bare (2011)

Book by Jon Hartmere & Damon Intrabartolo
Music by Damon Intrabartolo
Lyrics by Jon Hartmere
June 2-25, 2011
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Jason – Jacob Golliher
Peter – Mike Dowdy
Ivy – Terrie Carolan
Nadia – Charlotte Byrd
Matt – Jonathan Foster
Lucas – Rahamses Galvan
Diane – Nyssa Duchow
Priest – Zachary Allen Farmer
Sr. Chantelle – Nikki Glenn
Claire – Alison Helmer
Zack – Chance Kilgour
Kyra – Andréa Kimberling
Rory – Sarah Porter
Alan – John Michael Rotello
Tanya – Michelle Sauer

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Asst. Director – Aleena Yunuba-Hammack
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Scenic Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Stage Manager – Trisha Bakula
Props Master – Alison Helmer
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter Lindberg

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Justin Smolik
Lead Guitar/Flute – D. Mike Bauer
Rhythm Guitar – Aaron Doerr
Keyboard – Sue Goldford
Bass – Dave Hall
Percussion – Clancy Newell

THE REVIEWS
“New Line Theatre's current production of bare is a devastatingly powerful presentation that features a strong and talented cast performing at an exceptional level under director Scott Miller's sure hand. . . New Line Theatre's powerful and provocative production of bare: a pop opera is must-see theatre, providing the kind of experience that absolutely defines modern musical theatre, mixing catchy, open-ended compositions with an undeniably important subject matter. Make an effort to see it soon!” – BroadwayWorld.com

“This month, the truth serum seems to come to us in live theater, in the form of the very entertaining teen-angst musical Bare. . . director Scott Miller draws both actors, and the entire cast, to performances that are strikingly real and compelling, in spite of all the possible pitfalls of the high school drama at hand. It’s another remarkably solid cast for a New Line show. . . Bare is full of great story telling and fun music, rich characters and very fine performances.” – Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

“A 4.5 on a scale of 1-to-5. It’s smart, humorous and sophisticated, all elements readily observable in the regional premiere mounted by artistic director Scott Miller in New Line Theatre’s engaging and accessible presentation. . . Miller keeps the production moving briskly while also consistently bringing out the work’s sophistication, including guiding his players successfully through its complicated score. Really, there’s little bare about this rendition past its title. Quite the opposite, it’s an engaging evening of entertainment.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“A Must-See. The 20-foot cross looming over the stage at New Line Theater was ominous, both in the minutes before the show began, and during the production. And it was hard to tell if it was intended to stretch wide, hugging the cast in an embrace, or to stand distant, arms akimbo in rebuke. Such thematic dualism reoccurs throughout Scott Miller’s production of bare.” – Darren Orf, St. Louis Magazine

“Go to New Line and plunge into this sad, dense, haunting pop opera. Yet for all its complexity, it’s emotionally bare. Created by composer Damon Intrabartolo and lyricist Jon Hartmere Jr., bare enjoys a cult following but not the kind of fame associated with, for example, Spring Awakening. But its similar story is equally powerful, conveyed not only by the director Scott Miller and the actors but through Intrabartolo’s romantic pop score, performed with passion by conductor Justin Smolik and the New Line Band. . . bare addresses a wealth of teen problems – substance abuse, pregnancy, questions of sexual identity, teen suicide – but it's no after-school special. It offers no answers, beyond an assertion that honesty is healthy and secrecy can be lethal.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“The cast of New Line Theatre's production of bare is strong in terms of both acting and vocals. . . bare is an original show with complicated musical structure. The fine cast is able to produce some unique harmonies and chords that at first sound discordant. It is to their credit and director Scott Miller’s casting that they are able to pull it off. . . bare is a show that explores a myriad of problems facing young people and their struggle to learn from and overcome the obstacles they face. It's definitely a show worth seeing.” – Christopher Reilly, The Patch

“It’s a strong, intelligent, interesting show that has played here and there around the country for more than a decade. This is its St. Louis premiere. . . Given the story and the setting, a number of younger actors (many students at Webster University) got the chance, and there are some splendid performances.” – Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks

“The cast of New Line’s bare brings more power than is probably needed in the small space but the show’s powerful message comes through loud and clear. The cast is a good one and this cult musical makes an impressive local debut. . . It’s all tied together with the great touch of New Line’s artistic director Scott Miller. And the flawless work by the band led by Justin Smolik adds to the lovely evening. . . It’s an adult production with some very provocative scenes and music that may not be to everyone’s taste, but bare really makes for a delightful evening of musical theater.” – Steve Allen, Java Journal

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
I have been continually blown away by the sophistication, craft, and complexity of the bare score. The harmonic language is so unique, living entirely in the musical vocabulary of pop music and alternative rock, but crafted with a confidence and fearlessness and freshness that is very exciting.

Unlike most conventional musicals, in the bare score phrases aren't always in multiples of four bars; many songs do not end on the tonic chord the way almost all Western music does; there are lots of ambiguous open-fifth chords, missing the note that makes a chord sound either major or minor, happy or sad; and this music often screws around with the rules of harmonic progressions, surprising our ears but never so much that our ears rebel. To the untrained ear, the score sounds like great pop music. To the trained ear, composer Damon Intrabartolo’s music is just as unique and surprising as the music of Bill Finn (Falsettos, Spelling Bee, A New Brain) or Tom Kitt (High Fidelity, Next to Normal).

Structurally, Intrabartolo and lyricist Jon Hartmere use the vocabulary of opera – arias, recitative, leitmotifs and themes, choral work, lots of complex counterpoint – but all within the harmonic and melodic world of American pop and rock. It's a neat trick they’ve pulled off, giving these young characters the right musical voices while giving their drama a powerful underlying musical structure.

But none of this is why bare is so special or why it resonates so powerfully with so many tens of thousands of young people across our country. Perhaps the reason for its power and its popularity is its honesty. Since the 1960s, the true test of rock and roll is authenticity. And bare has that in spades. It is truthful about being young in America at this moment in time like very few other musicals are – with the possible exception of the extraordinary American Idiot. Even at my age, I see myself in almost all these characters and their potent, painful emotions.

A few years ago I was noticing that we were producing fewer specifically gay-themed shows than we had in the past, and I wondered if maybe the gay community had come so far that gay Americans don’t need “gay theatre” the way they did in the 1990s. After all, gay marriage is slowly spreading across the country now, Don’t Ask Don’t Tell is ending, and there are many other positive signs.

But at the same time, every five hours an American gay teenager kills himself and twenty others try. And just last month, Tennessee passed a new law literally forbidding teachers to even acknowledge that gay people exist.

Things are better today than ever before, but there are still miles to go before we sleep. Maybe bare can help a little.

Two Gentlemen of Verona (2011)

Music by Galt MacDermot
Lyrics by John Guare
Book by William Shakespeare and Mel Shapiro
March 3-26, 2011
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Proteus – Zachary Allen Farmer
Valentine – Eeyan Richardson
Julia – Jeanitta Perkins
Silvia – Taylor Pietz
Launce – Joel Hackbarth
Speed – Mike Dowdy
Lucetta – Terrie Carolan
The Duke of Milan – Tom Conway
Thurio – Aaron Allen
Eglamour – Michael Jones
Milkmaid – Kimi Short
Ensemble – Mara Bollini, Rahamses Galvan, Emily Ivy, Michelle Sauer, Kimi Short

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Choreographer – Robin Michelle Berger
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Scenic Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Christopher MWaller
Stage Manager – Trisha Bakula
Props Master – Alison Helmer
Specialty Prop Design – Pat Edmonds
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Specialty Prop Design – Pat Edmonds
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter Lindberg

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Justin Smolik
Guitar – D. Mike Bauer
Bass – Dave Hall
Percussion – Clancy Newell
Trumpet – Cliff Phillips
Reeds – Marc Strathman

THE REVIEWS
“New Line Theatre’s Two Gentlemen of Verona is an enthusiastic, gutsy, spirited, humorous and totally entertaining show. New Line’s cast is the ultimate in professional silliness. Shakespeare has never been this much fun!” – Harry Hamm, KMOX

