By Page Leggett

“Life is not happening to you; it’s happening for you.”

I’ve heard bestselling author (and former advice columnist for O Magazine) Martha Beck say that. A quick Google search shows that Tony Robbins has said it, too. Maybe all life coaches and motivational speakers say some version of it.

When life stinks, it’s hard to believe that whatever we’re enduring at the moment is meant to serve us in any way.

Life had been tough recently for musician/composer/educator Molly Brown. After seeing her bank account dwindle – and after the pandemic had made a mess of things – she decided to leave her teaching job as an adjunct professor. “I thought something had to change,” she said.

“Creatively, I had felt very stifled,” she said. “I felt stifled in my work. We were in lockdown. I’m a musician and none of us were playing any gigs. It was really hard for me to kickstart this project. Everything that gave me a sense of self was gone. It was kind of disastrous.”

ASC’s Emerging Creators Fellowship came at the right time. The $5,000 grant supported Brown’s largest musical endeavor to date by allowing her to hire Haley Nelson, a freelance writing coach and dramaturg, in April 2021.

“Thanks to my coach, I’ve made tremendous progress on my project,” Brown said. “I’d never taken on such a big writing project before. If all my little wishes come true eventually, it’ll be a full-length musical production.”

The story is an extension of Brown’s first attempt at writing a musical. “Franny’s Feel-Good Farm” is loosely based on Brown’s experience working as – wait for it – an assistant to a New Age life coach.

“It was a miserable experience, but it was wild,” she said. “I always told myself this would make a great musical.”

The concept: A naïve young person goes to a New Age retreat run by Franny. Her retreat is called the “Feel Good Forest.” The protagonist can’t pay the full tuition, so Franny “kind of forces her to do chores alongside people who actually get to participate,” Brown said.

“She’s getting discouraged, but she just keeps getting sucked in, only to be let down again, and they’re all waiting at the retreat for this famous author to make an appearance,” she continued. “He’s a Dr. Oz-type person. His name is Dr. Stan, and he can’t make it so they try to summon him. And it works. It turns out that he’s actually Satan, who’s taken on the disguise of a motivational speaker.”

“I have a taste for dark humor and the absurd,” Brown deadpanned.

Are you hooked already? I am.

“When I first started, it was a fringe musical,” Brown said. “And I did produce it a couple of times in Charlotte [through my production company, Beautiful Day in Hell Productions] with friends as actors. It was less a musical and more of a rock opera. Working with this writing coach, I’ve added so many new characters, and it’s built out into acts now instead of one long, extended scene.

“In the musical, we see how someone who assumes a leadership role and can get enough people to just nod their heads vacantly and not question their motives can really lead people astray. And I don’t have any vendetta against New Age-y stuff. But it’s definitely worth lampooning.”

Brown appreciates the irony of having a coach help her bring to life a musical that lampoons … a coach.

“This fellowship gave me a little lifeline to something outside of what I was accustomed to,” Brown said. (As a life coach might say, life started happening for Brown and not to her.)

“I honestly never thought I would receive such a generous amount,” she said of the fellowship. “I’ve been working and performing in Charlotte for over a decade. There’s an amazing number of people in this city who are talented and deserving. I never thought I would be the recipient of something like this. I’ve been living with it for a while now, and I’m still kind of in disbelief.”

“When I consider where my mind was in April and where it is now – it’s a much healthier mindset,” Brown added. “And, that boost from ASC, especially at such a low, low point for the performing arts – it helped me get back on my feet creatively.”

SUPPORTING EMERGING AND ESTABLISHED CREATIVES IN MECKLENBURG COUNTY

ASC is accepting applications from Mecklenburg County-based creatives for 2022 Creative Renewal Fellowships and Emerging Creators Fellowships through Jan. 24, 2022, at noon.

Creatives who want to learn about the eligibility requirements and application process for both fellowships are encouraged to attend one of our in-person or virtual info sessions:

In-Person:

• Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2022, 6-7:30 p.m.
  VAPA Center (700 N. Tryon St., Charlotte)
  Capacity: 50 people
  RSVP for this Info Session 

Virtual:

• Thursday, Jan. 6, 2022, 11:30 a.m.-12:30 p.m.
  RSVP for this Info Session