LISTEN by Jane Kelley

So here I am. In the middle of Connecticut. At the Goodspeed Opera House. The place where ANNIE was first produced. And MAN OF LA MANCHA. Talk about dreaming the impossible dream to escape the hard-luck life. I'm one of the participants at the 2024 Johnny Mercer Foundation Writers Grove at Goodspeed Musicals.

How did this happen? I write novels for kids. By myself. At my kitchen table.

But here I am. The oldest writer here, certainly the one with the least experience in musical theater, writing a musical with my collaborators. Fortunately these guys know theater!

Greg Alexander writes, directs, and acts in plays and musicals at the B Street Theatre in Sacramento. Clifford Lee Johnson III ran the musical theater department at Manhattan Theatre Club before becoming an independent producer and writer. 

And here I am. Gulp.

What do you do when you're surrounded by super talented people whose gorgeous music sweeps over you in a wave of feelings that carries you to an entirely new place.

What do you do when your collaborators tell you scene 7 doesn't move the show forward. 

What do you do when the dramaturg has pointed insights about how to make your show better.

What do you do when your favorite joke doesn't fit the show anymore.

You listen. And get lifted and inspired and supported and tweaked and energized and nurtured.

And somehow your show gets better.

Jane Kelley is the writer of many middle-grade novels and one musical WIP entitled GRACE AND THE BUTTERFLY EFFECT.