This past week, I interviewed Finegan Kruckemeyer and Louis Lovett, the team behind The Girl who Forgot to Sing Badly to learn more about the collaboration that gave life to this wonderful show.
Blake: To begin, I’m curious to know how you met and decided to work together?
Louis: I’d heard a great deal about Finegan from the show’s producer, my wife Muireann Ahern, and having seen and read his work I eventually met him in Dublin. We met in a pub and it was a classic Keystone cop moment with coming in one door as I went out the other looking for him. The nonsense of it all boded very well for our future collaboration.
Finegan: I first met Muireann at the Imaginate Festival in Edinburgh. She saw a play of mine, then we watched another piece of theater side by side and finally we talked about the notion of a new work—and the man who would bring it to life. Her descriptions of Louis and his range, and her obvious respect for young audiences and the caliber of theatre they deserve drew me in from the start. Soon after I got writing, and some months later found myself on a plane bound for Ireland for my first meeting with the full creative team.
B: Where did the idea for this story come from?
F: Theatre Lovett gave me a real sense of permission to explore whatever I wanted, and I embraced this absolutely. To begin, I invented a narrator who greets the audience and describes a list of ingredients that will turn up in the story. Once I'd written this very random list, I was then faced with creating a story that might hold them all. It was a brain-meltingly fun way of working—and one I will never undertake again as it almost killed me. So the resulting story of Peggy O'Hegarty carrying a human-sized problem on her child-sized shoulders was borne from that list and nothing else.
B: What was the development process like for each of you? Did the fact that you live on different continents cause any issues in collaborating?
F: Our far-away-from-each-other-ness actually proved to be artistically fruitful. First I wrote in isolation, with only the characters and the world to answer my questions—this meant they developed their own sense of logic and rules. Then we all came together for two weeks, and every creative (composer and director and performer alike) had full permission to suggest anything they felt and to test the bones of the play.
L: With Finegan in Dublin for those two weeks of development, there was no issue about distance. Early in the process, I was ready to jump up on the floor in front of our creative team and tell the story of Peggy and the packing and the blizzard and the boat. We spent time playing with the story and the world that Finegan had created, throwing things up in the air and seeing how it all might land.
F: Louis’ embodiment of the story revealed so much that by fortnight's end the script felt complete. When I saw it again, from a seat in the audience, it was so much richer than words on a page could ever be.
B: Louis, what is it like to have a play written specifically for you?
L: It’s wonderful, darling! The creation of this whole work was a truly collaborative experience. Having the creative team around in those very early days was a dream. Composer and sound designer Carl Kennedy worked at the speed of light as we threw ideas at each other. As is often the case, mistakes and misunderstandings were where some of the really juicy ideas came from. You just have to be ready and willing to change direction at the drop of a hat.
B: Fin, as a playwright with over 60 commissions under your belt, what is it like to write a play for a specific actor?
F: It's scary, when you don't yet know the actor. And it's a joy when you finally meet, and discover him to be wonderful. But ultimately every show is written with no one singular production in mind, but rather for any number of retellings. I want every creative team to feel they have full permission to share the story as they wish (so long as all the words stay, and are in the same order) and it's for that reason I avoid rehearsal rooms and just turn up for opening nights. The words are theirs to wrestle with and all you can do is have faith—and with a team like Theatre Lovett, that's easy.
B: What is your favorite thing about performing or writing for young audiences?
L: Why, it’s the young audience, of course! I like to surf my audience and their energy—giving and taking. Not just blah de blah de blah from the guy on the stage. I call it the Friendly Wrestle. I meet the audience, they meet me. We size each other up and then we take it from there. We might not know where we’re going so it’s nice if they can at least trust the driver.
F: I appreciate the balance between imaginative permission and structural expectation. When people make work for children, they often talk about a child's willingness to go on fantastical journeys. But what can be forgotten is that there's an opposite side to this—they appreciate the fantastical, yes, but once you establish the rules of a world (no matter how ludicrous the rules), then they must be adhered to. Break the conventions you've promised a child audience and you'll lose them, and not in a polite way. Rather, they will be sighing loudly and telling their mum they're bored—what a wonderfully scary level of risk for an artist.
B: What’s next for each of you?
F: More writing of different scripts for different companies, in some fun and far-flung parts of the world; trying to imagine how some plays might become books; working in my garden (it's late autumn on my side of the planet now and the leaves are falling fast); and planning my next trip back to your beautiful city.
