Look What I Can Do!

Asking the world to acknowledge a milestone in one's life and/or career is pretty much the equivalent of acting like Stuart from the old MAD TV. "Look what I can do!" Sure, it's self-serving, but if I don't serve myself, who is?

A little history first. (Take notes. There's going to be a test.) Having had the privilege of having three melodrama scripts produced at my late, lamented and dearly beloved Palace Showboat Dinner Theater at Pollardville in Stockton, California, I wanted to share with other like-minded theaters in the country (nay, the world!). I first submitted them to various play publishers without any success whatsoever. So, after a helluva lotta research, I approached theaters one at a time. A couple of times I hit pay dirt, though the second one actually produced it without either contacting myself or my co-author on LA RUE'S RETURN, thereby trying to get away without paying us. When Ed the Pitbull went after them, threatening legal action, we were compensated handsomely. Once the Internet kicked in, I dove in and tried, tried, tried again with one production to show for all my efforts. I ended up self-publishing my scripts. My rationale was that I had to get my work out there, hoping for something, sometime, somewhere.

It wasn't until the Fall of 2013 when I was contacted by Nova Cunningham (no relation to Opie) who was the marketing director of the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville Theatre in Oceano, CA. She found my script, SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE online and wanted to produce as their 2014 summer production. The only stipulation was that the title would be changed to SONG OF THE CANYON KID. Well, I was just about to publish my novelization of LONE PRAIRIE (a silly experiment of mine) that I re-titled SONG OF THE CANYON KID. I saw a possible tie-in here, that, alas, never transpired, but my head was in the clouds once again. Naturally, I told Nova yes and lo and behold, a third act of my life was created on the spot.

I started re-channeling my efforts and sure enough, my gamble paid off. THE CANYON KID not only played that summer, but another production ran concurrently with it in Jamestown, CA. LA RUE'S RETURN also found a new stage in Missouri and, as the cherry on top, was slated to be the 2015 Summer attraction at the Great American Melodrama. From there, I was off and running with a an interesting off-ramp into the world of murder mystery dinner theater as well and finally having three of my scripts published at long last by OFF THE WALL PLAYS. 

So thank you, Nova Cunningham, wherever the hell you are in this world, for my first big break since the Pollardville days which has culminated in having my plays produced from one end of the US of A to the other. 2024, my official anniversary year, promises to be one of the best yet. More news of that to come here and on my other blog MURDER, MELODRAMA AND MORE!

The main thing I've learned from the experience is that if you fancy yourself to be a writer, get your work out of the shadows. No one will find it if you've hidden it away from the world. Not knowing does no one any good, least of all yourself. Sometimes, showing up is half the battle.

So Happy Anniversary to me. Let the festivities begin!

Ten Years Later Than Never

Oh goody. It's the end of the year and another decade, so that means it's time for some reflection and to
pontificate on the passage of time to see where we've been, what we've learned and speculate on the future.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZ......

Huh? What? Who's that? How did I fall asleep on my laptop? My face has keyboard marks all over it. Holy crap, I just backspaced the last decade! Sigh. If only...

Aw, bullshit. Life. That's what happened in ten years' time. A lot of ups. A lot of downs. Still managing the balancing act, though I wish it would stop tipping so much. I'm getting motion sickness and my arms are tired.

However, I'm choosing to focus on the highlights here. The bad times can take care of themselves and, frankly have done so already. They've had their way with me and everybody else out there, so instead of dwelling on them, I prefer to sweep them away like so many dust bunnies, at least for the time being.

The time being. Or should I say the time remaining? The mortality question or statement, for that matter, has been rearing its inevitable head as the clock continues to click away. As such, I prefer to to celebrate the good because it still exists in this increasingly angry, complicated and overly-caffeinated world. I'm just a sap at heart and therefore, an easy mark, but gosh darn to heck, I still maintain hope over cynicism because that's the kinda guy I am.

And I have several reasons to back this up. I'm crazy about my family, filled with loving, caring, intelligent human beings who make this world better by their very presence. Two new additions have doubled my grandpa ante, a one-two shot of granddaughters born on both sides of the decade. This all culminated in a brilliant family reunion this past August on the Oregon Coast.

In 2011, a summer vacation straight out of an MGM musical caused to fall in love with New York City, particularly my beloved borough of Brooklyn. (See the New York posts on my page: CHERNEY JOURNEYS) As a result, it seemed to set things in motion for me about how I wanted to spend the rest of my life. I needed to get back to writing. I felt this was my last option as (please don't gag) an artist. I was wrong. I've been wrong for most of my life. It should have been my first option and stuck with it. But I dove back in, especially when good fortune came my way when I finally put myself out there. Once I was lost, but then I was found.

