The word "diverse" doesn't do local composer David Zabriskie justice.
Not only did Zabriskie write the music for the LDS Church's "Savior of the World" production, but he's also composed jingles for everything from Nestle Foods to Las Vegas slot machines. He's also worked with such varied talents as AeroSmith, Rick Moranis, John Goodman and Elvira.
At the moment, he's working on a musical, "The Legend of Sleepy Hollow."
Zabriskie let out a good-natured laugh when asked if he has trouble keeping these many styles apart. " 'Sleepy Hollow' is two hours long," he said. "Sunday, I finished up a one-hour work for BYU-Idaho, a sacred work based on the writings of Paul in the New Testament. And then my full-time job is writing music for slot machines. So I have three genres going on at the same time."
He added that he thought there would be some overlapping, "but they're so different in style and feel that it's been great." Of course, he added, the concept of melody does overlap. "No matter whether it's classical, pop, sacred, whatever, I really believe in good, strong melodies that are memorable."
"Sleepy Hollow" is a project taken on "spec," Zabriskie said. He and co-producer/lyricist Don Wilson are working on it with only the promise of a cut of the proceeds. The show is scheduled for six performances at the Croswell Opera House in Adrian, Mich. After that, well, the sky's the limit.
In the best-case scenario, Zabriskie said, the show could hit Broadway. More likely, however, it will be picked up by theaters around the country. "It's very interesting. 'Jekyll and Hyde' and 'The Scarlet Pimpernel' did not do well on Broadway, but they've done stunningly well across the country. People love to perform it, especially 'The Scarlet Pimpernel.'
"And if we just get that far, that's great by us. We just want to get some decent musical theater out for people to do. And this one is truly American all the way around. It's an American story from the colonial days, and it's by American creators. It's truly an American work."
Zabriskie said that Wilson has stayed true to the original Washington Irving story in writing the libretto — to the point of extracting text from the book. As a result, the libretto uses some archaic language and isn't really in rhythmic form.
That departure has given Zabriskie freedom to do different things with the music that he normally wouldn't think of doing. And in the entire, two-hour production, there are only about 12 spoken lines.
"When you read the story of 'Sleepy Hollow,' " he said, "most people think, 'Oh, the headless horseman and a pumpkin.' But that's really only a little part about the story. The story is a love triangle between Abraham — we call him Brom — Katrina and Ichabod. It's a great love story."
So far, the response to the preliminary recordings and workshops has been enthusiastic. Zabriskie said that following the workshop in Michigan, one of the attendees advised him to get representation. "You're sitting on a keg of dynamite," Zabriskie recalled him saying. "There's no question, it's going to go nationwide."
Theres already a reader's theater-style workshop planned for Salt Lake City next February, and Zabriskie said potential promoters will be flying in to attend the Michigan premiere.
In the meantime, Zabriskie's focus is on finishing the score. With only a few days to go and a musical to orchestrate, he's got his work cut out for him.
E-mail: rcline@desnews.com