Big Bitch with Action Figures

On Feb 15, 2012, at 7:06 AM, Paul Goldenberg wrote:

There’s a real kind of ‘gentile william finn’ thing going on there. (that’s a compliment!)
Quite impressed actually. Very funny! J
 
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From: Kristen Caven [-----] On Behalf Of Kristen Caven
Sent: February-15-12 3:22 PM
To: Paul Goldenberg
Subject: Re: score

Thanks for telling me it was a compliment... I have no idea what that remark meant! Now you'll have to 'splain it to me so I get smarter. 

On Feb 15, 2012, at 12:34 PM, Paul Goldenberg wrote:

Do you know William Finn? http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Finn   March of the Falsettos? 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee? He’s both brilliant and perhaps slightly disturbed. You’re not disturbed but your Barbie doll show was for sure. J  Your voice, subject matter, and Barbie video just somehow brought to mind William Finn without the Jewish element.

Is that a good explanation?

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Paul Goldenberg, Chief Operation Officer
Red Wolf Online
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Toronto, Ontario M6B 1W3
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On Feb 15, 2012, at 1:44 PM, Kristen Caven wrote:

Oh, THAT William Finn! (Not the Irish Parliament member.) Why thank you, that is a compliment. So is "brilliant and slightly disturbed." I looked over Wikipedia and thought, "well, I'm also straight and female..." but then I realize my character Harry isn't...!  (I'm actually wondering if he might be Jewish.... though his name is Carrington, pretty WASP-y.) I'll share the compliment with MO the music guy... he added a nice EDGE to the piece with the gritted-teeth sound of the strings, don't you think?

As always, thanks for the enlightening. :)

K

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Coming Soon: The Blook!

Get to know Ashley, our protaganist, intimately before the musical comes out, in the novel version of her story by librettist Kristen Caven.

Kristen, who writes across many genres, has been working on the novelization since 2007, and is doing a final polish as "literary performance art" by publishing a chapter a week online.

Fans of the musical are especially welcome to read along and give feedback on the developing story.

Kristen will start publishing as soon as she gets 100 subscribers to the blog/book, or "blook." Click here for a sneak preview and to sign up!

Our Musical LIVES!

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The SMBPR Scoop
Greetings Friends of the musical (FOTMs),	January 2012
Did you wonder where we went? Did you wonder what happened to our show? Wonder no more.... it's ALIVE! A Long Break After we did the rewrite of The Souls of Her Feet in April, 2009, Michael and I drifted apart for a long, long time. He went on tour with a big show. I wrote two books about my former cartooning career. After a long and awkward estrangement, we reunited last December, and have been loving our collaboration! The first song we're re-writing is "A Girl Like Me," formerly the "Can't-Go-To-Prom Blues," which was the first song Michael ever wrote, to get the job, in 2005. It's a beautiful evolution, and now shows Ashley's inner struggle in a much more moving way, as she decides to take a chance and go to the prom. (You'll get to hear it soon if you are signed up on our blog.) >>>> The Big Shoe Project Kristen is trying to talk to local high school theaters about doing scenes and songs in collaboration with other schools. A year or so down the road, there could be a really fun community project taking shape. Meanwhile, Michael, who now plays a red piano on the Boulder Mall, is scoping out voice talent in Colorado to make recordings. The Book Every musical has a book, but ours has more than one. Kristen, who works in publishing, is working on a novelization of the story that will be available some time this year, Godesss willing. Calling All SMBPR Alums Have you worked on the musical, either as an actor or a volunteer? Do you have a Facebook page? Please post a link to it on our Facebook Page - and let us "like" your page. As your career gains momentum, so does this project - and it helps us all to stay connected. I recently touched base with Sherry Vine (a.k.a. Keith Levy, who played Harry in New York), who is now Lady Gaga's worst nightmare. Meanwhile, did anyone catch Jen Ponton (narrator in New York) on 30 Rock? ("Fraaazerrrr!") Or Brian Yates Sharber (original Demo recordings) as the Gay Man in Milk? It's fun to see what everyone's doing with their careers. 'Like' our page and check back for links! Thanks for being in our cult! Here's to an amazing 2012 Kristen Caven & Michael O'Dell	Singin' on the Blog We'll be doing fewer newsletters from now on (what's 'fewer' than one ever three years, you ask? Good point...) and putting our announcements on the SMBPR blog. If you get an email from Blogspot, it's because I've signed you up to the email feed. Please opt in if you want to stay in touch! Artistic Support I got the most amazing thing in the mail last fall. Friend of the Musical (FOTM) Rhonda Bryce sent this gorgeous assemblage, covered with over a dozen examples of Just the Right Shoe, who started making their collectibles the year after I wrote the first draft of the song. (Hmmm.... merchandise tie-in??) SOMEDAY... there will be a viral video of our shoe song... and everyone will be just this obsessed! A Little 'Bitch' Reply to this email if you'd like a sneak peek of a silly little video (of me playing with singing dolls) from a musical theater workshop.  "purify the aaaiiiiirrrr!" (coming soon to YouTube!)
You never know where a new pair of shoes will take you....