Great American Melodrama cast and me courtesy of Ed Thorpe

I'm sure I've bored you to horrors already with the success I've had with my melodrama and murder mysteryplays in the last few years, so I'll beg off...for now. But I would like to acknowledge and once again thank the following theater companies who have produced my work since 2014:

MEL O' DRAMA THEATER (Mel Roady is the Queen!) Nashville, TN
THE GREAT AMERICAN MELODRAMA AND VAUDEVILLE Oceano, CA
FOOTHILL THEATRE CO. Jackson, CA
AVENUE THEATER West Plain, MO
CHEYENNE LITTLE THEATER Cheyenne, WY
BRAZOS THEATRE Waco, TX
THEATER SUBURBIA Houston, TX
MANTORVILLE THEATRE Mantorville, MN
MT. VERNON COMMUNITY THEATRE Mt. Vernon, MO
STAGECOACH THEATRE CO. Louson County, VA
SUGAR HIGH THEATRICALS Galesburg, IL
ROGUE THEATRE CO. Sturgeon Bay, WI
DELTON ACT Delton, MI
SANZMAN PRODUCTIONS, Los Angeles, CA
SLV THEATRE CO. San Luis Valley, CO
BRICKSTREET PLAYERS Clovis, NM
RIO LINDA ELVERTA COMMUNITY THEATRE Rio Linda, CA

(For info about my plays, visit www.scottcherney.com)

I did manage to write a new book, an adaptation of my melodrama SONG OF THE CANYON KID, which was read by less people than saw the CATS movie. But it managed to gear me up for a personal triumph, the completion of the first draft of a novel I began 22 years ago, now in a major re-write stage. More information coming soon. Promise!

I'm going to close with this photograph of a couple of my grandchildren, Aefa and Sebastian, frolicking at the beach in Lincoln City, Oregon this past summer. I don't take many good photographs. In fact, not at all. When I get something like this, it's a happy accident. Now there's a good metaphor for the past ten years, a series of happy accidents amidst all the strife that threatens to overwhelm us all on an on-going basis. Look at those two in that shot. That's pure joy captured in that moment of time and it's out there not just for the asking, but for the taking. They're the future and they give me...here's that word again...hope. The latest addition to our Brady Bunch, Athena, fought like the little warrior princess to be here in this world. Why shouldn't we do the same to stay here? The love I have for my grandkids surely enters in this assessment and if it does, so what? They've helped me through the minefield this far. I'm ready for the long haul. Or I should say, the rest of the journey.


The Cherney Journey, ready to take on The Roaring Twenties.

Happy New Year and Decade, gang.

Francois Rules!

Call it a twist of fate, pure dumb luck or just the magic of Francois, but lightning has struck again in a

BRING ME THE HEAD OF FRANCOIS FIBIAN!

very significant fashion.  DEAD TUESDAY will have a one night only performance on June 1 in Delton, Michigan,  a benefit show for the Delton VFW produced by the Delton ACT (Amatuer Community Theatre). While that news is wonderful all by its lonesome self,this being the second of now 3 productions of DT this year, the story behind it makes it even more special for me.

I was contacted via e-mail by one of show's directors, Jordan Dimock  (Michael Moray being the other) a short time ago. She had read DEAD TUESDAY and asked if his theater could produce it. Even though it was a one and done performance, I don't take any offer lightly. I'm grateful that anyone would even consider doing my stuff. Sure, I'd like it if there were multiple shows because that means more royalties for moi. What can I say? I'm a stinkin' capitalist but also a starving artist. (By the way, I could use a snack.)

What makes this so swell for me is that Jordan found the script online, which exactly how I got started in this business to begin with. Back in the fall of 2013, the artistic director of the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville Theater in Oceano, California found my melodrama    SONG OF THE CANYON KID online and wanted it for their summer attraction the following year. Encouraged by this sudden interest in something I had written, I began my long journey and contacting theaters myself and sending out scripts across the country. This resulted in a segue into uncharted waters, that being a distant cousin of melodrama theater, interactive murder mysteries, thanks to my pal Melanie Roady of Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville. (see post: CROAK AND DAGGER: A FROG BLOG). As a result of my efforts since 2013, my shows, including the upcoming Delton performance, now total 19 productions in 12 different states. And there's more to come. Not too bad for a one man operation, if I do say so myself.  I gotta own this 'cuz it keeps me going in good times and bad.

My scripts are on-line since I have yet to interest any publisher to take me on as a client, despite my minor success on the boards. Therefore, I went the self-publish route and with that great power comes great responsibility...and more time away from the actual task of WRITING. (Sorry. Didn't mean to yell.) But the main thing is, as Thomas Haden Church says to Paul Giamatti in the great film SIDEWAYS, "Just get your work out there, man." So, out of necessity, I took my unpublished (but not unproduced) work out of the dark and put it out in the world. While this has yielded only a few hits as opposed to my own solicitations, it was not only a starting point, but a means to an end. Stepping out of the shadows has done me a world of good.

My thanks to Delton ACT for choosing my show and everyone else who has done so in the past and plans to do so in the future.

And, of course, Francois sends his regards.

For more information about DEAD TUESDAY or any other piece o' writin' I done did, please visit my website: WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY
or if'n y'all wanna buy sumpin' go to: SCOTT CHERNEY'S STORE
or drop me a line at: writtenbysc@gmail.com (Ethiopian princes need not apply)

Dead Tuesday

Plunk your magic twanger, Froggy!

The StageCoach Theatre Company's next production is an interactive murder mystery written by yours truly entitled DEAD TUESDAY. The show will be performed over the next month in venues around Virginia and the Washington, DC metro area, previously uncharted territory for one of my shows.

DEAD TUESDAY is not a new script of mine. It has been re-titled from its original, THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS, which debuted in 2014 (see previous post: CROAK AND DAGGER)  If this is the first you've heard of it, the show tells the tale of an international philanthropist playboy who is the one who can solve the mystery of a prominent New Orlenas socialite during Mardi Gras, even though he's hampered by his own problems. A voodoo curse is turning him into a frog. Yep, it's a strange story to say the least. Most of the characters are based on the paintings of artist Jann Harrison. I was commissioned by Melanie Roady of Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville to create a script using her creations and voila, here it is. It is such an odd duck of a show, I had my doubts whether or not it would see the light of a stage again. But thanks to Jerri Wiseman of StageCoach Theatre Company, Francois hops again.

