Melting Clocks and Accountability

A production number with a diverse ensemble singing and dancing, each sporting the iconic waxed moustache… I first considered creating a musical inspired by the artist Salvador Dali last year, but am only now finding the courage to say it out loud.

One of the challenges I’m most excited to solve in bringing his story to the stage is discovering ways to represent Dali’s visual language in a musical. It reminds me of Elvis Costello’s famous line: “writing about music is like dancing about architecture.”

Dali was more than his moustache. He lived in the tension between being a respected artist and celebrity showman — a conflict that seems startlingly relevant today. That tension, combined with his theatrical life and work, is why his story needs to be on stage.

His most memorable pieces include The Persistence of Memory (melting clocks inspired by camembert cheese on a hot day) and the Lobster Telephone (balancing absurdity and symbolism by balancing crustacean on handset).

When Dali moved to America he became a fixture of New York society and took up residence with his wife Gala and pet ocelot Babou at the St Regis Hotel, holding court and throwing eccentric and lavish parties.

Although he was one of the early Surrealists, he had a fractious relationship with his fellow artists. Many of his contemporaries in the art world considered Dali to have sold out as he lent his art and likeness to commercial work in the USA. They saw the celebrity and success he enjoyed as conflicting with the anti-capitalist and nonconformist values of the movement he had helped found.

I’d contest that rather than sacrificing the artistic integrity that his earlier (more traditional) output had earned him, Dali actually transitioned his focus to the performative art of celebrity and provocative showmanship — the newspaper and television screen became his new canvas.

One of the things that captivates me about Dali is that he took his fears, anxieties and nightmares and repurposed them as inspiration for his art. Instead of hiding the qualities that made him vulnerable in the shadows like many of us would, he shone light on them, placing them front and centre in his art. This offers a crucial takeaway for us today. In a society where so much value is placed on fitting in and belonging, Dali’s success came from embracing rather than hiding what made him strange.

His life had its shadows — political controversies and questionable business. These complexities help me to see him as a man rather than a myth, and complicated rather than cartoonish.

I’m excited to discover what I can create, but nervous about doing my enthusiasm justice. Writing a piece like this has long been a dream and goal of mine, and it feels good to make a commitment to dedicate the time and focus to reveal what I’m capable of writing.

The more I learn about Dali, the more fascinated I become with the world he created and the possibility of exploring it on the stage. Though it begins as my vision, this isn’t a solo project. The musical is an inherently collaborative art form, so I’ll soon be seeking collaborators to help bring this vision to the stage.

I’m someone who works better with extrinsic accountability, which is why I’m sharing my plans here. The more people who know what I’m working towards, the more I’m on the hook to follow through. Beyond that, if this piques your interest, then I’m not just creating for myself — I’m creating for you too. I’ll share more about this process as it unfolds—the research rabbit holes, creative discoveries, probably some failures. If that sounds interesting, stay tuned.