Posted by Bud Martin, Producing Artistic Director. Bud is on the production team of THE THREE MUSKETEERS and is in London rehearsing and doing a reading of a new version of the musical. Below is his account of the trip and the progress the show has made.
SUNDAY, JUNE 28, 2009
My wife, Kate and I arrived in London early Sunday morning for the purpose of doing a three-day rehearsal and reading of the new version of THE THREE MUSKETEERS, with music by George Stiles, lyrics by Paul Leigh and book by Peter Raby. We had done two previous productions of the show in the US within the last two years, one at Chicago Shakespeare and the other at North Shore Music Theatre. We had always gotten wonderful responses to the show, especially to the score, but the script was not as strong as we wanted it. We also felt, as my wife pointed out, that I was the only one on the creative team without a British accent, so why weren’t we trying to do this show in the UK instead of the US? — so the reading in London was intended to bring MUSKETEERS to the attention of other London producers.
Our terrific book writer had done an excellent job of creating a historic play true to Dumas’ novel with great music and lyrics by George and Paul, but I wanted it to (as I told the artistic team) “matter more.” I wanted the focus to be on the fact that the three musketeers were over the hill – funny but sad over having lost ‘what once was.’ They meet a young D’Artagnan whose dream is to become a hero like the musketeers, and during his journey to manhood and his disillusionment, the musketeers actually learn what is important in their own lives – while D’Artagnan learns that real heroism comes from the way you live your life day to day. I wanted the show to be both funnier and more human, so audiences really feel for the three musketeers and the choices they made, and in the end, come to love D’Artagnan. Francis Matthews, who directed the show for us as at North Shore and is also a good writer, had agreed to tackle the re-write of the script and has been working on it over the last year. It is always very difficult when you need to make a change at that level in the creative team, but fortunately, original book-writer Peter was a real gentleman about wanting to do what was best for the show. The process has been a little difficult for me, since they all live in London, and I live “across the pond,” but we were finally in the position to bring in a cast to read it aloud and see what we had.
Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin on the Act II stage. Photo by Philadelphia Inquirer photographer Sharon Gekoski-Kimmel.
After landing at London Gatwick Airport, we had Sunday to ourselves (me to catch up on lack of sleep). I checked in with our authors and started rehearsals at 10:00 Monday morning. I arrived at the rehearsal studios just before 10am to meet our cast of 15 – some of the finest actors in the UK, all of whom are regulars at the RSC and England’s famed National Theatre, and many of whom are currently in West End productions. Due to the limited time we had to rehearse the new script, we opted for using the best actors to concentrate on reading the new script combined with different singers who learned the songs. This was a little tricky since the only actor who both sang and spoke was in the role of D’Artagnan; others would read their lines while someone else sang for them. In very short order, we had Samuel Bartlett, who played Planchet, D’Artagnan’s trusty sidekick, sing also. What a treat it was to meet and work with Sam, who was both Olivier and Tony nominated and won the Drama Desk Award for THE HISTORY BOYS. He was voted England’s most talented newcomer in 2005, and also did the movie. We spent all day Monday working and reworking through the new script, making modifications where necessary, restructuring some of the songs to fit the new scenes – so that by the end of the day, none of us knew what we had, except the cast, who thought it was very exciting! Afterwards, George and Francis and I met to determine the following day’s schedule. We were planning a reading without stops on Tuesday morning for the other two writers and a few friends to get their impressions and determine the schedule of work for Tuesday afternoon before our Wednesday morning public reading.
After all of the chaos of Monday, if the actors had a hard time remembering changed lines and re-arranged pages, you would never have known. The script played beautifully. What a difference a great cast can make. Peter and Paul, the original book writer and lyricist, were very pleased with the changes, and we met for lunch to plan what we could accomplish practically in one afternoon, before other producers and theatre professionals were in the room. The non-singing cast said they liked the music so much that they would love to sing along where possible, so we started with George teaching them the ensemble numbers very quickly, then Francis gave notes and worked sections of the script that were unclear. We finished at 5pm with the cast, all compared notes, and went our separate ways. That evening, Kate and I had dinner with our good friends George Stiles and his lyricist partner on several shows (including HONK and MARY POPPINS), Anthony Drewe, whom we affectionately call “Ants.” THE THREE MUSKETEERS was one of the few shows for which Ants had not written lyrics with George, and we were anxious for him to see our progress the next day since he has been following the this script for years.
WEDNESDAY, JUNE 30, 2009
Wednesday morning came. We had a packed house. And the cast was brilliant, the singers marvelous, and George played the piano as if he were a full orchestra. It always fascinates me how actors really step up a notch when they have an audience, and they surely did. Now the non-singers want to take singing lessons so that they could actually sing their parts in a future production. The feedback from the attendees has been very positive and constructive. The authors and I met for lunch and compared notes and agreed where we need to make changes and create clarity, and we set dates for meetings and new drafts. Then Kate and I went to see the National Theatre’s sensational play, WAR HORSE.