Jerri asked if I would consider a name change since the original isn't very marketable. This is something I've toyed with myself, using the rather awful but compromised alternative MARDI GRAS MAYHEM in my own solicitations. This being a purely commercial venture, I'm totally flexible with this change and have no problem with her suggestion of DEAD TUESDAY (a riff on Mardi Gars' Fat Tuesday). Back in 2013, the Great American Melodrama asked to change the title of my melo from SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE to TALES OF THE CANYON KID. I opted for SONG OF THE CANYON KID to coincide with the novel version I had just published. (That play will now be known by that title alone) Theaters wishing to make changes to a work should be flown by the author and I appreciate the integrity of an organization having the respect to do so, especially for an independent like myself.

So welcome back, Francois. Let the good times croak.

For more information of the StageCoach Theatre Company production of DEAD TUESDAY, visit their website at stagecoachtc.com and their Facebook page 

To read an excerpt or find more information about  DEAD TUESDAY aka THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS, go to my website. WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Performance rights are available. For more info, e-mail at writtenbysc@gmail.com

A Melo Summer

Some sweet summer memories from 2015.

As I continue on with this play marketing journey I have been on the past two years, I have discovered that melodrama is often synonymous with summertime as many companies tend to believe this is the optimum time of year for these shows, probably since they tend to be more family-friendly than genres.

This year I had three melodramas running in three different states, one more than last year, a number to grow next time around. But this year....I'm no longer regional (in my beloved Calif-orn-I-A) and can be considered national. (Hey, whatever delusions of grandeur I can conjure up is better for my mental well-being than a bottle of Muscatel and a bag of Cheetos.)

LA RUE'S RETURN or HOW'S A BAYOU?, the very first

Avenue Theatre LA RUE cast photo

melodrama I wrote with my best friend Ed Thorpe (aka Max), had two productions this summer, its debut out of state fell in West Plains, Missouri in June. The Avenue is a renovated art deco cinema converted to this community theater playhouse.

THE AVENUE THEATRE IN WEST PLAINS, MO.

One proud papa

Next up. LA RUE had the honor of being the summer attraction at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, California in the same exact spot as last year;s SONG OF THE CANYON KID (LONE PRAIRIE-it's complicated). Max had the honor of visiting them in July.

Jacques La Rue and Miss Polly-GAM style

On top of that, the Great American is celebrating its 40th anniversary, so this is a real honor. (As opposed to a fake honor?. What am I babbling about?)

The show runs until Sept. 20

THE GREAT AMERICAN MELODRAMA IN OCEANO, CA


Finally, the Canyon Kid and Thunder rode into Wyoming this July for the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players' production of SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE or POEM ON THE RANGE at the historic Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne.

This show had two-count 'em-two separate casts for this show, which kind of makes it two shows in one. That's what I keep telling myself anyway.

LONE PRAIRIE Cast #1 

LONE PRAIRIE Cast  #2

They even made Thunder a bigger star than he was already.
(Thanks, Julie Wagner, the actress who brought Thunder to life. Here's a carrot for you.)

THE CHEYENNE LITTLE THEATRE PLAYERS IN CHEYENNE, WYOMING 

It's gratifying to know that community theaters like the Avenue and the CLTP embrace melodrama and consider it to be viable enough to include it in their seasons filled with such shows as SEUSSICAL, OLIVER, SPAMALOT, LEND ME A TENOR and AUGUST: OSAGE COUNTY. Of course I'm also grateful that theaters that specialize in this form like the Great American Melodrama continue to exist as well. It's certainly good for me as a creator that specializes in this genre, but it's also good for theater in general. I still believe that any type of theater should be supported and not looked down upon from some elitist point of view. It all helps perpetuate the art form as a whole.

Speaking of which, coming this fall...a new murder mystery. Oh, get ready to turn your noses up at this one, you wags.

The Return of La Rue's Return

First production of LA RUE'S RETURN at Pollardville

Evil always returns...
only this time, it has a bad French accent!

Oh, he's back alright. Jacques La Rue, that is. He's the villain in the very first theatrical venture show written by Edward Thorpe and myself. a little melodrama called LA RUE'S RETURN or HOW'S A BAYOU?.

La Rue Across the Country

Oh, them good times continue to roll!

LA RUE'S RETURN or HOW'S A BAYOU?, written by Edward Thorpe and myself way back in the Stone Age on the wall of a cave, has just been picked up as the summer melodrama attraction at the Avenue Theatre in West Plains, MO.

Show dates are June 11-20 on the stage of this renovated art deco movie theater. This means that LA RUE will have concurrent runs at the Avenue and The Great American Melodrama in Oceano, CA (opening June 18) exactly like SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE did last year.

Leave us not forget that SONG will play this summer at the Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne, Wyoming for the Cheyenne Little Theatre Players.

Then comes Nashville...but that's another story.

The Avenue Theatre website:
http://www.theavenuetheatre.com/

The Great American Melodrama website:
http://www.americanmelodrama.com/

The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players website:
http://www.cheyennelittletheatre.org/

The script for LA RUE'S RETURN is available in paperback and e-book. For more info, please go to
my website:
http://www.scottcherney.com

To the casts and crews of LA RUE'S RETURN and SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE in West Plains, Oceano and Cheyenne....

BREAK A LEG!

The Canyon Kid Rides into Cheyenne

It's official!

