Spelling Bee!

It's been just a few days since we closed Return to the Forbidden Planet, and it's also just a few days until we go into rehearsal for Spelling Bee. I will miss RTTFP something awful -- it was one of the most fun, most enjoyable theatre experiences I've had -- but I can't wait to get into Spelling Bee.

Nick (who will play Barfee) and I were talking a few nights ago about doing A New Brain back in 2002, and what a joy it was to walk around for all those weeks with that beautiful, amazing music in our heads. As Sondheim has said, living in music is a gift from God. Particularly William Finn's music. Deborah (who will play Miss Peretti) and I worked together on March of the Falsettos, another Finn gem, years ago, and she also was in A New Brain. I believe the rest of our Spelling Bee cast is new to Finn. What a fun ride they have ahead.

In a weird way, tonight sort of launches the fun -- a few of us are getting together to watch the finals of the Scripps National Spelling Bee. I was watching the semi-finals this morning and it's so cool how exactly right the musical gets the kids, the process, the atmosphere, the parents, the suspense, the joy, the agony. I could see several of the show characters in these real-life kid spellers. I think it will help the actors a lot to see the real Bee.

I've been playing through the score a lot this week, trying to get it in my fingers. Finn's music is such a fucking joy to play! It just feels good in your fingers -- like the music of Jason Robert Brown, Larry O'Keefe, and Adam Guettel. Playing this score is a lot like speaking really brilliant dialogue -- it's a gigantic pleasure and you can't help but feel lucky that you get to roll around inside this kick-ass music. It's not the feeling you get from playing less artful scores like Damn Yankees or The Sound of Music or Wicked.

At long last, after decades of divorce, musical theatre and pop/rock are reuniting in a meaningful way, with exceptional scores like Hedwig, Bat Boy, High Fidelity, Songs for a New World, In the Heights, Spring Awakening, Next to Normal, and plenty of others. (You'll notice I am not including calculated, unartful dreck like The Full Monty, Wicked, or Billy Elliot.)

We have an amazing cast for this show, terrific designers, and brilliant material. With the intelligence and crazed energy we bring to almost all our shows, this should prove to be quite a potent cocktail. As I wrote on our Spelling Bee webpage, you'll laugh your ass off and then spend the next week on your therapist's couch. Believe me, if you only saw this show at the cavernous Fox Theatre, then you haven't really seen Spelling Bee...

I'll keep you posted...

Long Live the Musical!
Scott

The Credits

I just got home from our last cast party. What a wonderful run! Back on March 21, I predicted in this blog that this show would be a really hard one to walk away from. And it really is. But the show is over and it seems to me that a show based largely on a famous movie ought to have credits, right?

There are some serious unsung heroes behind the crazy, improbable success of New Line's Return to the Forbidden Planet.

First, there's Vicki and Ann, the box office and house managers, respectively. They're the ones who have to put up with the mean patrons when we sell out. Believe me, people can be total pricks when a show is sold out. Tonight, this one woman was complaining that we were sold out at 7:55. She kept whining that she had called earlier and "they" (in other words, I) said there were still tickets available. Well, we explained, there were, at 7:00, but not at 7:55. She was a real bitch. Ann and Vicki also had to field the complaints when the AC was out for a show and a half. These ladies are the ones on the front lines, and I'm sure glad they're between me and lots of problems.

Then there's Trish. She's usually our stage manager and lighting tech, but because of a new job, she couldn't work on this show. (She'll be back for Spelling Bee.) We sure did miss her. I got so used to having her there to take care of things! She kept her finger in the pie a little by doing props this time. Although there were only four props. But shit y'all, did you see that awesome giant space wrench???

I have to mention my friend Pat Edmonds, the mad genius. She makes a living creating craftsy stuff for arts and crafts fairs. But because she has to serve her client base, most of what she makes is Very Cute. So she loves it when I call her and ask for a bat baby and a life-size severed cow head (for Bat Boy), a raven puppet (for Robber Bridegroom), an American flag with a giant pot leaf on it (for Johnny Appleweed), and this time, two six-foot long tentacles belonging to the Id Monster.

"What does an Id Monster look like?" she asked. "How should I know?" I replied.

And there's Melissa who ran lights and Robert who designed and ran the sound. They were on the J-O-B every night. We literally could not have done this show without them. Robert's only a senior in high school, but he really is a total pro.

And then of course our brilliant, funny designers. Betsy and Thommy did an amazing job with the costumes. So clever, so original, so funny. They totally meshed with the cartoon world of this show. It's rare that costumes are actually funny, but these sure were. I think my favorite details were the CDs on Miranda's Act II dress, and the whole Ariel the Robot costume -- a laundry basket, giant combs, desk trays, and SLINKYs!

Hans likewise created the funniest lighting design I think I've ever seen. You don't expect lighting to be funny, but this really was, and it added so much to the style and energy of the show. Bravo, dude! Peter Sargent told me you were really good, and you really are.

And Dave and Jeff, who created the wonderful playground of a set. I've never seen actors have so much fun using a set. They just loved it. Again, exactly right in tone and style. And really, really funny. Some nights, people in the audience actually had their pictures taken on the set after the show. It was decked out with pill bottles, phone handsets, smoke alarms, telephone routers, a video game joystick, all manner of silly but perfect crap that always made me think of the salt and pepper shakers Dr. McCoy used as medical instruments on the original Star Trek. Home run, boys.

And last, the real magic in this show, The New Line Band -- Petersen on piano, Renard on guitar, Strathman on reeds, Dave on bass, and Schurk on drums. They've played so many shows together, they have become an incredibly tight band. And for this show, one new bandie, Patrick, who did a terrific job on rhythm guitar. Thanks for the referral, Tawaine.

