Directing a Musical

CONGRESS IN SESSION

I am directing No.11’s first musical right now – The Elephant Man. We open in two weeks. The thing is – I’ve never directed a musical by myself before.

Musicals are an odd beast. People talk and walk around like normal and then WHAM! suddenly they’re singing. Singing and dancing serve no evolutionary function, to my knowledge, and yet, we all do it. And we enjoy watching and listening to other people do it. And The Elephant Man – The Musical is a celebration of this.

Going through the script, I have to decide what songs are “staged” and what are “choreographed”. Songs that are choreographed I have my brilliant Choreographer Simon Gunner create. Numbers and scenes that are staged, I wrangle with. But, outside of the delegation, what does it mean? No offense, dictionary.com, but you weren’t much help:

Staged–adjective
1. adapted for or produced on the stage.
2. contrived for a desired impression: It was a staged, rather than spontaneous, demonstration of affection.
3. occurring or planned to occur in stages: a staged increase in wages.

Choreograph–verb (used with object)
1. to provide the choreography for: to choreograph a musical comedy.
2. to manage, maneuver, or direct: The author is a genius at choreographing a large cast of characters.

I feel like I am doing both of these things when I direct and the line between dance and movement is blurry to me. And the fact of the matter is we have a very short rehearsal process for this show. So my choreographer can only do three dances. What do I do? More to the point, what do I have my actors do while they are singing? I know they need to be moving, but moving how? Doing what?

Ryan Emmons and I directed Bat Boy: The Musical a year ago. We did it in the style of German Expressionism. Simon also choreographed that show and created a half dozen Expressionist inspired dances for it. In one of the songs Ryan and I staged, we had all of the townspeople sitting in a circle happily working and then you realize they are making a noose and suddenly they’ve formed a mob and the noose is hanging from the rafters and Dr. Parker is trapped – all the while they’re singing. German Expressionism is about showing the inner life. Would these townspeople actually be hanging a noose? No. Is it how they feel inside? Yes. And isn’t a song just about showing how a character feels rather than exposition?

In talking to Ryan about The Elephant Man, I’ve said how I don’t know how to approach the songs. He said, “every musical number is either a dance or a noose – so find the noose”. So that’s my mission. In a way it’s so simple – that’s why it’s easy to forget. At their core, so much of directing and acting is about asking the right questions – “what is happening?”, “what do I want?”, “what is stopping me from getting what I want?”, “what is the scene about?”

And I’m going to stop looking at it as “staging”. Because I don’t know what that means – it sounds like glorified blocking. I need to direct these songs. And that means asking questions – questions of the script, questions of the actors, questions of the music. Sometimes the answers, the ropes, come easily – this song is about journeying to find what you want (Great! So this scene-song is movement, walking, running contrasted by expressionist moments showing what the characters want).

A musical is a big undertaking. You are blessed with many extra collaborators (and if you don’t view them as blessings, than you need different collaborators). It’s not about relinquishing power to the musical director or choreographer or film maker or costume designer or prop designer or actors or band, but about imparting your vision to them, igniting their imaginations by telling them you want it to look like an Al Hirshfeld caricature come to life, that it’s a simultaneous parody of and love song to the Broadway Musical.

And as daunting as directing a musical is, particularly when you have three weeks to do it, it’s still directing. And directing, in the Julie Congress dictionary is:

1. Having a clear vision you can impart to others
2. Asking the right questions
3. The ability to inspire your collaborators

Written by Julie Congress

Where have we been?

I know it has been a while since No. 11 has attend to its blog. So, I will update you on our goings on. Last week, on May 30, No. 11 celebrated its one year anniversary with Seaport the Arts, a fundraiser featuring scenes from many of No. 11's shows, and a whole variety of other acts.

The evening was directed by Julie Congress and Ryan Emmons, and hosted by myself and the former Miss Delaware Becky Bledsoe. Justin Mathews played jazz guitar during the cocktail hour. The No. 11 founders performed any opening number highlighting the five producitons we have put up in the past year. John Bambery performed "You Don't Know Me" accompanied by Dylan Glathorn. Ryan Emmons and Jackie Byrne performed a scene from Lysistrata. Rebecca McRae, Susan Philipp, Brooke Whitfield, and Brittany Whitmoyer of bnw:dance performed individual dances around a ghost light. Haley Greenstein sang a lovely version of "Meadow Lark." Mitchell Conway, Jackie Byrne, and Jen Neads performed a scene from Claire and the Ornithological Shadow. Sarah Congress sang a hilarious rendition of "Ooh! My Feet!" Julie Congress, Mitchell Conway, Haley Greenstein, and Simon Gunner performed the "Anything Goes" dance from Jet of Blood or the Ball of Glass. Co-host Becky Bledsoe sang "Loves Changes Everything." Julie Congress, Mitchell Conway, Haley Greenstein, and Jackie Byrne performed a scene from Mythunderstood. Katie McSherry sang "The Spark of Creation." Then accompaniest for the evening Brian Walters brought on his band raised.FOR.radio to perform Billy Joel covers "The Entertainer," "You May Be Right," and "Miami 2017." Adam Lerman performed his original monologue "The Sound of Reporting: The Beginning of the Universe." Ryan Emmons sang a song from The Elephant Man - The Musical, accompanied by Rebecca Greenstein. Then Neil Berg (Broadway Composer of Grumpy Old Men, Prince and the Pauper, and The Man Who Would be King) accompanied Bridget Collins and Rita Harvey (Phantom of the Opera, Fiddler on the Roof) on some numbers.

Whew!

We had a great audience turnout and a really fun time! We felt very supported and very eager to keep creating theatre.

We'll try to keep you better updated. Next week we go to Saratoga Springs to perform Mythunderstood in the SaratogaArtsFest!


Mitch