The National Alliance for Musical Theatre will hold its 27th annual Festival of New Musicals on October 15 and 16 at New World Stages. Lift, by Daryl Lisa Fazio (book/lyrics) and Aaron McAllister (music), is one of eight new musicals this year. We caught up with Fazio about her earliest musical theater memories, her favorite composers, and why she writes character-driven stories.
My show would be the child of these two musicals:
Fun Home, the play Our Town.
Pitch your show in 3 sentences:
In a small Ohio town, 8-year-old Ethan Hale falls through the ice and is miraculously saved. But no one sees the rescue, and no one steps forward as the hero. So when Ethan, who not long ago lost his dad in a freak accident, insists that it was a "birdman," his family struggle with hard questions about faith and their own capacity for hope as the town watches the mystery unravel.
How open are you to changing what you’ve written during the rehearsal process?
We're ALWAYS open if it helps tell the story with both more honesty and imagination.
What is your earliest musical theater memory?
Playing the crocodile in The Elephant's Child in first grade. I was also obsessed with the records (yes, I said record albums, on a turntable) for The Sound of Music and Annie, as well as the movies (though when I was a kid, you had to wait until they were on TV or at the theatre -- no VHS or DVD or Netflix -- so there was a lot of re-enacting the movies with your friends to tide you over). Then I was obsessed with The Little Shop of Horrors in high school and got to realize the dream of playing Audrey in the senior musical. It remains a high point. Yep.
When did you realize that you wanted to make musical theater?
I don't think I realized it was really an option for me until I met Aaron McAllister, my collaborator.
How did pursuing an education in musical theater help to shape your voice?
I'm actually what you'd call self-taught, as far as musical theatre goes. I did study acting at Northwestern University, but I wasn't really a good enough singer to compete in the musical realm. I was doing plays and weird, experimental stuff. So what that's done is made me write musicals just like I write plays: from the character first. The songs serve character and story. They evolve out of it. I also never learned the "rules" of writing musicals, so I just make up my own. Sometimes that can be a gift. Other times, it means a lot more trial and error.
Who is your favorite classic musical theater composer? And your favorite composer working today?
John Kander. Jeanine Tesori.
Considering that theater is often able to touch on important social issues in ways that Hollywood and TV haven’t, what kinds of stories would you like to tell through musical theater in the future?
Authentic character-driven stories that also transcend and transport.
What would you change about the current state of musical theater?
More complex roles for women! More women writers being produced!
What is more important to you: entertaining audiences, or making them think?
I'd like to think you can do both at once. And actually that making thoughtful material entertaining is the key to the meaning of life.
As a musical theater creator, do you think of Broadway as your ultimate goal?
Well, sure, I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't love it. But if I had a show that found a long life in regional theatre and was able to touch a larger and even more varied audience, I'd be pretty satisfied.
Do you have any wise words for people who may want to submit to NAMT next year?
DO IT! But not until you really KNOW your show — what story you're trying to tell and also what theatres might be interested in telling it. Because the fest is as much — or maybe more — about the pitch as it is the creative. I haven't gotten into the rehearsal room yet with all the superb talent we have access to, but I'm giddy about it, and I know that will also be a highlight.
The National Alliance for Musical Theatre's Festival of New Musicals will be held October 15-16 at New World Stages. For more information visit: https://namt.org/
