America is the homeland of manifest destiny.
“Go West, young man.”
“Drink Coca-cola.”
“Why not us?”
We teach our children that you can do anything you want — whatever your dream might be — through hard work and determination. So, who says four chairs and a keyboard can’t make a Broadway musical?
That’s the plucky perspective of the four main characters in “[title of show],” opening on the Bainbridge Performing Arts stage on Friday, Feb. 10.
In it, Jeff (Garrett Dill) and Hunter (Adam Minton), two struggling unknown writers in New York, hear about a new musical theatre festival. However, the deadline for submissions is a mere three weeks away.
With nothing to lose, the pair decides to try to create something new with the help of their friends Susan (Jasmine Joshua) and Heidi (Myriah Riedel).
Through discouragement, writer’s block and rejection, “[title of show]” — taken from the space on the festival’s application form which asks for the actual title of the show being entered — the group struggles onward in their quest to bring something new to the stage, simultaneously rocking out in meta musical numbers like “Two Nobodies In New York,” “Monkeys and Playbills,” “Secondary Characters” and “Nine People’s Favorite Thing.”
Directed by Philip Lacey of Seattle (in his BPA debut), and with musical direction by Joel Kurzynski, performances of “[title of show]” begin with a pay-what-you-can-preview at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 9. The opening night reception begins at 6:30 p.m. Friday, Feb. 10. The show will continue at 7:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday and 3 p.m. Sunday through Sunday, Feb. 19.
Tickets, $29 for adults, $24 for seniors and $21 for students, military and teachers, are available at www.bain bridgeperformingarts.org.
Though a bit of a throwback to classic works about struggling artists and/or desperate producers persevering through the odds to make a musical (think “The Producers,” “Gold Diggers of 1933,” “White Christmas,” etc.), Lacey said “[title of show]” is actually much more focused on the dynamic of friendships and the doubts inherent in the creative process.
“There’s a lot of meta in it,” he said.
“It’s a show about them writing a show about them writing a show. So the layers of it are kind of convoluted and ridiculous, but the heart of it’s not about trying to be clever or trying to make all these musical theater jokes,” Lacey said. “The heart of it is about pursuing something you love and when you start going for a dream that you think is what is should be — it should be bigger, it should be brighter, we should be on Broadway and make this our life — then you lose sight of what is actually valuable and the people around you.”
Lacey produced the Seattle premiere of the show several years ago, so she was very familiar with the material and it therefore made perfect sense, he said, for this to be his BPA directorial debut.
“I love the show,” Lacey said. “It’s super fun and it’s not really a traditional show, so you’re not looking for the same aesthetic from the director and the flash choreography and the sets and everything else; it’s not that at all. The heart of the show is about why people do theater, why they form this community and make this thing happen.”
Indeed, the main conflict of the story is not about the actual struggles of getting the show together, but the way that process changes the relationship between the friends.
“It’s about losing sight of what you love and coming back to those people,” the director said.
“I think that’s a pretty universal story. If people love musical theater, great. If they don’t see musicals, it’s the same very universal story.”
Visit www.bainbridge performingarts.org to learn more and purchase tickets.
