Pigeonholes DVD

A One-man Multimedia Event

In 2002 I decided to do a one-man show that would incorporate video, animation, music and live performance. The only trouble was I had never done video and had very little animation know-how. But animation was my first love when I was 5 years old and now that computers do a lot of the grunt work, it was a great time to try something new.

So I bought a new G5 Mac and 50 pounds of manuals and started creating Pigeonholes. Three years later I put it on at Sixth@Penn in San Diego and the Stella Adler Theater in Hollywood, CA. The audiences loved it!

Luckily we filmed the performances. I put it out on DVD (available at Amazon.com - hint) so now everyone can see it. Pigeonholes was a pure labor of love. And I think it shows up in the production.

Below are some reviews and audience comments and the Trailer for the show. Enjoy!

Reviews and Comments

"...inventive, amusing, heartfelt, and filled with gems of social commentary and human awareness. Bravo!" — Pat Launer, Theater Critic.

“Pigeonholes... comes from an eminently honest place.” —Marty Westlin: San Diego City Beat Magazine

"Poignant, genuine and sincere...thought provoking entertainment." —Micheal Sheehan, Independent Reviewer

"Pigeonholes is a damned fine album, populated by great tunes and wonderfully meaningful and tight lyrics. If you don't know the music of Neal Fox, then it is time you did." — Mike Gibb: Spotlight on Musicals

"...the work is absolutely terrific!! The lyrics are classy, funny and moving and the melodies are really inventive. I also love the production, though I would've expected nothing less from you. "Tell Me Why" moved me very deeply. I LOVE that song! The video clips are great fun, too! You are one brilliant dude, dude." — David Pomeranz, Grammy winning songwriter, performer.

"Thanks again for that inspiring and funny show.  I really had a great time and you were brilliant. I'm so glad I came." — Jim Meskimen, actor, voice impersonator.

"I think it's all been said (but who doesn't like to hear it again)...but just in case...Neal, you rock...You blues... You ballad...you dance...you draw...you rap (well, let's not push it, white man)...but most of all, through your song, your art, your passion... you always find a way to touch our souls...and, as a result... you make the world a better place." - L.K.

 

"We were delightfully stunned by the scope of your talent. Having once been a professional lighting designer, musician and stage manager, I am not easily impressed. Your show was utterly original, topical, visually stimulating and downright funny. Someday we will coax you with alcohol to describe some of the processes you used to create your show... Till then we are humbly your fans,..." - R.K. and R.R.

"Love your music. Your melodies are truly infectious, i.e., can't get them out of my head. Love your voice. What can I say. You know how to get your songs across, big time. Love your poignancy and your sense of humor. Love your artwork. You have an amazing way of transferring your emotions through the visual medium. Love your video work. Wonderful special effects. Thank you for this special treat." - R.B.

"What a tour de force!!!  You are really incredible -- not only with your music, your singing, and your art work, but also with your technological facility.  This show was great fun to watch and listen to.  We all wish you every success with it!" - I.R.

"Mel Brooks and Groucho Marx would be proud!"
"Retro-current."
"Carlinesque."
"Classy, funny and moving."
"Inspiring and funny."
"Nothing like it anywhere."

The Pigeonholes Story

As told by my wife and best friend.

