The Piven Theatre Workshop is presenting the Midwest premiere of Melancholy Play: a chamber musical. The story follows a bank teller named Tilly who turns her melancholy attitude into something loveable.
Writer Todd Almond has a vast array of work, from working on Stage Kiss and The Odyssey to starring as Ariel in The Tempest. He wrote the original music and lyrics for Kansas City Choir Boy, which rocker Courtney Love performed, as part of the Prototype Festival and wrote the book for Matthew Sweet's stage version of his album Girlfriend.
Windy City Times: Hi, Todd. Please start off talking about the process of making Melancholy into a musical. Explain to readers what a chamber musical is.
Todd Almond: Upon my first reading of the play version of Melancholy Play, I immediately had a strong impulse as to what my compositional approach would be in making the chamber-musical version; this isn't always the case. Often I spend great amounts of time fumbling for the color palette for the piece, but this one was clear right away.
By "chamber musical," we mean small-scale and intimate. There is a conscious nod to chamber music, which is a form of classical music meant for few musicians in a smaller space than an opera house or concert hall. There is a salon-like quality to the piece. We imagine fainting couches, tea sandwiches, intrigues. It's all got a raised eyebrow, you know?
WCT: What attracted you to the story of a bank teller?
TA: I love Sarah's writing. She writes dialogue that would make any lyricist, including me, jealous. So it was mostly that quality that excited me. I wanted to set her incredible text to music. I drooled over these lines because they already felt like lyrics to me. I also love Tilly, the bank teller. Everyone does. That's what the play is about, you can't help but fall in love with her. It's a problem.
WCT: Is there an LGBT angle to the story for our readers?
TA: Yes. There is a wonderful lesbian couple in the piece named Frances and Joan and perhaps there is another LGBT surprise. The sexual fluidity of the piece is exciting to me. It feels contemporary and adult and not a big deal, the way the conversation should be.
Oh, and me. I'm gay! But that's no surprise, I guess—a gay musical theater composer. I'm a cliche. Ask me who I think should win RuPaul's Drag Race!
WCT: That would be hard to predict. But like RuPaul says, "May the best woman win!" Talk about Iowa the Musical.
TA: Iowa is a polarizing musical play that I wrote with Jenny Schwartz. Playwrights Horizons produced the play this season. It's an absurdist piece of theater about our relationship with technology and each other. Nancy Drew arrives in quadruplicate, a pony hooks up with a cheerleader—it's that kind of play. It's sad and wild, funny, and confounding in a good way.
At one point in the piece, four sister-wives sing for 25 minutes about the current state of womanhood in America, and it's pretty exciting for me to have been a part of writing that moment. If I have to submit one thing to the gods in the afterlife to serve as proof that I spent my time on Earth productively, this 25-minute song—or "oratorio," as we call it—is what I will submit.
WCT: What was it like working with Matthew Sweet on Girlfriend, the Musical?
TA: Matthew Sweet has been incredibly generous over the years. I approached his management maybe 15 years ago with the idea for the musical, and they've been supportive and kind since then. We've done Girlfriend with director Les Waters, musical director Julie Wolf, and actors Ryder Bach and Curt Hansen in a few cities now; this summer, we'll be in Los Angeles. Matthew always sends a little opening-night gift and a sweet message. He's a swell guy who's one of my all time favorite songwriters, so, as you can imagine, Girlfriend is a dream come true for me. It's about two boys falling in love in Nebraska in the years before cellphones and computers. They feel alone and it's romantic.
WCT: What surprised you about working with Courtney Love?
TA: That I got to work with her at all! She's such a goddess. Actually, you know what? Her constant openness was a great surprise. She is always present and ready to work and, honestly, she's one of the most generous human beings and artists I've ever spent time with. I love her and I now consider her a true friend. She brings out something in me that I'm not always in touch with, both personally and artistically. I'm thankful for her in my life.
WCT: How was the I Am My Own Wife experience? This show was from author Doug Wright about the life of Charlotte von Mahisdorf.
TA: Oh, wonderful. Doug's play is exquisite, of course, but being up there in it is so beyond the word "play." Because Charlotte is there, actually in his play, he has literally captured her soul the way the Ghostbusters capture spirits in their little electric box. Charlotte is in the theater every night, I swear. It sounds weird but it's true. She sits up on that stage with you and it's divine. Thanks for asking. I miss acting in that play.
WCT: More albums in the works?
TA: Probably. Not sure what but when the inspiration strikes I will just slowly work on it.
WCT: Future projects?
TA: Lots! Announcements will be coming soon...
Melancholy mixes it up at the Piven Theatre Workshop, 927 Noyes St., in Evanston, through June 21. Visit www.piventheatre.org or call 847-866-8049 for ticket details .
