Ever thought that there’s plenty of rich material from your coaching for a play, a novel, or even a musical? Two seasoned coaches have made this a reality
By Liz Hall
The Workshop: a musical, based on group coaching, is ready to go into production. It has been created by highly experienced coaches Chérie Carter-Scott and Lynn U Stewart. Thailand-based ICF MCC Carter-Scott, CEO of personal development and professional training firm MMS Institute and her Netherlands-based ICF PCC sister, Lynn U Stewart, have been running a two-day Inner Negotiation personal development workshops around the world for 43 years, helping people get unstuck, stretch out of their comfort zones and experiment with new behaviours.
Carter-Scott and her sister grew up in New York, spending much of their early lives seeing musicals and theatre with their parents. “Musical theatre has always been in my blood and been a passion of mine for years – I did Shakespeare in the Park and so on. But I didn’t want to starve and my mother wouldn’t sanction me going to drama school, so I went into coaching in 1974. My sister and I would watch people’s experiences and say, ‘This is fab theatre!’ We had the inspiration to pluck out vignettes that we thought were most relatable, having problems saying no and so on. And I kept hearing music in my head and would wake up with the songs.”
The 90-minute musical won’t just provide entertainment, it will potentially challenge members of the audience to stretch out of their own comfort zone, hopes Carter-Scott. “It’s fun and playful but also serious and really profound at times, displaying the whole gamut of human emotions.”
The story involves 12 individuals diverse in age, ethnicity, occupation, age, sexual preference, and objectives gathering for a personal development workshop. They all long to obtain something very specific as they share their stories, some comic, some tragic, but all connecting to real human challenges. Universal themes of wanting, fearing, risking, loss, breakdown and breakthrough feature as the “human connectors that touch, elevate, and inspire.”
Loosely modeled after the structure of the brilliant production, A Chorus Line, The Workshop (musical) features a simple set, a five-piece combo of musicians, and 13 diverse and talented actors. The musical has an original score, with music composition, direction, and arrangements by Zak Lloyd.
Accredited backers will be able to check out the musical on 17 October in New York, enticed by the message, “If you like personal development, and you love musical theatre, you will fall in love with The Workshop. Anyone interested in backing the project should contact Carter-Scott by 10 October.
Email: drcheriecs@gmail.com