The Cheyenne Little Theatre Players  will present SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE or POEM ON THE RANGE will be presented on their stage this summer at the historic Atlas Theatre in Cheyenne, Wyoming. This production joins LA RUE'S RETURN at the Great American Melodrama in Oceano, CA and a brand spanking new murder mystery for Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville, another coup for yours truly (with maybe another on the way...).

This marks the first time The Canyon Kid and Co. will trod the boards outside of California after its debut at the Place Showboat Theater back in the Jurassic period and the one-two punch of last year's show at the Great American and the Footlight Theatre Co. in Jamestown .

The word "historic" is more than just an adjective when speaking of the Atlas Theatre In Cheyenne. It was, in fact, listed on the National Register of Historic Places back in 1973. Read on, MacDuff.

THE HISTORIC ATLAS THEATRE ON WIKIPEDIA



And to make this even sweeter, this joint is apparently haunted too.
                                                                               

HAUNTED HOUSES/COM

Shoot. I ain't fraid'a no ghosts.

Performances for SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE run from July 9-August 2. I jumped the gun and announced this before they did, but for more info (once they get it together), click on the link below. Hurry! Operators are standing by!

CHEYENNE LITTLE THEATRE WEBSITE

So today, Cheyenne....
Tomorrow....the world!
Now if I can only get into somewhere within driving distance, that would be nice too.

.

2014-Crossing the Finish Line

Outside my window, the sky is clear, blue and the sun is shining. There is also a powerful icy wind that giving us a current temperature of about 19 degrees. That kind of sums up 2014.

For so many, the fact that this year is nearly over and done with is a blessing, as though the changing of the calendar puts everything right again. Time is relative, folks and sometimes, a drunk uncle at that who gets all handsy at family gatherings. The world continues to go ape-shit, chock-a-block with WTF moments from one end of the globe to the other. It's difficult to make sense of it all. What's it all about, Alfie and why the hell am I asking you anyway?

But I had a damn decent year. I feel almost apologetic admitting that to y'all, especially when so many of you wish 2014 never existed. I have always been empathetic to a fault. When bad news permeates the atmosphere, whether personal or widespread, I tend to suppress my accomplishments to the point that they become not yesterday's headlines, but buried in the back archives next to last month's Dog of the Week. Hey, it wasn't a merry-go-round each and every day. However I did find some balance for the first time in years thanks to some good fortune and people in my life. There is the inevitable suck of everyday existence that has pinned me to the ground and drained me of all hope and desire. Then there were those moments-and there were blessedly plentiful-that lifted me up where I belong, where the eagles cry on a mountain high.

At the beginning of the year, I wrote a murder mystery script (THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS) that was produced less than four months later by Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville. Next Halloween, my latest foray into the same genre is set to premiere, all due to producer extraordinaire Melanie Roady whose website I found by chance last year at this time.

My melodrama, SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE, retitled SONG OF THE CANYON KID, was the summer attraction at the Great American melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, CA. It was the first time this show had been staged since the 1980s. Next summer in the same exact spot, my first show, LA RUE'S RETURN co-written with Edward Thorpe, will sit in the same exact spot on the calendar on the same exact stage at the Great American.

SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE, under its original title, opened in August in Jamestown, CA for the Footlight Theatre Co. with dates running concurrently with the Oceano production.

This has all given me a new lease on life or a renewal of my lease at least because I have aggressively marketing these plays as well as THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE since then in hopes of more success down the road. i have several irons in several fires that I am trying to warm my coffers without burning myself in the process. I am putting myself out there liker never before so that may reach actual goals I have set for myself and not living off of memories and regret, a diet I don't recommend.The world is my oyster and all I need to do is to shuck it.

What has always helped me in these time of nada damn thing is this family of mine that has blossomed into a full blown garden of love. These guys continue to nurture and amaze me, keeping me afloat in times of nearly abandoning the ship. In better times, they're more important to me than ever. This year, I had the amazingly good fortune to enjoy the company of all three of my grandchildren. A return trip to Colorado at the start of  summer culminated in the exquisite delight of our youngest's, Aefa, third birthday party. A couple of months later, we were reunited with our eldest, Kardena, when she and her mom visited Oregon not two weeks after seeing my show in Oceano. Then my grandson Sebastian, shooting up like a corn stalk so that he can literally see me eye-to-eye, has become my own personal motivational speaker, boosting my way-too-fragile ego lengths and bounds as he always has, but at times when I least expect it. When we had a discussion about his own future, I told him flippantly, yet quite honestly:
"Don't end up like me."
To which he replied:
"What-a successful playwright?"
Damn, I love that kid. I love them all. They've made me want to be a better person or for them, I strive to be.  

If I were to pick a definitive highlight that sits at the very top of 2014, the memory I will always cherish occurred in Oceano when my best friend Ed Thorpe gave me the incredible gift of making this visit to see my show possible. SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE (CANYON KID)  had been rewritten since its debut on the Palace Showboat stage with new scenes that never seen the light of day before, in particular an extension of a confrontation between the two principal characters, The Canyon Kid and Darla Darling. The scene was a sad, rather melancholic scene in the midst of all the other goofiness in the script. I'll be goddamned if it didn't work. Thanks to the director and the two actors in the scene-Andy Pollock and Christine Arnold-it put a lump in my throat and a tear to my eye which lead to a moment of complete validation. I knew the jokes would work but I wasn't so sure about the love story. Now I knew. Ultimately, this meant it ain't over for me yet. While I haven't just begun, I am back on the right track and not fermenting like so much kim chee. I still have it in me to move forward onward and upward so 'scuze me while I attempt to kiss the sky...again. Just as I want to be a better person for my grandkids, this makes me want to be better just for myself. The most important thing is that it make me want to TRY.

