The AmberKlavier (2005)

the world premeire
book, music, and lyrics by
Eric Dienstfrey
October 25-26, 2005
ArtLoft Theatre, St. Louis
http://www.newlinetheatre.com/amberpage.html

THE CAST
The Cook – Christopher Manelli
Amber – Amy Schwarz

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Eric Dienstfrey
Graphic Designer – Alissa Umansky

The Fantasticks (2005)

Music by Harvey Schmidt
Book and Lyrics by Tom Jones
based on Les Romanesques by Edmond Rostand
Oct. 13-Nov. 5, 2005
ArtLoft Theatre, St. Louis
http://www.newlinetheatre.com/fantastickspage.html

THE CAST
El Gallo (“The Cock”) – Matthew Korinko
Luisa, The Girl – Christine Brooks
Matt, The Boy – Clark Sturdevant
Bellomy, The Girl’s Father – Thomas Conway
Hucklebee, The Boy’s Father – Steve Callahan
Henry – Nicholas Kelly
Mortimer – Aaron Allen
The Mute – Adam Leong
Lodevigo – Nicholas Kelly
Socrates – Aaron Allen

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Fight Choreographer – Nicholas Kelly
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Set Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Props Master – Kimi Short
Lighting Technician – Ember Hyde
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Concessions/House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Graphic Designer – Kris Wright
Photographer – Michael C. Daft

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Chris Petersen
Harp – Sue Taylor

THE REVIEWS
“At New Line Theatre, the audience is used to surprises. . . this time, the surprise lies in the voices - the best that New Line has ever showcased. They make the familiar, unassuming musical sound, of all things, lush. “ – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“This was a night that I was glad to enjoy the simplicity of theater the old-fashioned way. In an age of spectacle, The Fantasticks is fantastic in its smallness. . . New Line’s Fantasticks is not a musical to blow you out of your seat. Rather, it is an experience in the goodness of the human heart, and does in fact speak of timeless themes relevant to our selfish modern world. . . listeners should take some time next weekend to enjoy the simple bliss that is The Fantasticks courtesy of the New Line Theater. “ – Doug Storm, KDHX-FM

“Less is more with The Fantasticks, and that makes it an ideal show for artistic director Scott Miller’s New Line Theatre. The Fantasticks accommodates just two musicians, harpist Sue Taylor and pianist Chris Petersen, whose soft, subtle renditions of the jazzy tunes of lyricist Tom Jones and composer Harvey Schmidt nicely complement the low-key action on stage. Under Miller’s sure and steady direction, his ensemble delivers the wit and charm of this gentle show in a way that reminds us of why The Fantasticks was performed a staggering 17,162 times in a tiny theater in New York for 42 years (!) beginning in 1960.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“New Line’s The Fantasticks is a good illustrator of why it’s sometimes okay to just let a piece be what it is, whether that be simple or grandiose, fluffy or deep, comedy or tragedy. It also shows why the best shows mix these labels up, or, rather, have a little of everything. Sometimes it’s worth just seeing a good play done well. You might get your thoughts provoked, or you might not, but the enjoyment makes it all worthwhile.” – John Shepard, Playback St. Louis

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
When New Line produced both Camelot and Man of La Mancha, people kept asking us why we would do such old-fashioned shows. Of course, the answer was that both shows still seemed as relevant as anything currently on stage, still addressing important political, social, and human rights issues we grapple with every day.

Now comes The Fantasticks and the questions persist. But once again, the answer is obvious. Like Into the Woods, written decades later, this Beat Generation fable presents a traditional Happily Ever After in Act One, and then deconstructs it, even mocks it, in Act Two.

In Act One of The Fantasticks, Matt and Luisa find a traditional, Broadway musical, Happily Ever After. But it’s tainted, predicated on a deception – like too much of mainstream American life. In Act Two, the disillusionment sinks in and they find that a relationship cannot be built on false romanticism. The Happily Ever After they had been promised all their lives runs smack up against the reality of Life. Like many young people today, they are surprised to find that Marriage is Hard. All the lovely lies of the American establishment, the Happily Ever After that the movies and TV promise, that mythical American Dream that only a few Americans actually get to enjoy, is revealed to be a fake. Like the musicals that would be written in the years to come, Act Two of The Fantasticks tells us that life is complicated, difficult, confusing, but that it is possible for clear-eyed realists to navigate this decidedly un-musical-comedy terrain if they can just see the world truthfully.

