by Steve Newman

Created on: September 23, 2009

In 1997 I wrote and directed a musical play called, 'Am I Blue', which opened at the RSC Fringe Festival in Stratford that year, and later did a small tour of Warwickshire. It was an experience that touched every emotional nerve going.

Caz Shennington is a superb jazz singer who I first saw perform at the Malvern Jazz Festival (now sadly defunct) and later the Upton-upon-Severn Jazz Festival, which is still happily in business. And Caz's sets with the George Huxley Band were always a delight. And Caz wouldn't just walk on and sing a couple of songs, no, she'd tell you why she wanted to sing a particular song and where the song came from, and when it was written, and who sang it first. She was a mine of information, and her little stories began to weave themselves around in my writers head until I knew I had to write something especially for her.

Caz had a seven piece all girl band of her own at the time and I suggested to her over a drink after one of her sets that I should write a play based around her and her all girl band. I think I gave Caz the pitch right there, telling her how it would be a story about Caz's character, Stella, and how she, and her band, make it to the top of their profession in 1930s America, thanks to a kindly gangster by the name of Joe Halsam, and her jealous one handed pianist husband, Al, and a kooky radio director by the name of Tech. It was to be a full blown melodrama that had to feel and look like a Jimmy Cagney movie. I planned to weave the band's existing repertoire of songs in and out of the action, which meant the musicians were already up to strength when it came to rehearsals.

Caz went for the idea and I started writing like crazy, and I have to admit to nicking just about every 1930s movie plot going, but the finished play did have a good feel of the period. In the meantime Caz had managed to raise some lottery money to help finance the show, which meant everyone got paid and the show could be advertised widely, and with some confidence. I also did a bit of fishing around (call it negotiating) and managed to get the show into the RSC Fringe which scared the life out of everyone in the cast, especially me when the actor playing Al went ill and I had to take over his part at the last minute.

The first night was utterly chaotic with everyone looking for their costumes and freaking out when they didn't fit, or they had the wrong one. Band parts went missing, as did instruments. In other words it was a not unusual first night.

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