Phil’s Blog
HOW IT CAME TO BE
I first met Brian Degas in 2010. Brian was a screenwriter and film producer https://www.imdb.com/name/nm0214659/ who had been invited as the guest speaker at a local writers group. I gave him my book of short stories, which piqued his interest enough to have a chat. Brian wanted to read a new novel I was writing and told me of some projects he had that were unfinished.
One of these was a stage play called LADY AT THE GATE about a group of European immigrants heading to Ellis Island in 1917. He asked me to write some music around the story. I was unsure at first, as I was never really a musical theatre guy, much more at home with Rock ‘n Roll. Three days later I was hooked on the story, and the songs seemed to flow. Between 2010 and 2015, we worked and reworked the idea around the songs and retitled it HEARTBREAK ISLAND.
In 2015 we sent out copies of the script and songs to various contacts of Brian’s but failed to get any interest. While working on the script in 2019, Brian sadly passed away leaving me holding the baby. I left the project on the shelf while I continued touring with my rock band, URIAH HEEP, but after a while I returned to it. I reworked a lot of the music and recorded some songs with session singers. They sounded so good I knew something had to be done and retitled it THE GOLDEN DOOR.
After coming across an early letter from Joan Lane referring Brian to some of her contacts, I approached her with a view to a resubmission. Having turned it down initially, as rock music was not a genre she was conversant with, I persuaded her to listen to the demo of the Overture and read the script. She liked what she heard and what she read, and this time, she came on board. So, here we are at the end of 2024 moving ahead with plans for a concept album and a stage production, and ultimately, a screenplay.