Emails From Our 2006 Audiences

Prometheus
At Last
Unbound
Jan. 31, 2006

The shows were amazing!



Here are a few excerpts from audience emails…

“What an accomplishment!! You and David have truly created a masterpiece! Even as a "run through", the music and storyline form a powerful and magical tribute to the power of hope. What a privilege to experience this work as a sort of "rough draft.”

“Lordy lordy......Michael - you have always done big time! But this is even bigger time, if that makes sense. It is just wonderful... I want to see it again and again.
Zeus stole the show. He has a personality that directs all eyes to him... And of course Julianne is my favorite all time and her being Pandora is perfection....also Pro's brother was a real show stopper.”

“The standing ovation at the end was not the result of “irrational exuberance,” but a response to your art that was well deserved.”

“Wow! We just returned home from the performance and my feelings are fresh so I’ll share... It was as if looking at a newborn with all of those emotions involved...joy...wonder... hope and love! I laughed –cried – wondered and was amazed! The same emotions I encountered when I first saw Phantom (my fav). It was a different stage level of course, yet all of those emotions were touched! The characters were all alive especially Zeus and talented actors with such voices playing their parts! I found myself tapping my feet and shaking my head realizing that one day I will be sharing with my grandchildren the story of how I was at the birth of this play in Portland Oregon and knew one of the genius parents!!! I bless it with prayers of enormous abundant growth...infinite hope and endless love!”

“Every woman I know will buy this cd.”

So there you have it; the critics have spoken.

The Prometeus Chronicle #2 - Jan. 23, 2006

The Prometeus Chronicle #2 - Jan. 23, 2006
The following was the second installment written a in the weeks prior to the staging of our 16 song concert version in January 2006.

It’s 3:04 am and i just finished the Finale, and it’s huge! I went a little crazy filling it with big broadly appealing patriot type words like triumph, victory and glory, and phrases like fight the fight, dare to dream and raise the torch of freedom. My purpose is of course to finish the show with a bang, but my secret little thing (although now not secret anymore) is to get myself on 4th of July play lists at city parks and stadiums across the country somewhere between God Bless the USA and The Battle Hymn of the Republic while the rockets are red glaring. And I think I’ve come up with a song that just might get us there. If your have the CD of the show, it’s written to the music of Dare We To Dream.

To tomorrow is dress rehearsal and I am still under the gun to finish the narration. After days of trying, I’m finding it virtually impossible to take a 42 song show with a story that’s been spinning out new details for over ten years and summarize it in 15 one minute blurbs. At this point, every detail is so carefully crafted in my head that every time I try to edit myself i just end up focusing on new details. It’s maddening.

Here's a crazy thing. I spent Sunday evening autographing cds at one of Michael’s benefit concerts at which he played clips from four of our songs to promote the show. Funny to think people are standing in line waiting for me to write my name on something and that my little scribble makes it more meaningful somehow. They weren’t knocking down barricades and bouncers or waving Victoria’s secrets in my direction to get to the head of the line, but still I must admit I am thoroughly enjoying my 15 minutes.

Rehearsals have been absolutely remarkable. The group is so eclectic and just so visually interesting. I’ll snap some photos at tomorrow’s dress rehearsal and if I get a minute I’ll drop them in, though I don’t foresee any spare minutes till maybe Sunday morning. As far as inside scoops goes, the lovely Goddess of Hope may have trouble slipping into her little feathery bird suit (if we had one) due to the fact that she’s suddenly 5 months pregnant. It’s a girl. Pandora did finally make a rehearsal tonight. She’s an Aretha Franklinesque gospel singer that is absolutely the most amazing voice I have ever heard. She brought with her a couple of concubines for Zeus from her church choir to back up the Lord of all the Universe on his big numbers. If song really is prayer, my guess is there’s a whole line of Baptists from St. Mathias ahead of the rest of us when it comes to getting answers.

VIP Invite Jan. 27-28, 2006

VIP Invite Jan. 27-28, 2006

Dearest Friends,

You are hereby officially invited to the concert premier of my musical Prometheus next Friday and Saturday, January 27th and 28th in Portland, Oregon. I must admit that having my name on the playbill hints toward a bit of bias regarding my opinion of the show, but really after all these years of working on it, it is phenomenal beyond all my expectations. If there is any way to get to the show, Go! I’m certain you’ll love it!

