Yesterday I heard two more excellent performances of HOMER IN CYBERSPACE. The actors are growing into their roles with great artistry. Seeing the roles evolve through the nine performances is a thrilling opportunity for me. Premiering a role is an opportunity not all students get. Once they realize that THEY are really co-creating the role […]
Last night at MacGowan Little Theater on the UCLA campus, HOMER IN CYBERSPACE was premiered to a packed house. The performance was excellent, and considering how much could have gone wrong, the technical side was damn near flawless. Ok, there were a few crackling wireless microphones that fell out from time to time, but besides […]
Being involved with this hi-tech musical has been an exciting process. Last night we saw HOMER IN CYBERSACE — the whole bloody thing — put up for the first time, costumes, sets, makeup, sets, computer animation, videos, dance, music and of course the actors. There are so many components in the show (as in most […]
Yesterday I wrote a cue for a transition between scenes. I liked it a lot, Mel not so much, so I’ll do another one. Mel is right; it actually doesn’t sound anything like the music from this musical, it is, rather, most likely my next piece being born. Hmm, sounds a bit like Prokofiev.
No, it’s not the Beatles song, it’s a new one. O is bragging about his son, Telly. Here you just get to hear the accompaniment.
.
“This Boy” (from HOMER IN CYBERSPACE)
Music by Roger Bourland
Lyrics by Mel Shapiro
(Accompaniment only)
Last night we ran the whole show with my orchestrations. You’ll remember, the orchestra is all prerecorded by me using Apple’s LOGIC 8 software. I use a lot of electronic sounds because of the “cyberspace” aspect of the title. To balance that side of the sound, I use a huge array of stringed instruments — […]
Innovative “Homer in Cyberspace” breathes new life into ancient heroes
by David Chute
Getting Aphrodite Off the Ground
In the surreal virtual universe of Mel Shapiro’s “Homer in Cyberspace,” the gods of ancient Greece have been deposed, “shrink-wrapped and imprisoned” by a new race of digital/electronic deities known as the iGods.
Struggling to return home to his loyal wife […]
Yesterday Daniel and I got to see the first complete run-through of HOMER IN CYBERSPACE. I think we may have a hit on our hands. The pacing is excellent, the story is sexy, compelling and entertaining, everyone will like the music, the actors are terrific and everything will only get better as we still have […]
Portable Concerto for viola and electronics was written through and NEA commission. Three composers (me, Gary Philo, and Wm Thomas McKinley) wrote pieces for three violists (Walter Trampler, Marcus Thompson, and James Dunham) who each were to play the all the pieces in different cities. It was Paul Reale who convinced me to not “write […]
What started out as a little AIDS research fund-raiser for Michael Dean’s bike ride from LA to SF, turned into a concert of little Bourland pieces, at our home last night, a “Bourlandaise” as someone put it. In a moment of clarity, after nearly being blown off the road by an 18-wheeler, Michael, 40 year […]
I’ll never forget when Henry Mancini told us that composing is very much like being a plumber. “It’s a job, I get hired to write music for a film and I do my job.” The vision of the composer on a mountain top conversing with the gods is a cool one, but not at all […]
Subscribe in a reader