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!

Of Mice and Me

So much for the best laid plans. 

I've come to the decision to bring my unfortunately short time as a playwright representative to a close. Therefore I am no longer handling Michael K. Young's CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT or Terry Smith's trio of scripts MURDER ON THE BRITISH EXPRESS, PROPOSAL IS MURDER and MOONSHINE MURDERS. These two gentlemen have been very accommodating and patient throughout this process and I tip my non-existent cap to them. 

So what happened? Or should I ask what didn't happen? In recent years, I've had some success marketing my own scripts independently basically one theater at a time, a time-tested method that worked for me, hence the two dozen productions that I've had for my work. However it didn't translate very well with properties that were not my own. Try as I might, I was spinning my wheels and not gettin' nowhere for my clients. It wasn't that the entire enterprise was a total botch. I was able to score Mike a couple of productions in that time, but in the past year, it's quite frankly been a struggle. What started as a side hustle had devolved into a side hassle. My times at bat became a series of walks, fouls and complete whiffs, so if I felt it best that I bench myself and set my two fellow scribes free. It's a damn shame because I wanted to do this for some time, hopefully growing this into a self-sustaining business in these, what I hesitate to call, my twilight years. (Now what? A greeter at Wal-Mart? I hate blue vests!)

My own work was suffering as well. I have several projects sitting on an metaphorical shelf, collecting dust bunnies in the hutch that is my mind. My already established properties have also languished, taking a backseat to my agent responsibilities,  a perceived conflict of interest, though my plays have always been part of what I pompously called "my catalog of titles". Even though three of my scripts have been published by Off the Wall Plays, sales have never got beyond the flatline and I find the need to continuing to market these suckers myself for the honor and privilege of legitimacy. And my long-gestating book has already turned from a lifelong obsession into an albatross the size of a emu around my neck.

OFF THE WALL PLAYS

The time has come to revert back into my previous incarnation as a Charley Varrick wannabe (aka Last of the Independents). So I have to concentrate on my first, but last remaining client-ME.  My other sites-MURDER, MELODRAMA AND MORE! will remain as I add more content of my plays 'n stuff, not to mention but I will anyway, the mothership, WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY and the FB page of the same name.

MURDER, MELODRAMA AND MORE!

WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY

WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY FACEBOOK PAGE

Should an interest in Mike and Terry's interactive murder mystery scripts, feel free to contact me at: writtenbysc@gmail.com and I will forward your information to them.

As a personal note to Mike and Terry, thanks again for allowing me to be your playwright representative for the last little while. I hope you wish me the best of luck in my future endeavors because, unironically, that it what I wish for you guys.

Adios, amigos.

 

Off the Wall

It's a triple play...literally!

My first solo script, written WAY back in the latter part of the 20th century and produced on the stage of the late, great Palace Showboat Dinner Theater at Pollardville in Stockton, California, has just been published by Off the Wall Plays. 

This is my third script to be picked up by Off the Wall after the tropical adventure comedy ROXANNE OF THE ISLANDS and the interactive murder mystery MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER.

I hereby present to you...THE LEGEND OF THE ROGUE or MASK ME NO QUESTIONS.

Hard times have fallen on the Clayfoot Indian tribe with the arrival of Randolph Hitlear, an ex-Confederate general obsessed with idea of starting a second Civil War under his leadership. To finance this effort, Hitlear searches for the Clayfoot's mountain treasure, the Tomb of Gold. With the help of his dastardly henchmen, Ashley and Rhett, Hitlear forces the tribe into slavery to dig for the gold including the Clayfoot leader, Chief Boyardee. His daughter, Fawn, is a mystic who has the ability to speak to the Great Spirits. From them she learns of a prophecy that states that "the dark cloud of evil shall ride a warrior of good who shall become a savior". With that thought in mind, Fawn seeks the help of Brian Ryan in nearby Parched Throat, Arizona, a handsome young lawyer who moonlights as sheriff of this one lizard town. Brian falls in love with Fawn at first glance, raising the ire of saloon singer Sugar De Spice who wants to put her claws into the novice lawman herself. When the sheriff agrees to help, a jealous Sugar, along with the weasely corrupt Indian agent Percival P. Pestt, inform Hitlear. Laying in wait for the sheriff, Hitlear gets the upper hand upon Brian's arrival and in the fracas, Fawn is killed. When Brian is left for dead himself in the desert, Sugar has a change of heart and rescues him. Back in town, Fawn's spirit comes to him in his delirium and empowers Brian with special abilities given to him by the Great Spirits since he is indeed the warrior of good in the prophecy. Brian dons a mask and adopts the persona of the masked avenger known as The Rogue. He catches up to Hitlear just as he enters the fabled Tomb of Gold and thwarts his plans once and for all, saving the Clayfoot tribe and the nation from this vicious war criminal. And the rest is legendary... 

Performance rights are available for both professional and amateur theater productions including community groups, dinner shows, fundraising events, high school and college drama departments.  

