My Journey To Second Samuel

My Journeys to Second Samuel

Let me start by saying this is my first “blog” so I hope I’m doing it “right” … whatever that means in the blogosphere. Additionally, I am blogging from another continent so that’s also kind of a first too! So let me get on with this …

If someone had told me in 1985 that I would participate in a play that would eventually lead me to write musicals, get a Broadway agent, and more importantly, finally take me to the Australian continent, I would have probably laughed hysterically for several long minutes. However, in the fall of 1986, that is exactly what I did. It just goes to show what can happen when you follow the very unusual “leads” that your life sends you. I followed one such lead on a rainy Fall afternoon in 1986. Well, I think it was 1986 … or maybe it was 1987 … anyway, I’m sure it was raining! I received a phone call from the artistic director of a local theater in the Atlanta, GA area. She asked if I had plans for the evening, and I said no, even though that probably wasn’t the truth. But she was a “mover-and-shaker” in the local arts scene at the time, and I figured the only plans I had would be the ones she was about to give me! (Hey, you never know! I might even get a role out of it!) She asked if I’d be interested in auditioning for a staged reading of a play, Second Samuel, by a local writer named Pamela Parker. I said yes. She asked if I had ever heard of Pamela and I said no. She gave me some quick instructions on where to go for the audition, told me to “break a leg,” and then hung up. So I was standing there thinking that this would be my first “cold read” audition. But I thought what the heck … actually I thought “what the hell!”  The worst that could happen is that they would have me read for the part and not call me back. And in the meantime I would learn what it was like to audition for a part about which I had no prior knowledge. So I borrowed my roommate’s car and drove to this audition.

When I arrived at the audition site, I was greeted by a young man who introduced himself as the director for this staged reading of Second Samuel. I thought it was a piece about the books of the Bible. But first impressions can sometimes be misleading. There were several other people at this audition who all had copies of this script and they were standing in various areas, some chatting, and others perusing the script. The director gave me a copy of the play, told me where to stand and said “Read the lines of the character U.S.” I asked him who I would be auditioning with, and he grinned and said, “You have the role. The audition was if you’d show up here to do the part!” At that time, I had no idea how valuable a gift I had just been given. That night I read a very early version of Second Samuel. Nevertheless, after that rehearsal where we only worked on the first act, I still remember driving home as fast as the weather would permit, so I could read the second act. I could not believe that someone local had written such an engaging, insightful and moving piece. Even more important, I could not believe my fortune in helping to bring that play to the stage. Little did I know that just a few short years later I would actually tour the show regionally and nationally here in the U.S.

In twenty-something years of doing productions of Second Samuel, I have watched it grow in the most amazing ways! Additionally, I have reaped many benefits through my association with Second Samuel. Pamela and I have become friends and I have watched as she’s created both a prequel and a sequel to Second Samuel. She convinced me to write two musicals with her and is responsible for my having an agent on Broadway who represents one of our co-authored pieces.

Well I apologize for this awfully long blog but I wanted to say “Hi!” … or as they say here in the South, I just wanted to say “Hey!” My continuing journey to Second Samuel will be bringing me to Perth in about 7 months. I am so excited about it! I’ll tell practically anyone who’ll sit still long enough for me to blurt it out. I hope I’ll get a chance to meet you while I’m in Perth and I hope you’ll come to see the show. It’s a great show with a great message that is as important as it is timeless. Hope to hear from you and see you real soon.

Nat Martin (aka U.S. in Second Samuel)