The Third Act has begun. It started in 2014.

It was the best of times. It was the worst of times. All wrapped up into one.

Happy New Year

Suddenly, This Summer

It began with a frog and ended with a deer.

Such was the summer of 2014, definitely one for the archives. Book-ended by two separate Cherney Journeys, the months between May and September became one extended round trip, one I'd gladly sign up for again.

In May, THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS, the first play I'd written in almost 2 1/2 decades, began its run in Nashville, TN courtesy of the Mel O'Drama Theater for my new friend, producer Mel Roady. This was one mind-boggling experience that prepped for the rest of the season.

This was immediately followed by a return visit to Denver (relayed in the blog: THINGS TO DO IN DENVER WHEN YOU'RE RED) to visit my beautiful Coloradan family who resides there with a grand birthday celebration for my three year old granddaughter Aefa.

In June, SONG OF THE CANYON KID (re-titled from SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE to coincide with the book of the same name that no one seems to want to read but if you did you would laugh your spurs off if that's your idea of a good time) premiered at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, CA for a summer-long run.

At the same time, the Footlight Theatre Company in Northern California's Jamestown planned to produce SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE under its original title at the end of August. Both shows had the same identical closing dates.

Visited in Oregon by more family members from down Santa Barbara way-my step-daughter Tracey and now sweet sixteen granddaughter Kardena-was a sweet week-long visit that had been a long-time coming but so very nourishing for the heart and soul. Just before their stay with us, they had traveled to Oceano to see THE CANYON KID, something else to boost me into the stratosphere. Kardena's favorite gag in the show was one I didn't write, a Harry Potter reference. Oh well.

Many had suggested that I find some way to see the show myself, either in Oceano or Jamestown. I actually didn't think it possible. Somehow that desire had been sent out to the universe because a trip indeed was in my immediate future.

I've known Ed Thorpe for most of my born days. We met in 6th grade at Grover Cleveland Elementary in Stockton and have been not just best friends, but the brothers we never had...and we both had brothers. We've shared laughs, tears, anger, up, down, overs and outs...including a woman. I devoted an entire chapter of my first book IN THE DARK to Ed who I call Max and who calls me Max because we're Maxes to the Max. He's also the one responsible for my foray into melodrama in the first place. He brought me out to Pollardville where we were both gunslingers, asked me to co-write our first melo LA RUE'S RETURN and arranged for me to attend the grand finale reunion when the Ville closed once and for all back in 2007.

Max felt I should see my show and made it a point to fly me down there in order to do that very thing. It is one of the finest gifts I could ever imagine. I don't know how I warrant all this love and generosity from people. It's not false modesty and me playing Harry Humble. I am honestly baffled. Grateful, but confused. It was Max's intention that we head to Oceano which involved me flying into San Francisco and the two of us driving down in our own version of an Alexander Payne road movie.

At the same time, my wife had decided that this would be a good time to visit her mom and sister in the Bay Area, so we made arrangements to depart PDX within minutes of each other-she on Southwest landing in Oakland, me on Alaska to SFO. And we made it just in the nick of freaking time. Nothing like an ass full of stress to start the weekend right.

So Max greeted me at SFO once I landed and down Hwy 101 we drove, yapping up a storm the entire way and not shutting up until he dropped me back the airport Sunday night. We relived the past, even those things of which we dared not speak.We mulled over the present. We outlined the future. Most importantly, we repaved our common ground which over time was well-worn, full of potholes and needing some necessary repair. I got my brother back and Max got his.

Once we hit Pismo Beach, our base of operations, the world pulled back into focus. It wasn't the town, per se, it was the beach...the California coast that I longed to be near again. The sound of the waves breaking is my mantra, my safe place when life begins to go south. The Oregon coast, beautiful as it is, can't hold a hourglass of sand next to the state of my birth.


The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in the main attraction of Oceano, maybe running a close second to the Dunes, the only state park in California where vehicles can be driven on the beach, bu tit certainly is the most popular business known all over the Central Coast. When we arrived Saturday night, it was an event that had to be documented, so I posed wherever I could. Standing before the window display of my show) featuring a stuffed version of The Canyon Kid's horse Thunder), Nova Cunningham, the artistic director of the Great American who chose my script, approached  and greeted me with open arms. She brought me into the theater before the show where the cast was warming up with vocal exercises and introduced themselves one by one. What a good looking group this was and surrounding me around the swell set of the THE CANYON KID. This was the set I didn't have when my show premiered back in '87, that's for sure. No wonder I looked like a proud papa in those shots.

As the show began, I noticed the changes they made right away. Additional songs were obvious as well as some altered lines (more than just Harry Potter references). This made my mind race back to a time at Pollardville when Tim Kelly, one of the most prolific melodrama playwrights in the the business, had been flown up to Stockton for the opening night of THE RATCATCHER'S DAUGHTER. it was one of those miracle opening nights when nothing worked all Hell Week long, but once we got in front an audience, the magic happened. When I met the author in question, I was so giddily excited that I grabbed my copy of the script to show him what we-actually mostly me-had done to it.

"Look! We cut this scene and that scene. We turned this character into a male. This character here we just cut completely out. Totally unnecessary!"

I asked him to sign it for me and handed it to him. Stone faced, he scribbled the name "Kelly" and thrust it back at me.

