Stage Whisper
Whisper in the Wings Episode 642
(upbeat music) - Hello everyone and welcome back into a fantastic new whisper in the wings from Stage Whisper. We are right back at the Chain Theatre bringing you more coverage of this year's Spark Theatre Festival NYC. And this time we have a fantastic new musical to be sharing with you. And joining us to talk about this, we've got the creator and co-producer, Chris Malloy. He's here to talk to us about his new show, Finding Aaron, which is playing Wednesday, September 25th at 7 p.m. at the Chain Theatre. And you can get tickets and more information about this show by visiting emergingartisttheatre.org. We are so excited to continue bringing you some of the fantastic works that are part of this year's festival. And this show in particular, as it is a fantastic new musical. So I'm gonna let smarter people than me speak, more intelligent people on the subject speak to you about it. And welcome on our guest, Chris. Welcome into whisper in the wings from Stage Whisper. - Thank you, it's gonna be here. - I'm so happy that you're here. You're joining us from way out in the west coast, out in Colorado, which is, I'm sure, beautiful. And you're coming out here very shortly with your new show, Finding Aaron. Why don't we start first by having you tell us a little bit about what this show is about? - So Finding Aaron is a musical comedy that's sort of about what I think almost all of us have been through or are going through, which is feeling a little bit lost in life, especially when you're a young adult. So it's sort of an office comedy/a romantic comedy. Aaron is a young guy who is turning 29 and feeling like 30 is coming up for me. And I'm just floundering in life. He works tech support, you know, answering phones, doing coding, doing some stuff in data. Just kind of feels like he's a little bit going nowhere. And it's sort of his story, as well as the story of Penny, who is our female lead character who she comes in to work for this company. She kind of thinks she knows where her life is going. And then she finds out a little bit differently and through the course of the story. And I hope a lot of laughs, they kind of find their way in life and they find each other and find their way together. So it's definitely a show with a happy ending. And it's hopefully got a lot of laughs and since I'm a composer and lyricist, I hope a lot of good songs along the way as well. - That is fantastic. What a great story. What a great story. So what inspired you to pen this piece? - You know, really, I think there's a lot of influences on it. I mean, I think I always, even as a kid, I liked a good romantic comedy. And I actually think good romantic comedies are rare. I think usually they're kind of cheesy and terrible. But I like good romantic comedy. Some of my favorite movies are some of the great rom-coms. And obviously I've always been a composer. So, you know, picking, having a story that kind of sang was obviously influential for me. But I think honestly, this should begin about eight or nine years ago. And I think it really kind of happened as I was getting into writing for music theater, which I hadn't done. I thought I was gonna be a university professor. So I went all the way through college. I have a doctoral degree in music. I was a university professor for a little while. I was writing orchestral music and band music. And I kind of pivoted, you know, about nine or 10 years ago to thinking, you know, I think maybe theater is the better home for me. And I've always kind of been a little bit of a storyteller, even in my stuff that was orchestral music. And I just thought, you know, I've done some songwriting. I've done some lyric writing. Maybe I could do a theater piece. And so this was my first. I'm working on my fourth show now. But first version of this show was my first show. And I think it came about because I had several students who were kind of having a bit of a life transition moment whether high school to college, college to professional. And I was kind of talking about, you know, the bigger picture of life things with them. Like, do I want to go to school? Do I want to go to graduate school? Do I want to go out and get a job? How do I do that? Do I, you know, what about this girl I like? What about this guy I want to marry maybe? And, you know, then this would take me to Chicago and why am I going to make that work? And at the same time, I was kind of having that discussion with my younger brother who was, I think he was actually about late 20s, maybe 30 at the time. And it was kind of voicing to me like, yeah, I'm kind of stuck in this career. This wasn't what I thought I would be doing when I went to graduate school. And I kind of liked this girl. And, you know, if maybe I can get a job in the field I want, but that would take me away from her and what am I going to do? And, you know, in talking to them, I thought back about my own experience that was exactly the same, being late 20s, thinking what the heck am I doing? And I felt like, you know, that's a story everybody, everybody has, most people have is, you know, a young life crisis. And how do you get through that? And I think the best way to get through it, a lot of things is to sing about them and laugh about them. So that's kind of the beginning of the show right there. - I love that. And that's such a great thought, such a great philosophy. You're absolutely right. So you've mentioned this is your, this was your first show that you've had. But since then, you know, you've created four other, or three other that I should say, as you're getting ready to bring this out to