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MORTGAGE MELTDOWN: THE MUSICALEve Sutton--Book, Music, Lyrics, CurriculumWebsite: https://mortmelt.com Contact Email: eve@mortmelt.com |
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“O. P. M. — Other People’s Money. It’s not an addiction. It’s the way we do business.” (The Bankers) MORTGAGE MELTDOWN: THE MUSICAL (MMTM or MortMelt) is a tragic, campy comedy, a mix of Schoolhouse Rock and The Big Short. From the start, I consulted with instructors at high schools and colleges to make my show entertaining, educational, easy to produce, and profitable. I own all the rights to all the intellectual property, and I can adjust the script or songs to match each venue’s requirements. Music and scene samples are on YouTube > MortMelt Sampler (a playlist) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRP6oPj8uWA14NsqUaCDNU8JIWQjPCdT0 Set in 2004-2013, MORTGAGE MELTDOWN follows two plot lines inalternating scenes: Three generations of parents and kids in five inter-connected households navigate their lives, while Bank of the Wild West profits by making predatory loans and selling those loans to investors. Staging can be adjusted so the most intense scenes are appropriate for different audiences: One father’s suicide attempt, and another couple’s domestic violence. Music includes a barbershop quartet of Bankers, who are assisted by the Laissez Fairies, complicit courts, and political allies like Senator Backslapper. The energetic ensemble learns a vaiety of music and dance genres: waltzes, a jazz tango, a brisk march, and classic showtune styles. The more challenging songs are duets and solos for the homeowners, although almost any song can include backup singers. Staging suggestions include graphics and diagrams for projection or painted posters, and visual puns: a kiddie wading pool to represent the ‘pool’ of securitized loans covered by the Pooling and Servicing Agreement, and a revolving door for US Attorney General Eric Holder to pass in and out of his job as a lobbyist. Easy rehearsal. Practice tracks include full scores or piano-vocals with digital voices. Most scenes have only a few characters, so scenes can be rehearsed in parallel. Mostly sung through, with most dialogue in rhymed couplets. (I am revising the script to convert much of the dialogue to concise rhymed couplets or songs.) No foul language, no violence, no sex, no drugs. Ensemble cast with many small named parts. Full package includes curriculum for high school or college/university classes in History, Economics, Finance, Government, Business, Ethics, Philosophy, Psychology, Child Development. What’s It About?Five households in one bank’s vicinity— I was an accomplished poet and curriculum designer long before the financial crisis — two skills that I combined for this musical. I was teaching middle school science in 2008-2009 and I had no way to explain to my students WHY they were “losing” their homes and moving in with Grandma. I started to create Mortgage Meltdown as a fun, musical curriculum with catchy songs and some sections of rhymed dialogue. In 2014, I was recording my demo album and filming scenes for cable television when I was rudely interrupted: My bank started putting my house into foreclosure, and I knew from my research that their documents were completely illegal. I managed to stay in my house through years of court battles, but I was stretched very thin with fundraising and networking to keep working on the musical. I became an expert on illegal foreclosure, advising foreclosure victims, educators, legislators, and their staff. Is the foreclosure crisis over? NO. But reserach plus humor makes for a really good show! Even today, most adults cannot describe the role of corruption in the financial industry, the courts, and Congress. But they can enjoy learning from the songs and scenes from MORTGAGE MELTDOWN: THE MUSICAL on YouTube. I have worked on my musical for more than 10 years, through very difficult times, but never quit. I kept my humor and did not give up. Along the way, I met and worked with fabulous supporters: __Sherry Hernandez and several other long-term foreclosure fighters who have taught themselves law and are a wealth of information and insight. __Mark Moulton, housing advocate and Board Member of non-profit and government agencies for housing justice. __Stephen Riddle, musician and fellow poet who has supported this project from the beginning. __Daniel Simpson, a professional composer whom I hired to transcribe and format my scores in Sibelius.
