It's All About Sex!

Throw in death and God and you’ve covered pretty much the entire canon of English Literature.  But death is a downer, and we try to stay out of religious discussions, so our first conception of this musical centered squarely on sex.

Well, what’s wrong with that?  Nothing:  the first draft we tried was great—hysterically funny, sharp, and biting.  For characters we have the sexy, shady lady—an accomplished young woman whose sexual confidence results in a myriad of interesting and adventurous affairs.  Next is our romantically frustrated romance novelist who writes torrid, fantastical sex scenes all night long, but can’t find someone with whom to try them.  Her roommate is a peppy, asexual Bio major—a girl whose interest in sex rests solely in the mechanical process of procreation. We loved these character. We still do. We still have them...

But in the midst of these characters we had our two roommates: the boy magnet and the clueless, but lovable geek. And we loved them too, despite their terminal one-dimensionality. 

We had a place to start, and it was a decent one—something worth sinking our teeth into: sex.  Good stuff.

Except then I went on to explain our growing ideas to my aunt, and every sentence I uttered hammered home that message.  Everything was about sex.  Everything.  We had lost our original ideas about sisterhood and the pursuit of impossible dreams.  All of the earnest ideals that had inspired us in the first place were gone.  Even worse, the material that remained sounded like a desperate plot from the imagination of some sex-starved crazy—and that struck me just a little too close to home.

So I went back to my partner-in-creativity, and before I could even voice my doubts, she was expressing her own reservations.  The sex was funny—some of the scenes were really good—but our reason for writing was drowning under an ocean of double entendre.  All that sharp, witty banter bled our characters of their sincerity.  In the case of our main characters, their boy-related conflicts minimized the importance of their decisions on this crucial, life changing evening.

We had one roommate deciding whether to stay with her boyfriend, and the other chasing after the boy of her dreams.  Suddenly we were writing a romantic comedy, and I love romantic comedies.  Done well they are an incredible source of emotional and spiritual empowerment for women, and those elements were definitely among our goals for this musical.  But the relationship we wanted to focus on was the sisterhood between two staggeringly different women – a subject in which we have some experience.

So we went back to the drawing board to reinvent our characters and their conflicts.  Maddie, our vivacious, indecisive but driven roommate dabbled in five majors before settling into political science.  She’s determined to take Washington, DC by storm, but now she’s in love with a man headed in the opposite direction.  She wants it all—love, marriage, and a kick-ass career.  How can she get it?

Her roommate Bran isn’t as ambitious.  Actually, she’s made a life out of dreaming within the realm of reality.  She’s had a life plan since she was eleven, and if it lacks passion and fulfillment, at least it never disappoints her.  But today, the day that all of her hard work and careful planning comes to fruition, fate throws a boulder into the smooth path of her life.  And as she considers the detours around this menacing obstacle, her confined imagination is tempted to explore the unknown, unbeaten wilderness of possibility.  Is there more out there in the uncharted depths of human existence?  Is she brave enough to seek it out?

But the sex?  What happened to the sex?

Don’t worry, it’s still there.  Our characters are still sexually interesting beings, but their entire existence is no longer defined by the sex they are or are not having.  They are their own people now— full, well rounded women with much more to live for and think about than just sex.  Although I’m sure they’d enjoy some from time to time.  Well, except for the Bio major — more about her later.

Thanks for sticking with us!

~Rhiannon

The Morning After

It happened late one night at Wellesley College in the spring of 2010.

My roommate May-Elise paces our floor, contemplating how to attend the six conflicting engagements that she’s scheduled for the following day.  She’s little, blonde, and full of verve – can you see her pacing, worrying away a big hole in our floor?

Now cut to me.  I’m sitting on my pink and lime green bed, staring at my phone, waiting hopelessly for the boy I like to text me back.  I’m not as little, not as blonde, and just now I’m wearing my big Wellesley sweatshirt, almost ready to call it quits and go to bed.

And in the midst of her pacing, my roommate begins chanting to herself:

“I must say no,

I must say no!”

And in the same sing-song tempo, I chip in:

“Answer,

Answer!”

Laughter ensues. We sound like Henry Higgins and Colonel Pickering stressing out before Eliza’s ball in My Fair Lady. 

“We should write a song,” May-Elise says.

“We should write a musical!” I say—impulsively, insanely, impossibly…

Cut to today. We’re writing a musical.  Yes, we’re crazy.  We knew that the morning after, staring at each other over coffee mugs, still convinced that our sleep-deprived idea from the night before was something worth pursuing.  While our 3 a.m. brainstorming session produced many ridiculous plot devices, one theme followed us into daylight.

We wanted to write about the supportive, incredible sisterhood that we were lucky enough to find at Wellesley.  Our connection with the women around us has inspired us to dream beyond the restrictions of the “possible” and to strive toward the impossible.

We’ve struggled with the plot for a year, but I think we’re finally getting to a story that reflects our initial ideals:

It happens one night at an unnamed women’s college while life changing decisions loom over two seniors.  They have wildly different approaches to life, but four years after they were stuck together as freshman roommates, they’re still together—loving, supporting, and staying sane. But tonight the stress of indecision and broken dreams becomes too much, and their friendship begins to crack under the pressure.  Can their relationship survive the night?  Will they have the strength and guts to realize their most impossible dreams?

Well, yes. Let’s face it, we like happy endings.  But come along with us anyway while we figure out how to write and produce the musical that thrived in the morning sunshine.  I’m sure we have a few surprises left.

Wish us luck!

~Rhiannon