“It's a happy romp! It's a silly, illogical, lovely tale! And it's a hit! It's New Line Theatre's immensely enjoyable new offering, the musical comedy version of Two Gentlemen of Verona. . . The New Line cast is uniformly fine. There simply isn't a weak spot. It's full of New Line veterans brimming with talent and with that special kind of family love that Scott Miller has magically fostered in his company over the years. They all perform with such joy and confidence and generosity of heart. . . as a whole package – the show, the cast, the band, the production values – it all makes New Line Theatre's Two Gentlemen of Verona the most purely enjoyable evening of theatre I've had in a long, long time.” – Steve Callahan, KDHX

“New Line Theatre and director Scott Miller's current production of Two Gentlemen of Verona not only rocks, but it's hilarious as well, aided greatly by the spectacular efforts of an enthusiastic cast and a crack band. I honestly can't recall when I've ever witnessed an audience laugh at and enjoy Shakespeare more; the resident Bad Boy of Musical Theatre has come through again. . . I really love the way director/music director Scott Miller makes the most of each comic moment, not milking it, but mining it for the richest results. . . New Line Theatre's production of Two Gentlemen of Verona is brilliantly executed and funny as hell. This terrific presentation continues through March 26.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

“Director Scott Miller's production just goes to show what you already know: That Shakespeare is so strong, a smart production can take his work in almost any direction, and it will flourish. Just take a look. . . We can identify with unfamiliar times, places or situations when theater artists help us draw fresh, imaginative connections. Miller, who often stages shows that aren't obvious or easy, not only seems to know that's possible, he appreciates how those unsuspected links can pay off in enormous theatrical pleasure. And that's exactly what Two Gents delivers.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“This winsome work by MacDermot, Guare and Shapiro is a delightful romp that is much more than the sum of its parts. Scott Miller’s inspired version directed for New Line Theatre features an exuberant and engaging cast that thoroughly enjoys itself and infectiously spreads that fervor throughout its audience. . . With Miller’s flamboyant and spirited approach, though, it’s easy to sit back and enjoy these musical Gentlemen. A 4.5 on a scale of 1-to-5.” – Mark Bretz, The Ladue News

“New Line Theatre pushes the proverbial envelope to dimensions other theatres simply do not. If you want to see a show and feel like you're in New York or Chicago, go see a show at New Line. Go see Two Gentlemen of Verona. It'll be the most fun you have at the theater this year.” – Christopher Reilly, The Patch

“The familiar New Line crew never fails to disappoint, and the ensemble members are always completely engaged and energetic. . . I was struck with how familiar the songs sounded and then I remembered, oh yeah, Galt MacDermot did the music for this. He also composed the music for Hair, and the music for Two Gents is very reminiscent of that (with a little Spanish spice thrown in) – engaging, groovy, and the New Line Band was tight and handled it well. . . After a while, you forget that it's Shakespeare. And I mean that in a good way.” – Andrea Torrence, St. Louis Theatre Snob

“This is one you don’t want to miss. It’s really a piece of history and the infrequency of productions of Two Gentlemen of Verona makes it a true must-see.” – Steve Allen, Java Journal

“Mardi Gras in St. Louis turned cold and blustery, but spring is very much in the air, thanks to this bright, funny, beautiful show. And if you were expecting another New Line musical with a dark, cold edge to it, you'll be very pleasantly surprised by this thoroughly light-hearted adventure. Producer/director Scott Miller must be in love – or, at least, in love with this show.” – Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

“It’s like the counter-culture that invaded the musical a few years earlier in Hair has now been integrated into the fabric of society. . . The New Line production is so much fun that no one with the least curiosity about this show should pass up the rare opportunity to see it.” – Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle

“It's bright and breezy in its current production by New Line Theatre. It opened last night and will run delightfully through March 26. . . Scott Miller's direction is solid, and Robin Michelle Berger did some charming choreography, well-handled by the cast. The acting also is strong. . . a highly enjoyable evening.” – Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
It’s easy to say in hindsight, but maybe Two Gents was the perfect Shakespeare play for the composer of Hair to tackle. After all, this play was Shakespeare’s Rent, youthful, raw, rowdy, messy, rude, and certainly flawed. And composer Jonathan Larson said that he intended Rent to be the new Hair. It’s the flaws that give Hair, Two Gents, and Rent -- and our June show, bare --their rawness and rough edges. They don’t feel manufactured or focus-grouped. They possess that same authenticity that the best, most lasting rock and roll has. The same is true of lots of recent musicals, like Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot, Love Kills, Passing Strange, and others.

Like the brilliant filmmaker Tim Burton, Shakespeare wasn’t always the best storyteller in the world. He borrowed plots, he relied on improbable coincidences, mistaken identity, and other devices we’d find amateurish in anyone else’s hands. Just as Burton’s real artistry is in his visual language, Shakespeare’s real artistry is in the complex psychology of his characters, maybe even more so than in his amazing language. He was the first theatre writer to delve deep down into the complexities of human emotion and motivation, and he got it so right in most of his plays that we continue to perform them hundreds of years later.

Two Gentlemen of Verona was Shakespeare’s first play, and though he’s not at the top of his game here, he’s still Shakespeare, and that’s enough. The musical’s original director Mel Shapiro and playwright John Guare fixed some of the play’s problems, and together with composer Galt MacDermot, they fashioned a new work, one still very organic to Shakespeare’s play but with a contemporary sensibility that brings this rarely produced work to vivid, modern life. Its 1971 cultural vibe brings so much more complexity and high stakes to the story, adding to the original plot a pregnancy, a decision about abortion, and the Duke’s habit of sending Silvia’s boyfriends not just away, but literally off to “the Vietnam meat grinder,” as they used to call it.

It’s true that Two Gents as a play doesn’t have the artistry or polish of Hamlet or The Tempest, but there is much that’s wonderful here. Critic Paul Friswold wrote about our other Shakespearean rock musical, Return to the Forbidden Planet, “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.” The same is true here.

Our hope with this production is to get back to the original spirit of Shakespeare’s plays – rowdy, sexy, dirty, funny, popular, irreverent, rule-busting, and most of all, deeply, crazily human.

I Love My Wife (2010)

Book and Lyrics by Michael Stewart
Music by Cy Coleman
September 30-October 23, 2010
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Alvin – Todd Schaefer
Cleo – Emily Berry
Wally – Jeffrey M. Wright
Monica – Sarah Armstrong
Harvey – Zachary Allen Farmer
Quentin – Troy Turnipseed
Stanley – Joel Hackbarth

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Assistant Director – Alison Helmer
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Scenic Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Stage Manager/Props Master – Trisha Bakula
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter Lindberg

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Justin Smolik
Keyboard – Sue Goldford
Bass – Dave Hall
Guitar/Banjo – Michael Mason
Percussion – Clancy Newell

THE REVIEWS
“New Line Theater bows I Love My Wife, an often hilarious musical spoof of the so-called ‘free love’ era and how two married couples discover the truth about ‘four play.’ New Line Theatre always does great work. When they perform, you’re always up close and personal. Sometimes the performers are only three to four feet from where you’re sitting, so you really get involved in the show. I Love My Wife also happens to be a very funny show. . . enjoyable and a nice start to New Line’s 20th season.” – Harry Hamm, KMOX

“New Line, the little cutting-edge theater that could, is opening its 20th season with I Love My Wife. . . Leave it to Miller to rediscover this little gem. I Love My Wife turns out to be a clever, musically sophisticated and ultimately sweet show, intimate in every sense of the word. . . New Line has done well with Hair, which it has mounted several times. It’s also staged strong productions of Grease and Chicago, the beat musical The Nervous Set, the slacker musical High Fidelity and Return to the Forbidden Planet, set either in the 1950s or the future, maybe both. Put them all together, and it's an era-by-era look at changing American mores. Miller’s anthropological twist on musical theater gives New Line a distinctive point of view, brainy and bold. I Love My Wife is an apt addition to that repertoire.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“The swingin’ 70s were a nonstop, hedonistic thrill ride. Marriages were open, key parties were de rigueur, love was American Style – everybody got laid all the time and twice on Sunday. But all revolutions come to an end, especially sexual ones. The Michael Stewart and Cy Coleman musical I Love My Wife takes you back to the final spurts of the musky 70s with a jazzy tale of wife-swapping, sex and romance, and explores how maybe all that free love came with a hidden cost – and we ain’t talkin’ about herpes.” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

