About The Sorceress
The Sorceress is an in-development dark fantasy feature film told through music. It is a musical, though not quite like those we have come to know from Disney or Broadway. Its style and mood are akin to Lord of The Rings, Princess Mononoke, and Sweeney Todd, aimed at young adult and adult audiences.
Lyla, a girl content with her father in the peaceful isolation of The Sleeping Forest, discovers a mysterious rash on her finger, forcing her to find a cure in the Land of Gorlen, ruled by Morimur and his Guard, who control all clean water, but when she meets the Sage Witch, who informs her that her rash is actually a symptom of magic powers she possesses, Lyla must choose what role she will play in the fate of the people of Gorlen.
A New Take on the Marriage of Music and Story
I love music and I love stories. I love the idea of stories told through or with music, therefore, I love the idea of musicals… but I almost never love musicals. KPop Demon Hunters, Wicked, Frozen, Les Miserables all do what they do exceptionally well, but they don’t connect with me. I don’t enjoy watching or listening to them; in fact, the moment a song begins, I usually cringe and remain cringed until the song is over. Their style is just not for me. I want to love them, but I don’t. Though there are many fans of music theater in this world, there are also many music theater haters. And yet all of those people still love music. The Sorceress is for them. (It’s probably also for music theater lovers too). For my entire life in music I have been chasing a vision, a style, a mood, something that has always proven elusive because it doesn’t quite exist. My artistic vision gradually clarified through my musical development and then through my career as a performing artist and a film and TV composer, and storytelling through the music, and imagery in connection with the music, are parts of that vision. When I compose a chord or a melody, it’s as though it is a piece of a fantasy world that already exists, that I’m trying to unearth. My life’s journey has been to unearth the whole piece, to make the thing that I want to hear and see, and that is what The Sorceress is. This music can stand on its own, this story can stand its own, this imagery can stand on its own, but combined, that’s where the magic is. These three elements were meant to work together in harmony.
Download the script:
https://s.disco.ac/auvykvahimqd
Jeel and Ivan’s cottage in Gorlen
Jeel, a young, aspiring alchemist, studying ancient magic in his cottage.
Jeel makes a brilliant discovery about the source of magic in Gorlen and a powerful method to wield it.
Jeel meets his mentor, Morimur, an old, jaded man who has devoted his life to the study of alchemy.
Morimur and Jeel at The Ancient Tree
The tree-home in The Sleeping Forest, where Lyla and Ivan live.
The Fortress, where The Guard is based, and where the filtration system for all clean drinking water in Gorlen is housed.
The Characters
Lyla
Ivan
Jeel
Ronan
Morimur
The Sage Witch
The Music
Music is the essence of The Sorceress; a musical, perhaps an opera; a sonic pallet unique to the land of Gorlen, combining orchestral and earthly acoustic instruments: dark, organic, and complex, the music itself creates a world. This is a selection of pieces from The Sorceress.