Third BTG post!

On Wednesday June 20^th we continued into Act One and worked on the entire BMI Musical Theatre Workshop sequence which includes three musical numbers: “Fridays At Four”, “Charm Song” and “Paris Through The Window”. This is a well-known weekly NYC workshop where budding songwriters get to try out their material in front of their peers. The workshop was originally taught by the legendary Broadway conductor Lehman Engel, and he is a character in the show that inspires Ed Kleban to work hard at his craft. A cool part about this sequence is that in our production I will be on stage as the accompanist of the workshop! After lunch, we reviewed the work we did and got into the scene between Mona and Ed, a fellow songwriter (but not very good one) who attempts to seduce Ed. (Although Ed is the hero of our story, he is only human and certainly not without faults- and one of his big ones was juggling multiple women.)

On Thursday June 21^st we continued working the Mona/Ed scene in Act One and progressed through a scene at Columbia Records. Felicia, a member of the BMI workshop class, becomes a producer at the label and tries to convince Ed to give up his desire to write a famous Broadway musical. In real life, Ed worked as a producer for Columbia, but his assignments were for exotica music titles like “Cha-Cha for Lovers” or for B-list music artists such as Jim Nabors and Percy Faith. This was a frustrating time for Ed; he was making a decent living but he felt artistically unfulfilled. One of his major coups was producing the extremely well received and financially successful soundtrack album of the 1960’s musical JACQUES BREL IS ALIVE AND WELL.

In today’s rehearsal, we were able to rehearse and stage five tunes: “Mona” (a bossa nova that humorously describes the show’s character as if she were a tourist attraction), “Making Up Ways” (a tender love ballad that Ed sings to Sophie), “Under Separate Cover” (an upbeat rock number about a couple’s separation from marriage), “Don’t Do It Again” (a vampy Billie Holiday type blues that Felicia sings to Ed) and “Gauguin’s Shoes” (a soft-shoe comedy number).

Many of the songs in ACA were originally written for a show Ed was trying to get produced on Broadway called GALLERY (later retitled SAVING THE MUSE). The main character goes to an art gallery and is inspired by the paintings of artists like Chagall & Michaelangelo. Tahitian artwork by Paul Gauguin is the inspiration for “Gauguin’s Shoes”.  Linda Kline revealed to us that “Gauguin” was originally done with hats and canes. Our version will be a Tahitian fantasy. To be sure, it will be very funny!

Second BTG post!

On Monday June 18^th we began production in one of the buildings on the campus of the Berkshire Theatre Group. The day commenced at 10am with what is called a ‘meet and greet’. All of the members of the Company, Production Staff and Administration Staff come together to get acquainted over bagels, fruit and coffee. There were about 40 people present. We were welcomed by Kate Maguire, the Artistic Director of Berkshire Theatre Group. Once we introduced ourselves, Bob Moss (introduced by Kate as a ‘legend’… and he certainly is one, as he founded Playwrights Horizons of NYC) spoke to everyone as to his vision of the show. It’s not so much a biopic, he said- it’s more of a celebration of his music. We were treated to presentations from the Stage Designer and Costume Designers. Afterwards, the cast got measured by the costume staff and the Choreographer taught the Cast a short routine to “One” from A CHORUS LINE to assess their dancing abilities. (This routine will show up in the second act of the show when Ed hits the big time.) We took lunch and then began working on the music for the opening Act One scene and number, “Light On My Feet”. The production was off and running!

On Tuesday June 19^th we continued working on the opening number and worked into Scene 2 (Hillside Hospital). Ross, who plays “Ed Kleban”, the main character of our show, also plays piano, so he will be accompanying himself in a few instances during the show. He is doing a fine job and this will provide a wonderful touch to the production. In the afternoon, Bob worked with Anya (she portrays “Sophie”, a main love interest of Ed’s) and Ross, while I worked on Act One music with the other six members of the cast in the lobby of the Fitzpatrick Main Stage building. I brought a small half sized keyboard with me that worked perfectly for the room.