CLICK HERE TO READ A PREVIEW OF LEGEND OF THE ROGUE AND FOR INFORMATION ABOUT PERFORMANCE RIGHTS

PLUS

THE LEGEND CONTINUES: AN INSIDE LOOK AT LEGEND OF THE ROGUE

MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER AN INTERGALACTIC INTERACTIVE MURDER MYSTERY

ROXANNE OF THE ISLANDS or THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SARONG-A TROPICAL ADVENTURE COMEDY 

Success Can Be Murder

 

The hits keep right on a'comin'! Maybe because they've been stacked up like planes over La Guardia for the last year and a half. Whatever the reason, I'm glad they're landing now. 

Translation: I have three separate productions of the same show this summer, the interactive murder mystery known far and (sort of wide) as MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER. This riff on STAR TREK and everything geeky has turned out to be very lucrative for yours truly, now the second popular play in my meager catalog. Not bad for something that I thought might not get any further than its first production or in other words: one and done.

But I'm glad to say (at least on this point) that I'm wrong again. Here's the lineup, 1-2-3.

1. On the last weekend in June, SanZman Productions in the Los Angeles area, who also staged DEAD TUESDAY for me, runs THE FINAL FRONTIER as a dinner theater show for two big performances. 

2. In July, my buddy Roscoe with The San Luis Valley Theatre Company in Colorado will produce my show as a one-time event-the second time for this theater (another first!)-for a FREE one night only virtual event on July 24.

https://www.facebook.com/events/524522282122809/?ref=newsfeed

3. And my first production sold in conjunction with my new publisher, Off the Wall Plays, will be a benefit for Stars Unlimited in Liberty, MO. 

This script, which saw the light of day as STAR TRUCK: THE WRATH OF COMIC-CON, thanks to my theater angel, Melanie Roady at her Mel O'Drama Theater in Nashville, was, what I perceived to be fluke. Then again, I felt that way about DEAD TUESDAY, my other murder mystery. So why haven't I written another? Well, I've got some ideas for one, maybe two but possibly three scripts. Even though I'm still working on my book (here we go again), I hope to have something...ANYTHING...put together by the end of summer. If I give myself a deadline, I'm telling myself (and you) that I can do it. So, by Labor Day, one new script. Fingers crossed, thumbs held and cross heart and hope to spit.

Until then, warp drive, Mr. Sulu! Beam me up, Scotty! And put your damn ears down, Spock!

MURDER-THE FINAL FRONTIER is available at OFF THE WALL PLAYS where you can read an elongated preview. Performance rights are definitely available.

For more info, go to my website :

WRITTEN BY SCOTT CHERNEY 

or my previous blogs about MTFF under 

DA PLAYS! DA PLAYS!

Roxanne Redux

Ladies and gentleman, boys and girls, kids of all ages...

It is with a great deal of pride and pleasure that introduce to the world, the latest love of my life.
Her name...

ROXANNE OF THE ISLANDS.

Roxanne is the lead character in what I am calling a tropical adventure comedy melodrama, a mouthful to be sure while the full title of which is:

ROXANNE OF THE ISLANDS
or
THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SARONG

This piece of pure Cherney-ana has been published by Off the Wall Plays, the first of all my works not published by yours truly, a major moment in the life of me.

The story of this epic revolves around the brave and beautiful Roxanne on her home of Ooaheek Island in the South Pacific after World War II. Not only must she contend with a lovesick witch doctor named Zhivago and a 1000 year old goddess with daddy issues who's after her ship-wrecked sea captain boyfriend but also a volcano that just won't give a poor girl a break.

ROXANNE is based on a sub-genre of films from the late thirties-early forties set in far off islands in the South Seas, the more exotic, the better and accuracy be damned. Titles ranged from John Ford's THE HURRICANE to what became the norm, B-programmers like ALOMA OF THE SOUTH SEAS.

Both of these movies had another thing in common besides their theme and locale. They starred the enchanting and drop dead gorgeous Dorothy Lamour. Known mostly today as the foil of Hope and Crosby ROAD pictures, Lamour had quite a career prior to meeting the boys beginning as a big band singer in the 1930s. After moving to Hollywood, it wasn't long before she donned her first sarong in THE JUNGLE PRINCESS, which was such a hit for Paramount at the time, it type-cast from there on in. Dotty was major pin-up girl during WWII and sold so many war bonds she was nicknamed The Bombshell of Bombs. I wanted to write a melodrama with a strong heroine, deviating from the damsel in distress normally seen in this type of show and one not dependent on being rescued by the handsome hero. Dorothy Lamour fit the bill for me.