Despite its magic, its minimalism, its fable style, The Fantasticks looks at real life and real love like few shows do. And in a time in America when human interaction is trivialized, digitized, and commercialized beyond recognition, The Fantasticks urges us not to get caught up in the myth they’re selling so hard and to take a good close look at what matters most in this world – people. In this time when we can do our banking, our shopping, our bill paying, our movie-going, even our porn, all by interacting only with computers, this is a story we need to hear. And that’s why you’ll see very little set or props or costumes tonight – this is a show about people. We need to reshape our society back into one that values human connection above all else. Is it any wonder we go to war this easily when most of us are so disconnected from the rest of humanity?

Journalist Linda Elerbee once wrote this: “Will Durant said civilization is a stream with banks. He said the stream is sometimes filled with blood from people’s killing, stealing, shouting and doing the things historians usually record, while on the banks, unnoticed, people build homes, make love, rear children, sing songs, write poetry and whittle statues. He said historians (and journalists) are pessimists because they ignore the banks of the river. But the story of civilization, he said, is the story of what happened on the banks. Sixteen years ago, I saw The Fantasticks for the first time. This week, I will see it for the sixteenth time. Why? Because at least once a year I need to be reminded about the importance of what goes on on the banks, and how to get back to them. Deep in December, it’s nice to remember. The rest of the time, it’s necessary.”

Kiss of the Spider Woman (2005)

Music by John Kander
Lyrics by Fred Ebb
Book by Terrence McNally
based on the novel by Manuel Puig
May 26-June 18, 2005
ArtLoft Theatre, St. Louis
http://www.newlinetheatre.com/spiderwomanpage.html

THE CAST
Luis Molina – Scott Tripp
Valentin Paz – Nicholas Kelly
Aurora, the Spider Woman – Stephanie Brown
Warden – Richard Strelinger
Molina’s Mother – Mo Monahan
Esteban – G.P. Hunsaker
Marcos – Drew Somervell
Marta – Sarah Armstrong
Gabriel – Aaron Allen
Aurelio/Amnesty International Observer – Terry Love
Prisoners – Aaron Allen, Jun Cai, Terry Love, Lewis Perdun, John Russell, Scott Tripp

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Choreographers – Robin Michelle Berger, John Ricroft
Set Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Elizabeth Heilich
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Dance Captain – Lewis Perdun
Props Master – Kimi Short
Lighting Technician – Ember Hyde
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Concessions/House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Graphic Designer – Kris Wright
Photographer – Michael C. Daft

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Chris Petersen
Guitar – Mike Renard
Trumpet – Carl Nelson
Reeds – Lou Goldford
Bass – Dave Hall
Percussion – Joshua Costello

THE REVIEWS
“Director Scott Miller has cleared the bases with a rousing grand slam of an interpretation of this fabulously rich musical. It’s a gritty and glorious salute to the combined genius of Kander, Ebb and McNally, with appropriate respect to Puig, and his cast is clearly equal to the task.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“Over the years, New Line has done well with other shows by John Kander and Fred Ebb (Cabaret, Chicago). But this production demonstrates that New Line’s artistic director, Scott Miller, has an affinity for their viewpoint that transcends the ‘greatest hits’ approach. The story of Molina and his revolutionary cellmate, Valentin (Nicholas Kelly), combines left-wing politics, imaginative musical numbers and a seedy, ripped-stocking glamour. That’s the New Line aesthetic in a nutshell. It’s a great fit.... It adds up to a fascinating evening of unusual theater... the New Line production never relinquishes the play’s central point. That deals with questions of personal loyalty and overriding social good. It won’t make theater-goers feel comfortable. But Miller and his company can feel proud to address a play so hard to take and make it pay off on its own terms.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Director Scott Miller knocked the casting ball out of the park by bringing together a top-notch and very talented group of actors... Miller should be doubly proud: first, for what he has accomplished this season with New Line Theatre, but also for being able to bring all of these fine actors together for a truly extraordinary performance.” – Jim Campbell, Playback St. Louis

Kiss of the Spider Woman is one of New Line’s best productions.” – Bob Wilcox, KDHX-FM

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
We’re in Buenos Aires. It’s 1976. President Juan Peron returned to Argentina a few years ago after eighteen years in exile, but he died soon after. His second wife Isabel took over the presidency, but she was removed from power in March of this year by a military junta under General Videla. Now, no one is safe. You keep hearing about people disappearing – liberals, leftists, union leaders, journalists, artists, students, even priests – and sometimes just ordinary people who are in the wrong place at the wrong time.

