Musicals are a special and unique genre, one where a mundane task like washing the floor becomes an engaging dissertation on the Hard Knock Life and something as simple as package delivery can rile up a whole town eagerly awaiting the Wells Fargo Wagon. From nearly century-old classics like Show Boat to the hip-hop infused sensation Hamilton, musicals enrapture audiences in a way no other form of entertainment can.
So it won’t come as a surprise that a lot of storytellers have been touched and inspired by musicals. To celebrate that, our fearless leader Jessica Robinson has gathered together a staggeringly talented group of tellers to present Storytelling: The Musical! Jessica will host the evening, emceeing for a cast made up of Lona Bartlett, Norm Brecke, Alton Chung, Gwendolyn Napier, Anne Rutherford, and Ed Stivender. The show comes to you via Zoom on Thursday, October 13th, at 8 o’clock.
Tickets are on sale right here!
The evening will be bursting with dozens of references to musicals of all stripes, and as you our audience catch them we encourage you to name them in the chat. It’ll be like a midnight showing of The Rocky Horror Picture Show, but not messy!
I wanted to know a little bit more about the night’s performers and their relationships to musicals, so I asked them a simple question:
What’s your favorite musical, and why?
Here’s what they had to say…
Lona Bartlett – A favorite musical? I can’t say that I have one. Musicals have always been part of my life. I’ve watched them on TV, performed in them in school and college, and gone to live Broadway performances. One favorite song I have is from Mary Poppins, “I Love to Laugh.” It makes me giggle every time I hear it. Some day, I wish to have a tea party on the ceiling. Now, wouldn’t that just make us all laugh out loud?
Norm Brecke – The Music Man. I grew up watching musicals on TV because my mom loved them. Mom volunteered to work backstage on a lot of productions of many musicals at the community theater too. So, I learned to love them. As a kid, the opening song “Rock Island” really got my attention. Many years later, my daughter was in the chorus of The Music Man. She got one solo singing line and got to do a lot of dancing, I think I saw it eight times. The Music Man is never boring, it’s funny, and the songs are great.
Alton Chung – It was the late 80s and after taking a course in Copenhagen, a group of us had a reunion in Vienna and went to see Les Miserables. At intermission, one of the Belgian students was moved to tears by the music and actors, but did not understand a word as it was performed in German. I had seen the show in London and did the best I could to retell the story in English. Even the Austrian students listened as I filled in the gaps. We all enjoyed the show, but it was the company that made it special.
Gwendolyn Napier – I have several but I love The Wiz with Michael Jackson and Diana Ross. The Wiz… It kept me on my Fingers and Toes with the Excitement and Movement from the Characters and the Music. It was upbeat and had Energizing Rhythms in the Songs. Not one Dull Moment. I was always moving and dancing. It held my attention and had me wanting more and more…
Jessica Robinson – I was raised on musicals. Both my parents loved Jesus Christ Superstar so that was probably my first love. But then my mom introduced me to Man of La Mancha and I was a goner. I blame that musical for, well, for me producing this show of storytelling musicals, for me becoming a storyteller, for me always trying to reach the unreachable star.
Anne Rutherford – The Music Man, since I fell in love with the 17-year-old portraying Harold Hill in my high school production. Now, my current goal is going to see Hugh Jackman playing him on Broadway, which will be a close second.
Ed Stivender – I think it’s a toss-up between Oklahoma! and West Side Story. Maybe because the Former was the first LP album of a musical to be played on our new Hi-Fi when I was in Grade School, and the Latter was the first album I bought with my own money, made by selling Bibles door-to-door in High School. I still can sing every line of both, I think. Perhaps I should have said Boom Baby Boom which is a One-Man Musical I wrote and presented at the Hartford Stage Company (Old Place) in 1978. It was a history of the Atomic Age from Werner von Braun to Three Mile Island. But I’m trying to be modest.
And while I am merely your humble blog post writer for this show, as a veteran with over thirty years experience doing musicals in community theater, I feel compelled to weigh in with my favorite musical…
For me, it’s Stephen Sondheim’s Into the Woods. It’s not Sondheim’s masterpiece (I vacillate between Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George for that honor), but it is the one that’s closest to my heart. Weaving together several Grimm fairy tales into one sweeping narrative, and with lush, witty songs that stick with you long after the curtain has fallen, it has all the complexity and nuance of Sondheim’s best work while also being universally accessible. I love it so much that I’ve done the show twice, first playing the Baker then later Cinderella’s Prince and the Big Bad Wolf!
So now that you know what makes these tellers (and my boss and me) want to jump into A Chorus Line and “Sing Out, Louise!” come join them for a night jam-packed with online musical magic! The show starts at 8 P.M. EDT on Zoom. Tickets range – $15 (suggested contribution) or $5 (minimum contribution), plus a $1 ticket handling charge. Proceeds are shared among the tellers.
Reserve your virtual seat now!
And remember to keep your ears open for those specific musical references and shout ‘em out in the chat!