THURSDAY, JULY 1, 2009
I spent today following up with and meeting people who could help me over here, plus several producers have offered to partner and help me move this towards a UK production.
* * * *
So that is how the process works. Sometimes you make the right decision to move on, and sometimes you make the right decision not to. A month ago I decided to stop working on a new project that we intended to do at Act II as a world premiere, and today, I made the decision that we should keep going with THE THREE MUSKETEERS. All for one, and one for all!
Bud Martin
Producing Artistic Director
Act II Playhouse
Posted by Harriet Power, Associate Artistic Director, who directed Act II’s March-April 2 2009 production of IRON KISSES:
IRON KISSES Playwright James Still shared this great news with me. Such a lovely honor for him! –
James Still, one of America’s most versatile and internationally produced playwrights will be honored in New York City at Sardi’s Restaurant, August 11th, by the Medallion of the Children’s Theatre Foundation of America.
Dr. Dorothy Webb of Indianapolis, President of the CTFA, states: “Mr. Still’s mastery of his medium is equally matched with his commitment to theatre that speaks to children and youth. He joins the distinguished playwrights applauded by CTFA — Charles Strouse, Alfred Uhrey, Maurice Sendak, Charles Schultz, Suzan Zeder, and Dr. Seuss (a.k.a. Dr. Theodor Geisel.”
JAMES STILL
JAMES STILL’s award-winning plays have been produced throughout the United States, Canada, Europe, and Australia. He is a two-time TCG-Pew Charitable Trusts’ National Theatre Artist with the Indiana Repertory Theatre where he begins his twelfth season as the IRT’s first-ever playwright in residence. He is also a winner of the William Inge Festival’s “Otis Guernsey New Voices Playwriting Award,” the Charlotte B. Chorpenning Playwright Award for Distinguished Body of Work, is a two-time Pulitzer Prize nominee, and three of his plays have received the Distinguished Play Award from the American Alliance for Theatre & Education. His plays have been developed and workshopped at Robert Redford’s Sundance Lab, the Eugene O’Neill Playwright’s Center, the New Harmony Project, New Visions/New Voices at the Kennedy Center, the Bonderman New Play Symposium, and Hibernatus Interuptus New Play Festival. His plays are published with Dramatic Publishing, Samuel French, Music Theatre International, and Anchorage Press.
Three plays by Mr. Still had world premieres in 2009: THE HEAVENS ARE HUNG IN BLACK premiered at Ford’s Theatre in Washington, D.C. to commemorate the 200th anniversary of Abraham Lincoln’s birth. THE VELVET RUT premiered at The Unicorn Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri, followed by another production at the Illusion in Minneapolis. INTERPRETING WILLIAM premiered at the Indiana Repertory Theatre.
Mr. Still’s plays include A LONG BRIDGE OVER DEEP WATERS for Cornerstone’s Faith-Based Theatre Cycle in Los Angeles; AND THEN THEY CAME FOR ME, translated into several languages and produced around the world including a recent command performance at the House of Commons in London in an event hosted by Vanessa Redgrave and a production by the U.S. Army at a base in Stuttgart, Germany; IRON KISSES which premiered at Geva Theatre Center in Rochester, NY and produced recently at Portland Stage (Maine), Act II Playhouse in Philadelphia, and Company of Fools in Hailey, Idaho). SEARCHING FOR EDEN premiered at the American Heartland Theatre in Kansas City and will be produced next season at The Asolo Theatre. LOOKING OVER THE PRESIDENT’S SHOULDER — which since its world premiere at the Indiana Repertory Theatre has had many productions at theaters including Ford’s Theatre, Pasadena Playhouse, and Arkansas Rep in Little Rock. Mr. Still also wrote a commissioned short play called “Octophobia” for the Humana Festival at Actors Theatre of Louisville which the editors of the Smith and Kraus anthologies have published in their BEST WOMEN’S STAGE MONOLOGUES.
OTHER PLAYS include AMBER WAVES (the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in Washington, D.C.); HE HELD ME GRAND (People’s Light & Theatre Company and Indiana Rep); and A VILLAGE FABLE which was commissioned by the Mark Taper Forum, premiered at the Honolulu Theatre for Youth, produced at the Children’s Theatre Company in Minneapolis, in Switzerland at the Zurich Young People’s Theatre, and at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. HUSH: AN INTERVIEW WITH AMERICA was co-commissioned and premiered by Childsplay in Tempe, AZ, and Metro Theater Company in St. Louis. Mr. Still’s solo performance piece THE VELOCITY OF GARY (NOT HIS REAL NAME) premiered in New York at the Ensemble Studio Theater, and he performed it across the country; it was later produced off-Broadway, in San Francisco (New Conservatory Theatre) Studio Theatre in Washington, DC, and earlier this year at Tricklock Productions in Albuquerque, New Mexico.
