>La Grande Observer | Union and Wallowa Counties' News Leader

Logger turned playwright, James D. Clayton finishes his education at Eastern Oregon University with the staged reading of his musical "Rhymes O' Passion" tonight, Friday and Saturday at 8 p.m. in McKenzie Theatre.

Undertaking a feat normally only taken on by teams (Rogers and Hammerstein, Kander and Ebb, Webber and Rice), Clayton is the sole author of book, lyrics and music.

A twisted tale of love, life and loss, "Rhymes O' Passion" follows the stories of our favorite childhood nursery characters after the rhymes have ended. The plot contains a love triangle between Jack Horner, Miss Muffet and Peter Piper; the jazz band The Three Blind Mice and the Farmer's ex-wife; a sheep on the run — and that is just the

beginning.

Due to constraints of time, "Rhymes O' Passion" will only be presented as a staged reading, in which many of the songs will not be present.

"Unfortunately, time, which is forgiving to no one, has not allowed me to present this play as I wrote it," Clayton said. "Instead, some of the music was truncated, rearranged by the accompanist, or cut altogether. But the basic plot is still present."

Clayton has also produced two other plays at Eastern, "The Apprentice" and "The Game."

Clayton was born and raised in western Oregon and through high school studied forestry, excelling in logging competitions and graduating as class valedictorian.

Attending Eastern on scholarship, Clayton began as an English major and is finishing with a double major of theater and liberal arts with a music/Spanish concentration.

Clayton's interests turned from English's short stories to theater playwrighting after taking a class taught by professors Lyle Schwarz, April Curtis and Tom Madden.

"I found my voice in playwriting that had evaded me in short stories; the dialogue just suited my style better," Clayton said.

Clayton's writing inspiration comes from life.

"I think it comes from my interest in how people interact with each other," he said. "The way people react to each other, the way people lie to each other, the way people look at each other. I was interested in it and wanted to explore it more."

Clayton is unsure of his plans for the immediate future.

"I am going to get a random job and write for a year, and then we'll see where I go from there," he said. "Maybe grad school, maybe Broadway."

— Jennifer Madison