Back in the Theatre: The 2026-27 Season
I love working in a theatre! Not because I have acting chops (I don’t). Directing could have been my thing, as I love to take in the big picture, move the pieces around, respond to the creative ideas of others, etc. But I am a musician and a composer first and foremost; to this end, I have spent a lot of my time composing incidental music for stage productions. Modern technology makes this task much easier than years ago, when I had to cajole friends into recording music for me on reel-to-reel tapes!
In recent years, Karla Kash, Director of Theatre at Heidelberg University has kept me quite busy. This season brings two new projects to my studio.
Peter and the Star Catcher appeared on the Heidelberg Theatre stage on September 10-13, 2026. Based on the novel by Dave Barry and Ridley Peason, and a stage version by Rick Elice, Peter functions as a sort of origin story for the legend of Peter Pan. It uses wonderful humor and poignant moments to suggest how the various characters in the Peter Pan story came into place. The play also features original songs by Wayne Barker. Peter and the Star Catcher enjoyed successful runs on Broadway and Off-Broadway between 2012-14. The play cries out for incidental music, and I was only too happy to oblige! Peter presents numerous opportunities for over-the-top acting, and the student cast, directed by Karla Kash was up to the challenge. I realized that my music also needed this larger-than-life quality. The dreaded pirate Stache, for example was one to be feared, but he was also a comic delight, not unlike the infamous Captain Hook, who came along later in the famous musical that many of us enjoyed on television or through video recordings. This pirate was able to use more recent topical humor for modern audiences, and it came at you from many different directions! Writing underscore for some of his charming speeches was so much fun, an opportunity to be clever one moment, and perfectly deadly only seconds later. Stache’s duel with a rival captain, one that provided ample sword play but also clever rhymes provided an opportunity to write an offbeat tango. A slightly expanded version of this music appears on this website in the Recordings section. (Peter and the Star Catcher: 6. Tango With Swords). Lots of the cues in this show were short! This ably served character entrances and exits, as well as special comic moments that came up on the audience rather suddenly. The Peter album on this website has restructured some of these miniatures into longer suites for easier listening.
My next project allows me to go in a totally different direction. February 2027 brings a Heidelberg production of Seagull by Anton Chekov, (1860 – 1904), in a translation from 2005 by Curt Columbus. Chekov’s plays continue to be held in high regard; this will be my first opportunity to work with one of them. Karla tells me that her production will employ a setting that is modern and minimalist in style. Don’t expect elaborate sets, costumes and projections, in other words. Such an approach may help with limited budgets, but more importantly, it allows student actors the opportunity to rely on their own work more exclusively in presenting the various characters in the play.
In this context, the music that I will create will be there to fill in the blanks, so to speak. Karla is not planning on a heavily Russian context for her production, thus freeing me to pursue different ideas. In terms of matters Russian: Chekov loved music and admired the works of composer Peter Tchaikovsky. I am listening to his piano and vocal music, as Chekov was familiar with these compositions. There is also the possibility of using Russian folk music in some capacity (Yes, composers do research before beginning a given project, as the situation requires). But given the freedom that Karla has provided, little or none of the Russian influence may affect the final product very much. Stay tuned to this website for updates….
And as a sidenote: The Music Theatre division of the Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (CCM, University of Cincinnati) is planning a new production of Cabaret, the classic Broadway musical, as part of its current season. There are no opportunities for me to composer here, but it does provide an opportunity for me to grab my accordion and play in the pit orchestra! Music Director Ian Axness and I have been in touch, and I am clearing space on my dance card for March 4-6.
This appearance commemorates an unusual anniversary for me. Fifty years ago, CCM produced a production of this same play, directed by Worth Gardner. The set design (model) for that show still appears in a special case in the Patricia Corbett Theatre lobby. I suspect that I will be the only musician in the pit to have played in both productions. If you are local, mark your calendars; it is sure to be a stunning production!
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