Nutter for Mayor of Philadelphia

Posted on April 29, 2007
Filed Under Uncategorized | Leave a Comment

As the primary race for mayoral candidates in Philly enters its final lap, the endorsements are beginning to come in, and Michael Nutter is the name that’s coming up repeatedly. Check out this thoughtful writeup from the 27th Ward (the Penn district in West Philly), as well as endorsements from the Inquirer and Philadelphia Magazine.

Program Notes for ‘Back 2 Back 2 Back’

Posted on April 8, 2007
Filed Under Professional, School | Leave a Comment

Check out this article about B2B2B, which appeared on playbill.com and was picked up by Yahoo news. As opening night approaches, I thought I’d share these excellent program notes, written by my colleague, Mari Kathleen Fielder.

Modernism and modern times have bolstered the short form. Minimizing language and bringing form down to its sparest essentials are the modern impulse. The ever-increasing speed of modern life shrinks leisure time and the attention span. And, so, the short form blossomed. Short stories, once written chiefly to fill inexpensive magazines, now command countless literary prizes. The Academy Awards now honor the short film. No one dare deny that the one-acts of such playwrights as Chekhov, Williams and Strindberg rival the authors’ full-length masterpieces. One-act play festivals abound and dance companies routinely string together short pieces into an evening’s venue.Yet one place the short form remains relatively rare is in musical theatre, especially in its professional sphere. Hence, it was an unusual event back in 2000 for the Prince Music Theatre to mount three one-act musicals under the banner 3hree. This event prompted the compilation here. Two of 3hree’s one-acts appear again as part of Back 2 Back 2 Back. (Of course, you can’t help but notice the repeated numbering.) First up in this bill, “Lavender Girl” was one of the 3hree. Its composer, John Bucchino, is relatively young and considered contemporary. Indeed, Bucchino still has yet to write a full-length produced work (although he has become a favorite composer among musical theatre students, through his independent CDs.) This bill’s final offering, “The Mice,” also emerged from 3hree. Its songwriters, Neil Benjamin and Larry O’Keefe, have become key musical theatre celebrities of their generation with the success of their Bat Boy and, currently, Legally Blonde.The third offering of 3hree was the one-act “The Flight of the Lawn Chair Man.” The authors of this one-act have worked to reshape it into a full-length musical and have rescinded its release in its short form. The mandatory revised bill inadvertently posed an intriguing creative challenge.

Director and adapter Charles Gilbert states, “ . . . the challenge is finding ways to make three shows fit together into an evening that also adds up to a satisfying whole.” First, this meant finding a third one-act to fill the vacant slot. Gilbert sought a piece which would contribute to a unifying overall theme. The one-act musical chosen was “Back to Back” (which also provided the title inspiration). “Back to Back,” the second piece on this bill, is an early work by writer Winnie Holzman and composer David Evans, created when they were NYU grad students in the 1980’s. Since, Winnie Holzman has exploded onto the Broadway “A-list” as the librettist of Wicked and My So-Called Life.

The inclusion of “Back to Back” cements for the viewer the thematic link of this particular three. Not surprisingly the theme is a quintessentially modern one: the dilemma of finding human connection in a world where alienation is the order of the day. That the three one-acts seem quite disparate at first glance becomes a central point. “Lavender Girl” is set in the 1920’s still-gracious South of belles and balls and gentleman callers. “The Mice” is set in the frozen North of 1940’s Chippewa Falls, Minnesota. It is loosely based on the short story “Allan Cedar and Virga Vay” by Sinclair Lewis, the master observer of the hypocrisies of the Mid-Western bourgeoisie. “Back to Back” brings all sharply into focus in the anonymous urban present where everyone is too busy and too isolated to make human contact.

Likewise, the style of each piece is purposely distinct. In the director’s words, “ ‘Lavender Girl’ is lyrical and romantic; ‘Back to Back’ is like a modern opera, full of odd meters and jittery leitmotifs; and ‘The Mice’ has a cartoonish, grotesque quality to it.” Ironically, the pieces’ diversity end up emphasizing their core unity. Relying on the direct simplicity of the short form, each reminds us that, no matter where, no matter when, the stuff of human fulfillment is the intimate moment. Most of us make the search for a soul mate our life’s occupation. Those of us that find that mate know how lucky we are, or should. What better way to illustrate the boundlessness of human loneliness and human striving to overcome it than a series of musical stories presented back to back?

Nutter for Mayor of Philadelphia

Program Notes for ‘Back 2 Back 2 Back’

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