Finale

On the last day of this project I discovered a revelation about this musical.  Fairy tales are often self contained, and Sondheim introduced familiar characters to us.  Familiar, except for two--the Baker and his wife.  These are two characters who spend the first act trying to have a child, and the second act protecting it.  When the Baker's wife dies, the Baker is left to raise the child alone.  The final song brings back every dead character to speak to the audience.  The Baker's wife speaks to her husband.  "Tell him the story of how it all happened"...  She's inside those stories, and the folk tale tradition, which, like a game of telephone, changes and grows with each telling, is planted like a seed. It had never dawned on me the significance, in this musical, of parents telling stories before!

My composition is meant to straddle two worlds and perhaps three.  The mom remains in the book while the husband remains to continue on and grow in the real world.  They still share the sky.  I learned a lot doing this project.  I'd work and refine each image forever if given the chance.  Most would just get tighter, not better.  I think starting and finishing an image is the best practice for achieving a quickly realized finish.  Still working on that.

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