It’s as if the mythological Fates were reminding me that I’m over halfway Home—and I’m not talking about the interstate highway and my address. I realize that choosing a different career path later in life allows me fewer years to create; but, I can take solace knowing there are individuals that were late bloomers and managed to have successful finishes: Van Gogh, Monet, Leonard Cohen, and Dr. Seuss, to name a few. There’s no question that starting this creative endeavor in mid-life allows me to draw from considerable practical experience, education and, hopefully, wisdom. But, somehow we mid-lifer’s always seem to find an excuse, which is always a very grown-up and practical excuse, to not fulfill our dreams.

Sometimes we just need a little push in completing our projects. I once read in “The Dramatist”, a magazine distributed by The Dramatist Guild, that the best way to complete a play was to book a theatre. When you have a date set, there’s no going back. So, in late November, I booked a date to perform at FronteraFest in Austin. In this short-fringe festival, I submitted one, 8-minute scene of a yet-to-be-completed musical I’m working on. This commitment forced me to look at every single line and to focus on making the piece the best it could be. I had to do all the preparation during the holidays because the piece was performed in early January. There were times when I rued the day I committed to the project, especially when I needed actors to commit during the busiest time of the year. However, in the end, I believe I was the better for it.

Also, since my last blog, I have signed up for a course titled “Outlining Lab” at WritingMusicalTheatre.com. This is my first on-line class and I have thoroughly enjoyed learning more about conflict, adaptation, format, and the process of outlining. The class is helping me re-evaluate one of my previously produced musicals. And since the class is a work-at-your-own-pace class, I find myself having to plow through the assignments, giving myself deadlines to complete the projects. This is where loving what you do comes in. Sometimes certain seemingly random assignments can become the tiny solid blue piece of sky that is absolutely necessary to complete the 1,000-piece puzzle. Small, but necessary.

I was recently reading a book about habits. One sentence read “you are what you do”. It made me think of the things I do throughout the day that don’t coincide with my big picture plan. Yes, some of the to-do’s are important for daily living, but with a closer look, I realize that there are holes in my day that, upon evaluation, can be filled or replaced with blue sky pieces that eventually will add up to fulfilling some of my career goals. It really is all a matter of priority.

You are what you do . . .525,600 minutes . . .You are what you do . . . 525,600 minutes.

Thank you for joining me on this journey. . . from Austin.
Miriam

Some may think that one would not want to write a musical in Austin because we are in
the center of Texas and that is far, far away from Broadway. When I started composing
music for theatre about ten years ago, I figured I was the only one doing so in this town
that celebrates “weird” and births high-tech companies like rabbits. Yes, we have an
amazing theatre community and with the University of Texas, St. Edwards University,
Texas State University and countless other higher learning institutions in the area, one
would think that the musical creative juices would have continued flowing since Jones’
and Schmidt’s The Fantasticks first graced the UT campus over 50 years ago. But, thus
far, no new hits and fifty years is a very long time ago—“Try to Remember”. . . (sorry, I
couldn’t resist).

Yes, writing a musical in Austin was a lonely process at the beginning; however, within
the last three to four years, it feels like the momentum is picking up and now it seems
that everyone is writing a musical. What happened? I am wondering if it’s like the
phenomena when you buy a new red Jeep and think that no one else will have anything
like it and then you suddenly notice that every other vehicle on the road is a Jeep—
and red! Well, I don’t think it exactly happened that way but since my friend network
now includes ten times the number of musical theatre people, it only makes sense that
everyone is churning their creative juices hoping to create the next “Wicked”. And
somehow, during the last few years, the NYC musical theatre fairies have waved their
wands over UT and Texas State University and both programs have now become
catalysts for some fun and innovative musical theatre projects—not to mention some
amazing triple-threats. These projects and the people that are running them are creating
plenty of buzz and no one could be happier than me! They are here and are bringing
their ideas and momentum giving Austin another reason to be called “The Live Music
Capital of the World”.

Combining this newly found local inspiration and support with other organizations (i.e.
The Dramatist Guild of America, ScriptWorks Austin, etc.), I am excited about the
creative possibilities for writing/composing musical theatre. And, I’m so glad you are
joining me on this journey–from Austin.