Oops.

Well, whatever goes around... Thirty years later, here I sat watching SONG OF THE CANYON KID minus a character, lines changed, songs added and I could not have been more delighted. Their adaptation was wonderful, doing justice to the material and giving life to a show that not seen the light of day in this century. Lee Anne Mathews' direction ran circles around mine. Her staging of certain scenes, particularly the attempted hypnosis of The Canyon Kid by Nastassia Kinky (Emily Smith) became a delirious tango in her hands and choreographed brilliantly. Some of the changes improved the show, while others, to be frank, did not. (My fight scene kicked major ass. Nyah!) But the cast was top notch all the way. Andy Pollock and Christine Arnold totally embodied The Canyon Kid and Darla Darling. There is an extension to their first scene together that was not in the original 1987 script. I added it later when I published it and has never been performed. I had to wipe a tear from my eye because in their hands, it was pretty damn touching if I do say so myself. But I have to say that the show was sent into the stratosphere by Katie Worley in the role of Charlene Atlas. She totally transformed this character, hysterically stealing each scene to the point that I couldn't wait for her next entrance to see what she do next. I would have to say Katie gave the best interpretation of anything I've ever written and one of the finest comic performance I've ever seen on the stage. And to top it all off, she'd only been with the show for a couple of weeks after her predecessor had to leave the cast unexpectedly and Katie, a veteran Great American performer, Amazing. When the curtain fell on SONG OF THE CANYON KID, I leapt to my feet and gave this fine cast a triumphant standing ovation I believed they deserved. I was probably clapping for myself as well. My step-daughter Lindsay would call this "a victory lap".

It turns out that the cast have triple and sometimes quadruple duties at the theater outside of performing. They seat the audience, run the concession stand, then when everyone has cleared out, they clean the auditorium. There's no way in hell we would have done that back at the Palace Showboat. Maybe these guys are paid better, but I personally it to be a major pain in the ass to be the Major Domo before I stepped out on stage as MC. Sure, they are probably paid far and above whatever we were making, but still...

After being treated as King for a Day-or Night, rather- I gave my hail and farewell to these fine folk and hugged each and everyone of them  I even sought some of them out just say they too could have a genuine Scott Cherney embrace. They really were quite a special bunch. Damn kids anyway. The evening ended in true California style at the In-n-Out Burger drive-thru for a Double Double after show dinner.

The long drive back to the Bay Area on Sunday afternoon culminated when Max and I wrapped up the weekend with a huge honking steak dinner before we made our goodbye. We went our separate ways, but forever entwined in true brotherly bond that was reinforced with cement by the incredible gift of his for which I am eternally grateful.

I returned to PDX with a smile on my face that some day may have to be surgically removed, Hopping on the Economy parking lot shuttle in front of the terminal, I, along with my fellow weary travelers, were welcomed back to Portland by our driver, Bob, whose voice sounded like an older version of Chris Farley's character Matt Foley character. It was apparent that he couldn't wait to back to his van down by the river. And for some reason, he decided to toss in a little shuttle driver humor along with the ride.

"What do you call a deer with no eyes? No eye deer."

While the other passengers chose to ignore this, but I just had to chuckle. Yep. I was back in Portland alright.

I drove home in my wife's VW Bug and was just around the corner from I where I live when something slammed up against the car on the driver's side. It was louder than it was forceful since I didn't lose any control at all of the steering. I didn't see a thing and thought I ran over something, but I checked the mirrors and saw a flash of brown fur galumphing away and disappearing into the night.

Apparently it was a no eye deer.

Fortunately, I was unharmed. Unfortunately, the car has a broken fender, a severely dented door and a broken headlight. Bambi? I haven't a clue. Couldn't find him, but somehow I think he was going to feel that bump the next day.

And just like that, summer ended and fall fell.

Curtain

More Yin, Less Yang

Here we are at the mid-point of summer already. Time flies when you’re not paying attention.

Prop from THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS

Life is a funny thing with that yin, yang and the whole dang thang. On one hand, it’s a nightmare of apocalyptic proportions…Malaysian airliners shot down or just disappear altogether, Iraq is back, my hometown of Stockton turns into a sequel of the film HEAT adding much tension and chaos to natural disasters such as fire season, drought and hey, are the locust on stand-by? Mix this up in a blender with the stresses of everyday living in the 21^st century and you’ve got the draft of a suicide note ready to be posted in your Facebook status.

Then…there’s the good stuff, the things that fortunately are weighing in on the good side to provide balance in this cockamamie world-family, friends, home and everything that floats our collective boats

AND…THE BLESSED EXTRAS…

For me, it’s been the production of my plays this summer, something I’ve been striving for since the dawn of the planet of the Cherney. 

THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS just wrapped up in Nashville TN for the Mel O’Drama Theater company. My thanks again to the cast, crew and especially producer Melanie Roady for this unique opportunity. I’d never written a script on spec before, let alone a murder mystery. It was also a challenge trying to collaborate from opposite sides of the country, but apparently, it all came together.  Me in Nashville…who da thunk it?

Andy Pollock and Christine Arnold in SOTCK, Oceano style

Then there’s SONG OF THE CANYON KID at the Great American Melodrama in Oceano, CA that is currently running through September and has picked up three…count ‘em…three great reviews.

REVIEW#1

REVIEW#2

REVIEW#3

The fact that I’m not mentioned in any of these write-ups is beside the point. However…

SONG OF THE CANYON KID WAS WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

So there
.

