The Metamorphosis of a Story
By: Bryant Lewis
TeenNewsNet Managing Editor
TeenNewsNet spent the past few weeks being part of a special project pioneered by Catherine Owens-Herrmann who is a classically trained pianist. Owens-Herrmann is a huge fan of preserving the environment, and promoting the end of iliteracy. To that end she and her husband Bill founded It Helps To Have A Dream, Inc. It is a non-profit organization that strives to give young people an opportunity to read and appreciate all forms of literature by going to schools, libraries, and into the communities to do whatever it takes to get youth motivated to read.
Owens-Herrmann wanted to do more than lend her name, time, and hard work to this. She initially
developed Safari's Song as a screenplay that can also touch the hearts and reach the minds of adults. She has now turned her screenplay into a musical that has the potentenial to wow audiences as a stage production.
The magic of Safari's Song begins when there's a shipwreck off the coast of Costa Rica carrying butterflies and other animals. The story moves to the Bayou then eventually a migration of butterflies to Canada and back. Safari, the main character, is a moth who thinks she's the daughter of a Monarch butterfly who is the queen of the Bayou. It shows the Metamorphosis of not only Safari, but the other characters as well. . TeenNewsNet interviewed Owens-Hermann along with acclaimed actor Antonio Fargas back in late January to discuss this project and the flight they wanted it to take. Then we meet the cast a couple of weeks later as they read through the script. Then finally, a couple of weeks after that we witnessed it all come together as the cast does a read through performance in front of invited guests. This performance is an audition to get the actors and audience reactions. The purpose, like any TV pilot, is to determine if Safari's Song can grow from caterpillar to Monarch Butterfly as a musical.
The metamorphosis begins on a cold January afternoon as I have Owen-Herrmann and Antonio Fargas, who was recruited as a Director, on the phone to share the developing stages.
TNN: Tell us the storyline behind Safari's Song?
Owens-Herrmann: It's a story that tracks a migration, a migration that's on two levels really. One is about the migration of Monarch Butterflies and there's one moth who believes she's a Monarch. It's also a story that gives hope for children and anyone who has ever felt that they were "different". They will be able to understand what the moth, Safari went through as well as a potential catastrophe that the animals in the story goes through and eventually handles themselves. When I initially wrote Safari's Song, I wrote it as a screenplay. Then when I took it to my friend Antonio Fargas, he told me that this should be a book. (Fargas chimes in: "That's right"!!! Everyone chuckles as he joins in the conversation.) Mrs Herrmann continues: I wrote some music, including a rap song and an aria, and I am excited what came out.
TNN: Antonio, what was it about Safari's Song that drew you to taking on the director's role?
Fargas: You can see why I was humbly blown away to have found such a treasure in a talented artist who has so much to offer. It has a green element in it in terms of the swamp of Louisiana, and what's currently going on there. It's a story about our environment, survival, passion. It's just a wonderful vehicle that, as I indicated to Cathy, it can be a book, a cartoon, a movie, anything she wants. But I think that making this a stage production is another area where it can find a different expression.
TNN: I'm glad that you mentioned this being a possible cartoon, because when I read the synopsis of Safari's Song, I immediately thought it had a Lion King-esque feel to it.
Fargas: If they get a hold of this project, it would be wonderful, but it's not what the project is, but who brings it. If Disney or Pixar had the rights to this, there is no doubt they would have jumped on this. But since it's not their baby, they might not use this because they have so many other projects of their own to choose from. But Safari's Song definitely has those qualities that you see and that I see, so it's a matter of someone else seeing and believing in this also.
TNN: Cathy, what was the inspiration behind Safari's Song?
Owens-Herrmann: My father was a naturalist, as well as a nature photographer who actually studied Monarch Butterflies. Also, every year, we would watch the migration of the Hummingbirds. And one day, my husband (Bill) and I were sitting on the deck and we said that we didn't know what they had been through, and thought it would be interesting to speculate. And I also lived in Louisiana, so with some music, I decided to bring this all together to create Safari's Song. And with Antonio's encouragement, I wrote with it either being a cartoon or a three-animated movies in mind. But that approach was different than the approach I've brought in doing the writing for the stage, so I've learned an awful lot as well.
TNN: Antonio, besides the majestic and beauty that this story has, was there anything else that made you get behind this project the way you have?
Fargas: You know, it's not so much what's in the story, but what's in the story's writer! I really don't know if J.K. Rowling had the same kind of innocence when she started writing the Harry Potter series. But this has the same kind of feel to it in that Cathy just wants to express herself, to have the vision and the vehicle to tell a story. Not thinking about themselves, not thinking about how much money they think they're going to make, and that's very refreshing. I'm doing this because I love doing this and this project, it's not about the money for me. Taking this on was an easy decision for me. Sometimes the material can be great, but the people presenting this can be a turn-off. But Cathy is not a turn-off, and to me she is synonymous with this story.
