Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors

This past Sunday, I saw my first live stage play in years (the last one was The Book of Mormon). It was called Dracula: A Comedy of Terrors.

It was at Magenta Theater, which is the main community theater here in Vancouver, Washington. Confession time: I had never been there before! So I wanted to go mostly as a recon mission to check out the venue and see a live production there, possibly in hopes of trying to rent it for the Joel Suzuki stage play.

But it turned out to be more than recon; I had a great time. The play was a lot of fun, and the actors knocked it out of the park (just five of them performed all the roles, which was cool to see since I'm planning on having most of the actors in my play do something similar). I also got a few good ideas, like utilizing more incidental music and sound effects as well as employing stage hands to move stuff around (I cannot believe I did not consider that before).

I attended the final showing, so unfortunately you've missed out if you haven't seen it already. But hopefully it'll make a return engagement next year (or if you're not in the Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR area, maybe it's currently playing somewhere near you)!

Digitech Drop

At Second Player Score practice this past Sunday, our bass player Dan brought over something that could be a game-changer.

It's a guitar effects pedal called Digitech Drop (or I guess its full name is Digitech Drop Polyphonic Drop-tune Pitch-Shift Pedal, which is quite the mouthful). What it lets you do is lower your guitar or bass tuning by half-steps, all the way down to a full octave, with a simple turn of a dial instead of physically (and painstakingly) retuning the instrument one string at a time.

At first, we were going to apply it to the Joel Suzuki musical stage play, to accommodate different vocal ranges of the yet-to-be-cast actors. But then I had an epiphany and realized that hey, we could use it to make some of our songs easier to sing for ME.

You see, over time I've found some of our own songs harder and harder to sing, mostly because of notes in the upper areas of my vocal register. Why I wrote those songs like that, I am not sure, but I do know that I had an easier time singing them when (1) I was younger, (2) we practiced and performed more frequently and for longer durations. But lately, it had gotten to the point where my voice would give out in the middle of sets, so I started making set lists comprised exclusively of songs that never hit the extremes of my range (which excluded a lot of our better material).

But when we practiced with this pedal, we were able to lower the key that the songs were in, and voila! I was able to hit all the notes easy-peasy without stress or strain. Now, I actually kind of want to play more shows (hassles regarding lugging gear and staying up past my bedtime notwithstanding). And I mean, I know we could have gotten the same effect by using additional guitars that were already detuned, but when you're a poor indie local band like us, who wants to mess around with carrying extra instruments and dealing with truss rod adjustments, etc. (something that probably only guitar and bass nerds will understand)? Instead, with just a tiny effects pedal that costs around $150-200, we have unlocked a whole new level of potential.

Does this mean you'll be seeing more frequent announcements for SPS gigs? We shall see!

Stage Play Status Update

Here's the latest status update on Joel Suzuki and the Wavemakers, the musical stage play adaptation of Volume One.

- Wrote out the arrangements for the stage play versions of the songs so that I'd have something to actually look at during band practice instead of trying to perform them from memory.

- Finished reading Writing Musical Theater (very helpful, highly recommended).

- Watched what seemed like a relatively low-budget production of Rent. At least it seemed relatively low-budget when compared to the other stuff I've seen recently (Frozen, Hamilton). But it was still excellent, as the performances, script, and music really carried it. Makes me hopeful for what we might be able to accomplish with little money (although I think we will have some pretty sweet special effects regardless).

- Speaking of money, I came up with a preliminary budget. I think we can pull this off for around $20-25k, which is about what we spent on Hold My Beer. Fortunately we are saving on things like rights and royalties (since I wrote the script and music), a director (which is me), and the pit band (my band). Still, if we can raise more, that would be great, since I would like to pay our cast and crew--for which my goal is to employ as much autistic and neurodivergent talent as possible--as much as possible.

- Finally worked up the courage to watch the video footage of the table read we did in late August. Everyone did a great job; that's not what I was nervous about. I was wondering how the script, story, and flow would sound. But it was actually quite good! And I know I'm probably biased, but I do tend to be my own worst critic, so.

- Booked a visit to PHAME in Portland, a nonprofit performing arts school that serves the intellectual and developmental disability community. It won't happen until November because part of the I-5 freeway between Vancouver, WA and Portland has been shut down for five weeks, but when I do go, I'm hoping I can find people who are interested in working on the play.

- Set our opening date as January 2028 and emailed a local venue to see if they will rent to us. Fingers crossed!

The Autograph King Premiere

Tonight, The Autograph King makes its theatrical debut!