New York, I'm curious to know what has it been like developing this particular iteration of it? - Well, it's been really cool. This is actually only going to be the second time this show's ever been presented. It doesn't have, you know, a long track record yet. It was years in development before it was finally finished. And it had the bad luck to be finished right as pandemic began. So there wasn't much you could do with it in 2020. So the one time it's ever been presented was just in front of, you know, a small crowd. I think it was presented in 2021 to a small group of about 40 people. And it got some good laughs, it got some good feedback. And that was terrific. It did lead us to some good revisions that I think took it in the right direction. But this will be the first time that it's been presented with that set of revisions and, you know, a whole bunch of other work we did to it, including trying to get it to be really a tightly constructed thing. It was the first presentation. It was nearly two and a half hours, now it's one and a half. So there was a lot cut. There was a lot that needed to be cut for the parameters of the emerging artists theater and for this festival that maxes out, I think, at 95 or 100 minutes. So this is about a 90 to 95 minute version. I'm much happier with it. I think it's a lot more tightly constructed. I hope we left the laughs in and kept all the laughs just, you know, coming one minute after another while still kind of letting the show breathe and have a message and not just be a complete farce. So it's been fun to work on it this summer some more, knowing that it had gotten invited to do this festival. And I'm looking forward to seeing what people think. One of the great things about doing a comedy is you don't have to guess whether it's landing with your audience. The laugh lines are in there. The funny moments in the songs are in there and you know immediately if it's landing the way you want it to. So I hope it'll be a fun experience for everybody there. And I feel really good about this step and its development. - That is wonderful to hear. That is fabulous. So with this fun comedy, with this great, great story you're telling, is there a message or a thought you hope audiences will take away from it? - Definitely. I think it's not just, you know, it's not just about the laughs though. I think the laughs are gonna be good, I hope so. But I think that it's gonna be nice for people to see that our main characters, our characters that for one thing, I think that the two sort of big, big pivots for them that the lessons learned, the way that they end up in the story really centers on to think more about your life than you think about career. That's one thing is, you know, to really prioritize, am I gonna be happy in my life more than I'm career focused? And of course, you know, those things go hand in hand. I mean, some of the things, you know, in the show really address like how am I gonna find some way to spend my days, you know, doing a job that doesn't make me miserable, that's, and then how am I gonna find somebody to share life with? And how do I make those two things go together, which is its own compounding problem that, you know, all of us have to have to figure out, especially when we're just starting out in life. So I think it's gonna be great, I hope, for people to see a couple of terrific, you know, smart and I hope charismatic young characters make the decision to prioritize life over climbing up the career ladder and prioritize spending a life with a best friend because that's really kind of what the story centers on is that, you know, these characters sort of, they don't find love where they expect it and they don't find love the way they expect it. They, you know, it's not like a swept off your feet by this romantic feeling. 'Cause I always hated that about music theater. I always hated, I never, I never believed that when I would see a show that's just like, you know, a gaze across a crowded room and suddenly those people are in love and they'll do anything crazy for each other. I always, I always feel a disconnect when I see that. And so I wanted to do a show that really shows that a little bit more realistically and in a modern way where, you know, these are people who grow together to, you know, they become friends and from that, this, you know, a love blossoms between them that comes out of friendship. So I think that there's definitely, you know, I hope some good lessons about living a good life even through the laughs. - I love that. Well, let me run out this first part by asking you, who are you hoping have access to finding Erin? - Oh, I mean, I hope everybody sees it. You know, honestly, I think that there are shows that are, you know, that are destined to be small, that, you know, they can find their home off Broadway or off off Broadway. And that's wonderful, you know, a lot of times, a lot of times shows that are not gonna attract a big audience that's totally okay because, you know, maybe like your experience was, maybe they're gonna attract 40 people on a night, but it's gonna be a life change to the experience. And that's terrific. But I feel like that finding Erin is really a show for everybody because I think, you know, people as young as high school and college are gonna really see themselves in these characters. I think young adults are gonna see themselves in these characters. I think, I think even, you know, people that are 50, 60 are gonna see the way they used to be in these characters. And I think hopefully they've come through it and have ended up in as good a place as these characters do end up by the