A few years ago at my alma mater, I enjoyed (read: hated) my first solo number in a musical. I played Everett Baker in Crazy for You. For those who are unfamiliar, Crazy for You is a play that essentially wrote itself around songs by the Gershwins. The story is crap and doesn’t make a whole lot of sense, characters are introduced for the sole purpose of singing certain songs, and they’re not great songs to begin with.

At any rate, I tend to avoid those types of musicals because I don’t really think random songs should be stuck together and have a story written around them. If you want to promote music, promote it the old fashioned way — radio or whatever. Stay off my stage with it.

However, I’ve often listened to regular albums or concept albums by artists and felt like these albums had an overall theme. Indeed, often one or two songs will provide a story or overarching theme that ties the rest of the songs into one album. Ideally, this song will be the title of an album.

I’m probably going to receive a lot of flak about this, but one of my favorite artists is Garth Brooks. Many years ago, he released an album under a pseudonym and received a LOT of negative publicity about it. People thought he was committing career suicide (proved them wrong!) and thought that he was trying to cross over from country into rock. This was not the case, fortunately.

Under the pseudonym of Chris Gaines, Brooks released an album that was essentially the Greatest Hits of a fictional rocker, Chris Gaines. The album was to be a “pre-soundtrack” for a movie titled “The Bird” (I think). Brooks loved the script and was even a top contender for the lead role. He felt that once the movie was released, other movies would pick up on his trend — soundtracks that introduced audiences to the characters before the movies were even made.

The movie was to be about Chris Gaines rise to fame and subsequent fall from grace.

Unfortunately, Hollywood moves a lot slower than Nashville. The album was written, recorded and produced in under six months. The movie never got off the ground — possibly because of all the Brooks/Gaines negative publicity.

That album, however, is one of my favorites. I enjoy seeing Brooks go off into different genres. Each song on the album has a different feel to it. As an actor, I also enjoy Brooks going off into a completely different persona — Gaines made appearances on The Today Show, Saturday Night Live (mango!), and many others.

An interesting side note: the day I bought the album, I also bought Final Fantasy 8. I listened to the album over and over and over, learning all the words as I played the game. Now, whenever I listen to the Chris Gaines album, I get flashes of the video game in my mind. I associate certain songs with certain parts of the game. Neat.

Anyway, to tie this all together: two of the songs on the album strike me as very good stories that could ultimately tie the entire album together into a musical a la Crazy for You (albeit not total shit) or Across the Universe.

I’ve debated writing a script for it. The big question is whether or not to actually incorporate the songs. And even if I did, what’s the point since I’ll never get rights to the songs? Another possibility is to use the songs as the basis for an actual straight play.

Another show I’d love to write/do is Ziggy Stardust and the Spiders from Mars.  I know Bowie essentially did a show for his rock shows, but they were basically rock performances and not really musicals.  I think there’s a lot of potential there for a well-written musical.

What do you think?

For the next six weeks, I’m performing in a production of Fiddler on the Roof. Yeah.

So, a couple of days ago, I went out to a bar with one of my friends, who happens to be directing Fiddler. I don’t drink, but I enjoy the company. At this particular bar, there’s a karaoke night every Thursday night, which just happened to be which night we were there. During the break between one of the karaoke sets, the DJ played the Beatles “Come Together”. Good! One of my favorites! My half-deaf ass tried to sing along.

Here come ol’ flat-top, he come groovin’ up slowly
He got joo-joo eyeball, he one holy roller,
He’s got hair down to his knees,
Got to be a joker he just do what he please…

I’m sorta staring off into space, singing along. My friend turns around and looks at me for a second, then he turns back to talk to someone else. I keep singing.
He wear no shoeshine, he got toe-jam football,
He got monkey finger, he shoot coca-cola,

He turns to me again and looks at me. I looked back and did a little twist of my head and my shoulders in a sorta “Hey, I’m being a moron and trying to sing when I really can’t!” move.

He say “I know you, you know me”
One thing I can tell you is you got to be free!
Come together! Right now! Over me…

ET is freaking out, eyes wide open, mouth moving, all spastic.

“You sang!” he said, loudly. “You were spot on those notes! All of them!” I just kinda stared at him for a second. The music kept playing, and I just looked at him and he looked at me.

He bag production, he got walrus gumboot,
He got Ono sideboard, he one spinal cracker,
He got feet down below his knees
Hold you in his armchair you can feel his disease
Come together! right now! Over me..

ET is spazzing out again. “Cody! Listen! He’s singing! Like, RIGHT ON, man! Right on pitch!” I’m still not sure if he’s just drunk or trying to make me feel bette or what.

He roller coaster, he got early warning,
He got muddy water, he one mojo filter,
He say “One and one and one is three”

I do a little jig.

Got to be good looking cause he’s so hard to see
Come together! Right now! Over me…

And the song ends. ET’s just beside himself. I still can’t figure out why. I mean, I know I can’t sing consistently, but I can sing occasionally.

“No, no,” he says. “This is good. You sing high. You can hear the high notes, so you can hit the high notes. Here, here sing this song!” Garth Brooks Friends in Low Places came on.

“What?” I exclaimed. “Are you crazy? You can’t put me on the spot like that and expect me to sing.”

“Do it!”

“No!”

“C’mon, man!”

Fine. Fine, then. I’ll embarrass myself once again in front of ET and all these other drunk people.

I guess I was wrong
I just don’t belong
But then, I’ve been there before
If everything’s all right
I’ll just say goodnight,
And I’ll show myself to the door

Hey I didn’t mean
To cause a big scene
Just give me an hour and then
I’ll be as high as that ivory tower
That you’re living in!

Once again, ET is beside himself. “YOU MISSED EVERY SINGLE NOTE EXCEPT FOR THE HIGHEST ONE!” he exclaimed.

Great. Way to make me feel like a rock star. I missed every note except the highest. That makes me feel better. Really, it does.

“No, no,” he says again. “This is good. Real good. As your director, I need to know these things. You’re hearing higher pitches, so you sing higher pitches. That’s good. That means I can put you in a certain range in the show. I’ll know you can sing these songs, and these songs, and not these songs or those songs. This is good, real good.”

I shrug.

This time, I’m going to chalk it up to the alcohol. Although I have become a little obsessed with “Come Together” lately…