When I first got the idea to write a musical called Eden in Babylon, it was because I wanted to write a musical about a guy who had written a musical called The Burden of Eden.  That guy, of course, was me.  Only I called him David.

I later got the idea that the musical should be an opera.   This came about when two pieces from The Burden of Eden were performed at Peninsula Teen Opera, where they were well-received, and where I got the funny idea that Opera people take care of their own, whereas Musical Theatre people don’t.  (Like I said, a funny idea.)

A few years later, not quite having completed the opera, a certain director convinced me to turn it back into a musical.  By that time, incidentally, the protagonist was no longer called David, but by the enigmatic name of Winston Greene.

A few years later, not quite having completed the musical, I sought support from a friend who responded by seeming to disdain the whole project.  Though the keyword here is “seeming,” my reaction to this seeming dissing of my soul was not to be able to open the script up for a good year and a half without thinking about how much my friend hated it.

And now – a few short months later, I have noticed that when I open up the script, not only is this a vast improvement from all previous versions – but an even vaster improvement is in the works.  And certain, God willing, to come.

Not to mention, by this time there is not a single song from the original version that remains in the version I see today!  So I might even have a third show in the works — again, God willing.  His will, not mine, be done.

There is something to putting a piece of one’s passion aside for a season – and picking it up again.  As Rocky Balboa said: “It’s not how many times you get knocked down that count, but how many times you get back up.”  

And as the Good Book says:

“A good man falls seven times a day – and rises again.”
Proverbs 24:16

As Anthony Newley wrote:

Stand well back – I’m comin’ through –
Nothing can stop me now!
Watch out, world – I’m warning you –
Nothing can stop me now!

And as I wrote on my Facebook just the other morning:

I’m comin’ back with a vengeance.
Nothing can stop me now.