“This is a production that nobody who cares about musical theatre should miss, because if there ever is another local production, the passionate advocacy of the current production will be hard to match.” – Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle

“With their funky and fun production of I Love My Wife, New Line Theatre begins their 20th season with a trip back to the swinging seventies, when the last dying embers of the sexual revolution were still smoldering in the suburbs. It was a time when collars were broad, chests were hairy, and polyester was the fabric of choice. And though the obvious reference point for some might be Paul Mazursky's 1969 film Bob & Carol & Ted & Alice, the two are actually quite dissimilar, except for the fact that two couples wind up sharing the same bed. But, I Love My Wife is more concerned with friendships and making connections. New Line's presentation of this perfectly charming adult comedy is superbly cast and directed, and well worth your time and attention.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

“Those who lived through the 1970s will nod familiarly at most of the lines and lyrics in I Love My Wife. Those too young to remember will understand why certain styles, certain moments, certain memories will bring goofy looks to their parents’ faces. . . but it's an accurate view – and spoof – of an era that generated a movie called Bob and Carol and Ted and Alice, that still was enjoying the drug culture and sexual freedom that started in the 1960s. . . The tale of a husband’s desire to join the sexual revolution he fears has begun without him, using his friend’s wife to help him get up to date, is bright and tuneful, well-paced under Scott Miller’s on-point direction. . . It’s powerful, and it’s fun.” – Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks

“Top-notch performances highlight this New Line production . . . I Love My Wife is a nifty little musical that is given a first-rate production by the folks at New Line Theatre. Because of the subject matter, I would consider it adults only but you’ll have a lot of fun and a lot of laughs at this one.” – Steve Allen, Java Journal

“Interesting and hilarious. Now, it's not as though there's a detailed plot for this show, but under Scott Miller and Alison Helmer’s direction, watching it all unfold and seeing how these individuals respond to the opportunity is an entertaining ride, well worth the price of admission. This show may be set in the 70s, but the themes are still relevant.” – Andrea Torrence, St. Louis Theatre Snob

“New Line Theatre jazzes up I Love My Wife. . . Having showcased their badness with Love Kills and The Wild Party, Scott Miller and his New Line Theatre, self-christened the Bad Boy of Musical Theatre, have decided to back off and just be a little naughty with their current offering.” – Bob Wilcox, KDHX

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
It’s 1977. There’s no internet. No cell phones. No cable TV. Only three networks. And America is having a nervous breakdown.

I Love My Wife is a sex farce. But it’s also a lot more. This is a story about searching for meaningful human connection in the midst of massive cultural change, a theme as relevant now as it was thirty years ago. There were several musicals in the 1970s that were about this – Company, Follies, Pippin, The Me Nobody Knows, The Rocky Horror Show, A Little Night Music, Mack and Mabel, Runaways, and others.

I think this show is telling us that as fun as Free Love might have sounded, as exciting as the Sexual Revolution might have seemed, those were dangerous times emotionally, and only a really solid relationship, like a good marriage or a lifelong friendship, could be sturdy enough to get you through it. The 1970s were wild waters to navigate. It was only allegory in Rocky Horror but it was true in real life – the Sexual Revolution wore people out and left them feeling empty and alone.

By the end of the decade, Cosmopolitan magazine reported that “so many readers wrote negatively about the Sexual Revolution – expressing longings for vanished intimacy and the now elusive joys of romance and commitment – that we began to sense there might be a sexual counter-revolution under way in America.” In 1982, New York magazine published an article called, “Is Sex Dead?” Esquire published “The End of Sex,” which said, “As it turned out, the Sexual Revolution, in slaying some loathsome old dragons, has created some formidable new ones.”

Musicals are about emotion, but in this show (as in Company) most of the emotions are suppressed, hiding out in the subtext of the dialogue. These characters often say one thing and mean another. They fight about one thing but they’re really fighting about something else. Likewise, most of the songs don’t reveal character as much as provide social and historical context.

Working on this show is unusually interesting for me because I was born in 1964, right on the cusp between the Boomers and Generation X, and I want to understand the culture that shaped me as a child. I remember the 70s, but only from a kid’s perspective. So it’s been a lot of fun for me to rediscover this crazed decade and to understand the culture I remember, now from an adult point of view. I loved The Mary Tyler Moore Show when I was a kid, but now I understand how precisely it tapped into the cultural zeitgeist and how remarkably bold its statement about women was. It was a fascinating, disorienting time in our history.

Of course, we live in times just as turbulent now. Maybe if we take another look back we can understand where we are today.

Evita (2010)

Book and Lyrics by Tim Rice
Music by Andrew Lloyd Webber
July 8-31, 2010
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Eva Perón – Taylor Pietz
Juan Perón – Todd Schaefer
Che – John Sparger
Agustin Magaldi – Zachary Allen Farmer
Perón’s mistress – Terrie Carolan
The People of Argentina – Aaron Allen, Terrie Carolan, Tyla Daniels, Mike Dowdy, Zachary Allen Farmer, Macia Noorman, Jeanitta Perkins, Eeyan Richardson, David Sajewich, Michelle Sauer, Kimi Short, Christopher Strawhun

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Assistant Director – Jake Fruend
Choreographer – Robin Michelle Berger
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Scenic Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Sound Designer – Robert Healey
Stage Manager/Props Master – Trisha Bakula
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office – Vicki Herrmann
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter Lindberg

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Chris Petersen
Guitar – D. Mike Bauer
Bass – Dave Hall
Percussion – Clancy Newell
Trumpet – Cliff Phillips
Reeds – Robert Vinson

THE REVIEWS
“Simply put, New Line Theatre’s current production of Evita absolutely rocks! Employing a more intimate staging and utilizing stripped down orchestrations acts to reinvigorate the work, personalizing the story and adding a real edge to the music. This is one of the chief reasons I'm always drawn to New Line’s productions; they don't conform to the norm, offering regular theatre goers the opportunity to witness creative and imaginative takes on new works as well as more familiar ones. If you're already a fan of Evita (or musical theatre in general), or if you've only seen the misguided movie version with Madonna in the lead role, and you've been turned off to the subject as a result, then you owe it to yourself to check out New Line's darkly engaging presentation. . . Scott Miller’s direction is impeccable. The story moves along at a whirlwind clip, with seamless transitions allowing the action to flow unabated. The cast is sharp and focused throughout, and the ensemble singing is gorgeous.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

“Tim Rice and Andrew Lloyd Webber come in for their fair share of criticism, but future historians may judge them a little more kindly than we now suspect, if this new Evita is any guide. True, we already know that Lloyd Webber can give us lovely musical passages. And here, director Scott Miller's excellent New Line chorus and band, featuring a fiery leading lady, sets our hearts marching into battle. . . . It's a perfect show for this moment in (North) America.” – Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

“I was intrigued because Scott Miller is the one director I can think of who would find the politics in Evita more interesting than the style. What New Line gives us is an Evita where the incrusted style has been stripped away and the politics have been beefed up. . . I really admire what Scott Miller and New Line found in Evita, and I’m afraid the standard version is going to disappoint me even more when I see it next.” – Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle

“A 4.5 on a scale of 1-to-5. Having neither the space nor the quantity of musicians to present the full orchestration of Lloyd Webber's music, New Line Theatre artistic director Scott Miller wisely focuses instead on a sextet of players who provide passionate, intense support for the performers on stage. Aided by the delicious support of choreographer Robin Michelle Berger, who accentuates the array of musical motifs with an eclectic mix of terpsichorean moves, the result is an engaging and absorbing account of not only one man’s (lyricist Rice) interpretation of a time and place but a riveting theatrical experience. . . Miller’s Evita is visceral, raucous and always entertaining, bringing out the best in Lloyd Webber’s complex and diverse score and underscoring Rice’s sophisticated and compelling lyrics in clever fashion.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“New Line Theatre, a company that regularly turns its shoestring budget into vivid ribbons of musical theater art, is probably best known for offbeat, counter-cultural work. Shows like Bat Boy, Love Kills and Return to the Forbidden Planet seem to define the distinctive New Line brand, partly because they suit artistic director Scott Miller’s sensibilities and partly because New Line is the only place in town you’re apt to see them. But there's another important thread that runs through New Line's history: stripped-down performances of big-name musicals. In seasons past, New Line has produced shows like Camelot, Man of La Mancha, and Cabaret – shows that we associate with lush productions at the Muny, the Fox or Stages St. Louis. Evita, the latest New Line production, belongs to this adventurous tradition.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Only two nights remain to see the New Line production of Evita, and it's worth trying to get there. Every performance for the last week has been sold out, so it may not be easy, but I highly recommend it. With John Sparger a wonderful, sardonic, sarcastic Che and Taylor Pietz a more-than-tyrannical Evita, this is a splendid production, and director Scott Miller’s direction is spot-on. His ideas work well, and his casting eye and ear have put together an exciting chorus that never falters. . . Robin Michelle Berger's choreography is splendid. . . The chorus is rich and powerful. Pietz, in a half-dozen different gowns along the way, works hard, but I thought Sparger's lounge-lizard approach to the role of Che, a counterweight to Pietz' Evita and as a realistic response to her pie-in-the-sky political platitudes, dominated. . . Todd Schaefer's set, Thom Crain's costumes and Kenneth Zinkl’s gave Evita a smooth and polished look, a strong contrast with the edgy score. The story of power, and its corruptive qualities, is as strong as it ever was.” – Joe Pollack

