from Tiny Cooper:
Hold Me Closer is meant to be true. (Except for the part where people keep bursting into song—that’s only true sometimes.) No names have been changed, except if the person got really annoyed or mad that I was writing about him and asked me to change it. That said, certain ex-boyfriends did not get to decide whether or not their names would be used. If they have a problem with that, they should have never dumped me in the first place.
Like myself, this musical is meant to be loud and spectacular, although there are also some quiet moments. People who don’t understand musical theater (i.e., most of my family, and a good portion of the greater Chicago area) tend to think of it as being unrealistic. I disagree. Because what is life if not a series of loud and quiet moments shuffled together with some music thrown in? My point being: Before you put on any production of Hold Me Closer, whether it’s in your high school auditorium or on Broadway, it’s important to realize that the truth is sometimes quiet . . . and other times, it’s loud and spectacular. You don’t always get to choose which form it takes.
But I get ahead of myself. It’s best to think of this as a one-man show that happens to have lots of other people in it. I know it’s not going to be physically possible for me to star in every production—although please ask me first when you start the casting process. The musical has already changed slightly since its first epic production. That’s the thing about life and love—every time you take another look at them, there’s something else that can be revised.
For now, let me just say this: My name is Tiny Cooper, and it’s time to raise the curtain on my bombastic, baffling, and hopefully stupendous story.