You know one of those.

This is no time for heroism or idealism in Argentina; this is a time for keeping your mouth shut. Anyone suspected of favoring these groups or their ideas is in danger of arrest. All cultural life is now subjected to strict censorship. The government has taken control of the labor unions. People are being kidnapped on the streets and never heard from again. The prisons are overflowing with political prisoners and you hear stories of the most horrific torture. There are no trials or even any pretense of legal process. You’ve even heard rumors that there are concentration camps like the Nazis had.

Lately, the mothers and grandmothers of those who’ve been “disappeared” – los desaparecidos – are standing up to the government. Every Thursday, they assemble in the Plaza de Mayo in front of the Presidential Palace, demanding information on their missing children. So far, nothing has happened to these women, but you wouldn’t dare join them.

You’ve heard so many stories on the streets about the prisons, coming from the few Argentines who’ve actually been released. They say some prisoners aren’t allowed to lie down on their cots during the day, and the strain of this can cause paralysis or atrophy of the legs. They’re not allowed any contact with family or friends, and most prisoners are afraid to write to loved ones, for fear they too will be targeted. They say the prison guards stage fake escapes and executions with mannequins to scare the prisoners. Newspapers and radios are banned insider the prison, and only books written before the French Revolution are in prison libraries – so prisoners “don’t get any ideas.”

You’ve heard stories about prisoners being experimented on with tranquilizer darts, tortured with cattle prods, having the soles of their feet beaten with batons, having metal buckets placed on their heads and then the buckets hammered with clubs, having electrical wires applied to breasts, vaginas, anuses, penises, tongues, and other body parts. There are even rumors that in some cases, prisoners’ bellies are slit open and then they’re dropped in the river as “fish food.” Some are thrown out of airplanes fully conscious. And at the end of a prisoner’s term, he or his family has to pay the state back for the cost of his imprisonment or he won’t be released.

The people of Argentina keep hoping the international community will step in and stop the horrors, but it appears that the United States actually supports Argentina’s military government. Amnesty International has sent representatives but they have no real power.

It’s like a bad dream and everyone in the country is just waiting to wake up. But the dream just goes on and on…

The Robber Bridegroom (2005)

Book and lyrics by Alfred Uhry
Music by Robert Waldman
Based on the novel by Eudora Welty
March 3-26, 2005
ArtLoft Theatre, St. Louis
http://www.newlinetheatre.com/robberpage.html

THE CAST
Jamie Lockhart – Michael Heeter
Rosamund Musgrove – Leah Schumacher
Salome Musgrove – Ember Hyde
Clement Musgrove – Thomas Conway
Little Harp – Gregory Paul Hunsaker
Big Harp – Drew Somervell
Goat – Jeffrey Pruett
Raven – Jamie McKittrick
Goat’s Mother – Kimi Short
Goat’s Sister, Arie – Christine Brooks
Innkeeper/Thief/Preacher – Richard Ives

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Set Designers – The Company
Scenic Artist – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Mark Schilling
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Props – Richard Ives
Puppet Design – Pat Edmonds
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Lobby/Concessions Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Graphic Designer – Kris Wright
Photographer – Michael C. Daft

THE BAND
Fiddle – Matt King
Guitar – Mike Renard
Banjo – Michael Mason
Bass – Dave Hall

THE REVIEWS
“Scott Miller has a hit on his hands! The New Line Theatre has opened The Robber Bridegroom, and you definitely must see this show. Sweet and charming and outrageous and corny and violent and sexy and utterly engaging, this wonderfully imaginative piece is based on a novel by Eudora Welty... It’s delightful, it’s charming, and it’s absolutely Edenically innocent.” – Steve Callahan, KDHX-FM