Thanks to everyone who brought this fucked up gem to life. What a joyful, wonderful experience it has been. I can't imagine a cast and staff more perfectly suited for their roles and for this show. I'll gush about the playful, fearless cast later when I'm less tired and stoned.

Live Long and Prospero!
Scott

One Day I Feel So Happy

The reviews are coming in, and I think we're a HIT!

First, we got this terrific feature story from Judy Newmark in the Sunday Post-Dispatch, a really interesting exploration of RTTFP and its source play and film. She wrote, "Put it all together, and Return to the Forbidden Planet works on multiple levels: literary, pop-cultural and psychological. [Artistic director] Miller thinks that it compares well with Bat Boy and Urinetown, two smart, irreverent shows that go a long way toward defining the New Line point of view."

Judy's Post-Dispatch review of the show hit their website Monday (it was in Tuesday's print edition), and she says, "New Line Theatre presents a lot of intriguing work, but now and then it gets everything so right that you're ready to see the show again before you're out of the theater. Hair was like that; Bat Boy, too. And so is its new production, Return to the Forbidden Planet -- a smart, giddy, musically ingenious spoof written by Bob Carlton and directed by Scott Miller."

Paul Friswold at The Riverfront Times wrote in his Calendar Pimp column, "Remember the halcyon days when we were terrified of the Russians, they were terrified of us, and Shakespeare wrote his first intergalactic R&B hit, 'It's A Man's Man's Man's World?' Sweet fancy Moses, those were the days. Wait, that never happened. Or did it? Yup, looky here: Return to the Forbidden Planet. It's sweet Billy Shakes vs. Golden Oldies vs. Space Age Love Songs. Just what Dr. Tempest ordered." Yes, that about sums it up.

On Wednesday, Friswold reviewed the show, saying, “Bob Carlton's whimsical take on The Tempest as refracted through a 1950s sci-fi prism features a galaxy's worth of fantastic rock & roll songs, punning wordplays on snippets of Shakespearian monologues and intentionally ‘Pigs in Space’ costuming (courtesy of Betsy Krausnick). But this is no parlor trick of a musical; there's a rich vein of Shakespeare's favorite ingredient — the wondrous depths of the human heart — that elevates the show from cunning stunt to artful meditation on the destructive nature of power and the redemptive power of love.”

Chris Gibson's KDHX-FM review said, "Under the guidance of director Scott Miller, New Line Theatre is presenting a thoroughly engaging and enjoyable production. . . This is a fun show, and Miller has assembled a talented cast and crew that seems to be having a blast."

Mark Bretz' Ladue News review says, "New Line artistic director Scott Miller meticulously blends the comic sensibilities of his talented cast with the brisk, jaunty style of the New Line band to make this foray into outer space a campy and delightful journey. There are stars aplenty in this cosmos."

Andrea Braun's Vital Voice review was posted Monday afternoon, which said, "Forbidden Planet plays for laughs, which it receives in abundance."

Also today, someone posted the nicest note to our Facebook page: "We just got back from the show tonight (5/2/09), and it was phenomenal. Best time I've ever had at a local theater performance. The cast, the band, and the sets were dead on. The space and the sound were fantastic. Really, really good job, everyone. It was shlocky, pervy, funny, and rockin'. I could not ask for more."

And neither could we. Thanks to everyone who came out to see us this first weekend. If you haven't seen our show yet, come see us soon!

Long Live the Musical!
Scott

We Did the Monster Mash!

Opening weekend went great! Terrific crowds and the show was tight and funny and focused like a laser. This is a hell of a cast and they are in complete control of this wacky freight train of a show. Judging by the audience reaction, I think word-of-mouth is going to be really good.

Sometimes people ask me the secret of how New Line gets so much press -- a little bit of national press now and then, but a ton of local press. I tell them it's very simple -- it has to be news. It has to be something worth writing about, something new. Nobody wants to write about another production of Hello, Dolly!, no matter how great it might be.

But New Line offers the press juicy stuff like Johnny Appleweed, the stoner political satire. And the outrageous social satire of Bat Boy and Urinetown. And a new musical about Rush Limbaugh. And, of course, the science-fiction-rock-and-roll-Shakespearean Return to the Forbidden Planet. We offer them a lot to write about.

Case in point: In today's Post-Dispatch, Judy Newmark has written a very cool article comparing The Tempest to the film Forbidden Planet to the musical Return to the Forbidden Planet. It's a really smart, really interesting peek into what makes this story in its various versions tick.

And it's the best present Judy could have given us! While we usually get Judy's review in the Sunday Post, this time she came to the show Saturday night, so her review won't make it into the Sunday paper. Instead we get this excellent preview piece, which in a lot of ways is even better. It's longer than a review and has accompanying pictures in the print edition. Plus, a day or so later, well get our review. (I'm told she was laughing a lot at the show, so hopefully she'll give us a nice review.)

Paul Friswold at The Riverfront Times also did a very smart, short preview piece, which perfectly captures the kind of show this is. He was at the show Friday, so I assume we'll have that review this week as well.

It's been a tiring week, but I feel so great about this show. It's so smart and also so silly. And somehow, strangely involving. You really get caught up with these crazy characters, very much like Little Shop of Horrors and Bat Boy. This cast is at the top of their game and I think they're all having an absolute blast, and so, the audience is too. That's the real magic of theatre.

Three more weeks! What a ride.

Long Live the Musical!
Scott