An answer to CATS.
I have the idea forming in my mind. Even musical compositions are beginning to write themselves. I’m not a classically trained musician, and I don’t read or write sheet music yet. But the specific notes and specific instruments that play the notes are all in my mind. I don’t know how on earth I know this stuff. I just play a few stringed instruments in my spare time, but I hear all sorts of instruments in the compositions.
DOGS is the story of, in some ways, the pure breeds vs. the mixed breeds. It will center around a pure bred golden retriever that gets lost and sent to a no-kill shelter, where he (or she?) befriends an unlikely mutt of a friend in the shelter. They become best friends as they realize their similarities and differences.
The greater issues I want to press will be the obvious overcrowding and lack of funding for these shelters.
I want to talk about Pit Bulls, and have a Pit Bull character who has been bred to fight but is really a total softy. He still will lead one of the musical’s best songs–a hip-hop/rap song that will include modern hip-hop and street dance.
I want to show some of the funny characteristics of pure bred dogs–maybe an entitled and overeducated Poodle, maybe a needy Weimereiner. Since this is a musical for both kids and adults, it has to be kid-friendly throughout, and I think it’s important that the characters relate to the dogs of the audience members–meaning, if you don’t see your dog’s breed up on stage, at least we might show you a character with some of his or her habits. Tail chasing, snorting, getting excited and running around only to suddenly freeze–the material is endless!
Most of all, I want to praise the idea that no-kill shelters exist, and the value of adoption. I want to show that these places are funded mostly by donations by loving people. I want to show the love of those who work at these shelters, and spent countless hours caring for the animals.
Of course I can’t tell you the ending–that just wouldn’t be cool. To borrow some lyrics from the title track, “I woof if I could, but I can’t.”
Katie Rawls Baxter
Actors Love The Process 