A brand new youth musical
John Buckley Sleadd, playwright-composer of three Clarion musicals to date, got started on a new youth musical in February 2023, in preparation for Clarion's summer Theatre Camp. But this time, he wanted to include some young talent in the process.
Jacob Brumbach organized a writing group last fall and invited John to participate. During that time, John observed that Jacob had a knack for writing, so he asked Jacob to collaborate with him on the script for "Lost & Found." Jacob has never written a play before, but he was willing to try it. Together they came up with a country-western setting and a host of comic characters to tell the Biblical story of the Lost Sheep. A few weeks later, the script was finished.
Enter Ricky Reebel. Ricky is Development Director for New Hope Christian School, and has performed in nearly every Clarion production since its inception. He has a great tenor voice too! John asked him if he would like to write a song or two for the musical, and Ricky took up the challenge. Ricky composed and recorded the songs for the antagonists--the two wolves, Snarl and Squeak. John composed the rest.
All told, the process took two to three months, start to finish. As of this writing, the songs will soon be recorded in John's studio using Ricky and other camp staffers as singers. The campers will then be able to learn the songs at home--before camp even begins!