"Sin" Scene 04

After getting “Devlin” to sign a contract that barters his immortal soul against his ability to corrupt a reverent young Hollywood hopeful, “Santana” sings a short refrain of her “Fire is Burning” theme called “There’s the Girl” to point out “Faith,” performing in a country bar amateur night event.  Devlin responds that the girl seems awfully young and innocent.  Santana says just do your job—"Drive her my way and that’ll to show 'Him,' wait and see..." (God). 

According a longtime friend who has always been an enthusiastic supporter of my work, the last thing anyone expected in my show after the first three songs was a bouncy country number and, also according to him, it was a welcome relief.

After doing a few live shows and having them run for numerous performances—and also, having watched a lot of live shows in my time—I can say without a doubt people who seek out live entertainment love to laugh; if you don’t give an audience something to laugh at they’ll find something on their own whether you like it or not.  On the other hand, once you invite an audience to laugh it’s like a drug, they want more and will—again—often find laughs where none were meant to exist.

With “Sin,” I was trying to do something mature, edgy and dark. Unlike my first show, “Sin” wasn’t meant to be a camp fest.  True camp is tough to pull off.  Oddly, had we done “Ecstasy” the way I wrote it originally, it would have been true camp in the sense that the audience would have laughed at it rather than with it (by design, if they laughed at all that is).  My inspiration was B-movies and bad 70s TV specials, but by 2009 the references I was using were passe, even forgotten.

Kay rightfully turned “Ecstasy” into the kind of fun “camp” that you see in shows like “Hairspray”—silly, loud and over-the-top but it laughs at itself first and invites the audience to laugh along—and there’s no subtlety or subtext.

With “Sin” I was going for something more cerebral, along the lines of Andrew Lloyd Webber/Tim Rice.  For that reason, in some ways the 2011 “sing through” of “Sin” is my favorite because it’s a note-for-note adaptation of what I wrote done by a mature cast of old pros...but, like my “pre-Kay Cole” version of “Ecstasy,” looking back on it, it is pretty heavy and one-note. Even in the 2015 version that was much lighter, some of the reviews I got suggested the first half of the show was a lot more fun and the second half was in dire need of more of that levity.

Maybe. 

I’m not sure how—or why--you would depict dark nights of the soul, suicidal thoughts, love, death, heaven, hell, damnation and obsessive love in a humorous way,  Certainly, around the time “Sin” ended its run, shows like “Dear Evan Hansen” were wearing their hearts on their sleeves, proving heady material could be done on the stage and be successful and popular. 

At any rate, I found my friend Tim was right—the moment “I Sing About You” popped on was the last thing anyone suspected, and that was why it was so fun.

One of the things that caught people off guard was that it was a country song.  I sometimes think country might be the most polarizing musical genre that exists.  I’ve seen people embrace the loudest, nastiest, most hateful music (and “non-music”) imaginable and still say they hate “country” more.

For my part, I was born into a world where country music was pretty common and I liked the harmonies and comfort-food vibe of it, it’s just something that was always around in my world and I was happy to pay tribute to it, in my own way.

I first recorded “I Sing About You” in 1992 when it was called “I Won’t Wait Forever.”

There was a young woman at my work office whose name I won’t reveal out of respect for her privacy; I was looking for a singer and she didn’t hesitate to volunteer.  She also donated the original lyrics, which basically said, “Make up your mind, do you want me or not?” (I never found out to whom the lyrics were directed, thankfully not me). 

I was so happy with how it turned out I decided to isolate the vocals and do the song three different ways.  The first was a kind of rock-pop (which has always been my favorite version), then I did a busy, “high NRG” version (that one seemed to be the favorite of everyone else) and lastly a country version, inspired by Dale Baer, a legendary animator I worked for at the time who loved this kind of thing. 

You can hear the original version from 1992 here, it’s not that easy to listen to, it’s very lo-fi, but since I’m doing this just for posterity I figure it’s worth including on the off chance anyone is ever curious: https://youtu.be/aTiv2Lx0WHE

Then there are the “dancey” and “country” versions, combined as a short clip here:  https://youtu.be/Yqz6Mpr9f3U

While creating three different versions, I got the idea of “a rising star does amateur hour in a country bar and has a rise/fall arc” and was delighted to actually put that idea into a real show in front of an actual audience eventually.

I continued to work the song over and over through the years, as I often do, trying to get it right.  Finally, in 2010, I was able to incorporate the song into the “Sin” demo recording the way I’d originally imagined it.

The first time it appears as an optimistic country tune in praise of “God,” the second time as a kind of generic, robot-ized commercial pop song about sex (more on that later) and finally as the theme melody line/refrain for “Faith.”  Faith sings her theme several times in the show, usually in the form of an inner prayer of some kind.