For three years we thought he was dying. This is the story of what happened to him before and during the creation of PIGEONHOLES, and why I love and admire him so much. ❤️
___________________________________________________________________
At the beginning of 2003, Neal came down with the flu. He got better—and then it got worse. Much worse. One night he couldn’t get out of his chair. It was midnight and I didn’t know what to do. I was so frightened I called my neighbor, who didn’t hesitate to help. She took us right to the emergency room. They ran some tests but couldn’t find anything. They kept him overnight for more tests, and still couldn’t find anything.
☞
Neal continued feeling weak. He would get hungry but as soon as I made him food he’d take a bite and feel queasy. But he had to eat. If he didn’t eat, he had trouble getting out of bed in the morning. There were other symptoms, but the weakness was the worst.
☞
One doctor suggested we try a dietary approach. To make it easier on Neal, we both stopped eating sugar, wheat, dairy, and caffeine. Several month went by. No change. We bounced from doctor to doctor: GP, naturopath, internist, cardiologist, osteopath, neurologist… Ten different doctors and zero results.
☞
He was tested for so many things, I’m surprised he had any blood left. The one thing all the doctors agreed on was: his symptoms didn’t match anything. We tried going the alternative medicine route, which cost a small fortune, and even that did nothing.
It was so terrifying. I was afraid he was dying. He had no strength. I had to drive him to the doctor every week (often traveling 90 minutes each way for some specialists). He’d sit slumped against the door, not even able to sit up straight. It would break my heart. There were times I’d lock myself in the bathroom and cry.
☞
For a year we kept it to ourselves. My parents were long gone. Neal’s family was 3,000 miles away and his parents had just found out that his brother had cancer. (Fortunately, his brother is healthy now.)
Finally, it was too much for me to handle. I broke down and called Neal’s sisters. One of them immediately offered to fly out to help. As much as that was appreciated, there was really nothing anyone could do for us.
☞
Meanwhile, Neal tried every health-related option that came along, from the usual to the odd: blue green algae, Master’s Miracle, on and on. I used to be able to recite the list. I’d guess about 25 different “cures.” If it was spiritual, medical (no diagnosis=no prescriptions), or nutritional, he tried it. We did just about everything people suggested.
☞
I spent a lot of time on the internet researching symptoms and diseases. I had to agree with the experts: nothing matched his symptoms. The one good thing I noticed in my research was that people could get better through diet and exercise. We’d already gone the diet route, but this gave me an idea. Before all this happened we used go running together. So I decided to buy a treadmill and see what he could do.
☞
At first he could barely hold himself up. But gradually he started taking steps, then walking. He began to get stronger. Finally, something was working! But he still wasn’t “fine.”
It would take years before he got back to “normal” (and he’s still not quite the same). But this is what I wanted you to know:
I want you to understand the amount of work he put in during this nearly impossible physical state.
☞
He had been a partner in a successful music production company, where he wrote and produced music for everything from CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, to NBC, MTV, VH-1, Coke to SeaWorld, and even the Killer Tomatoes movies (where George Clooney got his start). At one point, the partners wanted to go their own ways and called it quits. Neal still had residuals coming in so that would cover us for a while—but he was free.
☞
I asked Neal what made him decide to tackle a one-man show when he basically felt like crap. He said, “For the first time in years, I had no restrictions. I didn’t have to compromise. I could do something that was completely mine. Anything I could dream of. That’s what gave me the impetus. I wanted to perform again but didn’t think I could pull off an hour and a half of singing on stage. So I came up with the idea of creating videos that I could interact with—and sometimes it would just be a video playing—so I’d get to take breaks backstage.” This was a BIG project.
☞
He created a storyboard [looks like a cartoon strip but is a simple visual layout of each scene] and posted it in his studio. Then he got started on the music and lyrics.
☞
When it came time for recording, singing was a bitch. It uses a lot of breath. If you’re weak, it knocks you out. He couldn’t get through a song without taking several breaks. For background vocals he hired the talented April Doyle, Tina Wilson, and Eve Selis. And that meant he had to produce them in his studio, too. [This was before you could do all this online.] Neal also played all of the instruments: piano, synthesizers, and guitar.
☞
Next, he set up a green screen to film the videos for each of the songs. Since each song is a self-contained story, he would play different characters. Often appearing as several characters in a video—that would require costume changes, and even things like shaving off his facial hair for different stages. There was a lot of moving around and a bit of dancing. It was very physical and exhausting.
☞
Some of the videos required animation—so he had to learn several animation programs. (At a later date he was interviewed by Bija Gutoff for Apple’s “Pro” Feature on their web site.)
☞
And when all of that was done—and he was still in this terrible shape—he had to find out how to put on the show. His good friend, and former music producer, Stuart Wiener, did a lot of the legwork on that end. [There was a lot more to the production than that, and I certainly did my share of work, but I’m only focusing on what Neal did so you know what he experienced.]
☞
And when all of that was sorted out—the theatres chosen (Sixth@Penn in San Diego, then the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood), the sets, lighting, and staging finalized—he had to actually perform. And that was really scary.

