A few weeks have gone by since the last post due to some wonderful time spent in Italy.

Rome, Florence, Siena, Tuscany, Venice…,

Venice?

I believe Venice has something to do with Othello. I managed one or two random thoughts about the play while I was waiting for vaporetti.

Okay, let’s pick up where this narrative left off prior to my truly wonderful sojourn in the land of great espresso, fine wine and terrific food.

Oh, there was a lot of old stuff to look at too.

So, Odelle has just told Jimmy how smitten he is with Mona. He walks off to join the big party at the Venetian Room in Hank Desmond’s hotel leaving Jimmy to deliver this aside.

Jimmy’s music in this show is more sophisticated than that of the other characters. There also tends to be a lot of upward motion in his music to suggest his ascendance. Here he is letting us know he has an axe to grind and that Odelle is the target. Jimmy is a nasty piece of work full of meanness, hate and calculated cunning.

       I Keep My Cool

1

They say only a fool loses his cool and I’m tellin’ you, I ain’t no fool.

You lookin’ at a man who can think and who can wait.

You see folks laughin’ you see ’em cryin’ they’s up, they’s down there’s no denyin’

Their emotions they just blow them away.

But I keep my cool, I just wait and I keep my cool.

2

Now that man who just walked away, I know he was sleepin’ with my babe,

While I was inside, doin’ my time.

Well I can play like I’m happy to see an old friend, he’ll never guess I’m here for revenge,

Yeah baby, I’s here. Yes I’s here to collect what is mine.

And I’ll keep my cool, I’ll wait and I’ll keep my cool.

Oh I’ll play it cool, keep my head and I’ll play it cool.

‘Cause I ain’t no fool, they get hot and I stay cool.

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Before I launch into this post I’d like to both acknowledge and thank my good friend Stephen Storer for designing this site and for helping me maintain it.

The next big song happens in Act 1 Sc. 2 at the party.

Odelle walks in. All the guests run to congratulate him and to ask about the fight.

This is his opportunity to give us an overview of the match. It’s a big number and will include dance choreography over instrumental solos.

This demo is a truncated version and contain lyrics from a previous treatment.

Lookout Here Comes the Champion

(Odelle sings)

1

In one two and three, the Turk he come on strong.

In one two and three, the Turk he come on strong.

If he hits me too much I know I’ll soon be gone.

I’ll be gone, gone, gone, I’ll be gone.

I’ll be gone, gone, gone, I’ll be gone.

If he hits me too much I know I’ll soon be gone.

2

I start breaking loose sometime in number four.

I start breaking loose sometime in number four.

I catch him with a right, he bounce right off the floor.

He’s down, down, down, Lord he’s down.

He’s down, down, down, Lord he’s down.

I said wake up Turk you know you already down.

Instrumental break

3

The Turk hit me hard in the middle of number six.

The Turk hit me hard in the middle of number six.

I start seeing spots I’m in a terrible fix.

(Crowd)

Keep down, down, down, keep your head down.

Keep down, down, down, keep your head down.

Keep your head down or you’re gone Odelle Brown.

(Odelle)

4

By the time we hit eight the Turk’s at the end of the line.

By the time we hit eight the Turk’s at the end of the line.

My combination rips and he goes down one last time

(Crowd)

He’s gone, gone, gone, Lord he’s gone.

He’s gone, gone, gone, Lord he’s gone.

By-bye Turk now bring on the champion.

Instrumental break

(Odelle)

5

So soon I’ll be the next champion of the world.

So soon I’ll be the next champion of the world.

My name shouted out by every boy and girl.

I’m on, on, on, Lord I’m on.

I’m on, on, on, Lord I’m on.

I’m on top of the world look out here comes the champion.

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It occurs to me that I haven’t addressed the topic of how this show got it’s name, Sweet Willow.

Well the Willow part could be seen as obvious, but the Sweet? Where did that come from?

Back in the 90’s my wife Mary was working for a Marketing/PR/Branding firm called Parker LePla. One of the things that the firm specialized in was naming.

They very generously offered to name the show for us gratis. I believe Joe LePla himself came up with Sweet Willow. At first the title took a little getting used to, after all there didn’t seem to be much that was sweet about the show. I wasn’t sure if I liked it and my partner Paul wasn’t in any doubt about not liking it. We had a few back-and-forth discussions on the matter and he, maybe just for the sake of keeping the peace (I don’t know, Paul if you read this here’s your chance to chime in) finally stopped objecting to it.

