From Stage to Page...

Just some musings, not directly about writing...

My online friend Brian Sibley has had an excellent series on BBC Radio 2 in recent weeks, about the dramatic form "The Musical". One of the episodes was From Page to Stage (unfortunately, it's no longer available on BBC iPlayer, or I'd direct you to that). In it, he explored the various types of literary works that have been portrayed as musicals either on Broadway or the West End or both.

For those of us on the other side of the footlights, or of the big screen, there's also the opportunity of going "from stage to page". Seeing a stage play, musical, or movie, can lead us to explore the book that the production was based on, which can broaden our horizons enormously if we let it.

I've been thinking about this because yesterday a couple of friends and I went to a high school production of "The Sound of Music". (Wow, can those kids sing!) I went out to dinner afterwards with one of the friends and her husband, and, naturally we were talking about "The Sound of Music". She was wondering if there was a book that told the story behind the musical. I assured her that there was, but said I couldn't lend her my copy of The Story of the Trapp Family Singers because I had read it so many times that it had fallen apart, and one section is now missing entirely. (I suppose there's a remedy for that.)

My grandmother took me to see the movie "The Sound of Music" when I was eight, in 1965 when it was first in theatres. It was likely a few years after that, that I discovered the book The Story of the Trapp Family Singers, and began the reading and re-reading process. Both the movie and the book had a long-lasting influence on my life. The discrepancies between the real story, and the Rodgers and Hammerstein version, have never bothered me, instead, each enhanced the other.

That's something to aim for in writing -- something that will touch the reader, that will make the person want to re-read, that will enhance the reader's life. Whether one is writing a book and communicating through a physical book that one's reader can return to again and again, or a screenplay that will touch viewers through the actor's interpretations, lyrics that may sing in the mind and heart long after the song has been heard, writers have an opportunity to influence those who are touched by their works, and have an opportunity to bridge gaps, such as page to stage, or stage to page.

And now, I think I'll order a new copy of The Story of the Trapp Family Singers -- and, in celebration of the 45th anniversary of the movie musical "The Sound of Music", I think I'll watch the movie again. And I will tune in to "Oprah" on November 28th, to see the cast reunited -- Maria (Julie Andrews), Georg (Christopher Plummer) and the seven "kids" (who are no longer kids).