THE SEASON FOR NEW MUSICALS AT THE WALLIS PT I
2017 ASCAP FOUNDATION MUSICAL THEATRE WORKSHOP (DAY 1)
By RYAN LUÉVANO
Whether you’re writing, planning, or just contemplating writing a musical, every February, alongside Valentine’s Day, the ASCAP Musical Theatre Workshop is here for you. Composer/ lyricist Stephen Schwartz continues to lead the workshop hosted at the exquisite Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts—and he’s altered the format this year.
Stephen Schwartz. Photo Credit: Ryan Luevano.
Unlike previous years’ format spanning three days and showcasing twenty-five minutes from four new musicals, two per night; the new format features five new in-progress musicals. On the first day, four musicals present two songs each; and on the second day the fifth musical receives a 45-mintue presentation. The purpose of this change is an effort to focus the discussions on the song elements (music and lyrics) instead of book elements (storytelling). As always, after the presentations, Schwartz and a panel of industry experts critique each musical to assist the writers in assessing their work for later revisions.
This year’s experienced panelist included: Stephen Bray (12 billboard top ten recordings: “Angel”, “Into the Groove”, “Poppa Don’t Preach”, “True Blue” and “Express Yourself”); Alan Zachary (First Date and Secondhand Lions. Upcoming stage musicals: 17 Again; Take the Lead); Dean Pitchford (songwriter, screenwriter, director, actor, and Academy Award, Golden Globe winner); and the prodigious Stephen Schwartz.
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Night No. 1–TUESDAY FEBRUARY 1, 2017
Musical No. 1: Witch’s Night Out
Music and lyrics by Jim Dooley
Book by Rye Mullis
SUMMARY: Two imaginative children yearn to become “real” monsters on Halloween. Their dream comes true when a witch grants their wish. Transformations, mistaken identities, angry mobs, and dance parties ensue as the Witch teaches everyone about the true meaning of Halloween.
Performers from ‘Welcome to Shoofly’. Photo Credit: Ryan Luevano.
THE SONGS: The songs presented were the up-tempo pop rock opening number, “I Love Halloween” that introduced all the characters, and the jazzy torch song, “A Witchy Lament” that introduced the witch character played Susan Boyd Joyce.
Musical No 2: Welcome To Shoofly
Book, lyrics and music by Justin Anthony Long and Jonny Lee Jr.
Music by Joanna Burns and Amanda Duncan
SUMMARY: Figuring out who you are, where you belong and what you’re supposed to do with your life is hard, especially after being kicked in the head by a horse and losing all your memories. Welcome to Shoofly, where the Button M. Britches Annual Shoofly Bakeoff is bigger than Christmas! When a mysterious amnesiac stumbles into Shoofly and threatens to dethrone the reigning champion, the Bakeoff goes awry causing absurd hysteria in the small southern town. Add three cups of fun, a teaspoon of love and a whole lot of heart and you’ve got all the right ingredients for this wild and charming original musical romp.
THE SONGS: The first song performed was “Death to the Losers”, a fun rockabilly swing song that was marvelously sung by Natalie Charle Ellis. The second song was a pop ballad duet entitled, “Wherever You Are”. A small band that included piano, drums, guitar and bass accompanied both songs adding to the groove and flavor of the music.
Natalie Charle Ellis. Photo Credit: Ryan Luevano.
Musical No. 3: The Emperor’s Birthday Suit
Book, music and lyrics by Carol Weiss
SUMMARY: A reworking of the H.C. Andersen tale combined with two other fables, “Stone Soup” and “The Boy Who Cried Wolf.” A vain emperor wants a new suit for his birthday. Two swindlers convince him they’ll make him a magical suit that only wise people can see. The emperor and royal court are taken in. The royal princess and her boyfriend (“the boy who cried wolf”) finally prove they’ve been “taken.”
Carol Weiss, left and Faye DeWitt. Photo Credit: Ryan Luevano.
THE SONGS: The first song was a clever Broadway two-beat list song entitled “The Description of the Suit”, sung by the emperor’s minister (Faye DeWitt). The second song was a cheery sea shanty type song entitled the “The High Life” performed by Mark Arthur Miller.
Musical No. 4: Lobster Boy
Music and lyrics by David Philp
Book and lyrics by Shelly Goldstein
David Philp. Photo Credit: Ryan Luevano.
SUMMARY: Based loosely on the real-life story of the world’s most notorious freak show attraction “Lobster Boy,” a man suffering from Ectrodactyly, a condition that causes his hands and feet to fuse together like lobster claws. This rock & roll “Tale of Two Tents” looks at the bitter rivalry between the members of the Freak Show and the circus performers of the Big Top, which reaches a fever pitch when Lobster Boy’s beautiful daughter falls in love with the Big Top’s main attraction, The Human Cannonball.
THE SONGS: The first song was the show’s opening number, “Step Right Up”, a punk rock song that sets up the rivalry between the two attractions performed by David Philp and music director Todd Schroeder. Lobster boy’s driving and dark pop rock anthem “I’m A Monster” followed with David Philp performing solo.
WORDS OF WISDOM:
With such a diverse and talented panel there were many words of wisdom offered to the writers of the first two musicals. Among the various comments, one that was brought to light was for writers to be aware of the difference between pop songs and theater songs. Stephen Schwartz commented that in theater songs we want to get something that is accessible right away so we have something to hold on to, and repetition helps by defining the structure of the song. Additionally, unlike pop songs, there should be a sense of forward movement in theatre songs; pop songs can stay in the same place for the whole song. Furthermore, Schwartz mentioned that theater songs have two important aspects that pop songs do not: context (place in the story) and subtext (providing details about the characters).