After two years, it was “show time!” The night of the opening at the Stella Adler he was so knocked out, we were walking to the theatre and he says, “I don’t think I can make it.” My heart dropped. Imagine not being able to get through one song, and now he had to sing several.

☞
Out of sixteen musical compositions, only three are instrumental. And, one piece, Bar Noir, is a piano player talking to the audience while he “tinkles on the ivories.”
But somehow he just pushed himself through. By the end of the night, he was wiped. But he never let on. It was wonderful. He got a standing ovation every night. And that’s why he always amazes me.
At 75 he’s still going strong. His most recent album, UNHINGED, got the best reviews of his entire career, and even though he’s not that well-known, he’s the most incredibly talented person I know. I have huge love and admiration for him.
☞
I want you to understand the amount of work he put in during this nearly impossible physical state.
☞
He had been a partner in a successful music production company, where he wrote and produced music for everything from CBS Evening News with Dan Rather, to NBC, MTV, VH-1, Coke to SeaWorld, and even the Killer Tomatoes movies (where George Clooney got his start). At one point, the partners wanted to go their own ways and called it quits. Neal still had residuals coming in so that would cover us for a while—but he was free.
☞
I asked Neal what made him decide to tackle a one-man show when he basically felt like crap. He said, “For the first time in years, I had no restrictions. I didn’t have to compromise. I could do something that was completely mine. Anything I could dream of. That’s what gave me the impetus. I wanted to perform again but didn’t think I could pull off an hour and a half of singing on stage. So I came up with the idea of creating videos that I could interact with—and sometimes it would just be a video playing—so I’d get to take breaks backstage.” This was a BIG project.
☞
He created a storyboard [looks like a cartoon strip but is a simple visual layout of each scene] and posted it in his studio. Then he got started on the music and lyrics.
☞
When it came time for recording, singing was a bitch. It uses a lot of breath. If you’re weak, it knocks you out. He couldn’t get through a song without taking several breaks. For background vocals he hired the talented April Doyle, Tina Wilson, and Eve Selis. And that meant he had to produce them in his studio, too. [This was before you could do all this online.] Neal also played all of the instruments: piano, synthesizers, and guitar.
☞
Next, he set up a green screen to film the videos for each of the songs. Since each song is a self-contained story, he would play different characters. Often appearing as several characters in a video—that would require costume changes, and even things like shaving off his facial hair for different stages. There was a lot of moving around and a bit of dancing. It was very physical and exhausting.
☞
Some of the videos required animation—so he had to learn several animation programs. (At a later date he was interviewed by Bija Gutoff for Apple’s “Pro” Feature on their web site.)
And when all of that was done—and he was still in this terrible shape—he had to find out how to put on the show.
☞
His good friend, and former music producer, Stuart Wiener, did a lot of the legwork on that end. [There was a lot more to the production than that, and I certainly did my share of work, but I’m only focusing on what Neal did so you know what he experienced.] And when all of that was sorted out—the theatres chosen (Sixth@Penn in San Diego, then the Stella Adler Theatre in Hollywood), the sets, lighting, and staging finalized—he had to actually perform. And that was really scary.
☞
After two years, it was “show time!” The night of the opening at the Stella Adler he was so knocked out, we were walking to the theatre and he says, “I don’t think I can make it.” My heart dropped. Imagine not being able to get through one song, and now he had to sing several. Out of sixteen musical compositions, only three are instrumental. And, one piece, Bar Noir, is a piano player talking to the audience while he “tinkles on the ivories.”
☞
But somehow he just pushed himself through. By the end of the night, he was wiped. But he never let on. It was wonderful. He got a standing ovation every night. And that’s why he always amazes me.
☞
At 75 he’s still going strong. His most recent album, UNHINGED, got the best reviews of his entire career, and even though he’s not that well-known, he’s the most incredibly talented person I know. I have huge love and admiration for him.