A little more

So, I realize I left some information out of the last post. That was somewhat on purpose. I wanted to save something to type about later. It's also really hard for me to make the next leap of faith in this blog: giving away the subject of my musical.

I'm really afraid that someone's going to steal my idea. It's irrational, I know. And I also know that whatever musical I write will probably be unsuccessful if it's mine, and fate will spite me by making it terribly successful when someone else takes my work.

But I have to do it. I have to say it. I have to trust that the people here are going to be supportive rather than destructive.

But, now that I've beaten around the bush, the time is come.

My musical is based on the cult classic film Delicatessen. If you haven't seen it, I strongly suggest that you do. It's one of my very favorites.

The plot of the movie is hard to explain without it sounding like Sweeney Todd; it will be even harder to explain how I plan on approaching it without it sounding like, well, Sweeney Todd. But try I shall.

The movie is set in a post-apocalyptic Paris, were the Apocalypse to have happened in the 50's. They don't entirely say what the catastrophe was, but it's not entirely important. The effects are obvious; all of the world's meat sources have died, and the only food left to eat is lentils and corn, which have become the currency used.

All of the action of the movie occurs in one apartment, which has some very interesting and colorful tenants. However, the apartment also houses a dark secret: the butcher who runs it hires a handyman every week in the hopes of fattening him up and killing him for meat.

The handyman hired, however, is an ex-clown named Louison and the butcher's (Clapet's) daughter Julie falls in love with him. She tries her hardest to save him and turns to the underground vegetarian society known as the Troglodistes to stop Clapet's dastardly plan.

The main point of the movie, however, is exploring the interaction of the zany characters, who all act very different in the desperation of the time. Aurore, for example, hears voices in her head telling her to commit suicide, so she invents many Rube Goldberg machines to try and do so, all of which end up failing. The Tapiocas, a family of five, scrounge around for various supplies to sell or eat. An unnamed old man simply lets his apartment overrun with water and keeps a farm of frogs and snails to eat. A pair of brothers continue making silly inventions just to pass the time, trying not to think about how little they have to eat. And finally Madame Plusse seduces Clapet so that she doesn't have to worry about providing herself with food.

I've got some ideas for themes to bring out, but I'm not quite sure what order to do so. I think I'm going to start with leitmotifs (songs associated with characters) and see how I can string them together to try and come up with numbers. I guess we'll see how this goes over the next few weeks. If you have any suggestions, feel free to leave me a comment!