conclusion. But I think it really is for everybody. I think, you know, everybody will, I hope appreciate the music and the lyrics, the pace and the humor and see themselves in these characters. So I would love for this show to, you know, reach Broadway and be on a national tour. As far as what it is, I think and I hope that that's possible as it continues to develop. And we're hopeful that some people who could take it to the next step will be there at this industry showcase and let that happen. (upbeat music) - Well, on the second part of our interviews, we love giving our listeners a chance to get to know our guests a little bit better. Pick your brains if you will. And I want to start by asking you, what are who inspires you? What playwrights, composers or shows have inspired you in the past? What are just some of your favorites? - Wow, that's a great question. I could probably spend an hour just on, just digging deep on that. But, you know, I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma. I didn't have access to a whole lot. There was a community theater near us. The things that I remember seeing when I was a kid live, because I, you know, I was a little bit sort of perplexed that, wait, live theater happens? Like I thought that was, live musicals happen? That was like a pretty interesting discovery for me when I was a kid. But I remember seeing a pretty good sort of community theater. I lived in a little town, but pretty near me was sort of like a small regional college town of about 100,000 people. And they had a little theater scene. I saw Bye Bye Birdie live there when I was a kid. And I thought, wow, that was really cool. That just happened live and we saw that live. So that was sort of a discovery of live, live musical theater for me. But, you know, like a lot of kids of my generation, I grew up on some of the great movie musicals. I must've watched, I must've watched Willie Wonka 50 times. I watched, you know, Annie and all over a million times. I was a, I was a good boy soprano before my voice changed. So I knew all of Oliver's songs. I would play Oliver as a sing along, sometimes with friends at our house. So, you know, I was always into music. I always loved music. And I always loved when stories could be told through song in a way that the play just wouldn't have done it justice. So I was loved, you know, those three movies. I, you know, I love a lot of music theater. And I think, I think a lot of, you know, a lot of the DNA of all the 50 shows I really like are probably in finding Aaron to some degree. There's, you know, there's, there's probably elements of Book of Mormon and elements of Hamilton and elements of Annie and Oliver and the old things to end Dear Evan Hansen and Wicked, you know, our lead producer, Jay, he, he says, when I asked him what he thought of, you know, seeing the show the first time, he said, oh, it's like how to succeed in business has been completely rewritten and updated for the 2020s by Stephen Schwartz. He thought the score sounded a little like Stephen Schwartz. So that was, of course, a great compliment 'cause, you know, who doesn't love, you know, Wicked and all the great Disney things that he's done. So I think there's just, you know, a lot of, a lot of musical theater DNA in there too. But, you know, I'm also, you know, I'm not one of those guys that just listens to music theater all the time. I think Paul Simon is the greatest songwriter ever. So I'm always listening to that guy love Jason Robert Brown. I think I probably am a little bit of a kindred spirit with Jason Robert Brown just because, you know, Jason Robert Brown is not a songwriter whose writing shows. He's sort of like a legitimately trained composer, graduate degree in music composition, you know, from a top school and I'm kind of the same way, you know, I, my graduate degree, my degrees are in music composition. You know, I have had the opportunity, you know, study with a, with a great composer who is one of the Pulitzer prize in music who is kind of a mental teacher. So I'm a little bit of a natural brother to Jason Robert Brown and the fact that we're sort of both trained composers doing this. So I love his work most of the time. You know, I, of course I love, I love Lynn Miranda, you know, look forward to what he does. I love Sara Bareilles, always love Sara Bareilles. You know, I'm, I'm actually finally going to get to see Waitress here in about a month, which the only other time I was so mad I had tickets to see Waitress and that was the week I got COVID. So, so I got, I got cheated out of that one a little bit. But yeah, I love, I love all that stuff. And you know, I think, I think all of that DNA is, is probably in, in myself and my writing. I love that list of inspirations though. That is a wonderful list. I want to ask you, what is your favorite part about working in the theater? Oh, well, well, you know, like I said, I, I, I kind of converted over to, to music theater from a career, you know, that was more academic being a university professor writing orchestral and band and choir music. And I, I, I feel like that, that most of my best work, even if it's just instrumental was, was storytelling work. I usually would write something that very much had a narrative element. And I came later to writing lyrics. I didn't, I don't think I wrote my first song with lyrics till I was, I'm sure I was over 30. I don't know if I was 35, but I came later to that. But I love, I mean, there's a lot to love about theater. I love, I love the, the strange hybrid that is live theater with live concert going. That is, that is musical theater is just, it's own special