I left the song a bit nebulous, on purpose.  I very much directed the moment so it could go either way…look at it one way (particularly with the cynical, goofy actions of the dancers in the background) and it might come off as wink-nudge camp, making fun of reverential people, the kind of “over it,” knowing-attitude Los Angeles audiences seem to crave.

But watch Sarah Kennedy as “Faith” closely in the 2015 clip and you’ll see we played it as straight and sincere, she’s singing her guts out and means every word of it, or the character she's playing does anyway.

I liked that…depending on your own beliefs it could be mocking or reverent or both at the same time—much as such things are in life so often.  No wonder some audience members were left confused by it; that’s probably appropriate.

I was fortunate enough to be able to enlist Kēhau Gabriel to sing on the demo CD in 2010 and play the role live for the sing-through in 2011.

In truth, while I’d thought up the part of “Faith” after working with the original singer of “I Won’t Wait Forever” in 1992 (and she was, in many ways, the feisty-but-devout character incarnate), I created the part with Kēhau in mind from the moment I got the idea while in rehearsals for "Ecstasy."

She had been a dancer and dance captain who worked closely with Kay on “Ecstasy” in 2009 and really “broke out” in that show…not only as a ridiculously talented dancer/singer/actor but she also was (is) incredibly beautiful and, above and beyond all, a wonderful person to know.

She jumped right in when I asked her to do the demo recording and provided many extra backing vocals on the demo with her perfect voice too. 

She embodied the character in the sing-through performance, even letting Kay and I force her to do a quick change into a silly costume and briefly become a kind of early “Lady Gaga” in another scene. 

I was truly lucky to have Kēhau gift me with her talents in both of my first shows and I love following her career online to this day.   Here’s a brief clip showing her rendition of “I Sing About You” in 2011:  https://youtu.be/ULtN40p2D1A?feature=shared

When it came time do the Fringe Fest version of “Sin” in 2015 Kēhau was not available unfortunately, and I was unsure how I’d find someone as gifted, dedicated, pleasant and just so perfect for the role, as she had been.

Somehow, the “gods of showbiz” were with me…out of the blue someone responded to my casting call immediately after I put it up, showed up to the audition and landing the part with just a few notes of her audition song. 

Sarah Kennedy is, quite honestly, one of the most talented singer/performers I’ve ever had the pleasure to work with and I was in awe of her right from the start.  I remember thinking I at least had to pretend I had to think about whether or not to give Sarah the role immediately; a couple hours after the audition I told her the part was hers if she wanted it and, as the first role cast, it was just a hint of the good things to come.

Sarah was able to bring the sense of reverence I wanted for the character of “Faith” but also brought an unexpected sense of power I didn’t know the role needed…”Faith” is no blushing violet or blind follower…like the co-worker who originally inspired the character in 1992, Faith knows who she is, what she wants and her own inner morality exceeds the sometimes-rigid “rules” of religion as many people see them.

In some ways the character of “Faith” might also be a reflection of my dear, departed sister who showed me how she was able to reframe religion and the concept of “God” to remove the judgement, fear, constricting beliefs and shame that sometimes accompanies the subject.

What I remember most is how professional and prepared Sarah always was (having to commute to the rehearsals from Orange County), how powerful her voice was (and still is), how she undestood, embraced and embodied the character, and how lucky I felt to be able to work with this rising star at the beginning of her career.

On a more humorous level, I remember Sarah’s dismay when she saw the absurd costume and wig I had planned for the “Lady Gaga” sequence later.  I remember telling a relative of hers who had come to see the show that it “might get a little spicy, just fyi” and  how he smiled  knowingly and said with a laugh, “We’re used to her being spicy by now.” Mostly I remember how we almost didn’t have an opening night because the show was being performed in a bar that served alcohol and, unknown to me, Sarah wasn’t yet 21 at the time (I had never thought to ask; welcome to independent production!).

I’m thrilled to have this clip of Sarah performing a song that has been with me for decades, and lest I forget, the scene is yet another showcase for the dancers, Kirby Harrell and Natalie Willz…more on that soon, but they were outstanding, both as actors playing a “Greek chorus,” and as performers able to improvise and adapt my ideas into reality, doing it all while maintaining a calm, cool, beautiful and professional demeanor.  Their giddy pantomime playing of the instruments of Faith’s “band” always brought the house down, and their mix of seduction and a little cheek made them a favorite element of the show for many in the audience night after night.

Sarah Kennedy in the 2015 Fringe Fest show doing “I Sing About You” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DG_N8PRyl0o