Dan Mclaughlin

Oh No, Not Emily!: an Operetta of Academia, Fraud & Emily Dickinson Dan Mclaughlin

Publisher Marketing: "Oh No Not Emily" is a Gilbert & Sullivan-like operetta based very loosely on actual events. It is the story of Molly Writerblock, an aspiring poet, as she enters a graduate English program at a very large public university located next to an ocean. There she meets another newcomer to the department who is attempting to sell a hitherto unknown original poem by Emily Dickinson to the same English Department. There are also supportive parents; older, helpful grad students who have been there a very long time who willingly share how to be a successful grad student; an extremely knowledgeable professor who willingly shares his brilliance and an unseen Dean who communicates entirely through memos. In the end, only one newcomer will remain. With "Oh No, Not Emily!" you have the recipe for a show that will have your entire campus buzzing. With "Oh No Not Emily" you get a show that has: 8 strong characters all of whom get their own songs and "time in the sun." A musical score that is continually rich and inventive. One song actually combines each of the chord triads based on the 11 semitones of the Western Musical scale (really). A show that lovingly, yet satirically, through song and dance examines academic life from the inside. People who will especially be attracted by this script are: People who have spent time in an English department. People who know what a paradigm is. People who exist in large bureaucracies. People who are in grad school and need to laugh about it. People who are thinking of going to grad school and want to know what is is really like. People who are paying for grad school and are curious about what they are spending all that money for. In short, a show with something for everyone. Contributor Bio:  McLaughlin, Dan Dan McLaughlin was born in Hollywood during halftime of a Rams Colts game. Although the Rams scored a touchdown soon after his birth to tie the game, the Colts then scored 17 points to win. This, along with multi-decade stints at UCLA and as a government bureaucrat, has given Dan an appreciation for the subtle and sometimes capricious agency of action and words. Dan has written five novels, two non-fiction works on the history of Pasadena, one musical and a play. In reverse chronological order his works have been: "WereKitty" a work which considers what happens 20 years after a torrid love affair between a normal human and a member of the differentially animated community; "Gott Mit Uns" a play that tells the story of an 8 1/2 foot penguin, who is a goddess, who is pursued by two people, who are bureaucrats, through today's America; "Mime Time" a murder mystery about a mime about to be nominated the Republican presidential candidate of 2012 and the people who want to kill him; "Gott Mit Uns" the novel which is the source of his recent play; "Pass the Damn Salt, Please" a novel which explores the importance of language and politeness in relationships told entirely in dialogue; "ICE Girls" an award winning novella which examines the story of the Little Match Girl from the point of view of management; and the award winning musical "Oh No, Not Emily!" an operetta in which a modern fake Emily Dickinson poem is sold to a post-modern English Department. Two of Dan's works have been nominated for Just Plain Folks awards: "Oh No, Not Emily!" for Best Theater Album, and "ICE Girls" for Best Storytelling Album. In terms of his non-fiction, Dan has been the local history librarian at the Pasadena Public Library for over 25 years. He has answered reference questions and provided individualized instruction for hundreds of library patrons over the years. He has also designed and contributed content to two local history databases: the Pasadena Digital History Collaborative and the Pasadena News Index. "Pasadena History Headline Quiz" is the first part of a projected trilogy on the history of Pasadena for grade schoolers. Questions from this book will be sprinkled liberally through the forthcoming book, "Pasadena: A Mystery and a History for You Can Explore."