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John (Zane Gerson) and Cliff (Michael J. Willett) in Hermosa Beach Playhouse's "The Green Room." PHOTO: Alysa Brennan |
Right off directing the Civic Light Opera of South Bay Cities production of "Jesus Christ Superstar," the 1971 rock musical that has been staged enough times to give it a cultish popularity, producer/director Stephanie Coltrin said it's nice to turn to something new.
Coltrin is directing the world premiere of the musical "The Green Room," playing at the 500-seat Hermosa Beach Playhouse Tuesday through May 31. It's a show about the relationships between four fledgling actors as they struggle through the trials and tribulations of college life, young love and their own furious ambitions.
"This is brand-new material, but I think that puts an extra excitement into the audience because they get to see something they've never seen before," Coltrin said. "You always make any show your own, but when it's a new show it's very refreshing because the writers are involved."
"The Green Room" was written by Stephen Foster (a local actor and playwright whose biggest triumph so far has been 2002's "Legends and Bridge," which received a Critics Pick from LA Weekly and Backstage West) and actor Rod Damer, with music and lyrics by actor/songwriter Chuck Pelletier.
Pelletier and Foster developed the musical based on Damer's one-act play of the same name.
"The story just lent itself to a lot of playfulness and theatrics, which really are what make a musical," said Pelletier, 45, a former Illinois high school music teacher who now lives in Hollywood. "Being a theater department made it the perfect opportunity for these four kids to jump into different styles of music."
Consequently, the music, performed live by an offstage band, can't be pigeonholed. Songs range from rock and Sondheimesque melodies to blues and barbershop a cappella numbers.
"There's a little bit of everything," Pelletier said.
Coltrin expects big things for the show, which has been entered into the second annual Festival of New American Musicals and received the Songwriters Guild of America song award for the sassy solo "It's All About Me."
It was that song that persuaded Coltrin to direct the show, she said, when she saw it done as a workshop performance in 2005.
"I thought, `If all the music is this good then it's going to be a really fantastic show,"' Coltrin said. "The music is great. ... I'm playing these songs in my car."
The four-person cast of this campy coming-of-age comedy, as Coltrin describes it, includes Stephanie Burkett Gerson as Anna, an uptight and bossy would-be superstar; Michael J. Willett as Cliff, the token geek; Zane Gerson as John, the self-assured jock; and Jessica Gisin as Divonne, the self-proclaimed diva.
"I think college kids would love it, but so would anybody who's ever had a relationship or had a struggle to get what they want," Coltrin said. "Anyone with any career can relate to it."
Since the show is still, essentially, a work in progress, cast members were able to contribute to the development of the characters.
"It's fun to be a part of creating who the character is," said Gisin, who was in the ensemble of "Jesus Christ Superstar." "We've added some stuff to make it more our generation, but the themes are the same as they've always been as far as wanting to get your big break, wanting to connect with someone else, questioning whether you should be an actor."
Gisin said being an actor playing an actor was unexpectedly difficult.
"It's almost harder to play something that's closer to you than somebody completely different than you," she said. "You think, `Am I acting or am I being me on stage?' You don't want to be over-telling the story."
With "High School Musical" topping the charts and the new Fox show "Glee," about a high school glee club, premiering Tuesday, the timing of "The Green Room's" debut may be perfect.
"The great thing about the show is that you know it's not based in realism," Gisin said. "Just like when you watch `High School Musical' and you think, `Oh, people don't really run around the school cafeteria singing and doing choreographed dance numbers.' That's kind of what our show is like." |