L: After New York, I will have spent seven weeks in the USA. So it’s back home to burrow through the letters and postcards inside our front door, and then, after brushing my hair and my teeth, it’s down to the lovely county of Kildare in Ireland to take a traveling show to schools in a mobile library! We’ll spend two whole weeks discovering loads of books with children from all over the county in a really big, book-filled bus.
This blog was written by Shamilia McBean, one of our Spring 2013 Communications Apprentices.
Rennie Harris Awe Inspiring Works (RHAW) is an explosion of hip-hop dance, featuring talented hip-hop dancers and familiar tracks from pop's greatest icons. You may already know that breakdancing is one of the many elements of hip-hop—joining the ranks of graffiti, MC-ing (rapping) and DJ-ing to form the foundation of a culture born right here in New York (in the boogie-down-Bronx, to be exact).
But did you know that hip-hop was born in the creative minds of young people on the margins of American society? How about that its origins stem from Jamaica’s dancehall, toasting and dub traditions? DJ Kool Herc, the “Godfather” of hip-hop, spun the instrumental breaks from his father's old reggae record collection, and his spoken accompaniment is believed to be the inspiration for what we’d now call rapping.
Ever wonder what happened in New York that brought uptown rockers and taggers to the Village to display their unique art alongside Warhol and Basquiat? How did this fringe phenomenon make its way into the mainstream to become a staple of American life and beyond?
Whether you’re a novice, a connoisseur, or—like me—a curious enthusiast, be sure to check out these insightful books, blogs, films and songs to explore hip-hop’s roots and culture.
“Read slow and you’ll find gold mines in these lines...” (Kendrick Lamar, Poetic Justice)
A few places to start reading up on hip-hop:
Can't Stop Won't Stop
Jeff Chang's chronicle of hip-hop’s history is a comprehensive and compelling read that delves into the specifics of New York's socio-political climate as thoroughly as it does stories of the budding careers of hip-hop's legends. Read this to get an eye opening overview of how hip-hop made its way onto the world stage.
Hip-Hop Speaks to Children: A Celebration of Poetry with a Beat
For lighter fare and an exciting introduction to hip-hop for young people, check out this compilation of poems, songs and speeches by hip-hop and poetry stalwarts. Nikki Giovanni combines performances and writings by Mos Def, Gwendolyn Brooks, Queen Latifah and Maya Angelou among others in this unique read. The accompanying CD makes this a multisensory experience for audiences 8 and up to enjoy.
Jay Smooth's Ill Doctrine
Jay Smooth is a hip-hop aficionado, DJ and founder of New York's oldest hip-hop radio show, WBAI’s “The Underground Railroad.” He comments on everything from hip-hop to international policy in his witty and fast-paced video blog. Catch him alongside his adorable cat for opinionated commentary on what's happening in the world.
“...They can’t stop me ...best bet is to fall back and watch me” (Little Brother, Watch Me)
There’s no shortage of films that feature hip-hop as a central theme, but these are revered among legends and fans alike as some of the best and most comprehensive:
Style Wars (1983)
This Sundance Festival Award Winner focuses on breaking and graffiti art, forms that can fade into the background while MC-ing and DJ-ing serve as dominant representatives of the culture. Style Wars celebrates how these essential elements spread hip-hop’s influence across the five boroughs and beyond.
Scratch (2001)
A tribute to turntablism, this feature-length film digs deep into the crates to explain the arts of cutting, scratching and mixing on the 1s and 2s. With personal accounts from the likes of the legendary Afrika Bambaataa to current sensations like Madlib and DJ Premier, Scratch comes full circle to tell the story of hip-hop through the lens of the DJ.
Planet B-Boy (2007)
A more recent work on breakdancing, Planet B-Boy traces the history of breakdancing while following the journeys of b-boys and b-girls (breakdancers) from Japan, France, South Korea and the United States as they aim for the pinnacle in breakdance competition – the Battle of the Year. The film illustrates the unifying global reach of one of hip-hop’s most enduring elements. Bonus: Knucklehead Zoo, seen on the New Vic stage in 2008 is featured in the film.
For a broader listing of films that focus on specific artists, rivalries and critiques of hip-hop, check out Complex Magazine’s 25 Best Hip Hop Documentaries.
“one-two .. this is somethin’ that all you need to hear” (E.M.P.D., Listen Up)
We’re no experts, but here’s a list of some hip-hop tracks we know and love.
