In preparation for the World Premiere of this new musical, Producing & Literary Associate Bobby Kennedy talked with bookwriter Laura Eason and composer Alan Schmuckler. The three discussed how Schmuckler and Eason collaborated over the course of the project and the influence that playwright Charles Mee has had on the work.
Bobby Kennedy: What drew you both to the works of Charles Mee?
Alan Schmuckler: When I was 16, I acted in an excerpt of Chuck’s play Berlin Circle at Northwestern University’s National High School Institute (the “Cherubs” program). I remember being moved by the depth and insight of his text, and how his characters spoke with an arresting transparency. His writing still captivates me.
Laura Eason: I have seen many of Chuck’s plays and can’t remember which was first, but standout productions include Time to Burn (Steppenwolf’s production directed by Tina Landau), Big Love (Les Waters’ production at BAM), Hotel Cassiopeia (with SITI Company directed by Anne Bogart), and Summertime (Lookingglass Theatre Company’s production directed by Joy Gregory). I was Artistic Director of Lookingglass when we produced Summertime and although I was already a huge fan of his work, getting to dig deeply into one of his plays was an experience I’ll never forget. He is one of my favorite living dramatists and I think his work is a huge gift to the theatre. It is epic and expansive and messy and highly theatrical and deeply thoughtful — there is no one like him.
BK: Alan, what made you decide to start adapting one of Mee’s works? What were you hoping to enhance by musicalizing them?
Schmuckler: I was looking for source material that was rich and evocative but that still left room for music. I believe a satisfying piece of writing doesn’t need to be adapted into anything; it’s complete as it is. You want material that inspires you to grow something out of it, fertile soil but not a garden. Chuck states in his writing manifesto: “I like plays that are not too neat, too finished, too presentable. My plays are broken, jagged, filled with sharp edges, filled with things that take sudden turns, careen into each other, smash up, veer off in sickening turns. That feels good to me. It feels like my life. It feels like the world.” I read his play Summertime and it resonated with me; his characters spoke movingly of art, struggle and intellect. But they also felt remote; Chuck had written them “broken.” It felt to me that music would make manifest the interior lives of these characters, as they experienced moments of love and loss that I recognized from my own life. Music felt like a good fit. That was the start.
BK: Laura, when Writers Theatre approached you about the musical, what most resonated with you about the piece and made you want to join the project?
Eason: I knew the play very well and loved it and thought it was well suited to musical adaptation. There was space in it for music to live and expand and deepen characters and relationships. So, I was very interested and then I heard one song by Alan — “Tuscany” — and I was a goner.
BK: You two had not worked together before this process. How has the collaboration evolved over the course of development?
Eason: We did not know each other at all! Which feels impossible to believe now since I consider Alan not only a trusted collaborator but a dear friend. This was my first book for a musical so, honestly, I was learning on the job about the form in general and then how Alan and I would best work together. It took a lot of time — and a few years of painful failure! — to figure out our process and get the musical on the right track. It wasn’t fast or easy to get here, but Alan and I have found a very easy and sparky way of working and the evolution has been a thrill. I would also say it is very important as a musical bookwriter to be madly in love with the music of your composer. That is the case for me with Alan, who I think is incredibly gifted. Getting a song from him always felt like a gift. In fact, the whole show feels like that to me now.
Schmuckler: Laura is a remarkable collaborator. She creates with a speed I marvel at and with a clarity I aspire to match. Working with her has taught me not to be precious with my writing, and to write bravely, and often. Writers Theatre matchmade us and I’m so lucky.
BK: What started as an adaptation of one of Charles Mee’s plays has eventually become an original piece in its own right. Can you tell us about how that change was made?
Schmuckler: For a while we tried building Laura’s dialogue and structure around my preexisting songs; that felt disjointed and at cross purposes with itself, like I was writing one show and she was writing another.
Eason: Then, like any good story, when all seemed lost and like the whole thing was about to be over, I had an idea. I stepped away from being so tied to Summertime, opened it up and created an outline for a musical that would borrow characters and plot points from a few of Chuck’s romance plays, but have a totally new structure and, in many ways, a totally new story. I made the whole thing more my own, more inspiration than adaptation. If we were going to move forward, this was the way I wanted to go. Luckily, they liked it and we moved ahead from that point in a shockingly smooth and enjoyable way.
Schmuckler: It galvanized us. The show premiering at Writers Theatre grew from that moment of collaboration.
BK: How do you hope the musical will resonate with Writers Theatre audiences?
Eason: Most importantly I am happy to finally share our labor of love with the Writers Theatre audience! The musical is about love in various forms — romantic love, familial love, love between friends. Because it is about such an elemental thing in human experience, I hope the musical will connect with people in an immediate way. It is very personal for us and I hope it will be for the audience, too.
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