“God Bless New Line Theater and Artistic Director Scott Miller for having the sense to put on a show as interesting as The Robber Bridegroom. New Line Theatre, the self-proclaimed Bad Boy of Musical Theater, lives up to the title yet again with their most recent production… By challenging the way we look at musicals, [New Line] makes them more accessible to the common man, while giving theater snobs something to love in the process. For those that fall somewhere betwixt the two, you’re in luck, as New Line’s players will indeed entertain.” – Tyson Blanquart, Playback St. Louis

The Robber Bridegroom suits Miller’s smart, no-frills aesthetic – and boasts the added advantage of unfamiliarity. It’s one show that nobody’s seen ‘too many times.’ Yet it’s a charmer. . . But The Robber Bridegroom is a fairy-tale for grown-ups. The four-man band serves up the blue-grass score (by composer Robert Waldman and lyricist Alfred Uhry) in likeable, familiar, laid-back style. But catch the lyrics to songs like ‘Two Heads’ or ‘Poor Tied Up Darlin.’ There’s no latent message here. Violent, sexual and avaricious impulses are right on surface of this story, in which civilization and self-control are as easy to rip off as Rosamund’s dainty frocks. “ – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Director Scott Miller scores a triumph with his delightful production that smartly captures the free spirit and charming effervescence of this romp through the woods.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“The indomitable Mr. Miller [as director] has taken what he’s got and whipped his cast into a proper frenzy of comic cataclysm.” – Richard Green, Talkin’ Broadway.com

“A bright, charming production by New Line Theatre. . . Highly entertaining.” – Joe Pollack, KWMU-FM

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
Hang on.

We’re going for a crazy ride tonight. The Robber Bridegroom is a very funny show, chock full of cheap gags and lots of silliness, but it’s also a difficult one, a story built on some of the ugliest aspects of human nature, including a really awful, sexist view of women. From today’s perspective, it might make us a squirm a little. But all great social satire does. If we don’t stare our problems in the face, how can we ever solve them?

The Robber Bridegroom is one of a number of musicals that form an interesting sub-genre, the anti-hero musical. For instance, in The Music Man, Harold Hill swindles a town full of decent, hard-working folks, and we love him for it. In Chicago, both central characters are murderers, but we are utterly seduced by them. In Pal Joey, Joey is a slimy, self-serving, adulterous little twerp, but we find him charming and funny. In My Fair Lady, Henry Higgins is an arrogant, self-involved woman-hater, but we laugh right along with his abuses. Likewise, in The Robber Bridegroom, Jamie Lockhart is a thief and he only enjoys sex if it’s not consensual, but he’s the hero of a musical comedy.

The Robber Bridegroom is set in America's rough-and-tumble past, just about the time our Founding Fathers were creating our new nation. But the folks in the Natchez Trace down in Mississippi weren't drafting a Constitution. No, they were lying, thieving, killing, and screwing. This wasn't the America of waistcoats, powdered wigs, and British tea. This was the real America – rough, lustful, dangerous, and uncivilized.

The Robber Bridegroom is about the two sides of humanity, the “gentlemanly” side and the animal side, about the primal urges that we think we’ve civilized out of ourselves. But if we have, how can we explain our torture of prisoners in Iraq? How can we explain the escalating violence on our streets? How can we explain our overcrowded prisons? How can we explain all the gun owners in America or our collective love affair with The Sopranos? Do we ignore that side of our nature, do we confront it, or do we accept it as part of us?

We can sit back comfortably and believe that because this story is set in 1795, we can dismiss it as a less evolved time and place. But its parallels to today are obvious. When it was written, America was still grappling with the war crimes committed by American soldiers in Vietnam. Now we have other disturbing parallels. Perhaps The Robber Bridegroom illustrates one of the big lessons we’re learning right now in the world – morality and survival aren’t always compatible.

You can watch the show from a modern feminist perspective and be appalled that Rosamund wants to be with the Bandit of the Woods, but how many of us know women like her, who only like “bad boys,” who are attracted to men who treat them badly, who stay in unhealthy relationships? It’s real. And maybe if we recognize that we haven’t really come all that far since the days of the earliest American settlers, we can at long last do something about it.

It’s okay just to sit back and enjoy The Robber Bridegroom and not think about any of this for a couple hours. But don’t think we have nothing to learn from these crazy, nasty, desperate, deeply human characters on stage.

We have met the enemy and he is us.