For further listening, we'd also suggest:
Brooklyn Radio’s History of Hip-Hop
Brooklyn Radio presents a year-by-year compilation of their take on the most influential songs in hip-hop. You can soak in the classics or sample the game-changers that have shaped hip-hop’s evolution. For a taste of history, I recommend queuing up from the start … 1980. You might recognize some of the originals sampled in today’s hits!
Rolling Stone's 50 Greatest Hip Hop Songs of All Time
While hardly comprehensive, this list (created based on the suggestions of 33 artists and experts) is another great place for any rookie to get started. I'd also encourage you to read the great introduction by Ahmir "Questlove" Thompson.
This blog was written by Carol Ann Cheung, a member of the Metropolis Ensemble that is currently performing in The Firework Maker's Daughter.
Performances are in full swing for David Bruce's The Firework Maker's Daughter at The New Victory Theater, so we chatted with the composer and Metropolis Ensemble musicians to get an inside look at this fantastical and whimsical opera.
In case you haven't seen the impressive theatrics in-house yet, the show keeps kids and adults glued to the action with its seamless and constant transitions between acting and innovative shadow puppetry. The singers disappear behind screens to let shadows reveal the elaborate internal world of the characters. Meanwhile, our nine-person chamber ensemble and singers remain onstage for the entire, two-hour music marathon.
Percussionist Britton Matthews comments on the unique experience of performing on stage during the opera: "The music is extremely complex and demands every ounce of attention for the duration of the production. Also, it can be distracting because you want to watch what's going on; but ultimately, it's a different energy on stage and you feel more connected to the action and the audience."
Luke Rinderknecht, another percussionist in the production, adds: "The important part for us is to stay focused, even if in the corner of your eye you see an elephant charging towards you."
In preparation for the opera, the musicians practiced together in a rehearsal space for several days before moving over to The New Victory to rehearse with the British cast of singers, who flew in for just a few rehearsals before show time. After setting up on stage, the ensemble faced an obstacle they hadn't prepared for: they were spread out on opposite sides of the stage behind all the action, with limited sightlines of the conductor, Andrew Cyr. The solution? "The theater staff did a wonderful job setting up video monitors to help us work through the issues," explains Britton.
This opera being David Bruce's fourth major collaboration with Metropolis Ensemble, the composer calls it a "close and loving relationship... the group really understands my work now." When talking about his inspiration for the opera, he explains that he was ultimately drawn to the "color, wit and fun" of Pullman's original children's book.
The music carries nondescript influences from Far Eastern countries. Harpist Bridget Kibbey explains that "one of David's many gifts is crafting a language that evokes another land, but the cultural references are nuanced to a degree that the listener can't quite pinpoint the location." Beyond these references, David explains that his main compositional concerns were "balance, proportion, cohesion and perhaps more than anything, making the characters speak and the drama unfold in a natural and unforced way."
If you haven't seen the production yet, the show plays its final performances in New York this weekend, May 10-12. Flutist Lance Suzuki explains why this is the perfect opportunity to introduce your children to opera: "Kids today are growing up in a reality television and auto-tune kind of age. Opera is about real, un-amplified voices and live, unmixed instruments. This makes it a very human art form. And with The Firework Maker's Daughter, this is not exclusively a 'children's' opera; the music is gorgeous and the story is uplifting, making it great entertainment for people of all ages."
Carol Ann Cheung is a pianist and writer from Washington, D.C. She is on the Editorial team at Carnegie Hall, where she edits and produces online and print materials.
Ms. Cheung holds a Bachelor of Music degree in piano performance from Indiana University, where she studied with pianist-composer Emile Naoumoff. After graduating, she moved to St. Petersburg, Russia to teach English language classes to high school students. Her interests lie in Eastern European culture and playing unusual instruments, and sometimes playing normal instruments unusually.
F: Our far-away-from-each-other-ness actually proved to be artistically fruitful. First I wrote in isolation, with only the characters and the world to answer my questions—this meant they developed their own sense of logic and rules. Then we all came together for two weeks, and every creative (composer and director and performer alike) had full permission to suggest anything they felt and to test the bones of the play.
L: Why, it’s the young audience, of course! I like to surf my audience and their energy—giving and taking. Not just blah de blah de blah from the guy on the stage. I call it the Friendly Wrestle. I meet the audience, they meet me. We size each other up and then we take it from there. We might not know where we’re going so it’s nice if they can at least trust the driver.