“Evita, the celebrated 1978 musical by lyricist Tim Rice and composer Andrew Lloyd Webber, is what might be considered a big undertaking for any theatre company, so, not a lot of small groups in the St. Louis area have attempted to mount a production. But one such has taken on the challenge: New Line Theatre. What results is a impressive and entertaining.” – Laura Kyro, KDHX-FM

“Taylor Pietz is a riveting Evita. . . . The ensemble is just as impressive as the principals. Each member’s many expressions manage to create a real human being with a back-story. We see a spectrum’s worth of feelings for Eva, from affection to unabashed adoration. How hopeful they look in ‘A New Argentina,’ too.” – Peter Filichia, TheatreMania.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
Why do we tell stories anyway? It’s how we work out who we are as individuals and as a society. As Stephen Sondheim has said, art makes order out of the chaos of our world. It boils down and focuses, editing out the extraneous, allowing us to see more clearly the world around us and our place in it. We use storytelling to work through our problems, our fears, our dreams, our ambitions.

So why Evita?

Because even though it’s set in Argentina in the 1930s and 40s, and written in the 70s, it is so much about this time and place it’s almost hard to believe. In this election year, we can so easily see Barack Obama, Sarah Palin, and Glenn Beck (among many others) in the story of Eva Perón. A people divided, passionate opposition versus devout – dare I say, mindless? – adoration. Just listen to Che’s first song, “Oh, What a Circus,” and you may well hear echoes of the current political wars in Washington. Listen closely to “Perón’s Latest Flame” and you’ll hear the sexist flames that were thrown at Hillary Clinton in 2008.

Eva Perón was a genius at public speaking. But she was not interested in appealing to the intellect; she wanted to stir emotion. That’s also true of current politicians like Sarah Palin and Michele Bachmann, and it’s more true than ever of political media celebrities like Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Sean Hannity, and the rest.

In exploring Eva’s obvious sex appeal, we can see that same strange combination of sex object, political figure, and savior (“a fantasy of the bedroom and a saint”) that has made Sarah Palin such a popular figure today. One news commentator wrote during Eva’s famous Rainbow Tour, “She was better at being brilliant with short, evasive phrases, and circling the question without actually answering it.” That’s exactly the charge leveled against Palin today. Likewise, in the extreme rhetoric, the demonization of opponents, and dubious claims about what The People want, it’s hard not to hear Glenn Beck warning us breathlessly about phantom communists, socialists, and Marxists in the White House.

So just as we live in a divided country at present, we offer you a “divided” story. The brilliance of Tim Rice’s narrative structure lies in the dichotomy between the cold, political, Brechtian world of Che’s narrative and the passionate, romantic, melodramatic world of Eva. With few exceptions, these two central figures exist in opposing styles and theatrical philosophies, as different as their political and social philosophies. This show requires something of you – to listen to both sides and form your own opinion. Was Eva a saint or a villain? The truth probably lies somewhere in the middle.

If we try, maybe we can find that truth in the real world too.

The Wild Party (2010)

book, music, and lyrics by Andrew Lippa
based on the poem by Joseph Moncure March
April 22-May 15, 2010
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Queenie – Margeau Baue Steinau
Burrs – Jeffrey Pruett
Black – Keith Parker
Kate – Deborah Sharn
Mae – Emily Berry
Delores – Mara Bollini
Oscar D'Armano – Mike Dowdy
Eddie – Zachary Allen Farmer
Madelaine True – Nikki Glenn
Phil D'Armano – Joel Hackbarth
Lois – Theresa Hermann
Nadine – Macia Noorman
Max – Eeyan Richardson
Ellie – Michelle Sauer
Sam – Troy Turnipseed
Jackie – Aaron VanderYacht

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Assistant Director – Alison Helmer
Choreographer – Robin Michelle Berger
Dance Captains – Michelle Sauer, Theresa Hermann
Stage Manager – Trisha Bakula
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Lighting Designer – Shannon Fedde
Scenic Designer – Todd Schaefer
Props Master – Trisha Bakula
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Scott Miller
Guitar – D. Mike Bauer
Bass – Dave Hall
Percussion – Clancy Newell
Trumpet – Cliff Phillips
Reeds – Marc Strathman

THE REVIEWS
“They call themselves the bad boy of musical theatre in St. Louis and they are – this is a very adult show. . . If you like shows like Cabaret and Chicago, you’ll like The Wild Party. . . You’re going to see really good, well done adult theatre at New Line that nobody else really attempts here in St. Louis. . . It’s a good strong cast with a couple of really, really, really strong individual performances.” – Harry Hamm, KMOX-FM

“Andrew Lippa’s musical adaptation of Joseph Moncure March’s epic poem, The Wild Party, is a brilliant work, especially if you’re anything like me, and you like your entertainment on the dark side. It’s a decadent jewel gleaming with sinister possibilities, and thus, far removed from the current trend toward sunny shows with predictably happy endings. Though set in 1928, it manages to perfectly capture the current mood of cynicism that seems to have run rampant through our country over the course of the last fifteen years. New Line Theatre’s current presentation of The Wild Party is a deliriously engaging experience, easily making it one of the best productions of the year so far.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

“Imagine a strobe-light flashing rapidly; or a coin flipping in the air, heads becoming indistinguishable from tails as it spins. Likewise, the flashing strobe creates an effect somewhere between bright light and pure dark, as the transitions themselves become a blazing, third state of energy. So it is with Scott Miller’s fantastic new production of Andrew Lippa’s The Wild Party… Thanks to the cast’s combined expertise and with the help of director Miller, they turn in a solid-gold hit. It’s almost like the American answer to Cabaret, leading us up to the edge of the Great Depression. But, like America itself, it keeps its brave face on, dancing right to the bitter end. Don’t miss this excellent show.” – Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

“With so much blood and tawdriness as its inspiration, you’d think The Wild Party would celebrate the ugly side of humanity; it definitely doesn’t shy away from sin and vice and everything nice, but there’s a morality at the center of the play shining out from beneath the filth. . . By the end of the night, Queenie wonders how everything ended so poorly between her and Burrs; how did ugliness supplant their love? When was the first unkind word spoken? When was the first blow struck? When did it all turn to shit? These are the questions not just of a failed relationship, but of the end of any gilded age. The Wild Party shows you in lurid detail the dying moments of just such a relationship and an age, and it’s difficult if not impossible to ask the same questions of the first decade of the 21st century when the lights come back up.” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

“A large number of fine performances, spot-on, rapid-fire direction by Scott Miller and plenty of sex make the show fast-moving, highly entertaining and oh, my goodness, bawdy and naughty. In other words, while there’s no real sex and no nudity, there’s a great deal of simulated sex that follows a large amount of foreplay, including much kissing while groping, stroking, squeezing, rubbing and other touchy-feely stuff. Not for the children and the easily embarrassed. “ – Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks

“If you like your tragicomedies with a dash of self-analysis and a heaping helping of sex, you’ll want to RSVP in the affirmative to The Wild Party, produced by New Line Theatre. . . The play is a good fit for director Scott Miller and New Line, which bills itself as The Bad Boy of Musical Theatre.. . . ‘People die and parties fail,’ Queenie notes in her finale. But even though her party ended badly, The Wild Party does not, leaving its audience entertained and with enough food for thought to last until the next New Line musical.” – Nancy Fowler Larson, St. Louis Beacon