thing. And I really love, I love the relationship that I as a writer get to have with the audience in the, in, in that genre, just because, you know, I think when I was writing orchestral and band things, you know, the, the audience for that stuff, you know, it tends to be a little bit of a, of a specialized audience, a little bit of an esoteric crowd that, you know, knows all the Beethoven symphonies and that kind of thing. You know, I love the Beethoven symphonies too. But that audience is, is kind of much more of like an academic audience. I've also done some just, some just pop music songwriting and that's great for the audience that you reach and the popularity you can have. But that's also sort of not taken very seriously. You know, even, even a hit song, if it's, you know, top 40 radio, it can be something people like to dance to or, you know, that they just hear in the background at the swimming pool. It's sort of like not taken that seriously. And so I really love the way that those things merge in theater where you, you do get sort of a, you do get to reach a wide audience in theater, but you also get people who are serious in their appreciation of the music and serious in, in the way they love a score. And so I feel like that, that both of those things make theater a really natural home for me much more than the way I used to write. And so I'm pretty much hooked now. I mean, I can't, I can't imagine that I'm going to go in a different direction now than just wanting to do musical theater. That's, that's all I want to do now. I, my regrets are that I didn't come to that sooner and, you know, start doing that at 19, like Stephen Schwartz did. I'm like, oh, I'm behind. Like I, I got, I got years to make up now. But of course, I think all the things I've done have informed the way I write and, and make me a stronger writer. I think it's always a mistake if you're not listening outside of what you're doing. You know, even if you're, even if you're a talented, you know, musician, you can create melody, you can create harmony, you can create lyrics and you're super gifted. If all you know is the other great music theater shows, you're not going to have that much to say that's going to strike people as new. If you're, you know, you've got to be listening outside of your genre. I would say the same thing if you're, you know, if you want to be a symphonic composer and all you know is Beethoven Brahms, all you're going to do is be a poor imitation of Beethoven Brahms. You've got to get your head out of that. So I listened to everything. I try to take on everything. I, I listen to, you know, modern classical orchestral music and country and hip hop and, you know, electronic dance and just everything I can get my hands on. People ask me sometimes, you know, what, what kind of music do you like? And, you know, I, I think the answer I've settled on is I like all kinds, but I only like about the best five or so percent of it. I'm a very critical audience. I'm a critical listener. I, I don't like much of what I hear, frankly. And I think that's, that's okay. That's maybe a good attitude to have. I think in some, in some ways you become a writer because you're not satisfied with what's being written. If all you, if all you do is love what's out there, why would you write anything? So I, I love every kind of music. I just love the really good stuff of every kind of music. So I, I think, I think there's a, there's kind of a healthy melting pot of a little bit of every ingredient in, in my writing. I, I hope. - That is such an insightful answer. I love it. Well, we have now arrived at my favorite question to ask guests. And that of course is what is your favorite theater memory? - You know, I think, I think you do have to go back to the, the early things, right? Sort of like you're, you're never going to, you're never going to be as, you're never going to have as strong an impression as your first impression, right? So I think probably for me, the first live theater I remember is going to see Bye Bye Birdie when I was a kid. I was maybe eight. And you know, the, what I remember specifically is the great phone call scene, the phone tag scene in Bye Bye Birdie. It's still like such a good number, right? Like that's one of the shows that I think has really, has really lasted beyond its time. You know, not a lot of things from those, from those days are still watchable and relevant. And that's a funny show. So, you know, when just watching them play phone tag and in the moment of this song, and you know, what's the story? Morning glory, that, that was so funny. And I just remember thinking that, you know, it was a laugh and it was fascinating. And you know, I think as probably an eight year old, you know, my, my jaw was probably just falling open. Like, oh, wow, this, this can happen. Like this kind of thing can happen. And you know, that, that probably started me on the path of thinking about theater and live theater and live musical theater as, as really just a special thing when you can see that happen. So that's, that's probably a favorite is that, that first impression for me. - I love that memory. We love a great origin story. And what a great show to have it tied to literally the minute you mentioned it. I was like, is he gonna mention the opening, the phone conversation? 