© Kristen Caven 2012 •

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Big Breakthrough!

Huge news for fans of the show! Mom and Dad have made up and are going to finish writing The Souls of Her Feet!

Collaboration is hard. Being an artist is hard. Thinking about doing something in a BIG way when you feel like a NOBODY is really, really hard. But we've both been doing a lot of growing up in the seven (yes, SEVEN) years we've been collaborating, and have worked out a lot of our personal and professional kinks.

Long story short: Michael and I haven't seen each other since our "Couch Reading" in March of oh-nine. We did a rewrite of the script afterwards, and then he returned to the East Coast and we both got busy with other stuff. Last week we had a huh-youge and cathartic email fight, and cleared the air for a Skype session today, in which apologies gave way to the joy of re-claiming a long-term (and fundamentally functional) relationship.

Michael got down on one knee and held up a bottle of Adderall (in lieu of a bouquet of flowers), and asked me to take him back as a writing partner. I grinned and stammered and blushed and agreed.

Friend Of The Musical (FOTM) Ana N. was the first to know, since she beeped in at that moment. She said, "Oh, goody. Does that mean you get to have make-up writing?"

Stay tuned, let's find out.

Sneak Peek Video from the New Musical!

(Just kidding!)

But it's got a great feel, no?
A Big, Pink Rose is, of course, about Beauty.  And there is a mouthy queen in The Souls of Her Feet... so it's not that far off!

Just the Right Shoe

It's always a delight when people bring me offerings. I have a basket-full of shoe-themed notepads, napkins, and cookie cutters. I love that when people see shoe tchotchkies they think of Harry's lecture to Ashley.

But nothing prepared me for the sight that beheld me when I finally stripped through the nineteen protective layers of packing tape that surrounded a custom-cut box from my amazingly creative girlfriend (and mutual muse) Rhonda Bryce.

Fourteen exquisite, tiny designer shoes, mounted on a mirror, suspended by a big, pink rose that looks just-picked. Rhonda had been dropping hints for months about a present she was making for me... the suspense finally ended when I got the most elaborately packaged surprise in the mail.

Thank you, Rhonda! Your gift sustains the spirit of this story as it waits, like a princess by the window, for some interesting change to come.

 

Rhonda, please enjoy the music! (There's a little link to the lyrics too.)

My How Things Change.

It's been a long dry spell for the musical.  Life seems to have had other plans for Michael and I. Michael is now touring the U.S. with a company as music director, after having written many more songs for many more artists. I went and wrote a book, and now I'm working on the sequel.

As soon as I'm done, I promise, the girls will be back in action.

I now hope to bring Shoes, a Mirror, and a Big Pink Rose to life slowly as a community project entitled, perhaps, The Patchwork Princess Project. The first phase will be a competition/collaboration between local high school drama departments, with each one of them performing a song from The Souls of Her Feet. This will be an interesting way to workshop the musical, create a buzz, expose the novel to youth, and have fun!

This spring, I will be building an advisory board and finding a local theater to sponsor the project, as well as completing the novel. The project will take place in 2012.

The second and third phases of the project will involve college drama departments to workshop Mirror Imag(in)e, and local theaters to workshop The Number the Beast, respectively, in following years.