What is The Autograph King, you ask? It's a documentary film about Shamim Dana (aka the titular "Autograph King"), a young man who was born with multiple intellectual and developmental disabilities but has managed to thrive thanks to his family's love and support along with his special interest (collecting autographs). Loyal readers of this blog may remember when I spent a day hanging out with Shamim last June. I also interviewed him for an article in the Summer 2025 issue of Spectrum Life Magazine.

I was fortunate enough to view an early cut of the film, which was directed by Scott Zakarin (whose credits include Stan Lee's Mutants, Monsters, & Marvels), and it was terrific. So if you happen to be in the Portland, OR area tonight, head over to Act V Theaters in Cornelius and check it out--that is, if tickets are still available! The premiere is hosted by The Connection Club, a Portland-based nonprofit, and will feature a red carpet entrance, light refreshments, swag bags, and more. Here's the schedule for the evening:

6pm - 7pm: Red carpet reception

7pm - 730pm: Filmmaker Q&A

730pm - 9pm: Film screening

Hope to see you there!

Songwriting Workshop

This Saturday, as an instructor for Autism Empowerment's Neurodivergent Creators Collective, I'll be presenting a workshop on writing your own songs!

I'll be covering subjects like where to find inspiration, whether to start with music or lyrics, why anime theme songs are so good, and however much more I can cram into an hour-long session.

As for my qualifications as a songwriting instructor, regular readers of this blog know that I've been writing songs and playing in bands most of my life. I'm certainly no Rivers Cuomo*, but I've written songs that have been licensed for use by TV shows like The Golf Channel, MLB Network, and Access Hollywood as well as a Muzak-like service waaaay back in the day (it's been so long, I've forgotten their name). So yeah, I collect my $2.10 royalty check every quarter.

The workshop is free and will take place over Zoom from 2pm-3pm Pacific Time. If you're interested in attending, it's not too late to register! Just go to this link. Hope to see you there!

* Although I think I could probably take him in a best two-out-of-three guitar shredding contest

Stage Play Status Update: First Production Meeting

This past Sunday we had our first production meeting for Joel Suzuki and the Wavemakers, the musical stage play!

It was just me and my friend Rachel Dubuc, a fellow musician formerly of the band Ghost Feet. Rachel has a lot of live venue production experience which will be invaluable in helping us bring the play to life. We talked about general aspects of the project as well as specifics like how we're going to create wavebow effects on stage, which will include Star Wars-like blaster shots, Ghostbusters-like light streams, and Doctor Strange-like magic shields (sometimes all at once).

I'm really grateful to have Rachel on the team and am looking forward to our collaboration!

Stage Play Informal Table Read

This past Sunday we held an informal table read for Joel Suzuki and the Wavemakers, the musical stage play!

As I mentioned in last week's post, it was just friends and family members filling in for the actual cast (who I haven't started looking for yet). Also, there was no live singing; I just played a recorded mix of the songs that I pulled off my band's albums and edited (poorly) into the sections that will be in the play.

Still, it was a lot of fun! And I got a sense of the runtime, which I think will come out to be around 1.5 to 2 hours (we finished the read in one hour and ten minutes, but that's not counting the intermission and a lot of stage movement). Everyone did a great job, despite the fact that I failed to provide some of them with the latest version of the script.

Also, I was able to talk my son into reading for the character of Joel, which was a real treat, especially since Joel was kind of based on him in the first place (if you're reading this, thanks again for doing it! Much appreciated). 

Next, I will be working on finding more crew members as well as polishing up the script (my son gave it a 7 or 8 out of 10, which I think is a great starting point). Stay tuned for more updates!

Stage Play Status Update: Bullet Point Edition

Here's the latest status update on Joel Suzuki and the Wavemakers, the musical stage play adaptation of Volume One.

- A friend had recommended a book called Writing Musical Theater, but it was out of my budget - $106 (!) for the hardcover version and $71 (!!) for the e-book. But then, to my surprise, she sent me her copy! So I've been reading it and learning a lot. Super grateful for her generosity.

- I believe we have our first crew members! One is the makeup artist who worked on Hold My Beer, and the other is a fellow musician with venue production experience who will be running sound and/or lighting (to be determined). I met the latter last year after they found my business card on the ground outside their apartment (not kidding). If you folks are reading this, hi! And thank you for your interest in the project!

- I've been watching more musical stage plays and making-of-musical-stage-plays for educational and inspirational purposes, including Hamilton, Frozen, Diana, and Broadway Idiot (the making of Green Day's American Idiot play, since the play itself isn't available). They were all highly impressive productions; you could tell a TON of work, talent and passion went into each of them. Obviously, we will have a mere fraction of their budgets, but I hope to come at least somewhere close to the amount of joy they were able to generate.

