, Rebecca McLaughlin, Steve Neigher, and Joseph Meagle. Tony Bowman, Dave Smith, Andy Church and Deanna Jones were instrumental in realizing the music. Meanwhile, those talented young people from CFS became even more talented as they grew less young through their professional training, and launched their performing arts careers.
So we're getting it together again--at CFS in December. We're going to put up this show and document our creative efforts. "Ariel's Way" will be coming your way January 1, 2 and 3, 2010. Watch it grow here, and come see it live again, at CFS and beyond!