I started writing a musical in the 80’s based on a one-act play by A.A. Milne—a clever satire on the conventions of the princess fairytale with a message about ignorance and hypocrisy that appealed to me. I wrote a few songs every year and jotted the music down on staff paper. It was all just for fun.

Without the constant encouragement of my two sons it would have remained just an enjoyable hobby. But with their help in organizing the project I put it into a more professional form and in 1989 The San Francisco Pocket opera made a demo tape for me with four of their best singers. My then daughter-in-law, Sharon Wahl, wrote some additions and revisions of the script, and my son, Nico, narrated a short demo tape giving brief synopses of the story along-side snippets of the Pocket Opera’s renditions of the songs.

Armed with these recordings, plus the revised script, I gave the musical a name (Myoptika) and we entered it in an annual nationwide competition called the The American Musical Theater Festival. Out of about 160 entries it made the top five, and in the finals was runner-up to the winner, a musical called Overland about pioneers traveling to Oregon. So…that was that.

In 1995, when I had nearly forgotten the whole project, a new company called The Speakeasy Theatre, that was interested in producing original plays, took an interest in Myoptika. They ended up, through open auditions plus people whom I managed to enlist, with a wonderfully talented  cast of singers and actors. I was lucky to secure the services of three first-rate musicians to join me in an instrumental combo to accompany the singers: Larry London on clarinet, Carla Kaufman on double bass, Don Cobb on violin and keyboard, also serving as Musical Director, with me occasionally on piano. Several middle-schoolers from Black Pine Circle did an admirable job as goblins and palace chorus. Lawrence James, as Director, did a fabulous job in a new theater--as yet lacking many necessities--pulling together and bringing to life a diverse cast plus a stage crew, and in record time.

The theater company was housed in the new Black Pine Circle theater where 6 performances on 2 weekends filled the 100-seater to capacity. The most exciting aspect of these performances (and there were many!) was to watch my two sons as they witnessed an actual live performance of the music they had come to know so well. Without them this production would never have happened!

Howie Gordon, BPC parent and amateur film-maker, video-taped the entire opening day performance. But since it was a new theater, not yet properly miked or lighted and with no way to change vantage point, Howie was at a disadvantage. He did the best he could, trying to capture the action as well as the instrumental combo and audience reaction. Through no fault of his it’s not a recording of the highest quality. But it exists as a record of the event and can serve as a demo to anyone who wants to get a sense of the quality of the performance and of the music and the drama.

Songs from Myoptika

Sung by members of the S.F. Pocket Opera, with Larry London on clarinet and Frances Kandl on piano. Taped in 1988, remastered in 1989.