Tombstone Background

The inspiration:
Wherever they travel, the Howell family will always be trudging through the local museums and places of history. They love to find the remote and untouched places, stories and people. Twelve years ago, the Howells moved back home to Tucson to establish a Theater Company, develop new musicals and raise their three children. In 1986 , they opened the Arizona Rose and in 1989 they had their fourth child. But it was a 1987 family outing to Tombstone and a picture of Nellie Cashman on the courthouse museum wall that inspired this project.

From concept to stage:
Several years of research and contemplation preceded the actual writing process. Several trips to Tombstone, the Arizona Historical Society and local libraries yielded many books and articles about lives of people that passed through Arizona in the 1880s. Most interesting, were those penned by the people themselves. Terry was interested in the thoughts, feelings, and choices that had placed them in Tombstone. He once said, “I walked around Tombstone looking for the oldest trees I could find and just sat under them a while - they were ‘there’ - and they know the truth”. Three years ago, the Howells said “Next season - we’re doing Tombstone”. In April of that year, armed with musical sketches, character monologues and a few short scenes, they began looking for talent. Cast/character chemistry is an important part of any successful theatrical property and Terry wanted to bring his cast to mind as he created the piece. A three-day workshop was held in August and many of his original cast had left town for parts unknown. He recast the open parts and moved forward. During this same time period, the Howell’s oldest son Brandon would often say, “Dad - what do you think of this melody?” Brandon wrote several of the melodic themes that have become integral parts of the Tombstone score and a new collaboration between father and son was born. The Arizona Rose Theatre Company had two shows earlier in the 95-96 season before Tombstone was to open and by December more than one-half of the latest cast had “moved on” for various reasons. In January, with Tombstone - Beyond the Legend” opening in six weeks, auditions were again held and an entirely new writing process began. The musical was written and scored in three weeks. Rehearsals began with about half of the first act completed and the cast of twenty-four actors were given new script pages each day. It was obvious to everyone that this was a special project and the 1996 production came together gloriously.