Mr. Still’s work in television and film and has been nominated for five Emmy’s, a Television Critics Association Award, and was twice a finalist for the Humanitas Prize. He was a producer/head writer for the series “Paz” airing daily on both TLC and Discovery Kids. For Nickelodeon he was a writer and story editor for Maurice Sendak’s long-running “Little Bear”, and the Bill Cosby series “Little Bill.” He has created a new series for Amsterdam-based Telescreen adapted from the “Frog” books by Max Velthuijs; and has completed the screenplay for the first Dutch-produced feature film for children based on Dick Bruna’s “Miffy” books. Mr. Still also wrote “The Little Bear Movie” and the feature film “The Velocity of Gary.”
THE CHILDREN’S THEATRE FOUNDATION OF AMERICA
CTFA was founded in 1958, and seeks to advance the artistic and professional interests of theatre for children and youth, and theatre education for the young. The Foundation pursues its goals by funding proposals of artists, scholars, and special projects of national import to the field. The Medallion of the Foundation honors significant, unique achievement. Occasionally the Foundation originates programs of its own. This non-profit organization is managed by a national board of professionals and benefactors of theatre for children in the United States.
Reprinted with permission from The Spirited Woman blog (www.thespiritedwoman.com) and its author, Naila Francis:
June 15, 2009
“Respect: A Musical Journey of Women”
This past weekend, I had the opportunity to take in a moving and empowering salute to women in the form of a sassy, hilarious, heart-rending and eye-opening piece of theater: Respect: A Musical Journey of Women.
Created by Dr. Dorothy Marcic to be originally performed as a one-woman show, Respect has since evolved into a four-woman production that chronicles, through popular song, the history of women from the early 20th century to present day. Marcic, in fact, wrote the show, based on her book, RESPECT: Women and Popular Music, when she realized how much of our journey as women has been embodied through songs such as I Will Follow Him and Mr. Sandman, where winning the affections of a man were considered a woman’s top priority, to perennial favorites such as I Will Survive and Greatest Love of All, which marked the championing of an inner resilience and courage in women capable of choosing their own direction in life.
Through about 60 songs, this musical journey takes us from women’s roles as pedestal beauties through the days when our proudest accomplishments were of the domestic kind, even as a growing discontent began to seethe, to our entry into the corporate world and beyond. When the show’s heroines, whose stories all represent the many aspects of womanhood past and present, begin to long for more, unwilling to bow to antiquated expectations with songs like These Boots Were Made for Walking and I Am Woman, I couldn’t help but root for this hard-won display of girl power. For in Respect, I really did see how the freedoms we enjoy today rest on the shoulders of so many women who came before us, women who dared to defy the norms and boldly flaunted convention to assert their worth and equality.
I was also struck by what a powerful role music plays in our lives. Listening to the lyrics of some of the songs like Vicki Carr’s, It Must Be Him, where a teen girl actually sings that she’ll just die if the object of her affections doesn’t call, or the equally desperate I’m Gonna Make You Love Me by The Supremes, I practically cringed. I thought of how many times women must have listened to those songs, not really paying attention to the import of the words. And how many times do we still do that today, especially our young girls who eagerly subscribe to what pop radio says is good music?
If music is an energy, just like everything else, why not make sure that what we’re listening to is both affirming and renewing, celebratory and empowering? Sure there are moments when we just want a good beat to dance to and times when we need the empathetic connection of sadness or anger in song. But if you had to create a soundtrack to your life today, what would it be? My hope is that whatever song(s) light you up, they’re the ones that champion the power, strength and inner beauty of a Spirited Woman whose possibilities are truly endless.
- Naila Francis
The four student winners of Act II Playhouse’s recent “American Idol” contest took to the Act II stage for two performances recently of RESPECT: A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF WOMEN.
Katie Johantgen and Caroline Kane, both from Conestoga High School in Berwyn, Julia Pfender from Abington High School and Marissa Wolner from Wissahickon High School performed the musical on May 17 and 30.
They were chosen over the many contestants from six area high schools during American Idol-style auditions on Feb. 8. The judges were Act II Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin, who directed the professional production of RESPECT; Carmela Guiteras Mayo, choreographer, and Collin Maier, musical director.
Below are some photos of these talented young ladies performing on May 17th.
Posted by Act II’s Marketing & PR Director, Roe DeLuca:
We were so pleased to have Dorothy Marcic attend our first two Preview performances of her show, RESPECT: A MUSICAL JOURNEY OF WOMEN. Dorothy was equally thrilled to be here and wrote me the following note:
Roe,
It was such a great experience being there. What a wonderful show, great cast, crew and SUPPORT people. WOW!
Thanks thanks thanks!
Dorothy
Dorothy Marcic (left) with Act II Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin and RESPECT choreographer Carmela Guiteras Mayo.
Act II Associate Artistic Director Harriet Power, Act II Producing Artistic Director Bud Martin (who also directed RESPECT), and Dorothy.
