I think if I ever find the time to write an opera, it will go something like this:
Act 1 Scene 1
A travelling salesman, Jackfreid Albert Shaunessy by name, goes from town to town selling sets of textbooks from his newfangled course guaranteed to teach students everything there is to know about Language, as spoken by civilized men and women. This course is so revolutionary that when completed as designed, students will be adept at English, Spanish, German, Italian, French, etc. Now being a smooth talker, handsome, at ease with the ladies and so on, he has no trouble drumming up interest in his books which are shiny, new and cost a pretty penny. The only problem is that these books only teach English, Creative Writing, and a tad of Spanish, all the while promising that students having completed the course will from then on also experience the joy of German, Italian, and French flowing spontaneously from their lips!
Now Jackfreid Albert Shaunessy is amiable enough and he sure can spin a yarn once you get him going, but I’d advise steering the conversation clear of anything to do with the internal architecture of the above-mentioned course and/or shiny books. No, you wouldn’t want to conversate with Mr. Shaunessy about his pride and joy, if you know what’s good for you, lest you discover why certain folks only refer to him using the short form of this name—Jack A. S.
The story will be somewhat autobiographical, though wildly exaggerated of course, and the music will include adaptations of some of my favorite tunes that I learned as a kid studying violin with the Suzuki Method…
The Adventures of Don Carlos 