If you chance to dream, who knows what might happen.
Good things did happen to Rehoboth Beach musician Viki Dee thanks to her connection to television producer (and former Letters columnist!) Stefani Deoul, a Rehoboth resident, who is, at the moment, doing a new television series in Canada.
When Stefani realized that episode four of the new series Haven, set to premier July 9 on the SyFy Network was all about a woman’s obsession with composing the perfect song and just the right song was needed to follow the storyline, Stefani reached out to her hometown friend Viki.
“I had heard Viki perform ‘Chance to Dream’ and thought both the music and the lyrics would be a great fit. I called Viki and asked her to send a copy right away. Viki’s song, along with lots of other submissions, since these things are really competitive, was played for the director, Rachel Talalay. Rachel loved the song, sent it on for all the Executive Producers to hear and the deal was done. It was amazingly fast. Just one of those right time/right place (or right song?) moments.”
Director Talalay, known for producing John Waters’ original film Hairspray and directing the last of Freddie’s Elm Street nightmares, really loved the track but also had another idea.
She told Viki there were lots of different scenes in the episode that required the same song in different genres, different moods—was Viki up for that?
Indeed she was. “That got my creative juices flowing,” says Viki, who, after hearing about the script for the different scenes got right to work. Her first move was to call musician Paul Cullen, former bassist for the band Bad Company, who now lives and works in the area. He and Viki headed for Paul’s in-home recording studio and started to collaborate.
“I called Paul and he was right there for me. We needed different stuff, now! We were under the gun for time and feeling all the pressure,” says Viki. In short order, they made it happen. They took the original song “Chance to Dream” and produced eight different tracks, in as many different genres—an angry piano version, an acoustic Norah Jones-type sound, another reflecting the alternative sound of musician Moby. Their biggest challenge—a chromatic harmonica track for a scene set in a barn.
“My harmonica playing didn’t cut it,” Viki says, laughing, but the duo was able to find just the perfect sound on software and integrate it with their original sounds.
The upshot had Viki forwarding all eight tracks, mostly instrumental, to Deoul and Talalay and getting the nod of approval on each one.
“It was fun and challenging,” says Viki, “I love creating like this and love working with Paul. The one vocal is used at the end of the story when things come together for the character. I cannot wait to see the show.”
The wait won’t be long. Haven premiers on July 9 and will hold forth on Friday nights. According to SyFy, it’s a supernatural drama series based on the novella The Colorado Kid by Stephen King. The show stars Emily Rose (Jericho, Brothers and Sisters, ER) in the lead role of Audrey Parker, the shrewd and confident FBI agent with a lost past who arrives in the small town of Haven, Maine to solve the murder of a local ex-con. Before long, her natural curiosity lands her in the epicenter of activity in this curious enclave, which turns out to be a longtime refuge for people that are afflicted with a remarkable range of supernatural abilities.
Prior to signing on with Haven, Stefani Deoul produced The Dead Zone, Missing, and The Dresden Files. Deoul, who will be back in town for the July 4th weekend misses Rehoboth when she’s away on location.
“But I’m so glad that I got to keep a connection and could work with Viki on the music for this episode of the show...it was great fun to have a touch of home joining me on location.”