In little more than a month, Chatham’s Alan Edmunds is set to experience his Perfect World, as he shares it with others.
Edmunds is the driving force behind the musical “Perfect World,” which will be performed in Santa Barbara, Calif. In November at the El Porta Theatre.
The story is based on the life of writer Barbara Follett, who went from child prodigy writer to, well, nothing, actually.
On Dec. 7, 1939, it appears Follet simply walked out on her life.
She was never seen again.
Edmunds came across Follett’s story while working as a professor at the University of Western Ontario. A member of the Faculty of Education, he taught courses that included educational psychology, special education, and giftedness.
While doing some general research, Edmunds was exposed to Follett’s story. He quickly realized it was something special and needed to be shared.
“I was a faculty member at Western for 22 years. During the latter part of my career, my research was on young children who wrote like adults,” he recalls. “I quite by accident found out about this nervous little girl. She’d written two acclaimed novels before the age of 14.”
But by the age of 25, Follett simply disappeared. She reportedly walked out of her marriage and her apartment and vanished.
“I wanted to tell her story,” Edmunds said. “She was a superbly creative, imaginative young girl. And then there is the compelling story of her disappearance.”
Edmunds began writing the musical tale in 2010.
“I came across an amazing story of an amazing girl. I just said, ‘This sounds like a musical to me,’” he said. “So I did it.”
His subject, Follett, began writing using a typewriter at age four. By age eight, she had started to write what would eventually become “The House Without Windows” as a birthday present to her mother. A fire destroyed the original manuscript and Follett had to begin anew. At age 12, she had the book published.
About a year later, her second book, “The Voyage of the Norman D.,” was released.
Follett’s parents split up shortly afterwards, and the family fell on hard times. Her marriage experienced ups and downs as well.
Set in the 1920s and ’30s, Perfect World’s universal themes are about chasing your dream and striving toward a better world. As her journey unfolds, Follett slowly transforms from young hopeful idealist to skeptical downtrodden adult. Her resilience and resolve are often tested, but it is her deep love for others that ultimately betrays her, Edmunds said.
While the story essentially wrote itself, it certainly didn’t rewrite itself.
Edmunds said he has performed in, written and produced numerous shows at the community theatre level, but Perfect World will be his first higher profile effort.
He credits the aid of composer Richard Winzeler with helping to bring it together.
After years of working on the script, Edmunds began his hunt for a composer. That took about two years. He said he made the right choice in working with Winzeler.
“I wrote the book and am a co-lyricist,” Edmunds said. “Richard had a lot of good suggestions.”
The two took the musical as far as table reading in 2019. They were gearing up to forge ahead when Covid struck, putting everything on pause.
The efforts resumed in 2022, with a stage reading in London, Ont. A year later, the two were in New York looking for a producer. After that, the search was on for a venue.
Now, from Nov. 1-9, Perfect World will go on a 10-show run.
Edmunds said the goal is to have people exiting the theatre with two things on their mind.
“I want the audience to leave thinking, ‘Wow, what an amazing little girl,’ and ‘what the heck happened to her?’” he said.
Through all that, he hopes to deliver the message to never give up on your dreams.
“She lived the school of hard knocks. Many not nice things happened to her. It helped me see the arc of her character,” Edmunds said. “She had this amazing way with words; amazing creativity. She also had a real understanding of human nature.”
Edmunds is cautiously optimistic the play will be well received.
“Everyone we have presented the show to finds the story very compelling,” he said.
Edmunds said the effort to morph Perfect World from concept to reality was a sobering one.
“Learning what I’ve learned in writing this show, and the constant rewriting, I just feel like the crafting of a show around a particular idea is much more difficult than people think,” he said. “There is no formula for doing this, but there are some things you have to put in place and you have to go through to put up a show.”
As for potential future projects, Edmunds is non-committal.
“I am focused on this one right now,” he said, as rehearsals begin in early October. “I have floated a few ideas with some people. And if a really good story came about, and I felt I could tell it my way, I’d entertain telling it.”
For now, Edmunds’ musical storytelling will live in Perfect World.
