So as we announced the other night, we had to cut None of the Above, both because Act 1 was running long and because it just wasn’t earning its place in the show. There was a lot of distress from the students who love it and want it reinstated, so Rob and I recorded a conversation discussing why None of the Above is gone for good.
Category Archives: Rewrites
Making Scenes Move
Aaaand another post from me. So I just got through with the rehearsal & presentation of a new musical — my job at NYU is to be the faculty advisor to teams of graduate students who are writing musicals as their masters thesis. We hire professional actors, directors and music …
Cuts in “Help Me Help You”
Here’s another cut — we were on the lookout for repeated beats / repeated actions, and realized that in “Help Me Help You” Hannah tries to convince Mungus twice. So we’re making that just once (when she hypnotizes Mungus). The cut in the sheet music would essentially be cutting measure …
RIP None of the Above
Okay, gang, here’s the deal. As you may be aware, in the development process for almost every show, cuts and changes happen. This show is no exception. Act I is running quite long (it should be about an hour, and it was 1:25 today), and while a LOT of that …
Fifth and Final Draft! (for now)
Q: Why is it that Kelly is made out to be hard to get along with (as shown in “Kelly the destroyer” and those scenes) since she is a destroyer of the bs of school and portrayed as speaking up always, that she immediately gets along with the humans at …
Fourth Draft!
KATIE: I think what we’d had in mind is that, like, the human dots were green laser pointers and the cobras were red laser pointers, and we track them all through the maze, so if that’s what you’re thinking here, yes. I’m not sure if that’s possible (and I’m …
Romance, Character Development, and More
[THIS IS LONG. I WROTE A NOVEL. SORRY….] Regarding love/crushes/friendships and so on in the show. Going off of what Katie said regarding why we didn’t write overt romantic plots — I want to reinforce the idea that it’s absolutely possible that you & your director build in something which …
Where did Whip go?
Q: I don’t know if this is a suggestion so much as a character question. At the beginning of the show, Rikki calls Whip her best friend, but once she falls to the cobras Rikki’s like “eh” and never mentions her again. Are they just like study buddies at the …
Kelly the Too Nice?
Q: Why is it that Kelly is made out to be hard to get along with (as shown in “Kelly the destroyer” and those scenes) since she is a destroyer of the bs of school and portrayed as speaking up always, that she immediately gets along with the humans at …
Scariness Plateau and Creepier Music?
Q: Here is something several of us noticed about Act 2: The cobras almost seem to plateau on their level of scariness. We know they aren’t supposed to be angry or straight-up evil all the time or anything, but there are definite times when they’re deliberately malicious, like the scene …
Snake People
Okay I have a suggestion: can somebody in the show say the phrase “snake people” because I think it’s hilarious. I don’t care who or when or how but please. [Katie says: Congrats, that’s now your/Rikki’s line.]
Another rewrite…
…another human falls to the cobras. But who…?
Feedback Received
Hey gang, thanks so much for the feedback we’ve gotten so far. It has been very useful and pushed us in some awesome directions. We’re changing the way that the de-cobra-fication happens at the end to something entirely new (the stomp number is gone, I’m sorry, life is pain) and …
Feedback is encouraged
So – I have been online with Katie & Rob & they encourage feedback. Katie said, “Remember, we’re keeping track of 25 characters, they each have one” – basically meaning of course there are things they might miss/not realize, etc. (You can be anonymous if you want but Katie also mentioned …
New French Scenes
Alright, gang. We’re on the verge of having a new draft of the script for you (later tonight), and we should have music for the first act as well. But, until then, here’s a new French scene breakdown of who’s in what and who’s a cobra when.