I have begun to write a connecting story line for the Hungry For Heaven song cycle, in the hopes that we can turn this into some sort of stage production. Here are some possible characters:

Ricardo Cantore (baritone) – a middled-aged family man discovering poetry as a way to express his past and future in the light of heaven

Magullo Miento (instrumentalist) – an optimistic yet shy young man who uses music to express God's presence in family and friends

Salie Serdna (tenor) - a mountain climber seeking God at the summit where warmth, oxygen and mobility are in inverse proportion to light, sight and existential awareness.

Falsifar (bass) - a demon who tries to silence the manifestations of Spirit

Impala Vine (soprano) – a single mom who has lived in the dark shadows of circumstance, but now sees God in tangled vines, and follows

Bridget du Liban (alto) – a great grandmother who has been ready to go to her reward in heaven for 30 years and prays every hour

Meus (little girl or boy) – the fool as represented by a chubby little cherub who is always looking for attention and toys. Both comical and tragic at the same time.

Trinity - a golden tabernacle hung from gnarled vines (not sure yet if it will appear to speak and produce music)

The Church Choir (a director, preacher, organist and chorus of 12 to 16 people) – churchgoing people who help Ricardo and Magullo lift songs to heaven

Magullo is a guitarist (acoustic and electric) who has a platform on the left side of the stage from which he plays in half-light throughout the entire work. He speaks eloquently with his music. Ricardo is the lead character who delivers most of the soliloquies. He interacts with the other singers and with the church choir. The church choir is in half-shadow, on the right side of the stage. Magullo represents individual prayer. The choir represents communal prayer.

- Richard Schletty

Letter from David to Richard - 7/18/2008

Hi again Richard. Are you here? It´s been a long time since we don´t talk!!
Yesterday I invited Bridget to take lunch at my home and after that we went to the swiming pool. Before she came with me to Madrid to work and she solve some of her stuff. We had a nice day.

As you know I proposed to one our students to write a play about Hungry for Heaven. He called me yesterday because he is starting to write some sketches but he need more informations or basic lines. He say that is quite difficult to engaged all song in one idea but he can do it. Also he ask me if he could add some funny or comical ideas in the play. I think that is a good idea. What do you think? I´ll give to you his email to talk with him. His name is Juan Antonio (aka "Monty"). He speaks and write perfect english.
Have a nice day
Best grettings,
David

Letter from to Richard to David - 7/18/2008

David:

I'm am happy you were able to spend some time with Bridget.

I look forward to working with Juan Antonio. Please send his e-mail and give him mine. We could also talk using Skype.

I am willing to change the lyrics on some of the songs to create a more connected story. Yes, humor would be a good thing to have. I need to finish the 6th movement. Things are starting to slow down a bit with work, so this weekend would be a good time to get back to HFH. I am sorry it is taking so long, but my ideas about searching for truth, beauty and meaning in life are changing with time. That is a good thing. I really don't want to force the lyrics and melodic lines. They must be gifted to me when the Spirit deems it right.

Yes, the fool as represented by a fat little cherub named Meus -- always looking for attention and toys.

God bless you.

Richard Schletty

As prompted via David by Juan Antonio, my stage treatment co-writer, we are tentatively adding this character to the cast:

Meus – the fool as represented by a chubby little cherub who is always looking for attention and toys. Both comical and tragic at the same time.

Juan (aka "Monty") is a student at a university in Madrid, Spain, where David Gómez is an assistant headmaster. David tells me that Juan is very creative and has a special sense of humor. This humor will be a good ingredient to add to Hungry For Heaven.

- Richard Schletty

Monty,

Nice to meet you. I am so glad you are willing to help develop a stage treatment for Hungry For Heaven. David had told me that you are creative and have a special sense of humor. I like that. It will be nice to have humor in Hungry For Heaven. It cannot be entirely weighty and serious.

Please feel free to suggest drastic changes to lyrics in any of the movements to help form a unified story line. Nothing has to be kept as is. I wrote the lyrics without really having any preconceived notion of what this was to become. It is a search for meaning and joy under the light of Heaven. Please, use total freedom in conceptualizing a performance. It can be from one to two hours in length. If it is to be a symphonic-rock concert, then there is less concern about connective tissue between the movements. If it is to be a symphonic-rock musical or opera, then we need to have a story where the characters interact and come to various conclusions and fates (outcomes) along the way.

Please see what I have written so far about the HFH stage play, opera or concert (we are not yet sure what we are creating). I just added a character named Meus.

http://hungryforheaven.com/hfh_stage.html

As I said, any of this can change. You have total freedom. The opus is the work of the Spirit, as David described to me at the very beginning. We want the song cycle to be an affirmation and praise of the Trinity – Father, Son and Holy Spirit.

I look forward to hearing from you.

Best wishes,

Richard Schletty