- This coming Sunday, we will have an informal table read of the script! Not with anyone who will be in the actual cast, but just friends and family filling in so I can get a sense of what the script sounds like out loud as well as the total run time. Pictures to follow in a future status update post. Stay tuned!

Inspire Vancouver

If you are an arts-focused nonprofit organization (or an individual creator who can work with such an org) in the Vancouver, WA area, there is good news for you!

A couple of weeks ago, the city officially opened the application window for its new Inspire Vancouver grants program, which provides funding to organizations, schools, and individuals for the purpose of supporting and advancing arts, culture, heritage, and science initiatives in the area. This program replaces the Culture, Arts, and Heritage grant program that helped to fund the production of Hold My Beer (a film project that you may or may not have heard of).

If you think you could benefit from such a program, I encourage you to check out their website here. All the information you need can be found on the site, including eligibility requirements and application questions. There are also a few more grant workshops scheduled for this month that you can attend to learn more before applications close on September 10.

I won't be applying during this year's cycle, but you can bet I will be near the front of the line next year once I have my ducks lined up for the Joel Suzuki and the Wavemakers stage play. If you apply this year, best of luck, and if you heard about the program here first, tell them Brian sent you!*

* It will not help your application

SPS Gig @ Dante’s Tomorrow!

This is a reminder (partly to myself) that yes, my band Second Player Score is sometimes actually still a band.

In fact, we might be even more of a band now than in recent years. By my count, this is our *counts on fingers* THIRD SHOW this year already, which is one more than we played all of last year.

So if you are in the Vancouver, WA/Portland, OR area (or will happen to be passing through), come check us out! The other bands we'll be playing with are great, so it will be a fun night. Plus, Dante's has awesome pizza.

Hope to see you there!

Anime Roundup

It's time for another Anime Roundup!

The Ramparts of Ice

A slice-of-life romantic dramedy about an introverted teenage girl (who, if you ask me, presents as autistic) and her friends and classmates as they navigate typical high school challenges while becoming romantically interested in each other, as teenagers are prone to do. Fun fact: the manga the show is based on started out as a self-published webtoon (H/T: Wikipedia). Go, go, indie creators!

Kill Blue

An action-comedy about a 39-year-old professional assassin who gets transformed into a middle schooler (long story), this one is sort of like, I dunno, 13 Going on 30 (but in reverse) meets Sakamoto Days, perhaps? Still, though, it does its own thing, which is a lot of fun. Speaking of fun, fun fact: apparently, the reason so many anime and manga have the word "blue" in the title (Blue Box, Blue Exorcist, etc.) is because Japanese culture associates the color blue with the concept of youth and adolescence (H/T: Reddit). I had not known that!

My Dress-Up Darling

A slice-of-life romantic comedy about two high school classmates: an attractive and popular "it" girl and a shy, reclusive boy who crafts traditional Japanese dolls. They end up bonding over cosplay and then...fall in love?? Maybe? You'll just have to watch it and find out! Things seemed to have sort-of-more-or-less wrapped up after season two, but there's more to the manga, so I'm hoping they make a third season. Fun fact: this show is one of the few I've seen that use actual brand names, like Canon and Don Quijote (a popular Japanese chain of discount general stores).

Akane-banashi

A coming-of-age dramedy that takes the "daughter avenging her father" trope and adapts it to the world of rakugo, a traditional form of Japanese storytelling (instead of finding and killing the person who killed her father, the protagonist--Akane--goes on a mission to reach the highest rakugo rank that her father failed to achieve after he was unfairly expelled from the profession). Fun fact: the writer of the manga the show is based on had no prior knowledge of rakugo and originally created the character of Akane for a manga about ballet (H/T: Wikipedia).

Scarlet

A feature-length film that takes the "daughter avenging her father" trope and, well...basically plays it straight, sending its titular heroine--a medieval princess--on a quest to kill her uncle who killed her father in order to usurp the throne. It does put its own spin on it by incorporating elements of purgatory, time travel, and surrealism, and it has some pretty stunning visuals. Fun fact: it reminded me a bit of my own manga-style comic book series Glorified with its kick-butt female main character and a companion who starts out as an annoying sidekick but eventually turns into a trusted friend who tries to help the main character overcome her anger.

Until next time, mata ne!

Stage Play Status Update

Here's the latest status update on the stage play now known as Joel Suzuki and the Wavemakers!

As you may recall, the play will be a musical featuring songs from my band Second Player Score's existing catalog. This is mostly because I am too lazy to write all-new songs most of our albums are concept albums, so a lot of the songs already fit the story beats quite nicely. 