While this is the first melodrama script I've completed since SONG OF THE CANYON KID (aka LONE PRAIRIE), it began its life back in the 1980s. Where the idea came from originally, I haven't a clue What I recall is that after I wrote LEGEND OF THE ROGUE, I had a series of ideas for melos set in various genres and locations. It always started with the title: DESMOND OF THE DESERT or AN OASIS IN THE HOLE. STAN OF THE SEVEN SEAS or 20,000 LEAKS UNDER THE SEA and MIKE OF THE MISSISSIPPI or YOUNG MAN RIVER. (Yes, they all have subtitles) But initially, the script I leaned toward was JUNGLE FEVER or B'WANA BUY A DUCK featuring the pith helmeted hero Congo Ted. It didn't fly, as much as I struggled with it and eventually went on to the next, that being ROXANNE. I got about half way into it and...the engine stalled out. It ended up sitting in the front yard with the tires off, obviously going nowhere. Fortunately, I saved it because, when I unearthed it over the years, I liked what I wrote so much that I couldn't dispose of it completely. While I considered placing Congo Ted into the mix, I resisted since he would have detracted the true main character, the brave and lovely Roxanne. It took quite a few years, but after my recent success with my other melos, I felt a moral imperative to complete this sucker after all this time and finally, I done did.

I drew a lot of inspiration, as I always do with my melos, from the cartoons of Jay Ward Productions, most famously the creators of Rocky and Bullwinkle, among others along with my own personal fave, GEORGE OF THE JUNGLE. Much of my humor stems from this deep well of brilliant absurdity. My penchant for titles and sub-titles is straight out of a Rocky and Bullwinkle cliffhanger, many times my favorite part of an episode. ROXANNE itself is chock full o' references from the villain's name (Witch Doctor Zhivago) to Roxanne's sister,Fred  ("Papa wanted a boy." "Close, but no cigar.") and the setting, Ooaheek Island, which is the sound a bird makes when it flies to close to the volcano.

What really fueled my muse was when I decided to add a couple of musical numbers including a swing dance number to open ACT II. I couldn't think of a better tune in the world than Benny Goodman's Big Band classic interpretation of Louis Prima's "Sing Sing Sing" with the incomparable Gene Krupa on the drums. I listened to this constantly and found that it really drove the project home.

So there you have it, kitty cats. That's the origin of ROXANNE OF THE ISLANDS. Take a bow, sister. May the world fall in love with you as much as I have.

To read an elongated excerpt or to buy a copy (hint! hint!) go to OFF THE WALL PLAYS .

New Year's Hat Trick

Starting off 2020 with a bang, not a whimper (for a change) because three gosh-darn-it-to-heck swell things have made this the best start to a new year since, oh hell, I don't know. How about ever?

First up, my tropical adventure comedy melodrama (blimey, what a mouthful) entitled ROXANNE OF THE ISLANDS or THEY'RE PLAYING OUR SARONG  is about to be published by Off the Wall Plays. No, not self-published for a change like everything else o' mine, but a real honest to Buddha publishing house.

Ever since I started this leg of my Cherney Journey way back in the 20th century, I've sent out multiple submissions to various play publishers only to see my hopes dashed. Even in the past five years with shows with proven track records, I couldn't seem to break into the field, causing me to do the whole damn thing myself. Yes, it has reaped many benefits over time, but I still felt somehow illegitimate. With my inherent insecurity, I needed some additional validation. (What did I say about no whimpering?) Well, now that I have it, I can tell the stupid voices in my head to shut up already. (Some of them anyway, The others don't work weekends)

I'll post more info when it drops on the Off the Wall website.

Next, from the DIY division, the first play I wrote with Edward Thorpe, the New Orleans based melodrama LA RUE'S RETURN or HOW'S A BAYOU? will have its first full production of the new decade at the Graham Regional Theatre in Graham, Texas beginning January 31 and running until February 9. This production makes LA RUE the most popular show in my toolbox, a damn Energizer bunny that keeps going and going...

This also represents the culmination of a lot of hard work, getting this and my other plays out there to theaters hither and yon, then playing the nerve-wracking waiting game to get either a "Yay" or a "Nay" concerning their prospects for any upcoming theatrical seasons. When it pays off, it is always a sweet victory and, with LA RUE'S RETURN, I can share with my best friend Ed who got me started in this wacky business to begin with.

PREVIOUS POST: THE RETURN OF LA RUE'S RETURN

Finally, that waiting game is about to pay off for Michael K. Young's THE CASE OF THE MYSTERIOUS CRAVAT, the interactive murder mystery I've been shepherding for the past six months, has finally gotten a thumbs up from the Rogue Theatre in Sturgeon Bay, Wisconsin that has previously produced DEAD TUESDAY for me last year. I'm being vague about the theater company in question until we get the full confirmation. Fingers crossed that's it the first of many more to come. I'm happy for Mike because I know the feeling. The first production is like a dream come true, but the second is true validation. Bravo, sir.

For more information about Mike's script, contact me at: writtenbysc@gmail.com

It would behoove me to not believe in jinxes because I want this to be the year it all comes together. Since I am a hot neurotic mess, I always walk on thin ice, so a victory lap can be kind of dicey. However, I can honestly say for me in the year 2020, so far so good.