'Cause that is just so much fun. Thank you for sharing that. Well, as we wrap things up, I would love to know, do you have any other projects or productions coming on the pipeline? We might be able to plug for you. - I do. I have, I have one other show that is done and recently premiered and another one in the works that could not be different from each other. The show that we just had premiered this spring is called Bachelor Quest. It is a spoof of all the crazy dating shows. We kind of wrote it with schools in mind. We had it, the premiere was given by the Cad Callaway School, the arts of great, a great arts high school in Wilmington, Delaware. Worked with their director for about a year to put that on. So we're hopeful that that will take off, especially with young people. One of the reasons we wrote that is because there are so many things that don't quite work for high school have to be modified for high school. You get a junior edition or, you know, it's just, it's really not designed for that. So Bachelor Quest is a show with, with three guys and nine girls who are all cross dating and it's the free for all that, you know, all the dating shows are and a spoof of all the dating shows. So that's, that's out there. We're going to be working a lot in the next year or two to try to secure some more performances for that. There's, there's one upcoming in November and I hope there's a lot more to be had, especially with young people. The other show that is, that is in the works right now is a show that's, that couldn't, could not be more different. It's a historical drama. So, you know, think something like Les Mis or Hamilton about, about the three Dutch girls. Maybe some people will know that story, but I, I didn't know that story until a few years ago when I started researching it and, and after looking more and more into it, I was like, this has got to be on stage and it's got to sing. This has got to be musicalized. So the title of that show right now, although I'm not sure it's going to stick, it might, the title of that show right now is called The Girls Who Would Not Bow. And I'm hoping that that's going to be premiered in, in 2025, but it is the story, it's the true story of two sisters and their, their great friend who were teenage girls in Amsterdam when World War II broke out. And they decided that they could not tolerate what was happening and they became an assassin cell who killed Nazi officers. That is, that sounds so cool. That is not why I thought this was going to go. So. - No, that, that is it yet. No, it is, it is an amazing story. And, you know, they're, they're kind of folk heroes in, in the Netherlands, but their story is not widely known. It's hardly known at all in America. And, you know, the fact is sadly that we are, we're, we're living in a day where, you know, fascism is rising, authoritarianism is coming back. And so, you know, I feel like that their story really sang and needs to be heard now in an era when we kind of, unfortunately, are having to think about what do you do to react to authoritarianism rising? And they, they opposed to that in the sternest possible way despite the fact that they were 17 and 15. - That's incredible. Well, then sounds like you've got some irons in the fire that we definitely need to keep trying. - I do, I do, and I definitely hope people will be listening when they come out and when they're on stage, so. - Yes, well, and that's a good read into my final question, which is, if our listeners would like more information about finding Aaron, or about you, maybe they'd like to reach out to you, how can they do so? - The show and myself both have websites exactly where you think they'd be. I'm at chrismoloy.com. Finding Aaron also has a .com, has a ticketing link to, to the show itself. And I hope this is just the beginning for it. As I said, it'll only be the second time it's been presented and probably in some way, it's the first time since it's been significantly revised since then, so I hope many more times that it'll be presented are coming. And I hope that its presentation here at Emerging Artists Theater will help that happen. So finding Aaron.com and my work is at chrismoloy.com. - Perfect. Well, Chris, thank you so much for taking the time to share this incredible show, as well as your wonderful insight. This has been such a fabulous conversation. So thank you so much for your time. - Well, thank you. Thanks again for all the work that you're doing, for all of us. It doesn't do any good to create in a vacuum. So I really appreciate all you're doing to try to get people and come see us. So thanks very much. - Thank you. My guest today has been the creator and co-producer, Chris Moloy, who joined us to talk about his show, Finding Aaron, which is part of the Spark Theater Festival NYC. The show is playing on Wednesday, September 25th at 7 p.m. at the Chain Theater, and you can get your tickets and more information by visiting emergingartisttheatre.org. We also have some contact information for Chris and the show, which will be posted on our episode description, as well as on our social media posts, but make sure you head over to emergingartisttheatre.org. Get your tickets to check out this show, as well as all the other shows that are going on, Finding Aaron, though, is playing on Wednesday, September 25th at 7 p.m. And we want to add for our American listeners that election day is November 5th. Make sure you are registered to vote, have a plan to cast your ballot and do your democratic duty. You can find out how and where you can register to vote by visiting vote.gov. The future demands that we fight for it now. So until next time, I'm Andrew Cortez, reminding you to turn off your cell phones, unwrap your candies, and keep talking about the theater. In a stage whisper. Thank you. (upbeat music) If you like what you hear, please leave a five-star review, like and subscribe. 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