The actors won't be performing the songs in their entirety (except for the big closing number), so I've been assembling a one-track mix of the parts that we will be using, mainly for reference and rehearsal purposes. For example, during our upcoming informal table read that will have friends and family standing in for the actual cast, no one will actually be singing. But I still want to hear what the songs sound like in the context of the script as well as get a feel for the total run time, so that what this mix will be for.

Overall, on the thousand-mile journey, we are still maybe on step fifty or so. But as long as we keep making a little progress every day, I'm confident we will eventually get there. After all, this isn't my first rodeo (Hold My Beer, the film, was originally written in 2019, didn't seriously go into production until August 2022, and was finally released in January 2025).

Stay tuned for more updates!

Real-Life Side Quest: Backyard Weeds

Remember when I said recently that life is like a video game? Well, it is. To me, at least. And while I'm focusing most of my attention on the main story quest, occasionally side quests will pop up, some of them more annoying than others.

The one that I'm talking about this week is called "Backyard Weeds." It shows up in my side quest log every summer. Most of the time, I'm able to complete it, but this year I think it might be a lost cause. I'm telling you, those blackberries and dandelions and what-have-you are relentless. Remember this post I wrote about weeds ten years ago? Yeah, not much has changed!

The annoyance level of this side quest is probably on par with Fun Fun Island (aka No Fun Island) and Salvatore's Squids from The Legend of Zelda (various titles). I mean, I know I said in this previous post that thinking of these side quests as adventures rather than nuisances makes them more enjoyable, but when the amount of weeds seems to double every week, the adventure starts to wear a little thin.

So while I work on adjusting my attitude (*deep breath* honestly, I am grateful that I even have a backyard), in the meantime, I will try to borrow a chainsaw from my drummer and/or wait until winter arrives and takes care of things naturally.

Stage Play Status Update: Haiku Edition

Two weeks ago, I announced that the script for the stage play adaptation of Joel Suzuki, Volume One was done. And now this week, I give you another status update... in haiku form.

The final title

Just might be Joel Suzuki

and the Wavemakers

I have continued

To make small tweaks to the script

And I'm not done yet

We have a venue

For a practice table read

It is Stephen's Place

We also have friends

Who will be reading for parts

To be cast later

No director yet*

Or any crew besides us

But hopefully soon

* Last-minute update

After doing more research

Now it will be me

Self-Help Book Recs

This week, I want to recommend a couple of nonfiction self-help books that I've recently read. The first is Strengths Finder 2.0.

Although it's more of an introduction/guide to an online assessment than a complete manual in and of itself (don't buy or borrow a used copy if you want to take the assessment, as you'll need an original, unused code), I still found it interesting and inspiring. Basically, it helps you identify your five strongest traits and how you can apply that knowledge toward achieving your goals. I thought my assessment was pretty accurate, as my top trait was "Futuristic," meaning that I envision what the future could be and then try to turn that vision into reality. I especially loved one part of the book that said that "(by) continuously applying your strengths...you can honestly become...a famous author." Okay, book, if you say so!

The other recommendation is The ONE Thing, which basically tells you to focus on, well, one thing in order to achieve success. Identify what your "one thing" in life is, and then put most of your energy into it while cutting out extraneous stuff. The part that really resonated with me was when the author cited Stephen King as an example, saying that King's "one thing" is writing, and that even when he had to work a day job to make a living, he still managed to devote a four-hour block of time every day to his craft.

Both of these books found me at about the same time, and I felt almost like they were magic tomes containing hints about what I should do as I attempted to navigate through a period when life seemed like a video game (more so than usual). Maybe they might do the same for you?

Stage Play Status Update

As I promised last week, here is a status update on Joel Suzuki, The Musical!

If you recall, a month ago I told Joel and Felicity that I would be producing a stage play adaptation of the first book in the Joel Suzuki series. Originally, it was going to be called Wavemaker: A Rock Opera, but then I changed my mind, as I am prone to do (I still may change it back). But regardless of what the title ends up being, a month later, I'm happy to announce that -- drum roll -- the script is done!

A first draft of it, anyway. Or maybe you could call it a 1.3 or 1.4 draft, as I've gone through it a few times and made some revisions. And I'm sure there will be many more revisions to come. I've heard that the writer of the Stranger Things stage play wrote hundreds(!) of drafts of her script, so the bar is set pretty high. Not sure I'll be writing as many, but hey, if that's what it takes to make something that people will really enjoy, then that's what I'll do.

Of course, I'll also be asking other folks to review it and give notes, including whoever ends up being the director. That's right, even though I directed the Hold My Beer short film, I have no intention of directing this. Not only because I want someone with actual live theatre experience to do it, but also because I will be busy as part of the pit band! As I told Joel and Felicity, the play will be a musical that incorporates songs from my band Second Player Score's catalog, so we will be playing the music while the actors do the singing.