What was really nifty, keen, cool and boss-o was that these two shows were running at the same time. Never happened before, but hopefully will happen again.

In the meantime, the same show, SONG OF THE CANYON KID under its original title SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE or POEM ON THE RANGE is set to open August 29 in Jamestown, CA for the Footlight Theatre Company at the same time the Oceano show will still be playing. In fact, they close on the very same night.

Quite a coup, eh wot?

It would be even sweeter if I could just garner a few decent sales for the novel version of said play, SONG   

OF THE CANYON KID, a western comedy romance. This sucker has FLATLINED.It’s a goddamn shame. I think it’s a good piece of work and I haven’t been able to even give it away. (That’s not true. There is a giveaway for a free copy on Goodreads. See below.) It even got a good review all by itself.

CANYON KID BOOK REVIEW 

See?

There’s that yin and yang again.

So there’s been a lot of yin this year, but far too much yang. I’m grateful any yin I can have or can get, but to provide balance and that I don’t go sliding into a big steaming pile of yang…

MORE YIN PLEASE!
That goes for the rest of y'all too. Be good to each other. And for corn's sakes, be good to yourself too.

SONG OF THE CANYON KID is now playing through September 20 at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, CA 

SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE opens August 29 at the Footlight Theatre Company in Jamestown, CA

SONG OF THE CANYON KID, the book, is now on sale at Amazon

A Canyon Kid Summer

Big doin's in the world of The Canyon Kid!

On June 19, The Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano, CA presents SONG OF THE CANYON KID (aka SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE) written by yours truly. This is the first production of this western comedy melodrama since its 1987 world premiere at the legendary Pollardville Palace Showboat Theater in Stockton, which I also directed. This particular show will run all summer long until September 20.


THE GREAT AMERICAN MELODRAMA and VAUDEVILLE

That's just Southern California. Northern California steps up to the plate later in the season.


On August 29, the Footlight Theatre Company stages its own production of the same play under its original title in conjunction the Hurst Ranch in Jamestown, CA. It involves a train ride, BBQ, live band and sounds

like quite the event. This prod closes the same night as the other-September 20.

FOOTLIGHT THEATRE CO. ON FACEBOOK                                      
So what the fun is it-SONG OF THE CANYON KID or LONE PRAIRIE? Well, when I was working on the novelization, I always meant to change the title for the book. When Great American contacted me, they asked to change it to TALES OF...but I balked and suggested the other. They went ahead and added it to their 2014 line-up, though they added an S to their promotional brochure calling it SONGS. Sigh. After the summer shows, the play title will be SONG OF THE CANYON KID. Stay tuned. Or not.

But the BOOK is now and always will be SONG OF THE CANYON KID..Yeah,  a real, honest to God BOOK that you hold in your hands, flip the pages, throw at your loved ones and what not. This fine tome is available on Amazon in paperback and Kindle versions.

SONG OF THE CANYON KID ON AMAZON

So all in all, it is indeed the summer of the Canyon Kid. It's been a long time coming, but from the dude who created these characters many moons ago in a wondrous land called Pollardville, I believe that the time for the straight-shootin', guitar strummin' cowboy has finally come.

Yippie-ky-ay indeed.

Croak and Dagger: A Frog Blog

Where the hell have I been ?

As of late, my on-line presence has diminished to a few paltry, however pithy posting on Facebook while this blog has dried up quicker than a California water bed (a reference both timely and outdated).

The truth of the matter is I've been spending some quality time with my new frog friend. No, I didn't get a new pet and I'm not having an acid flashback. I don't think. Wait. No. I'm fine.
A few postings back I announced that my play SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE ( re-named SONG OF THE CANYON KID to coincide with the new book) is being produced this summer at The Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano, California.One of the sweetest things about this is that they contacted me. I didn't solicit them.

After receiving that swell news, I took the bulls by the bouillon and sent out this script along with LA RUE'S RETURN (which I co-wrote with Ed Thorpe) to some other theaters specializing in melodrama across the country. Even though most of them picked their 2014 seasons already, I jumped the gun and submitted them for 2015. Currently these two works o' mine (and Ed's of course) are being considered at theater companies in Colorado, California, Texas and even here in Oregon for next year. I guess my query skills have improved since I got a lot of bites when I cast my line in these waters.

One establishment I contacted was actually named Mel O'Drama Theater located in Nashville and son of a gun if I didn't get a bite. Melanie Roady, the owner/operator/namesake of M O'D had particular interest in LA RUE, but after reading it decided it didn't fit her particular format. You see, her group specializes in interactive murder mysteries, something I would have known if I had only read the website instead of taking the name at face value. What do you want from me? If I go to Barney's Beanery, I expect to see beans on the menu, not cupcakes.

However, Mel had a proposition for me. Would I like to try my hand at one of her shows based on her outline? Oh and by the way, the main character is a frog who solves the crime.

"Why sure," I agreed. "Wait a hippity-hoppity second here...a frog? A frog frog? Is this a Muppet murder mystery? Oh, a frog man. Like a scuba diver. Nooo...a man with frog-like characteristics. Okayyyyy...."

Francois is a character created in a series of paintings by artist Jann Harrison who also resides in Nashville. Jann has conceived a whole mythology that go along with each piece she's painted. So Francois is a suave, debonair bon vivant who is, to use her words, "a man in transition".
 http://www.jannharrison.com/

I agreed to pen a script but I was under a very tight deadline and the challenge itself proving rather daunting. Murder mysteries are not my first love and red herrings do not sit well in my tummy tum tum. Then to transform this man-frog, frog-man, lily pad lover to the stage and make him palatable as a main character was just icing on the fish cake.