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MORTGAGE MELTDOWN: THE MUSICAL
Eve Sutton--Book, Music, Lyrics, Curriculum
Website: https://mortmelt.com
Contact Email: eve@mortmelt.com
“O. P. M. — Other People’s Money. It’s not an addiction. It’s the way we do business.” (The Bankers)
MORTGAGE MELTDOWN: THE MUSICAL (MMTM or MortMelt) is a tragic, campy comedy, a mix of Schoolhouse Rock and The Big Short. From the start, I consulted with instructors at high schools and colleges to make my show entertaining, educational, easy to produce, and profitable. I own all the rights to all the intellectual property, and I can adjust the script or songs to match each venue’s requirements.
Music and scene samples are on YouTube > MortMelt Sampler (a playlist) https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLRP6oPj8uWA14NsqUaCDNU8JIWQjPCdT0
Set in 2004-2013, MORTGAGE MELTDOWN follows two plot lines inalternating scenes: Three generations of parents and kids in five inter-connected households navigate their lives, while Bank of the Wild West profits by making predatory loans and selling those loans to investors. Staging can be adjusted so the most intense scenes are appropriate for different audiences: One father’s suicide attempt, and another couple’s domestic violence.
Music includes a barbershop quartet of Bankers, who are assisted by the Laissez Fairies, complicit courts, and political allies like Senator Backslapper. The energetic ensemble learns a vaiety of music and dance genres: waltzes, a jazz tango, a brisk march, and classic showtune styles. The more challenging songs are duets and solos for the homeowners, although almost any song can include backup singers.
Staging suggestions include graphics and diagrams for projection or painted posters, and visual puns: a kiddie wading pool to represent the ‘pool’ of securitized loans covered by the Pooling and Servicing Agreement, and a revolving door for US Attorney General Eric Holder to pass in and out of his job as a lobbyist.
Easy rehearsal. Practice tracks include full scores or piano-vocals with digital voices. Most scenes have only a few characters, so scenes can be rehearsed in parallel. Mostly sung through, with most dialogue in rhymed couplets. (I am revising the script to convert much of the dialogue to concise rhymed couplets or songs.)
No foul language, no violence, no sex, no drugs.
Ensemble cast with many small named parts.
Full package includes curriculum for high school or college/university classes in History, Economics, Finance, Government, Business, Ethics, Philosophy, Psychology, Child Development.
What’s It About?
Five households in one bank’s vicinity—
We’ll call them Households A, B, C, D, E—
Are pushed into traps set six years before
Scene One opens: March fourth, two thousand four.
Watch banks base loans on neighborhood and race,
Buy ratings for pools of loans (“Triple-A’s”),
Forge signatures, drop their lending standards,
File fake documents in public records.
Which homeowners are not evicted yet?
Will Bankers find out how rich they can get?
I was an accomplished poet and curriculum designer long before the financial crisis — two skills that I combined for this musical. I was teaching middle school science in 2008-2009 and I had no way to explain to my students WHY they were “losing” their homes and moving in with Grandma. I started to create Mortgage Meltdown as a fun, musical curriculum with catchy songs and some sections of rhymed dialogue. In 2014, I was recording my demo album and filming scenes for cable television when I was rudely interrupted: My bank started putting my house into foreclosure, and I knew from my research that their documents were completely illegal. I managed to stay in my house through years of court battles, but I was stretched very thin with fundraising and networking to keep working on the musical. I became an expert on illegal foreclosure, advising foreclosure victims, educators, legislators, and their staff. Is the foreclosure crisis over? NO. But reserach plus humor makes for a really good show! Even today, most adults cannot describe the role of corruption in the financial industry, the courts, and Congress. But they can enjoy learning from the songs and scenes from MORTGAGE MELTDOWN: THE MUSICAL on YouTube.
I have worked on my musical for more than 10 years, through very difficult times, but never quit. I kept my humor and did not give up. Along the way, I met and worked with fabulous supporters:
__Sherry Hernandez and several other long-term foreclosure fighters who have taught themselves law and are a wealth of information and insight.
__Mark Moulton, housing advocate and Board Member of non-profit and government agencies for housing justice.
__Stephen Riddle, musician and fellow poet who has supported this project from the beginning.
__Daniel Simpson, a professional composer whom I hired to transcribe and format my scores in Sibelius.