TNN: Has the "reality show" genre, taken away the innocence, the creativity you speak of?
Fargas: There is a plethora of reality shows out there. I feel that there is still a need for good storytelling in film, TV, whether it's drama, comedy. I think there's a need for a good black & white film, how about that? People are yearning for the simple life. I think that if we keep this story in the simplistic way that it is now, someone is going to say yes and pick up on it.
TNN: I know that the play has been performed a couple of times, how has the reaction been to this point?
Owens-Herrmann: The audience reaction has been very positive, they have really liked it.
Fargas: It's still a work in progress, it's not the final product yet. But it's just for Cathy, an affirmation that she's getting the feel for what the audience likes. To get the feel that the actors are loving the characters they are playing, love saying the words, singing the songs. It's a long way from being "there," but hopefully we're on the road.
TNN: How exciting is this process? It's like being parents of a newborn, being nurturers, like watching your child grow.
Fargas: That's a great analogy! Every project is like a baby being born. And you do all you can to nurse and raise your child, then you have to let it stand on it's own two feet and let it go. Right now Safari's Song is in the incubation stage, and it's growing and it's growing fast.
It's now the day of the first read through and TNN speaks with the actors afterward to get their impressions of the script and the characters they're portraying.
Alison Drew (Safari): My character is the heroine, and it's interesting to see her from the beginning of the play where she is very ambitious, but she's very vulernable and it's cool to see her transformation at the end of the play, I won't give it away but she becomes this very strong character.
Sarah Ann Vail (Mothball): Mothball is fabulous! She's a diva, a young Grizzebella if you will. She has an incredible transformation throughout the story. Her world changes and she's redeemed at the end, and it's a beautiful story. When I first reas the script as my character, I teared up. It's very exciting to play a character in a children's story that has more substance, ummph to it. It has more of a story to it than a typical musical. It's been a lot of fun.
Sarah Bolger (Queen Papillon): Each character in this play goes through their own transformation, and I think that it's a real important thing, a very real thing that we go through and important for children to understand and see.
Roni Tessler (Jeanfrancois): Jeanfrancios is just an average guy (frog), doesn't seek a lot of attention, just hangs around the pond being a good friend, good neighbor. What I like about him is that he doesn't seek help from anyone-- is pretty content on being to himself. What's important for kids to know is when to be helpful, when it's ok to ask for help. Some people don't want to be a burden so they won't ask for help, but the neat thing in this musical is that everyone asks for help.
Christopher Bledsoe (Ernesthummingway): What I love about this story is that there's no copy out there. It's different! You can kind of say that this reminds me of this and that, but there is NO STORY out there like this. This is where "majesty and magic lives," and proves that if you believe in it, you can soar above it. I like my character because of his broadcaster's voice. I consider this an honor and a privillege to be a part of this. I want people to come away with not hearing that if you believe in yourself things will be great, I want them to KNOW IT! To me this play does that, it's just not about positive thinking, about positive talking. It just jumps off the page!
Everton L. Bailey (Mikehummer): I think it's about being unique, being the odd guy, to be the different kid in class. I think it's a good think for kids to see that kind of story and that you can still succeed.
The day of the performance is here. It's time for Safari's Song to come out of it's cocoon, and TeenNewsNet as we mentioned before, was in attendance along with about 50 people to watch it take flight. We asked Mr. Fargas and Mrs. Herrmann how they thought it went and this is what they had to say:
Owens-Herrmann: I thought it went really well. The actors did a marvelous job tonight, and I hope that everyone really enjoyed it. I don't know where we go from here, but I was very happy with the job everyone did.
Fargas: The theatre Gods were definitely alive and in the house tonight. I didn't have much time to work with the actors, 2 1/2 days. The actors did work together a couple of times before I got to them, but I had very limited time to do what is needed to put a prodcution together. So trust and the Theatre Gods really made the characters come to life. I got a vivid picture, I know there's a lot of work to do, but the fullfillment of the evening was certainly there.
TNN: I agree with you. I saw tonight and when they did the first rehearsal, the excitement the pleasure they had in reading these characters lines.
Fargas: When you have young people who's where I was some 35-40 years ago, I can't help but smile at the wonder of these actors being naiive at the enormity of what this all means, where it's all going. The fact that they're young and willing, you feel like you can drive all over the road, that you can do anything. And if a wise-old appreciative veteran like me can harness all of that energy, it makes me feel good.
TeenNewsNet is happy to say that this moth should be able to shed it's plain white wings, and don the beautiful wings that represents the Monarch Butterfly and soar to the bright lights of Broadway and/or Hollywood. I took my two sons, ages 19 and 9, and we all were in agreement that it is a beautiful, entertaining story, and should be a success! THREE THUMBS UP!