What prompted me to continue was that the story was set in New Orleans, the same setting for LA RUE.which is what interested the producer in the first place. I'm crazy in love with the culture an lore of  N'Awlins and had the good fortune of just finishing up the finale episodes of TREME and the current season of AMERICAN HORROR STORY (which unfortunately ended very weakly). So I added Mardi Gras to the storyline as well as a touch of voodoo here and some Cajun spice there.
After two and a half weeks of banging my head against the wall trying to figure out the intricacies of who killed who and with what and how , I turned in a script with two possible endings (different killers for different nights). Challenge accepted, challenge met. Now it's time for some fine tuning.

What I didn't realize is that the show has already been pre-booked. Mel Roady got shows lined up for this froggy lil' epic beginning APRIL 12! And there's my name, prominently in the credits.

Such is the power of networking. I scored another gig. 2014 will see two separate productions on either side of the United States written by (ahem) Scott Cherney.

And I'm hungry for more

UPDATE: THE PERILS OF FRANCOIS has been re-named DEAD TUESDAY,  thanks to Jerri Wiseman of the StageCoach Theatre Company

DEAD TUESDAY is available at SCOTT CHERNEY'S STORE or to read a free excerpt go to my website WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

Performance rights are available. For info, write to me : writtenbysc@gmail.com

Tell 'em Francois sent ya.

The Year of the Canyon Kid

For far too long, I've gone without publishing any new material-save this venue-and it's high time that I did. My last works were the South Africa true travel tale PLEASE HOLD THUMBS and some extra added attractions for the Special Edition of IN THE DARK. But since then?

Zippity-doo-dah, zippity-ay
My-oh-my, I've had nothing to say

It wasn't like I didn't try, fer garsh sakes. I attempted to kick-start a decades-old project with varying degrees of success, but I came to a screeching halt. I wasn't necessarily blocked as I was out-and-out constipated. I need a creative laxative. STAT!

I felt the need to mine the past for future gold. Thus, I dug into the manuscript vault (actually a Rubbermaid container) and snatched up some of my old work, namely, some old play scripts. The thought of a novelization had somehow entered my thought patterns.

Believe you me, I fully realize the stigma of this sort of cannibalization, but as long as I have my foot in my mouth anyway, I might as well make a meal out of it. Besides, it might help my inspirational digestion. I am, after all, full of natural fiber.

The Canyon Kid (Greg Pollard) serenades Darla Darling (Leslie Fielding)

After an aborted attempt at my Lone Ranger knock-off LEGEND OF THE ROGUE, I nearly gave up the entire notion and try a different tact. Instead, I latched onto a better script, my melodramatic magnum opus SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE or POEM ON THE RANGE.

I began by merely transposing dialogue and stage direction into prose. I tried to keep it as basic as possible, inspired by a glut of Elmore Leonard novels I had been digesting as of late. It actually began to take on a a life of its own which, off course, was the point of this exercise. Fleshing out the characters and situations began to flow like Ol' Man River. Tagging on a sweet lil' epilogue put on a smile on my face and I realized that relief was in sight.

The whole experience rejuvenated me. By returning to my roots, my right brain's pilot light has reignited. It has reminded how much I enjoy writing comedy. Whether the end result is funny or not  will have to depend on the individual reader since we're talking subjectivity here. (Or at least I'm talking about it. I can't hear you from here.) I can declare in all honesty that this whole experience has given me more joy since I wrote the original script back in the 1980s. Since this is a totally DIY project from beginning until end, I've been taking my sweet time editing and rewriting numerous versions. Each time through I find myself cracking myself up at the new material and even at some of the old. I just kill me sometimes. For someone with deeply embedded  insecurities, it's another mental wellness antidote that I apparently needed.

Where this leaves anybody else is,well, anybody's guess. It's not really my concern. I am pleased with the end result. All I can hope for is that readers will feel the same or get enough laughs to justify their time and, of course, money.

So allow me to introduce to you, the world, the first "new" Scott Cherney book of the 2010s:

THE SONG OF THE CANYON KID
A Western Comedy Romance
NOW ON SALE IN PAPERBACK
and on
AMAZON KINDLE
The story? I'm glad you asked.

When a guitar-strumming, straight-shooting singing cowboy known as The Canyon Kid returns to Dirt Clod, Missouri, he finds his town in ruins and under the tyrannical thumb of a crooked "hanging judge". To make matters worse, The Kid also learns that his childhood sweetheart is set to marry a known outlaw who is now the town sheriff. How is The Canyon Kid going to save the day, let alone croon a few tunes, with a noose around his neck?

Guess you'll have to find out for yourselves.

CHECK OUT A FREE EXCERPT AT
MY WEBSITE

To coincide with said book, the source play, SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE is set to be the Summer 2014 attraction at the Great American Melodrama & Vaudeville in Oceano, California. It too is renamed SONG OF THE CANYON KID, even though their brochure calls it SONGS (their error). It don't make me no never mind. This announcement came right out of the blue and I am completely over the moon they wanted my show. What beautiful timing. It is also the first time my play will be produced since its debut in 1987 at the Palace Showboat Dinner Theater at Pollardville, a version I also directed. (Yes, I am a proud hyphenate)

So even though the book debuts here in December, I hereby declare 2014 The Year of the Canyon Kid.

Happy trails to me.

At last.