A Short Catch up #2 - How I adapted my short play into a musical. by Tom Coash

"Have you ever considered adapting your short play into a musical?"

I received this unexpected but intriguing query a couple years ago, from a director friend in South Africa, who I had sent my ten-minute play/monologue, Thin Air. Her daughter was looking for monologues and I had thought she might be able to excerpt something from this piece featuring a tightrope walker trying to get back on the wire after a tragic accident. Not being musically inclined myself or even much of a fan of musicals, my immediate thought about adapting was NO. Seriously?

Thin Air, the original non-musical version, had a terrific Australian premiere as part of the 2010 Sydney Short + Sweet Festival, my first Short + Sweet Fest! Brilliantly directed by the late David Ritchie and beautifully performed by the super-talented Gertraud Ingeborg Harlos, the play made it to the finals of the festival. It was all a playwright could ever ask for with a production. Really cool!

S+S was a great launching pad as the play has gone on to over 50 productions so far, in seven different countries, including the Abu Dhabi Short + Sweet Festival. It is now published by Brooklyn Publishers in the USA.

But a musical?

The more I thought I thought about it, the more intrigued I was. Called a musical producer friend and asked if he thought it had potential as a musical and if so, how would I proceed? He read it and called me back in less than an hour and said yes, of course it could be a musical and he had just the songwriter/composer for me, Jon Brielle. Jon is a super professional musical writer and producer. We had a meeting in NYC, talked about theater and musicals and my writing. We agreed to move forward with Thin Air.

Not knowing anything about musicals myself, Jon was the perfect collaborator. Explained the process, answered a million questions, and said "Basically, Tom, I'm going to steal all your best lines and turn them into songs. Which he did. And did wonderfully. It was great fun working with Jon and just being in this whole new musical world. Highly recommended!

We named the musical version Stepping Into Fire. It now ran approximately fifteen minutes, the songs weaving in and out of the text. It premiered in a festival at New Jersey Repertory Theater (USA), had a lovely production in South Africa by my friend's daughter, and recently had its UK premiere as part of the wonderful INK Festival in East Anglia. It has also been made into a podcast, with Jane Bruce singing/acting, by The Latest Draft Podcast.

Here is the link, if you'd like a listen:

https://www.buzzsprout.com/1210997/9215488-s3-e8-stepping-into-fire

So, thanks a million, Short + Sweet, for putting on Thin Air and setting this play of on its journey! MUCH appreciated!

Tom Coash