Larry Carpenter Karena Mendoza
Larry Carpenter
I met Karena Mendoza through the Theatre Building Chicago's New Musical Theatre Workshop. When we decided to collaborate on a project, we were looking for a story that focused on kids doing something extraordinary, helping others and themselves in the process.
I told Karena that I would start looking for a story that fit that bill and that I would get back to her in a month or so with some choices. I began my research, and to my surprise, the second story I ran across was the story of Marcie and the Tree Musketeers. I knew it was exactly as advertised: "Marvelous."
Karena agreed and we immediately contacted the Tree Musketeers organization, and we constructed a deal for the rights to develop their story into a musical.
Taking a very short children's picture book and turning it into an hour-long musical seemed like a complex challenge for me. But though the book is short on words, the "marvelous" illustrations were worth thousands and thousands of words. The book is full of emotional moments, perfect for expanding into songs. And although the Brownies are not the lead characters in the book, the true story of the original Brownie Troop from El Segundo, California, as told on the Tree Musketeers website, was a true inspiration to me.
Very soon, I had completed the initial draft of the script and lyrics. It was time to see what my partner thought. In a first-time collaboration there is always a learning curve. But Karena and I shared the same vision for this project from the beginning, and we were able to hammer out ideas for the songs almost like it was a Mickey Rooney/Judie Garland movie.
One song, though, we were not able to solve so easily. How were we going to deal with the vandals who viciously attack Marcie and almost kill her? I envisioned the song as sort of a "Sergeant Krupke" type song, but that attempt failed. Then, by accident, I think, Karena pushed a button on her keyboard and out came a Do Wop sound. "That's it!" I said. "The Do-Wop Vandals! They Do Wop and sing Ram-a-lama Dam Ding while they steal children's bikes."
Working with Karena was a true collaboration in every sense. Though I am credited with writing the lyrics, her music led me to the perfect words and rhymes. Her musical phrasing allowed me to tell the story and dig deep into the emotions of Marcie and the Brownies.
Though I have written many musicals, "Marcie the Marvelous Tree" is the one I am proudest of. I love my other shows ("Song-Poems Wanted: The Musical"; "Dorothy Rides the Rainbow"; "Dream: A Midsummer Night Gone Hawaiian" and "Party at Dave's") but none of them are as "marvelous" as Marcie.