30 Days Of NYMF: Day 8 HURRICANE

Hurricane
By Eric Bernat, book

I am almost 100 years old!

Several years ago, while feeding me a banana mashed together with donepezil and ginkgo biloba, Michael Holland mentioned to me that he was starting to write a new musical. Having been a long time fan of his solo albums and live performances, I thought this was a bang-up idea so I asked him to wheel me over to a rectangle of sunshine filtering through the window before he left.

During his next visit, while helping me step into adult pull-ups, Michael told me the show he was cooking up was an epic piece about the great hurricane of 1938 that destroyed the resort town of Napatree, Rhode Island. I watched "Wheel of Fortune" over his shoulder and marveled at the audacity of the young. I was in my twenties in 1938, full of courage myself, also ready to fight a war. I remembered that hurricane, and I didn't remember it having any songs in it, but I agreed to do whatever I could to help.

SeverAl Weeks or months later (I'm not allowed access to a clock) Mr. Holland returned and woke me up with an early draft of the script. As he adjusted the afghan over my lap, I admitted that he had written some of the most beautiful music I had ever heard but explained that he couldn't write stage directions like "Helen dives into the water in search of Margaret's body" and expect to be taken seriously. This led to a heated debate over
"writing what you envision" vs. "limiting that vision": a debate broken up by several coughing fits (me), breaking a hand by punching a wheelchair (Michael), and an 8 minute "flat-lining" episode (me).

He eventually won the argument, causing me to experience an unbridled, giddy freedom I hadn't felt since 1960 when I, still a virgin, danced the twist for the first time. This freedom allowed me to earnestly write a scene where the ghost of a teenage boy "explodes into a flock of birds that soar out over the ocean."

For our first meeting with wildly accomplished director Michael Bush, I dressed my oxygen tank up as Mabel Normand to remind him that something inherently depressing can also be fun. Mr. Bush pointed out that parts of our script were impossible and ridiculous, (which I believe is modern teenage slang for "brilliant"), and then much to our delight jumped on board. I asked a photograph of our gifted musical director Jesse Vargas to relay my "birds" idea to our sublime set and lighting designer Christopher
Akerind and our talented choreographer Kelli Barclay since my voice box "petered out". I haven't heard back which probably means they really like it and are busy discussing how to make it a reality. I am an asset to theater!

Come see our show.