The writing is on the wall. Mene mene tekel parsin. That’s the writing that’s on the wall. It’s from the Bible. It means, “You have been measured and found wanting.” I don’t make this shit up. I only work here… and I don’t get paid all that much for my trouble.

So, I’m scrapping the musical. Or at least the “Bon Jovi Blowout” version of it which I penned most recently. It just wasn’t working out. I mean, it worked for me, for what I needed: to redeem some lost part of myself. But it didn’t go anywhere beyond that. Because the thing we have to capture here is that part inside all of us that touches - the part of us that is the same. The part that’s always hugging even if we don’t know each other. Basically the part of us that is molded after God’s image, that was made in his inner imaging engine, his imagination. The part of us that recognizes wholeness and beauty and truth and love above all things. That’s what we need and that’s what this is and always was about.

I have what I think is a better idea, and it’s based on a true story, though I can’t publicly reveal my sources. I’m working out the details, but the basic plot goes like this: the whole thing takes place in a mental hospital. It’s still an update of Jesus Christ Superstar, but it just takes place in a loony bin: to put it lovingly.

The benefit of that is that (1) it’s awesome and (2) you get to make each of the characters totally eccentric and weird and it “makes sense” for that story. So anyway yeah there’s one dude who will be sort of the Jesus-equivalent, and the Apostles will all be other patients - each of which has a crazy weird name such as:

THANK YOU THANK YOU
HA HA ONLY SERIOUS
EXCUSE ME MA’AM
OH HOW COULD YOU!
RELAX THANKS
YES I SWEAR

So everyone’s name is like a weird saying which somehow encapsulates their character. I don’t know how much the audience will really be impacted by that, but I think it will great for when you look at the script - especially since the point of the musical is to transform the lives of the people involved in it. Seems like a good first wedge to drop in there.

But I haven’t talked about the plot like I said I was going to. Basically the one dude just runs through the basic Jesus plotline, except instead of getting crucified, he gets released and everyone has to make do without him.

Couple other angles: I was thinking about having the dude’s doctor be sort of his “Judas” figure who eventually realizes the patient he’s helping is actually helping him instead.

Thought about making a viewpoint “ordinary” character who is coming to pick up the Jesus character. Her name would potentially be something like “SWEET JUDY BLUE EYES” (after the CSNY song of a similar name). So she would come there to pick him up and one of the plotlines could be that all of the patients are wondering who she’s going to free - if she came for them, etc. And they speculate about it the whole time.

Something like that.

Another angle still: it could be more based on something like the Book of Acts, instead of the Four Gospels. It could take place after the Jesus character already was released, and it could be sort of this thing where that character is larger than life because he’s never actually in the show itself, but is just omnipresent. So then basically the struggle of all the characters individually and communally would be to go through the mourning and confusion of having lost their best friend (because he was each of their best friends, somehow), and they would struggle to tell their stories of what they loved about him, what he actually even used to say and do that was so amazing (his miracles) and how they wished they could have done things differently while he was still around. And then they sort of collaboratively realize that it’s their remembering of him that makes him still there with them.

I also like the sort of Jean Paul Sartre “No Exit” potential here: they could all be kind of talking about getting on the outside, like their missing friend, but none of them actually ever do it. Or maybe one of them finally does. And then another and then another. That could be cool.

Anyway, I’m pretty into it. I have one band into it already, but I basically want it to be like, a billion bands into helping. A billion artists, musicians, actors, comedians, writers, etc. My version will be my version. Your version will be your version. Everyone’s free to build what works best for them and makes best use of their talents, their friends, etc. I have a lot more to say about all this and will probably come back filled with ideas after 2-3 weeks at sea. But I thought I would get the ball rolling, starting planting the new seeds in the fertile soils of all your imaginations. Because I’m gonna come back later on and call on each one of you for help in your own special ways. You will know when I call you. You will know how to respond.