History of The Talented Talent Bros -- Chapter XII

In January 2007 I had assembled the bits and pieces that would make up The Broken Jump.

I wanted, sprinkled throughout the story, vaudeville routines that might liven up the proceedings and do a good job of establishing tone and character. First I turned to a sketch I had put together in 1999 and performed with James Langer at the annual 5 by O. Henry production at the Greensboro Historical Museum (yes, if you haven’t been able to tell already, I am a firm believer in recycling material if it works) and then began to turn to musical bits and pieces. I knew I wanted to do a little Gallagher & Shean bit and would open the show with that number. I also found another rare gem from the period written by one Leonard Marx (wink!) that would be an ideal song for the show.

I was fairly confident that my story would be moving and was beginning to become pleased with how it offset with the humor from the vaudeville bits. But every time I read through it I was uncertain how it might sound, how it might play, somewhere other than in my head. The next step was obvious … I would have to have a reading of this latest draft of the script. I needed to hear it come from the voices of talented people. I had to find out if the story would progress as it did in my imagination. But it needed to be in a casual situation …

Super Bowl Sunday

So a reading was scheduled at my place on Super Bowl Sunday (as mentioned in this blog at the time) with the idea that folks could come pre-game, have a drink, read the play and then stick around to watch the Colts beat and batter the Bears. It couldn’t be more casual than that, right?

So I invited friends and “family” (primarily the Weasel crew) out to Union City to give this script a little look-see and enjoy one another’s company. Melissa, Rebecca, Tony, Jeremy and Jessica all agreed and came out … luckily The Broken Jump has a small cast … and although only Rebecca and Tony really stuck around for the game we did manage to squeeze in a read. The results of which I was pretty happy with. It sounded okay. Reading Julius McGowen out loud was something of an eye-opening experience … this guy really was me.

Julius McGowen and the Other Characters

The primary character in The Broken Jump was always written with the intent that I would play the role. In fact, to say that Julius is my alter-ego would be something of an understatement. We are one and the same. I may have never been a vaudeville comedian, I certainly wasn’t alive in 1918, I don’t normally carry a cigar with me onstage (although it was remarkably comfortable), I’ve never been to Michigan or Canada … but Julie’s heart, mind and soul are parallel to my own.

Milton Kean, Julie’s stage partner, was also an interesting role to write. In some respects he personified the confidence of my youth, filled with carefree ambition. I still find it interesting that I would write Milt as a younger go-getter … so much of my “career” has been spent with other actors younger than myself. In some ways he reminds me of my old Lubbock protégé Hayden Hooper … but he reminds me of my twenty-something self much, much more. Within the play he would serve as a constant reminder of what Julie had been.

Initially, in my mind at least, these were to be the two most well drawn out characters in the story. But one’s creativity has a funny way of throwing you a curveball and I found that, as I wrote, I was falling in love with theatre owner Jack Ruby. I had originally envisioned Jack as a fairly standard stock character who was only necessary to help move the plot forward. But the more I wrote him, the more I thought about him, the more I enjoyed him. His backstory would be as rich as Julius’ … an ex-boxer, perhaps a little punch drunk but not as slow on the uptake as you would guess, a true friend and confidant to Julie with a truck-load of his own headaches to deal with.

Writing Natalie and Christina was another challenge altogether. Their scenes with Julius were among the last written and certainly the most re-visited. For one, they were both from that mysterious gender … female … that I have never (and will never) fully understand. Each had a bond to Julius … and those bonds served as primary conflicts within the play and within Julie’s psyche. Natalie, whom Julius had been in love with years before, had to be brighter and stronger than Julie … but the spectre of their lost love had to scar her as well. Christina, only a child, had to have an immediate bond with Julius that might be awkward and uncomfortable … but it needed to be natural. I agonized over those scenes … those relationships. One thing I was certain of, however, was that if there was guilt or blame to be had, it must lay solidly at Julius’ feet. Maybe that would wind up being uncomfortable to play, but it was important to Julie’s voyage through the story.

Senator Drew was actually an easy character to write, but I was concerned with how he would be played. I was afraid that he might come across as the bad guy and I certainly didn’t want that. Although some in today’s society might see him as conservative (in fact, a few sentences in his opening speech were adapted from a speech given by Ronald Reagan) I didn’t want to make the equation: conservative = evil. In fact, just the opposite … his concern regarding children in our society very closely mirrors my own. As I wrote him, I found that I really liked Senator Drew. If he were running for President in ’08, he would get my vote.

First Breath

Hearing these characters brought to life, even though only in my smoke-filled living room by a group of actors cold-reading while downing a cold brew, sent a charge through my body. Although I was disappointed not to get more feedback from the group, the feedback I did receive and my own observations led me to believe that this could actually be something special on a stage. It needed some work here and there and it certainly wasn’t going to win a Nobel Prize or anything … but it was a good story. Good enough to submit to a couple of festivals.

And after a little cleaning up and a bit of a re-write, that’s exactly what I did … submitted the script (along with our company’s production history, bios on folks who would be involved, a financial and advertising plan) to the New York Fringe Festival and to the Midtown International Theatre Festival. Having done likewise with the original draft of Abnormal Stew and being rejected by both, I was also making preparations to produce The Broken Jump regardless of inclusion into either festival. My God, was I really going to do this again … ?

My mind was made up … this would be our next show.