“The work brings to mind the works of Hans Zimmer, Howard Ashman, Alan Mencken, Tim Rice. You are certainly in excellent company, and so are they!”
Julie Cargill, Prescott Fine Arts Commission

VIP Invite Jan. 27-28, 2006

The Prometeus Chronicle #1 - Jan. 20, 2006

The following was the first installment written a few weeks prior to the staging of our 16 song concert version in Jan. 2006.

The Prometheus Chronicle #1

1/20/2006

Okay, so, a couple of friends have asked that I drop them notes once in a while from Portland here in the last weeks before the musical for a little behind the scenes, pre-show kind of look at things… kind of a Prometheus blog sort of thing… (okay, it’s really just my mom telling me i better write home), but anyhow… I’ve pasted a few of your addresses in the blind cc box so that if you do come to the show, you’ll feel like you’re a bit more in the know… and if you can’t make the show you’re still tied into the drama.

So, here’s a little reflection from this morning’s outing with the Park Rose Choir… pardon my arrogance in thinking this is really interesting to anyone but me; if that is the case, you know where the delete button is… if not, read on.

Just back from working with the 64 member Park Rose Choir that is going to be backing us up on a couple of songs. So cool to watch them react to the music. On the song Ambition there is the choir part at the end where they sing, “ordained to shine, ordained to shine, ordained to shine…” When the song ended this girl in the second row draws in a big breath, shivers and says, “I just love how dramatic this is!” And the whole choir goes, “Yeah!”

On Dare We To Dream, the whole choir was moving and bobbing and jiving through their, “this is the dream we dare to dream, dare we to dream, we dare to dream; this is the dream…” and at the end they break into spontaneous applause. It’s just so cool to have so visibly struck a chord with 15, 16 and 17 year old kids. I drove home thinking that at last the snowball is really really rolling and everything is only getting bigger from here.

Another fantastic scoop is that Pandora (Julianne Johnson) has made room for our show in her always busy performance schedule. She is amazing and we are thrilled to have her as part of the show! She is the quintessential Dazzling Queen of Misfortune and the part was very literally written for her. When we were trying to come up with music for Pandora, Michael and I were stuck. Then there was a knock a the door upstairs and a call through the house, "Micheal, Michael... is there any coffee in this house?" I said, Who's that? And Michael said, "Pandora!" And before Julianne made it down the stairs, Michael was halfway through the song. We couldn't be happier to have her as part of the show.

BETWEEN ROUNDS - looking back and forth

In January 2006 we staged our first concert version of Prometheus. The 16 song concert was from our perspective a wonderful success. We played to a full house filling 600 seats both nights and were honored with standing ovations from our audiences after each performance. That show was an amazing milestone in the production of the play. At last Prometheus's heart was beating. In the grand scheme of things, he just sort of woke up stretched, yawned and then went back to sleep, but after ten years of Fankenstinian work, the monster was alive and the crowds loved him.

I must admit that the experience of those two shows, watching and listening as my imagination and words were brought to life, was one of the most amazingly rewarding experiences of my life. And signing autographs after a show rocks.The following are a series of emails I sent to a few close friends leading up to that show. The good news is that this posting is the beginning of a new series of postings that will follow.

Today is April 21st, 2008. I'm on my second trip to Portland meeting with Michael Harrison and Greg Tamblyn getting the script and show ready for our 6 week run at the Lakewood Center for the Arts in Lake Oswego. Opening night is September 12th. Last night Greg handed me a copy of the Play Bill for the Lakewood Theater Company's 2008-2009 season and at last in print there we are:

PROMETHEUS
THE MUSICAL
Sept 12 - Oct 19, 2008
by Michael Allen Harrison & David Bates
Directed by Greg Tamblyn
The ancient Greek myth is
presented with a new musical
score by Portland native
Michael Allen Harrison. See
Zeus and the heavens ignite.
A World Premiere!

The show hasn't posted to the Lakewood Theater Company's website as of yet, but here's there link just in case you'd like to check them out. http://www.lakewood-center.org/