“A fascinating and absorbing show that capably showcases Lippa’s talent for interesting lyrics and lively music. New Line artistic director Scott Miller’s direction is disciplined, focused and consistent throughout, and he benefits from some exemplary technical support as well as solid portrayals by his large cast. The result is an ambitious and laudatory effort that is richly rewarding. . . The subject matter is definitely adults only material, but The Wild Party tells an interesting story in lively and engrossing fashion.” – Mark Bretz, The Ladue News

“The Wild Party takes you on a wild ride. . . In 1928, writer Joseph Moncure March sketched the New York demimonde in an epic poem, The Wild Party. He might as well have wrapped it up in a package for Scott Miller, artistic director of New Line Theatre, to open 82 years later. . . Few musicals are so graphic as this one, which is absolutely not for the family. This time, Miller has spilled everything onto his stage: bootleg, blood and other bodily fluids. From the first scene, we can almost predict the outcome. Someone’s bound to slip and get hurt.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
At first, I saw a strong parallel between The Wild Party and the many scandals and embarrassments of the last ten years in America (Enron, AIG, wars and tax cuts that weren't paid for, dishonest political debate, really disturbing reality TV, screaming pundits on cable TV) – lots of selfishness, immorality, irresponsibility, disregard for others, lies, betrayals. A me-first attitude that ignores all the obvious ramifications down the road.

But I also see another, perhaps more interesting parallel – the death of civility. There's such a nastiness in our national discourse now, arguably going all the way back to 1994 and the Gingrich Revolution. Before that, politicians compromised and cooperated. In the 1980s, President Reagan and Democratic Speaker of the House Tip O'Neill would go to battle over some issue, work until they found a compromise, then have a drink together when it was all over. Not anymore. Can you imagine current Congressional Republicans kicking back with President Obama after the healthcare bill passed?

The Wild Party seems to be metaphor or microcosm for those moments in American history when anger and fear supersede reason and decency. It happened during the Depression and during the 1960s. In recent days, protesters in Washington, DC have actually spit on members of Congress, calling them "nigger" and "faggot." Is that all that far from Burrs calling Queenie a "lazy slut"? It's not a surprise that Andrew Lippa wrote The Wild Party during the latter years of the Clinton presidency.

This isn't as dark a show as Love Kills, because at least in The Wild Party, there is some self-awareness, some clarity, maybe even redemption of sorts, at the end. As the show ends, Queenie asks the partygoers – and the audience – “How did we come to this?” But the real question is will we ask ourselves that after we leave? And if we do, what will we do with the answer?

If there is a message here (I keep telling the cast that this is a fable at its heart), maybe it's that those darker impulses and emotions are inside all of us, and we're not always conscious of when they take us over. It requires real effort and vigilance to keep those dark forces at bay, to keep them from destroying the people around us and ourselves (a message this show shares with Bat Boy). It's not always easy to be civil, but when we give up trying, we get America in 2010...

We're all so sure.
We're all so wise.
No limits, no boundaries, no compromise;
Laughing at our neighbors,
Smiling through a hiss,
How did we come to this?

Love Kills (2009)

the world premiere
book, music, and lyrics by Kyle Jarrow
arrangements by Nathan Leigh
October 1-24, 2009
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Caril Ann Fugate – Taylor Pietz
Charlie Starkweather – Philip Leveling
Sheriff Merle Karnopp – Zachary Allen Farmer
Gertrude Karmopp – Alison Helmer

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Assistant Director – Matt Saltzberg
Stage Manager – Trisha Bakula
Set Designer – Frank Bradley
Costume Designer – Darren Hansen
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Sound Designer – Matthew J. Koch
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Props Master – Trisha Bakula
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter

THE BAND
Guitar/Conductor – Mike Renard
Bass – Dave Hall
Percussion – Mike Schurk

REVIEWS
“Love Kills is a gripping and fascinating evening in the hands of director Scott Miller and New Line Theatre. . . Love Kills is not a comforting evening, not by a long shot. Identify too much with one couple or the other and you’re bound to feel bad about yourself. But Jarrow keeps feeding you moments in which you want the four of them to achieve everything they desire, even when the characters are at cross-purposes. The end result is much like navigating love – how do you give yourself to someone else and hold on to yourself at the same time? Life is long; if you’re lucky, long enough to figure it out.” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

“I make it a point to seek out productions by New Line Theatre because I know I’ll see something edgy and original, and with the world premiere of Kyle Jarrow’s provocative work Love Kills they’ve, once again, fulfilled that desire. Jarrow’s musical meditation on the relationship between Charlie Starkweather and Caril Fugate, who embarked on a killing spree in Nebraska during the late 1950s, is an intriguing piece that succeeds in confounding expectations. The question as to whether or not Caril Fugate actually participated in the murders is one of the issues raised by Jarrow, and if there’s any truth to be gleaned from the facts presented in this dramatization, then New Line’s compelling production will provide you with the opportunity to judge for yourself. . . [Scott] Miller, who’s also the artistic director of New Line, likes to color outside the lines, and his determination here reveals his passion for bringing fresh and challenging new musicals to the St. Louis region. This might be considered a risky choice, but I’m glad he and the company were willing to take it on, because I might not have gotten the chance to experience it otherwise. . . If you’re looking for something outside the norm, then you should definitely check out New Line’s production of Love Kills.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

“Watching their story unfold through a raw punk-flavored rock score and fine acting on the parts of all four cast members is sublime. The bad boy of musical theatre is gloriously back! . . . Composer Kyle Jarrow defines Love Kills as an ‘emo rock musical,’ and in the sense that it is highly charged and personal, that’s fair. Scott Miller directs with passionate intensity, and it’s among the finest work I’ve seen from this company, which is saying a lot. This isn’t the world’s best musical, but I defy anyone to leave it without much to ponder and plenty to talk about. I hope audiences will give it the attention it deserves.” – Andrea Braun, KDHX-FM

“To open its 19th season New Line Theatre has the good fortune to host the world premiere of Jarrow’s rock musical Love Kills, which tells the grisly story of the multiple spree killings of Starkweather and Fugate in one act and a tidy 95 minutes. . . . New Line’s effort, under the expert guidance of artistic director Scott Miller, features a quartet of terrific performances by Miller’s carefully chosen cast and excellent singing . . . Miller keeps a tight focus on the gritty story throughout, demonstrating a precise ability to handle such sobering drama. . . Given the subject matter, Love Kills is surprisingly fresh and provocative material that immediately grabs audience interest . . . New Line’s world premiere offering of Love Kills provides a memorable evening of pathos and pulsating music that will give you reason to ponder the varying effects of love and violence in surprising fashion.” – Mark Bretz, Laude News

“I had a wonderful surprise at New Line’s production of Love Kills, a world premiere. . . The show bowled me over. It has a very well-crafted story and a powerful score, with more variety than might be expected from a rock score.” – Gerry Kowarsky, Two on the Aisle, KDHX-TV

“New Line Theater’s Love Kills is a strange but effective view of a killer and his paramour, and how they became who they are.” – Harry Hamm, KMOX-AM

“Scott Miller directed effectively on what is almost a bare stage, and the trio of Mike Renard on guitar, Dave Hall on base and Mike Schurk on drums was first-rate. An interesting evening and a look at what came out from under a Nebraska rock.” – Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks

“Love Kills, directed by Scott Miller, is performed without an intermission, but you won’t even notice because the story is engaging and moves along at a quick pace. It will leave you with plenty to talk about: What would you do in the name of love?” – Gabe Hartwig, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

BEST MUSICAL OF 2009: “I’d like to congratulate both Stages and New Line Theatre for their amazing productions in 2009, especially New Line’s Love Kills, one of the best musical versions of a dramatic (and real-life) story I’ve ever seen.” – Andrea Braun, Playback STL

TOP TEN SHOWS OF 2009: “It would have been easy for Kyle Jarrow to score his tale of killer Charlie Starkweather and Caril Fugate’s incarceration, Love Kills, to a more conventional and period accurate 1950s flavored beat, but that would have softened his characters and weakened the emotional impact overall. Jarrow opts instead for a harder edge that suits the material much better, after all, Charlie isn’t Danny Zuko, he’s a murderer. New Line Theatre brings this dark vision to life under Scott Miller’s taut direction, but it’s the grounded performance of Alison Helmer along with Zachary Allen Farmer’s quiet intensity as Merle, the sheriff, that really makes this piece cook.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
What do we do when children kill?

