Getting at the Story: ATC Ensemble Members on Musical Theater
As American Theater Company prepares for its upcoming production of Oklahoma!, we had an opportunity to talk with several Ensemble members about their experience working in a genre not frequently taken on by the company. Below are remarks from Matthew Brumlow and Suzanne Petri (Curly and Aunt Eller in the upcoming production) and Stef Tovar, who has been living in LA, performing in musical theater.
Why does it make sense to put on a musical at ATC?
Stef Tovar: Chicago has become a launching pad for new musicals — The Producers, The Last Five Years - to name a couple. It's a town with a real love of the genre, but a seasoned town as well that doesn't let companies get away with putting up productions simply for fluff. Oklahoma! is a good choice for our season because if you go to see it at ATC, you know you are going to get to the heart of that story and see it done in a way that hasn't been done before. You can't find a more American story, and I know that's why Damon chose it. I can't wait to see it.
Matthew Brumlow: Well, as in any other work we attack, we try to put our ATC stamp on musicals. Our slogan is "American stories, Chicago style." Our space is intimate and our theater is honest; that gritty, raw Chicago style of acting is one of the reasons I wanted to join the Ensemble at ATC. So, applying that to musicals, we try to come at them from the back door a bit: strip them down and find the story there that the average working class American can dig into. We aren't going to file a huge orchestra into our space, so out of necessity we go with a smaller band. But that is often an advantage because we can find fresh new arrangements and innovative approaches to the music. Our main focus is to concentrate on the story and see what grit lies beneath the sheen of most musicals. We are very interested in finding those classic American musicals that speak to the American experience and producing them in such a way that they become a completely new experience for theatergoers. You'd be surprised what lies beneath if you scratch the surface a bit. And, hell, musicals should be fun! And we aim to have a lot of fun as well.
Tell us a bit about previous musical theater experiences at ATC.
Suzanne Petri: My first experience at ATC was a musical - The Threepenny Opera. It was a dream of mine - having been a Kurt Weill-o-phile for years and a Brecht enthusiast - and it was an amazing, unforgettable experience. It was the beginning of a match made in heaven: to be involved with this company, friends of mine, colleagues whose work I had admired. I'd seen the ATC shows, but never worked there.
ST: I was thrilled to be part of the first musical done at ATC. I was asked to join the company back when it was American Blues---with a reputation for gritty, Chicago-style theater. A musical just didn't seem to fit into the equation, but we managed to do a first-rate production of The Threepenny Opera that wound up being one of the longest running shows the company has ever done.
As an actor, what sort of work do you do to prepare for a musical role?
ST: The way I approach a musical is the same way I approach a play - except it's easier. A lot of work is done for you. In a play, a lot of your character's back story and inner thoughts are things you have to create in order to convey a more three-dimensional life. In a musical - if it's well written - a lot of that comes right out of the music. Creating George Seurat in Sunday in the Park with George was one of the easiest things I've done. Tough role and tough show, but it's all there in a brilliant score and book. You just listen to the first chord of that show and it instantly clicks you into the psyche of Seurat. The most difficult thing for me was not to get in the show's way. To trust it. There are plays like that, too; All My Sons comes to mind. But a good musical is like Shakespeare. All of the actor's work is just right there in front of you.
SP: [For the role of Aunt Eller], reading the play and also novels like My Antonia has gotten me excited. As well as the fact that I will be getting back to my dancing roots! It's been years, but I'll be taking Basic Jazz with Wilfredo Rivera this summer. Jazz and Aunt Eller? Ouch! I am also very much looking forward to delving into the roots of the play from which the musical is drawn, Green Grow The Lilacs, originally produced by the Theatre Guild. This is a perfect fit for our Ensemble-based work here at ATC, since we often talk about THOSE roots, the roots of American Theater.