“Watching the words come to life was breathtaking. Thanks for your faith in me. I admire you all more than I can ever say.”

—Cynthia Lewis Ferrell, award-winning playwright

“I think I was almost born writing,” Cynthia Lewis Ferrell shared in an interview with Supreme Master Television. The international award-winning author, playwright, and librettist added, “I would dictate poetry to my father who would sit down and type it out for me. And then I’d illustrate it. I fell in love with consonants and vowels and the cadence and the rhythms and the beauty of the language. That’s just who I’ve always been.”

Ms. Ferrell’s most recent works include El Canguro opera, sponsored by Herrenhaus Edenkoben and KUSC Radio, which debuted at 2011’s California International Theatre Festival. Furthermore, in 2012, National Geographic Traveler named her animated Santa’s Workshop at Callaway Gardens among the world’s ten best light shows. She has written and produced the music video Shermania! for Disney’s Destination: D, and performed her solo What a Wife Doesn’t Know to sold-out New York audiences. Her musicals include The Rightful Monarch of America with Tony winner Jeff Marx. Among Ms. Ferrell’s honored plays are 3DB Inside (Arts & Letters International Competition); Mean High Tide (Writer’s Digest International Competition); and Snapshoot (Jerome Lawrence Prize). Current projects include her novel, Rattler in the Ivy, and her newest play, Holy Cows of Oxnard. The poetic, vibrant storyteller is published by Doubleday NY.

On the red carpet: Cynthia Lewis Ferrell with guest Dr. Michael DeMattei

For Loving the Silent Tears, Ms. Ferrell wrote the narrative through line about the protagonists Joy, Pete, and the Conductor, whose story would interweave between the featured musical numbers that were based on Supreme Master Ching Hai’s poetry. She said, “What interested me most in Loving the Silent Tears, honestly, was the poetry. The poetry is so beautiful and the message of the poetry, it’s so consistent throughout the piece and the nuances of it are gorgeous and it’s just so inspiring. It just makes you come to the project with a happy heart.”

In the beginning, Ms. Ferrell found herself faced with a daunting task, which was to finish writing the libretto in a couple of weeks. She described this as “an impossible mission,” explaining, “Generally, it takes years to create a musical, it really does. Of course, we had such a leg up by having the lyrics already existing, and the basic philosophy, the underpinnings of the musical already pre-existing in this beautiful free-verse poetry. That being said, it still should take months and months to be able to really create characters, believable, intriguing, complex characters. It took short of two weeks. Creative collaboration can be tough and this was like a miracle. Everyone was on the same page, believing the same possibilities, knowing it could happen, watching it all come together and in these flowing colors; and just being open to the possibility, the probability, the reality, that it could happen that well, that fast, and be so much fun to put together.”

Ms. Ferrell describes one of the serendipitous moments which occurred while working on the musical: “One of the most fun moments was when we had a conference call with the director, and he was instantly talking about how much dialogue was between songs, very happy to know that we’d constructed it the way we had, and then he was saying, ‘The Russian song should be the first act closer.’ And so we were going, ‘That is such a good idea.’ And of course round the table we’re all going, ‘Because we’d already had it that way.’ And it was just one of those marvelous moments where everyone was already thinking the same thing across all of these poems, all of the possible ways the characters could have been constructed. We were all so much on the same wavelength putting this together, it was really magical. It was truly a wonderful time. I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.”

“The way I got inspiration for this piece is by reading the poems,” Ms. Ferrell said, describing how the story started to come to life for her with Joy, the bereaved mother; Pete, the brash young man; and the all-knowing Conductor, who helps to guide the two on a journey to finding their inner peace. “The philosophy and the flavor of the poetry, it informed everything. We wanted to keep the story simple, so that the poems could be that heartbeat behind it. And so it is a simple story, but a profound story, and I think I love that best.”

As she began to write, she realized the underlying message of the entire piece: “‘Loving the silent tears’ as a concept runs like a heartbeat throughout the entire musical: the silent tears, the longing, the separation from God and then feeling the reunion and the joy of that reunion.” Ms. Ferrell added, “The poetry, of course, really spans Supreme Master Ching Hai’s philosophy, so that there are some songs that really talk about loving the animals. There are certain songs that talk about peace and conflict resolution. There are portions of the poetry that discuss celebrating yourself, celebrating life, celebrating God in all forms. And I think that’s the themes combined.”

On the red carpet for the musical’s premiere, Cynthia enthused, “I’m absolutely thrilled. I saw the dress rehearsal last night, and it’s just astounding. All the work that everyone’s done! It’s just spectacular! I’m so happy.”

Indeed, it was a collective happiness that was shared by all who viewed Loving the Silent Tears, which was a culmination of the beautiful poetry, soul-stirring music, and incredible talents of all involved.

<<	Contents	>>
Refer this page to friends