Both impulse control and empathy are located in the frontal lobe of the brain, and that area does not fully develop till around age 23. Recent research on human brain development also suggests that if a child doesn’t get enough physical affection in the early years, the frontal lobe does not develop at all. And when a person has neither empathy or impulse control, it’s a whole lot easier to kill.

Great. So what do we do with that information? Obviously, violent criminals have to be locked up. But that doesn’t mean we can’t try to understand them, their motivations, their thought processes, and even the psychological or physical damage that may have led them to this point. That’s why we wanted to produce Love Kills. Sometimes the job of theatre is to ask big questions without insisting on any particular answers.

So why choose a story set in 1958 if we want to talk about violence today? Because just like today, the end of the 1950s was a tumultuous time, a turning point in American culture and politics. Just one year after the Starkweather murders, Allen Ginsberg wrote in The Village Voice, “No one in America can know what will happen. No one is in real control. America is having a nervous breakdown.” Sounds like 2009, doesn’t it?

For the last fifty years, American politics has been entirely about a battle between the 1950s (conservatism) and the 1960s (liberalism). In this last election, McCain (the 50s) lost decisively to Obama (the 60s), but one look at cable news tells you the fight isn’t over yet.

Charlie Starkweather was right at the heart of all this in 1958 – he represented everything adults feared about the coming 1960s: rock and roll, drugs, teen sex, teen movies, fast cars, “juvenile delinquents,” in fact, all of teenage culture. To some extent, Love Kills is about this big, ongoing cultural battle, with Charlie and Caril (and their music) representing the chaos and anarchy of the coming 1960s, and Merle and Gertrude as defenders of what’s right and decent and worthy of Eisenhower’s (smothering but ordered) 1950s. Charlie and Caril were the real-life demons that terrified adults in movies like The Wild One and Rebel Without a Cause.

But why is that terror still with us? Because we’re not just afraid of crime anymore – we’re afraid of our children, of healthcare, hip-hop, terrorism, the media, race, sex, swine flu, France – you name it, we fear it.

And more than anything else, we still fear and fetishize the Other, first the Communists in the 50s, then the juvenile delinquents, then the Blacks, then the hippies, then the gays, then the rappers, then the Mexicans, then the “terrorists” (i.e., all Arab men), and now some even fear our Black President. But none of it is rational, and all of it will lead to more violence.

If we want to live in peace, we must confront our fear, examine it, name it, and conquer it. Sometimes it’s important to face our demons and stare them down.

Welcome to the jungle.

The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee (2009)

book by Rachel Sheinkin music and lyrics by William Finn
conceived by Rebecca Feldman and The Farm
July 16-August 8, 2009
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Leaf Coneybear – Aaron Allen
Logainne Schwartzandgrubenierre – Emily Berry
Douglas Panch – Brian Claussen
Chip Tolentino – Mike Dowdy
William Barfée – Nicholas Kelly
Marcy Park – Alexis Kinney
Olive Ostrovsky – Katie Nestor
Mitch Mahoney – John Rhine
Rona Lisa Peretti – Deborah Sharn

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Choreographer – Robin Michelle Berger
Stage Manager – Trisha Bakula
Costume Designer – Amy Kelly
Set Designer – Todd Schaefer
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
Props Master – Trisha Bakula
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Chris Petersen
Cello – Ethan Edwards
Second Keyboard – Joel Hackbarth
Percussion – Clancy Newell
Reeds – Robert Vinson

THE REVIEWS
“Laughter rocked the house and spontaneous applause broke out often. A standing ovation ensued, and the audience left The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee in great good humor.” – Andrea Braun, KDHX-FM

“An over the top delight. New Line Theatre’s current production is a perfectly cast show filled with moments of high hilarity. . . I can’t remember when I’ve laughed so hard and so long at a show. New Line’s presentation of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee is priceless entertainment.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

“All of the stress and self-doubt of puberty are relived in delightfully meticulous and humorous detail in director Scott Miller’s uproariously magnificent production of this surprise Broadway hit from 2005. Miller has assembled a smart and energetic cast who throw themselves hilariously into their squirming roles, while also managing some poignant moments as well. Indeed, this version plays even better than did the touring show at The Fox a year ago, as Spelling Bee is a small musical that is most effective in a cozier venue. . . New Line’s Spelling Bee is what e-n-t-e-r-t-a-i-n-m-e-n-t is all about and a positive life lesson to boot.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“Life may be pandemonium, as the lyrics goes, but Miller’s direction is quite disciplined, and his cast is top-notch.” – Peter Filichia, TheatreMania.com

“This Spelling Bee radiates the goofy, familiar charm of a sketch comedy show that you try not to miss. You know the players; the fun lies in seeing what they’ll do this time. . . It’s just a sweet, imaginative look at pressure and how we badly we sometimes handle it. The adults laughing in the audience may have more finesse than the kids portrayed on stage – but we wouldn’t laugh if we didn’t know exactly how they feel.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“[Bookwriter] Rachel Sheinkin and [composer] William Finn celebrate the pariah in devastatingly funny songs. Scott Miller’s production is exceptionally fine, exploiting the large laughs of the precociously confident William Barfée (Nicholas Kelly), a mucously enhanced young man who lauds his magic spelling foot in a Busby Berkeley-esque fantasia (courtesy of choreographer Robin Michelle Berger). Miller just as deftly develops the quieter moments, such as parolee-cum-rules enforcer Mitch Mahoney (John Rhine), who sings of wanting to beat the children to teach them real pain, but instead hugs and comforts them. Because that’s all anyone can do: Say ‘good job,’ and hope the vulnerable are resilient enough to take the punches when they come.” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

“A charming evening of song, wit and wisdom by New Line Theatre . . . The delightful production is more effective on the smaller stage, with its more intimate atmosphere, than it was when a touring company played the Fox a few years ago. Scott Miller’s direction is crisp and on the mark . . . Spelling Bee is a great deal of fun.” – Joe Pollack, St. Louis Eats and Drinks

“Sabotage, the casting off of perfection, and the tender beginnings of love stir the emotional pot of act two. In the end, only one speller emerges victorious, but everyone who came to see the play also wins, in terms of money and time well spent for a night’s entertainment.” – Nancy Larson, St. Louis Woman

TOP TEN SHOWS OF 2009: “Director Scott Miller crafted a hilarious production of The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee that had me rolling in the aisle. The cast, consisting of: Nicholas Kelly, Alexis Kinney, Katie Nestor, Deborah Sharn, Mike Dowdy, Aaron Allen, Emily Berry, John Rhine and Brian Claussen were all impeccable, and that’s not an easy task given William Finn’s catchy, but challenging score.” – Chris Gibson, BroadwayWorld.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
Spelling Bee is an unusual show. Even for us. It’s a musical unlike anything you’ve seen before. And it wasn’t created the way most musicals are created.

It all started in 2002 with director Rebecca Feldman and her New York-based improvisational group, The Farm, who created a comedy called C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E at the Present Company Theatorium in New York. Playwright Wendy Wasserstein made the trek to the Lower East Side theatre, in a rat-infested former chop shop, to see her weekend nanny perform in this sketch comedy show about a spelling bee. C-R-E-P-U-S-C-U-L-E was the brainchild of Feldman, who had never lived down misspelling bruise as bruze in a childhood bee.

Wasserstein loved the show and saw something in it for her friend, composer William Finn (Falsettos, A New Brain, Romance in Hard Times, Muscle), who did not bother to actually go see the show but watched a tape of it on his bed, falling asleep in the middle. But he still loved it. He was drawn to the concept of a spelling bee as a metaphor for human experience. “Sometimes you get the easy word, and sometimes you don't,” says the composer. He puts it best in one of his lyrics for the show: “Life is random and unfair.” With Finn now contributing the soul of the show, the central theme emerged: America’s obsession with Winning – one of the main drivers of the current Wall Street meltdown.

