Stix hot with summer fare
Producers head to summer venues for readings, workshops, prod'ns
At least that's the plan as they combine business with summertime pleasures in the mountains, seashore and points in-between to check out readings, workshops and full productions ready for critical review.
The holy grail of the annual legit pilgrimage is to find the next "The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee" or "Avenue Q," both of which had their starts in New England summer venues.
"Spelling Bee" emerged two summers ago at Barrington Stage Company in Massachusetts' Berkshires. The success of that Rialto and touring show -- and the royalties it funnels back to Barrington -- empowered a.d. Julianne Boyd to create Musical Theater Lab as a second-stage series at various offbeat locations in Barrington's new home in Pittsfield. Co-producing the Lab, which features three new shows at various stages of development, is "Bee" composer William Finn.
The Lab got off to a promising start earlier this month with the critic-ready "The Burnt Part Boys," with music by Chris Miller, lyrics by Nathan Tysen and book by Mariana Elder. Presented in the 99-seat basement of a municipal hall, the Joe Calarco-helmed show, a coming-of-age tale about orphaned teens trying to prevent the reopening of a dangerous mine, got some of the best early reviews of the season and sent reps from Gotham production companies to the hills.
"We kind of hit a home run with this show," says Finn. "All the New York nonprofits have been here and some of them seem eager to pursue a relationship with the show." Finn says there also has been interest from commercial producers, though "I just don't know right now how it's going to play out."
However, the Lab's second show, "Meet Mister Future," written by the composers of the Broadway-bound "Grey Gardens" and helmed by Christopher Ashley, was scrubbed due to a family illness in the creative team.
Up the road in August, Williamstown Theater Festival also gets into the new-musical sweepstakes with a second showing of "The Opposite of Sex." Based on the quirky Don Roos film about a promiscuous teenage girl who wreaks havoc on a number of lives, the show has a score by Douglas J. Cohen and is directed by Robert Jess Roth ("Beauty and the Beast"). The tuner premiered at San Francisco's Magic Theater in 2004 to tepid response; its success in Williamstown's Nikos Theater likely will dictate its future commercial chances.
Williamstown's second stage kicked off the season -- and for the first time welcomed critics -- with the mid-July preem of Cusi Cram's "Lucy and the Conquest," followed by another go-round for the late John Belluso's "A Nervous Smile."
In August, festival a.d. Roger Rees also presents on the mainstage the U.S. preem of "Double Double," the whodunit he wrote with Rick Elice.
The Berkshire Theater Festival's second stage will bow "The Pilgrim's Progress" by Stephen Temperley, whose "Souvenir" hit Broadway after a summer developmental stint at BTF. Vivian Matalon helms the August world preem of the satire.
Down in Chester, Conn., Goodspeed Musicals' second stage previously launched the Broadway musical "All Shook Up" as well as tuner "Princesses," which has been announced for New York but not yet firmed. In August, veteran Richard Maltby Jr. ("Ain't Misbehavin' ") helms "The '60s Project."
Westport Country Playhouse got off to an early start in May with solo show "Thurgood," starring James Earl Jones, that's eyeing Gotham. This summer will see the world preem of David Wiltse's comedy "Marriage Minuet" in early August.
In addition to his involvement with Barrington, a new revue based on composer Finn's music, "Make Me a Song," preems at Hartford's TheaterWorks in August. Last summer, the theater helped launch "Ella," based on the music and life of Ella Fitzgerald. That show, like the Finn review helmed by Rob Ruggiero, is winding its way through many regional theaters this year while more work is done on its new Jeffrey Hatcher script.
Six of the works developed last summer at the O'Neill Theater Center in Waterford, Conn., have moved on to subsequent productions. The workshop acted as a first-see spot for such plays as "The House of Blue Leaves," "A Walk in the Woods" and many of August Wilson's plays. This year, there was much anticipation for Stephen Adly Guirgis' new play, "The Little Flower of East Orange," but family obligations scratched that show from the mid-July slot, replaced by up-and-coming playwright Adam Bock's "The Receptionist" starring Tony nominee Jayne Houdyshell ("Well").
The O'Neill's concurrent Music Theater Conference, which launched shows such as Maury Yeston's "Nine" and Jeanine Tesori's "Violet," is featuring staged readings of two new tuners: "Kiki Baby," with a book by Lonny Price, music by Grant Sturiale and lyrics by Ellen Fitzhugh, with a cast featuring Veanne Cox and David Pittu; and "Triangle," with music by Curtis Moore, lyrics by Thomas Mizer and a book by Joshua V. Scher, helmed by Robert Longbottom.
Across the sound, Bay Street Theater in Sag Harbor, Long Island, will world-preem Diane Shaffer's solo show "Viva La Vida!" starring Mercedes Ruehl. Based on the life of Mexican artist Frida Kahlo, the show at present has no commercial attachments, but the venue's proximity for many producers to their Hamptons homes should serve as encouragement for a look-see. The piece was first read at the Guild Hall in Easthampton two years ago and has been championed by Ruehl.
Though there's been early interest in the show, Bay Street exec director Stephen Hamilton says it's still too early to assess its real commercial temperature.
"The Long Island Expressway surely is a test to the interest level of those producers who don't have homes out here," he says.