First BTG Post!

On Saturday June 16^th I drove to Berkshire Theatre Group in Stockbridge for a preliminary production meeting with the Director, Choreographer, Lighting Designer, Costume Designer & the Production Manager. The meeting took about six hours with one hour off for lunch. We went through the entire show, generally mapping out every scene. We looked at the theatre to figure out the challenges of the space. We also came up with a general game plan for pacing our rehearsals: we have a little more than three weeks to produce, which is in reality a luxurious amount of time for summer theatre. Most shows mount in ten days to two weeks. It’s going to be a great show!

What exactly is the show, you ask? It’s called A CLASS ACT: A MUSICAL ABOUT MUSICALS. This is a show built around the songs of Edward Lawrence Kleban, best known as the lyricist for A CHORUS LINE, the beloved musical about dancers auditioning for a role in a new show. Ed was also a talented composer- but just like Stephen Sondheim, he had to start out as part of a songwriting team in order to catch a break. Sadly, unlike Sondheim, ACL was Ed’s only crowning achievement. Try as he might, he was never able to get any of his own musical projects to succeed. And even worse, he developed cancer in his late forties and died in his prime.

The first act of A CLASS ACT opens at the Schubert Theater in NYC, where Ed’s friends gather for a memorial service in 1988 (a year after his death) before a record breaking performance later that day of A CHORUS LINE. Ed’s story is told in flashback and his songs provide a glimpse into the happiness and heartbreak he encounters along the way. Ed’s last will bequeathes his songs to his friends, with the expressed hope that they will turn them into a musical. And in reality, that is exactly what happens.

The show originally opened at the Manhattan Theatre Club in 2002 for several months and then reopened on the stage of the Ambassador Theatre for a short Broadway run. It was nominated for a number of Tonys and Drama Desk awards.

We are very fortunate to have a connection to Linda Kline, who (along with Lonny Price) is a librettist of ACA. Linda was Ed Kleban’s last significant other, and (we believe) the basis for the character of Lucy Chaprakowski in the show. Linda has a large collection of Klebaniana and she is truly the authority on all things Ed. The director of our production, Bob Moss, realized that he was once the Stage Manager for Linda when she and another woman ran a children’s theatre in NYC called the Peppermint Players. Linda also happens to live in Stockbridge. She has provided us with a number of additional dialogue pages as well other insights into Ed’s life which we were able to incorporate in large and small ways. Linda even sent me the sheet music for a song I wished to restore to our show that was on the original soundtrack but was removed after the show went to Broadway. She also sent along a CD recording of Ed’s memorial service (held at the Public Theatre in NYC) which included eulogies from Linda, David Shire, Joe Papp, Marvin Hamlisch, Wendy Wasserstein (an MHC alum who briefly dated Ed and remained a close friend through the end of Ed’s life) and other famous artists of the Broadway stage. Linda also provided a CD of Ed’s own taped versions of all the songs chosen for ACA. To be sure, it is pretty eerie to hear Ed’s voice and piano coming from my speakers.

The unusual moment that day took place in town when we drove to a local diner. I got out of the car and heard a voice behind me say “Is that Mark?” It turned out to be Wayne Abercrombie (former UMASS choral director and current director of the Children’s Choir of Springfield) whom I had just worked with a week before when I accompanied for his choir at the Eric Carle Museum. He was in Stockbridge to attend a funeral and just happened to be driving on the same street I was on.

Updates to come... finally!

It's not so hard to believe that it has been five years since I have posted here... because it certainly seems like ages since I have posted! Now that I am looking forward to providing music direction at the Berkshire Theatre Group this summer, I thought it would be fun to blog about the experience for anyone who will find it interesting. So stay tuned to find out about how one plans and produces a musical at the oldest summer theatre in this country!