In 2004, now with a revised script by Finn’s former student Rachel Sheinkin, the show was workshopped and then produced by the Barrington Stage Company in Sheffield, Massachusetts. In February 2005, it opened off Broadway, and in May transferred uptown to Broadway, where it ran 1,186 performances, closing in 2008. Spelling Bee was honored with six Tony nominations and won two of them. The show also won three Drama Desk Awards, two Lucille Lortel Awards, and two Theatre World Awards.

Finn says about these characters, “These kids who feel like freaks when they arrive at the bee find others who are just like them, and they realize they’re not going to be alone for the rest of their lives.” He says that whenever he speaks to teenagers, he tells them they will be appreciated as adults for the very qualities that render them nerds in high school. He goes on, “Inevitably the cutest girl or the handsomest guy raises their hand and says, ‘But I’m happy here.’ And I say, ‘Well, I’m not really talking to you. I’m addressing everyone else’.”

Tonight we salute all the wounds, past, present, and future, that make us the neurotic, needy, crazy, beautiful people we all are.

Enjoy.

Return to the Forbidden Planet (2009)

by Bob Carlton
based (loosely) on The Tempest
by Wm. Shakespeare
April 30-May 23, 2009
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
Dr. Prospero – Zachary Allen Farmer
Capt. Tempest – Michael Amoroso
Miranda – Tara Lawton
Cookie – Ted Drury
Science Officer – Nikki Glenn
Bosun – Philip Leveling
Ariel the Robot – Scott Tripp
Ship’s Engineer – Mike Dowdy
Weapons Officer – Tawaine Noah
Navigation Officer – Kimi Short

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Choreographer – Robin Michelle Berger
Set Designers – David Carr and Jeffrey Breckel
Lighting Designer – Hans Fredrickson
Costume Designers – Betsy Krausnick, Thom Crain
Sound Designer – Robert Healey
Id Monster Designer – Pat Edmonds
Props Master – Trisha Bakula
Lighting Technician – Melissa Blair
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Chris Petersen
Bass – Dave Hall
Lead Guitar – Mike Renard
Rhythm Guitar/Trumpet – Patrick Swan
Percussion – Mike Schurk
Reeds – Marc Strathman

THE REVIEWS
“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.” – Calendar Pimp, The Riverfront Times

“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.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“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. . . Smart show, smart cast, smart director with an understanding of what’s going on under the notes and behind the dialogue – this is what audiences deserve.” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

“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.” – Mark Bretz, Ladue News

“The most delightful musical to hit St. Louis in many years. . . a wondrous evening of musical theatre.” – Joe Pollack, KWMU-FM

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

“Forbidden Planet plays for laughs, which it receives in abundance. . . [Director] Miller takes chances, and they nearly always pay off.” – Andrea Braun, The Vital Voice

“I’ll tell you one show in 2009 that thrilled me and delighted me. I went back to see Return to the Forbidden Planet three times, and I’ve heard it said that when a theatre critic goes back for fun, that’s a good sign. I thought it was absolutely brilliant. . . It was exhilarating, it was really was.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch on KDHX-FM

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
Return to the Forbidden Planet is wacky and chaotic on the surface, but it’s also really smart, retaining the serious themes of its earlier versions, William Shakespeare’s The Tempest and the 1956 film Forbidden Planet.

Just like the film and the play, Return to the Forbidden Planet is about the idea of expanding human consciousness with technology (or Jedi-like magic in the original play), unknowingly releasing the dangerous power of the human id, and thereby butting up against that timeless and universal truth, that power corrupts and absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Today, more than ever before, we are developing many new technologies that literally expand the boundaries and power of human consciousness, through the internet (and its various applications, Facebook, Wikipedia, YouTube, and so many others), the iPhone, the Blackberry, and more devices coming every day. Dr. Prospero’s discovery and use of “telegenesis” is a clear metaphor today for the creation of blogs, viral videos, online discussion groups, social networking sites, and much more. Not only does human consciousness now extend beyond our physical selves, it extends around the globe. A blogger’s voice, his thoughts and ideas, are instantly materialized in every corner of the planet, and we’re getting closer and closer to those ideas being instantaneously translated, so that even language will no longer be a barrier.

We’ve only begun to understand what this revolution means. It will change the world as much as electricity and television have. Moore’s Law says that the microchip doubles in capacity every eighteen months (this pattern has held since 1958). With that in mind, imagine what technology will look like in twenty-five years, and Dr. Prospero’s Id Monster suddenly seems a bit less ridiculous.

Return to the Forbidden Planet has at the center of its tale the biggest of all moral questions: should we restrict or block science, even when it crosses into moral gray area? Dr. Prospero’s discovery seems to him a giant step forward for humankind, an expansion and extension of human consciousness greater than any that has come before. But he doesn’t foresee the inherent downside, that he would greatly intensify the mind’s power without also greatly increasing the mind’s ability to control itself. It’s a problem illustrated by the old joke, “Don’t think about an elephant” – it’s nearly impossible to do because the mind is hard to consciously control. In any arena, increasing power without increasing control usually leads to disaster, and it’s a problem we keep bumping up against as we continue to evolve.

Decades ago, we discovered nuclear power, but we still can’t control or contain it. The world’s greatest fear today is that Iran or North Korea or, worse yet, a band of rebel terrorists, will use a nuclear bomb. We increased our power without sufficient control. We invented the internet, wildly expanding the reach of human consciousness, but with it came online predators, the loss of privacy, and the erosion of the idea of copyright. Again, we increased our power but we still can’t control it (though some believe the internet should never be controlled). And two of the newest technologies, gene mapping and embryonic stem cell research already scare people who foresee cloning and “designer babies.” This is the real issue at the heart of Return to the Forbidden Planet, and it’s why this remains a fascinating story.

A New Line Cabaret IV: Night of the Living Show Tunes (2009)

a world premiere revue
January 5-6, 2009
Sheldon Concert Hall

THE CAST
Mara Bollini, Nikki Glenn, Joel Hackbarth, Amy Kelly, Nicholas Kelly, Khnemu Menu-Ra, Katie Nestor, Talichia Noah, Jeffrey Pruett, John Rhine, Todd Schaefer, Deborah Sharn, Kimi Short, Margeau Baue Steinau, Scott Tripp, Jeffrey M. Wright

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Lighting – Trisha Bakula
Pianist – Scott Miller

THE REVIEWS
“Scott Miller and the ‘New Line All-Stars’ put together a really fun show last night. Yeah, it’s a musical theater revue – one with some really funny, smart material, a lot of it drawn from shows that New Line has staged in their entirety. . . The stately hall and the offbeat material made a great combination, elegant but relaxed – you know, like you have style, but you’re used to it.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“A special evening of song designed, in part, to raise funds for the New Line Theatre scholarship fund, took place over the course of two nights in the shimmering acoustic surroundings of the Sheldon Concert Hall. Artistic Director Scott Miller tickled the ivories in expert fashion as a parade of local talent favored the audience with an eclectic mix of tunes culled from a wide variety of shows. It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening, and it definitely piqued my curiosity about some of the more obscure material that was presented.” – Chris Gibson, KDHX-FM

THE SONG LIST
ACT I
“Our Prayer” (from Brian Wilson’s Smile) – Company
“Spanish Sailing Ship” (from Songs for a New World) – John, Khnemu, Deborah, Kimi
“I Don’t Remember You” (from The Happy Time) – Todd
“Sometimes a Day Goes By” (from Woman of the Year) – Scott Tripp
“Look Over There” (from La Cage aux Folles) – Jeff  Pruett
“A Trip to the Library” (from She Loves Me) – Katie
“Somewhere That’s Green” (from Little Shop of Horrors) – Kimi
“Sara Lee” (from And the World Goes ‘Round) – Nick, Mara, Margeau
“Madeleine” (from Jacques Brel) – Nikki, Talichia, Khnemu, Joel
“Ready to Settle” (from High Fidelity) – Margeau, Mara
“I Love You” (from Little Me) – Joel, Katie, Company
“The Stuff” (from Reefer Madness) – Deborah
“There’s a Fine, Fine Line” (from Avenue Q) – Nikki
“Don’t Know Where You Leave Off” (from Sweet Smell of Success) – Khnemu, Kimi
“Getting Married Today” (from Company) – Amy, Nick, Talichia, Company

