The Journey
Development and Status
The idea for a musical set in an airport was conceived by Matthew in March 2017, with the first draft of the book and songs completed in December that same year.
The songs were further developed and orchestrated during 2018-2020, including the important addition of guitar parts. Demo Recordings were made of all the songs, with the support of a small group of enthusitastic singers. The script continued to be revised during this time.
A Preview Presentation was performed in November 2021 at Frankston Arts Centre and feedback from the audience was incredibly positive. This staging of the show was a great catalyst for further development, leading to the addition of new songs and improvements to the script.
Digital Backgrounds have been created to make it easy to set the scene and provide an overall visual theme for the various locations where action takes place.
The key next step in development is to stage a production with a full cast and choreography.
Acknowledgements
Logo Design - Nadia Gianinotti, Nadia Rose Design
Music Production and Guitar Arrangements - Lyndon Wesley
Music Producer - Brendan Marolla
Digital Backgrounds - Wendy Tyrer, Picta Creative
Fun Facts
For Christmas 2016, Felicity gave her dad “Matthew Bertram’s Make Your Own Musical Starter Pack”, including a book (Writing the Broadway Musical by Aaron Frankel), pencils and a notebook.
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The title song Fragile Heavy This Way Up was written on a flight from Melbourne to Hong Kong, using Garage Band on an iPad.
Working titles of the show have included:
“The Airport Musical”,
“Open Skies”,
and “Fragile Heavy”.
The song No Time To Think was inspired by a real flight.