Gratitude journal: Andy Mayo

Tonight I am grateful to Andy Mayo, the person who initially conceived of The Clowns, the rock opera for which I subsequently wrote the book. While I have enjoyed the writing process immensely and am proud of the work that we have produced, none of this would have ever happened without Andy. Though the plot and characters have changed significantly since his original conception, Andy was the one who gave the project structure and backbone.  He handed me the vessel into which I poured my words.

And that was just the beginning.

He wrote and recorded the music, initially singing all the parts himself until managing to assemble a stable of signers to fill the parts.

He forged a relationship with The Playhouse on Park, and he was the driving force behind getting our read-through produced.

He assembled and rehearsed the band.

He designed the posters, post cards and other promotional material for the read through.

He filled many of the seats during our two performances.

I’m sure he did things that I am not even aware of.

For my part, I changed the story a bit, created a new protagonist, fleshed out his original vision of the characters, wrote the dialogue, and apparently changed the show from a drama to a comedy in the process.

But that’s about it.

Andy was the person who made things happen.

Andy was the one who moved this project from imagination to action.

Tonight we met with the producers of the playhouse in order to receive feedback from the read-through and discuss the next stages of the project.  At one point, Andy requested a deadline from the producers, citing his inability to get me to work without one.

In that moment, I realized that Andy has not only been managing this project, but in many ways, he has been managing me as well. Keenly aware of my limited free time and multitude of projects on my plate (including teaching his daughter), he has somehow found a way to keep me focused and invested in this project when other things could have easily pulled me away.

I probably haven’t make things easy for Andy, and yet through it all, he has been positive, energetic, enthusiastic and the consummate partner.

The man has great passion for this project, and I am so grateful to have him on my team.

Or more appropriately, I am so grateful to be on his team.