So that's where we're at. Stay tuned for more updates!

Stuff I Did This Past Weekend

I've been so busy solving puzzles and fighting boss battles in Life, The Video Game that I forgot to mention the stuff I had going on this past weekend.

On Friday, my sometimes-a-band Second Player Score was actually a band, playing Day Two of the inaugural PDX Pop Punk Fest at the Wyrd Hut in Portland. It was all-ages and a good crowd turned up, so that was cool. Big thanks to Lexi and Chris of Crisis Averted Booking for having us, and to bill-mates First-Class Martians, The Disorderlies, Ninjas With Syringes, and The Sh*tfits (this blog is now officially PG-13) for sharing the stage with us and rocking out.

Then on Saturday I taught a workshop on Independent Writing and Publishing for Autism Empowerment's Neurodivergent Creators Collective. It was an encore presentation of a workshop I did last July, and it was a lot of fun. If you missed it, you can watch a replay here.

Coming up next week: a status report on what was called Wavemaker: A Rock Opera but is now called Joel Suzuki: The Musical (don't tell Joel and Felicity)!

Random Post About Random Thoughts

As the title suggests, this is a random post about random thoughts. And here is a random picture of some blinds.

Why am I writing a random post about random thoughts? Because I am currently in the middle of a boss battle (see "Life Is Like A Video Game" from last week) and am too busy to come up with something less random while still sticking to my once-a-week posting schedule (which I have stuck to ever since this blog started back in 2012, with the exception of a couple of weeks in July 2021).

I apologize for the randomness. Hopefully I will be able to get back to writing actual content soon.

XOXO,

Brian

Life Is Like A Video Game

A Zelda-style video game

And right now I'm in a temple

With a puzzle I have to solve

To get to the next level

The game is giving me clues

That I need to decipher

Before my heart meter runs out

Wavemaker: A Rock Opera??

(Continued from last week's post, "Hold My Beer: The Musical??")

INT. LIVING ROOM - DAY

Two people are here, sitting on a couch and watching "Spider-Noir" on Amazon Prime. They are FELICITY, late teens to early 20s, and JOEL, same age range. The show cuts to a commercial.

Felicity: You know, this is actually pretty fun.

Joel: I agree.

Felicity: To be honest, I wasn't really sure what to expect. But I'm glad we started watching it.

Joel: Me too.

Felicity: They should make a Spider-Gwen solo show.

Joel: I've heard they're making an animated Spider-Gwen movie.

Felicity: Oh, cool. Still, though, I want a live-action version.

Joel: That would be good.

Felicity: Hey, switch the show to black and white before the commercial ends.

Joel: Okay.

A middle-aged man bursts into the room. This is BRIAN.

Brian: Hey, you guys!

Felicity (sighs, to Joel): Pause the show.

Joel: Okay.

Felicity (to Brian): What is it now?

Brian: Remember last week, when I said I wanted to produce a stage play version of Hold My Beer?

Joel: Yes.

Felicity: I wish I could forget.

Brian: Well, I've changed my mind.

Felicity: Big surprise.

Brian: Instead, it's going to be a stage play version of the first book in the Joel Suzuki series.

Joel and Felicity exchange glances.

Brian (cont'd): I started working on the Hold My Beer adaptation, but then I realized it might be a little too mellow for live theatre. A play needs to be visual and dramatic. So then I thought, hey, Joel Suzuki would be a great fit for the format.

Felicity: Hold on a sec -

Brian: And instead of having to write a bunch of new tunes, we could just use songs from Second Player Score's catalog. I know a few that would go really well with the story.

Felicity: Wait. Back up. I -

Brian: We could call it "Wavemaker: A Rock Opera." I mean, I know rock operas are usually sung-through, and this would have dialogue like a standard musical, but the songs would all be rock songs pulled from what were originally concept albums. And there'll be costumes and props and sets. I mean, nothing too fancy or expensive, just enough to get the idea across. Also, we - 

Felicity: Dude. Stop.

Brian stops.

Felicity (cont'd): What do you mean by "the Joel Suzuki series"?

Joel: Um...I was kind of wondering that myself.

Felicity: Are you saying that there's a book series about Joel?

Brian pauses and looks around.

Brian: Oh. Yeah. Right. Never mind. Forget I said anything.

Brian hastily exits the room.

Felicity: He is so weird sometimes.

Joel: I agree.

Felicity: Anyway, let's get back to the show.

Joel: Okay.

To be continued...?