Tess - A Herstory (Phase The Second)

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In this second part of the Tessie Tale, composer Michael Blore shares his memories of stalking a lyricist as ideas begin to take shape.

"OK, it wasn't actually stalking. You see, the day after our brief chat in the hospital canteen there was a performance of Mike's award-winning play "Rasputin's Mother" and I decided to go along. On the face of it, I'm just going there to support a colleague and cheer at his success. But underneath the mask of camaraderie lies my true intent - to check him out. You know, see if he's much cop as a writer. Consider furthering the "I've always wanted to write a musical" conversation.

Looking back, what an arrogant position to take! Are you good enough for me? After watching his play, I quickly realised it was more a question of "Blimey, would I be good enough for him?". Beautifully crafted dialogue, coupled with meticulous research and structuring with a dash of wit providing light to moments of shade. Memorable - and not just because someone passed out in the audience (but that's another story).

Banishing my insecurities I broached the "musical" subject in the theatre bar after his play's (award-winning, remember) performance. Once again I asked him "What next?" and once again he replied, "I've always wanted to write a musical".

OK, I know what you're thinking - "Oh for goodness sake, JUST DO IT!" - but this was the start of our courtship. That whole "I see you, I flutter my eyes, you give a coy smile and look down... (though usually in my case "you give a grimace and walk off") type-thing". To break our doe-eyed silliness, we have Mike's wife to thank. Five days later and on another corporate role-play gig she said to us both "Don't just sit there talking about it, do it!" and that supportive kick in the ribs set us on our way to beginning discussions about writing together and, more importantly, what to write.

So why "Tess"? Well, for me, it goes back to that moment in the hospital canteen and my "I love that book" reaction to Mike's suggestion. Though we were bandying around other possible subjects for turning into a musical, none gave me that same feeling. And if I'm going to commit so much of my time to a project, it needs to be to something for which I have a passion. And with "Tess", I had that passion. And for that reason, I've always felt this could work on stage. You see, I'm a fussy so-'n-so when it comes to musicals. I could be listening to the most sublime music, performed by the most wonderful actors and still leave the theatre with a sense of "so what". To hit my musical theatre sweet-spot, I have to care, which comes down to characters and their story. And with "Tess", I care. And judging by its continued popularity (still making it onto lists of all-time favourite novels), so do many of us. I was only relieved that it wasn't my job to adapt Hardy's wonderful novel into a 2-hour script for musical purposes. I was also relieved that that job was in the hands of someone I respected, trusted and admired. Michael Davies. The question was, did he feel the same way about Michael Blore?"

Thank you for reading :-)

Next time on d'Blog... Slow musical progress and tragedy strikes.