The Canyon Kid Meets Cactus Jack Corona

Theatre Suburbia', rockin' the meme

Like the true blue western hero he is, The Canyon Kid rides into Houston, Texas to help the good folks of Theatre Suburbia battle against the meanest, orneriest desperado of them all-Cactus Jack Corona!

I've made no secret of the gratitude I feel about the success I've had in the past six years with my play writing with productions across the country. It's still bewildering to me that someone-ANYONE-would want to produce my work. This isn't false humility speaking and I'm not looking for platitudes, though if you have any, feel free to throw them in my direction.

With this here pandemic, things have ground to a halt. Theaters have closed their doors, auditoriums are empty, stages are collecting dust and theater folk are getting sick and tired of Charades. "It's HAMILTON already!"

I've wanted to give back to the theater community in some form or another to give thanks for what I've been able to achieve with their help. I wrote a post a couple of months back (CURTAIN CALLS) in an attempt to throw my support behind those who have produced my shows and theater in general.
But I wanted to do more.

About a month ago, Elvin Moriarty from Theatre Suburbia in Houston, Texas, contacted me to ask if I would allow them to show the filmed production of THE SONG OF THE CANYON KID on their website as a fund-raiser. Mine wouldn't be the only play, but it would be one of the first. Naturally, I said yes. (If I said no, that would be just wrong)

So starting this weekend, you can view the Theatre Suburbia production of SONG OF THE CANYON KID or POEM ON THE RANGE at:

http://new.theatresuburbia.org/

Check out my show as well as Paulette MacDougall's SHARDS OF LOVE and please give them a donation in return. This 60 year old theater's survival is in the balance. Listen to my friend Elvin and President of the Board Elvin Moriarty's message and you'll see what I mean. Theatre Suburbia was cut off at the knees, only days away from their production of DADDY'S DYIN'...WHO'S GOT THE WILL? and in the middle of their relocation to a new facility. They need a break, that's for sure.

These are good people who have a passion for theater that transcends this virus. Help them get through this, won't you?

I thank you, Theatre Suburbia thanks you and The Canyon Kid thanks you.

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.

Sunset on the Lone Prairie

It's official.

The melodrama formerly known as SONG OF THE LONE PRAIRIE will be known from this day forward as SONG OF THE CANYON KID. This coincides with the book of the same name making it all one big happy Canyon Kid family. Just call me Marlon Re-Brando. Next up is the SONG OF THE CANYON KID coloring book, the SONG OF THE CANYON KID action figures and of course, LEGO SONG OF THE CANYON KID which you can curse to the high heavens when you step on one of the pieces in the middle of the night when you're on your way to the can.

This here proclamation o' mine  also arrives just in the nick of time for the next (and last for 2016) production of SOTCK begins July 22 and running through August 27 at Theatre Suburbia in Houston, Texas as what they charmingly refer to as their annual Summer "Mellerdrammer".

THEATRE SUBURBIA WEBSITE

That will make five productions in the past three years. Not bad for a nearly 30 year old property, even though it was almost three decades between the first and second staging of said "classic".

I've chronicled the creation of this script in previous posts, most notably THE CANYON KID RIDES AGAIN,  And quite frankly, it;s been very good for me. It's my best melodrama script and I am completely floored, flattered and absolutely flabbergasted by its success, something I will never take lightly..

But after the 2014 show at the Great American Melodrama and Vaudeville in Oceano where it was named SONG OF THE CANYON KID  for the first time, I wanted to make it a permanent change. I drug my feet because there were theaters that I had submitted the script under its original name and since they has already announce for their seasons, I didn't feel I could change it until after those made their final curtains.

Now I can, have and did. THE LONE PRAIRIE now rides into the sunset. Adios, old friend. Vaya con dios.

To obtain a copy of the script for SONG OF THE CANYON KID in paperback or download, please visit my store.
SCOTT CHERNEY'S STOREFRONT.
You can also find the novelization of said script there as well, not to mention e-books available at
AMAZON, NOOK, I-TUNES and KOBO.

For information about stage rights for SONG OF THE CANYON KID, drop me a line at:
writtenbysc@gmail.com.

Press Press Pull

The recowboybooting of The Song of the Canyon Kid book continues with this here press release.

Be it ever so hostile, there's no place like home.

Such is the hard lesson learned by a singing cowboy's homecoming in Scott Cherney's new western comedy romance novel, Song of the Canyon Kid.

A straight-shooting, guitar strumming buckaroo known as The Canyon Kid returns to Dirt Clod, Missouri only to find his hometown in ruins due to the machinations of a corrupt "hanging" judge. To make matters worse, he discovers that his childhood sweetheart is about to marry his sworn enemy, a ruthless desperado who is not only the town sheriff, but also dead set on framing The Canyon Kid for murder.

"It's a total cartoon," Cherney explains. "I mean the main character is a singing cowboy. When is the last book you hummed? And, in full disclosure, it's also a novelization."

The author adapted his story from his comic melodramatic play entitled Song of the Lone Prairie or Poem on the Range which debuted in 1987 at the late, great Pollardville Palace Showboat Theater in Stockton, California, a production he also directed.

"Pollardville was a magical place," Cherney recalls. "We had a melodrama/vaudeville theater as well as our very own western ghost town on the property where we'd get paid to play cowboy on the weekends. Our duties included robbing the train, engaging in fisticuffs and shooting it out with fellow gunslingers at High Noon. This was the birthplace of The Canyon Kid."

Cherney realizes the stigma of a novelization, but he felt creatively stagnated and needed a writing exercise to get himself in gear. Digging through his old writings, he came across his script for Lone Prairie, a melodrama he considers his best and the culmination of everything he learned at Pollardville.

Adapting it into novel form came fairly easy, fleshing out the characters and story while transposing the stage direction into prose. Soon, it began took on a life of its own.

"I loved revisiting my old characters and giving them back stories like Nastassia Kinky and her brother, Two Gun Boris, the fastest gun this side of the Ukraine. I also made The Kid's horse, Thunder, more of a supporting character. And the love story is something I never I thought I was capable of pulling off, but I feel like I did. Overall I had a blast with this, the most fun I've had with a project since I wrote the original back in the '80's. It certainly helped to rekindle my love for writing.”

Concurrent with the release of Song of the Canyon Kid has been renewed interest in the original source material, the melodrama which has been performed across the United States for the third year in a row. This summer, The Canyon Kid and Co. will riding into two separate productions in Texas. On Memorial Day Weekend, The Brazos Theatre Group in Waco will be the final performances of Song of the Lone Prairie under that title. The same show with the revised title of Song of the Canyon Kid opens this July in Houston’s Theatre Suburbia.

“The Canyon Kid has been very good to me. I hope I’ve returned the favor,” author/playwright  Scott Cherney declares about his creation. “By digging back into my roots, I’ve found that sometimes you have to take step back in order to move forward.”

Song of the Canyon Kid is available in paperback and e-book.

More information can be found at: http://www.scottcherney.com