It took me a few years to realize what a great name it is. At first I said yes to the name Sweet Willow chiefly because my wife kept telling me how perfect it was. I wasn’t entirely convinced but felt I could use it as a working title until something better arose. I was quite willing to give it a chance though…,and…,nothing I liked better ever came along. Now that I’ve grown into it, I feel the poignancy between the juxtaposition of Sweet (as in naive, open and generous) with the implied sadness of Willow is exactly correct.

Like duh, why didn’t I get that immediately? Sorry to have doubted.

Now, still on the subject of names, a friend of mine reminded me that the evil swan in Swan Lake is named Odile. Remembering this produced a delightful train of thought that resulted in my musing on the following parallels. In Swan Lake prince Siegfried, like Othello, struggles with the conflicting light and dark sides of his nature (his attraction to the white and black swans). In both shows they are duped into paths of action that result in the death of the women they love. Seen in this context, Odelle’s very name can be viewed as an omen of what’s to come.

I find bouncing ideas around like these a lot of speculative fun. If anyone has something to offer re: this please jump in.

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We were driving in downtown Seattle this morning (going to Mother’s Day Brunch) and passed one of the city churches. This church had a big poster pasted on the side of the building that read:

Jesus is ___________.

I’ve seen this on bumper stickers and in car windows all over the place. Well this morning we, (my daughter Ailsa, wife Mary and I) began to riff on this idea.

I won’t share our full conversation on how we chose to fill in the blank(s) but it is obvious that one could begin this sentence with any title, name or noun.

Mary suggested an idea that applies to the Sweet Willow project.

Othello is ___________.

Any takers on filling in the blank?

Okay, time to get back to the plot unfolding.

Back in Chapter Nine Odelle is on top of the world. He’s just won a major fight, he’s in line for a shot at the championship and he’s married to the love of his life. What could go wrong?

Well, for one thing Mona’s daddy doesn’t know about the marriage yet and Jimmy (the rat) manages to tip him off at the big party. There follows a nasty confrontation wherein Mona gets disowned by her dad and Odelle loses his financial backing. Hank Desmond also threatens to blackball him from the fight game.

Odelle and his trainer Clay Caxton, swear they will carry on but now it will be even more difficult to get that championship bout with Rocky Marx.

I’ll fast forward through the scene where Odelle and Mona sing their love duet mainly because I’m not pleased with the sound quality of the demo.

So, we end up here at the Blue Tiger Club. The scene opens with Miss Loretta Jewel singing the Willow Song. Originally I had thought that Mona would sing this since that’s what happens in the original play but Paul thought otherwise. He has Loretta (the Emelia) character sing it. At first I was puzzled by this but Paul had some very good reasons for doing it this way. Unfortunately this discussion happened so long ago that I can’t remember what they were. However I have grown to love this idea. For me the Willow Song done by Loretta functions more like a Greek Chorus, commenting on the results of Jimmy’s treachery. Another plus is that she is still standing at the end of the show to reprise the song in a larger arrangement than when it first appears. Paul, if you’re checking in on this and recall all the great points you made about Loretta singing the Willow Song, please refresh my memory.

Now in Othello Emelia is Iago’s wife. In Sweet Willow Loretta is Jimmy Shine’s ex-girlfriend. She wants nothing to do with Jimmy anymore but finds it difficult to resist his charm. She is also the one who secretly tipped off the police resulting in Jimmy’s arrest and prison sentence. He thinks Odelle ratted him out so he could make moves on Loretta. There’s no way to convince him otherwise.

In this scene Loretta is on stage at the Blue Tiger Club. She is accompanied by the club’s house piano player, also on stage. The patrons sit at small tables to listen.

Willow Song

There’s a poor soul, she’s sittin’ ‘neath the weepin’ willow tree.

Her hand on her heart, her head on her knee.

The stream started sighin’ with an echo to her moan.

Her tears, Lord she’s cryin’, they wash away the hard, hard, hard stones.

Willow, weepin’ willow tell me where my true love gone.

He is somewhere beyond, so sad and so alone.

I’d like to acknowledge and thank the talents of Ailsa Weisnewski and Hans Brehmer for this performance of the Willow Song.