ACT II
“Four Jews in a Room Bitching” (from March of the Falsettos) – Joel, Khnemu, Todd, Scott Tripp
“And They’re Off” (from A New Brain) – Jeff Pruett, Company
“Fathers and Sons” (from Working) – Jeff Wright, Men
“The World Was Dancing” (from Songs for a New World) – Todd, John, Deborah, Kimi
“And I Am Telling You I’m Not Going” (from Dreamgirls) – Talichia
“Poor Child” (from The Wild Party) – Jeff Wright, Deborah, Margeau, Jeff Pruett
"Baby, Dream Your Dream (from Sweet Charity) – Mara, Nikki
“Unrequited Love” (from Promenade) – Katie, Mara, Margeau, Wright, Nick, John
“I’m Going Home” (from The Rocky Horror Show) – Scott Tripp, Katie, Mara, Margeau, Wright, Nick, John
“Vacation/No Holds Barred” (from Pump Boys/Dinettes) – Talichia, Kimi, Joel, John, Todd
“I Believe” (from Spring Awakening) – Company
“Hear My Song” (from Songs for a New World) – Kimi, Deborah, John, Khnemu, Company
“Hills of Tomorrow” (from Merrily We Roll Along)  – ompany

Hair (2008)

Book and Lyrics by Gerome Ragni and James Rado
Music by Galt MacDermot
Sept. 11-Oct. 18, 2008
Washington University South Campus Theatre
Show Webpage
Production Photos

THE CAST
George Berger – John Sparger
Claude Bukowski – Todd Schaefer
Sheila Franklin – Ryan Ferris-Hanson
Woof – Aaron Lawson
Hud – Khnemu Menu-Ra
Jeanie – Robin Michelle Berger
The Tourists – Zachary Allen Farmer, Todd Micali
The Tribe – Robin Michelle Berger, Wayne Easter, Zachary Allen Farmer, Ryan Ferris-Hanson, Nikki Glenn, Rachel Hanks, Aaron Lawson, Terry Love, Khnemu Menu-Ra, Todd Micali, Talichia Noah, Todd Schaefer, John Sparger, Marcy Wiegert

THE ARTISTIC STAFF
Director – Scott Miller
Stage Manager – Trisha Bakula
Lighting Designer – Kenneth Zinkl
Set Designer – Todd Schaefer
Costume Designer – Thom Crain
Sound Designer – Matthew J. Koch
Set Painters – The Osage Tribe
Props Master – Vicki Herrmann
Lighting Technician – Trisha Bakula
House Manager – Ann Stinebaker
Box Office Manager – Vicki Herrmann
Graphic Designer – Matt Reedy
Photographer – Jill Ritter

THE BAND
Piano/Conductor – Chris Petersen
Bass – Dave Hall
Trumpet – Cliff Phillips
Lead Guitar – Mike Renard
Rhythm Guitar – Justin Schulz
Percussion – Mike Schurk

THE REVIEWS
“This is New Line’s third production of Hair in less than ten years, and you know why from the moment you smell the incense. Director Scott Miller has a wonderful feeling for this material; his production delivers the hippie world with sensual precision. It comes through in the exotic aroma, in the eye-popping set designed by Todd Schaefer, in the era-exact costumes by Thom Crain and the dreamy sound of Chris Petersen’s six-man rock band. Most of all, it comes through in the cast, an ensemble known as the Tribe.” – Judith Newmark, St. Louis Post-Dispatch

“Hair at New Line Theatre is unexpectedly, beautifully, joyfully, mournfully, tragically relevant again. Gerome Ragni and James Rado have turned out to be poet-prophets and their book and lyrics are given life by Galt MacDermot’s eclectic rock score. . . I’m happy that New Line chose to produce Hair because I’d never seen it live; I am sorry that it can’t just be a celebration of the 40th anniversary of the show but that it still has so much relevance. See it to celebrate, to mourn, and finally to celebrate again for there is hope and light and no matter how hard ‘they’ try, they cannot ‘end this beauty’.” – Andrea Braun, PlaybackSTL

“Here we are in a similar, but I would say even darker place – at least America still had Posse Comitaus and Glass-Steagall back in 1968. Hair shows us, forty years later, both where the hippies went wrong and where they were right on. And that to abandon the project of striving for equality and justice (even if it doesn’t involve spliffs and paisley) would damn us to our own Greek tragedy. I can’t tell you exactly what happened when the Osage Tribe gathered on stage to sing ‘Let The Sun Shine In,’ but it felt an awful lot like the Holy Ghost, or someone like him, was in the house.” – Stefene Russell, St. Louis Magazine

“Scott Miller knows this material well, and his skilled direction keeps the action flowing and the actors focused. The tribe is well cast, and seem completely comfortable with one another. And they make a marvelous sound harmonizing together on this catchy score. Thom Crain’s costumes add a nice air of authenticity. Chris Peterson’s work on piano and conducting the small ensemble is impeccable. The band provides a solid pulse to this electrified revival meeting.” – Chris Gibson, KDHX-FM

“Hair is not so much a musical as it is an invocation, a sort of vision quest designed to shake you out of your torpor and make you think. Let’s describe it as ‘a group of people with strange clothes and a shared faith in nebulous concepts who make strange proclamations about society’s ills’ – are we describing hippies, the religious right, the secular left or the military’s press conferences on the war in Iraq? Regardless of what you think you are, Hair challenges your perceptions. A kaleidoscopic, mandala-esque painting on the stage provides a locus for the characters to dance and sing and poke fun at the world outside the theater. And there is a lot of fun” – Paul Friswold, The Riverfront Times

“Much smoke is blown, and much adolescent naughtiness is waved like a banner. But just to see the glowing idealism on the faces of fine actors like Khnemu Menu-Ra, Aaron Lawson and others is somehow astonishing in this age of bitter disappointment and gloom, and to hear the folksy and dramatic songs of Gerome Ragni, James Rado and Galt MacDermot raised so beautifully is a great pleasure. . . . For the generation of psychedelic awakening and sexual revolution, this lock of Hair is a sentimental touchstone and a heart-warming bit of modern Americana.” – Richard Green, TalkinBroadway.com

DIRECTOR'S NOTES
It’s 1968. Or maybe it’s 2008. America is in turmoil. The White House routinely lies to Americans, the CIA and FBI are secretly but consciously ignoring the laws that govern them, and many people worry about the state of our democracy. The country is divided over an unpopular war half a world away, which we’re continuously told we’re winning. They repeatedly tell us they have the enemy “on the run” and that there is a “light at the end of the tunnel.” There are anti-war protests and demonstrations across the nation and on college campuses.

On the warfront, the Department of Defense keeps changing the rules on our military personnel, extending tours and requiring additional tours. They started the conflict with too few forces but have been adding troops without a real end in sight. What does winning mean? When can we leave? Is it even possible to leave behind a functioning democracy? And the Russians invade one of their neighboring countries.

Our national cynicism grows and political satire finds new popularity on television. Many pop music artists and filmmakers also turn their artistic attentions to politics and social issues. The President is extremely unpopular but is not up for reelection. The Democratic presidential primary essentially boils down to the anti-war candidate versus the hawk. The Republicans nominate a candidate that the party’s base does not trust. But most surprising of all, with all this unrest and cynicism comes a renewed faith in the average person’s ability to change our country through the political process. Young people, now a significant voting block, are wildly energized about the election and they line up enthusiastically behind an unlikely presidential candidate, a young, handsome, charismatic Democrat trumpeting a new kind of politics, who is rumored to have taken illegal drugs in his youth. But because of what he represents, some fear for the candidate’s life.

American Catholics are at odds with the Pope over birth control and other social issues. Organized religion in general is experiencing a decline in popularity, as many American turn to alternative philosophies and spiritualities, especially those from Eastern cultures. And there is a growing movement to legalize marijuana.

Many of America’s bigger cities are still largely segregated, despite well-meaning legislation. Race re-takes center stage, as racial violence continues and gun sales skyrocket. White America is repeatedly shocked by sentiments and movements in the black community that have been there for years, apparently invisible to the mainstream. In other words, white people find out what black people talk about when the white folks aren’t there…

Arthur Schlesinger writes in Esquire, “At periodic moments in our history, our country has paused on the threshold of a new epoch in our national life, unable for a moment to open the door, but aware that it must advance if it is to preserve its national vitality and identity. One feels that we are approaching such a moment now.”