The New York International Fringe Festival will bring 200 shows to NYC from August 12-28. We spoke with Lily Ali-Oshatz (book/lyrics) about the musical The Extraordinary Fall of the Four-Legged Woman.
What was the first musical that made you want to make musicals?
Wicked. After seeing Wicked, I remember watching the documentary ShowBusiness: The Road to Broadway and there are several scenes in which a bunch of people are sitting around and derisively criticizing the show. All I could think was, here's a story about friendship and love and it features two very different kinds of leading women who have complexity and humor. How are these people not getting how important this is?!
Tell us about your show in 3 sentences or less.
Inspired by the real Josephine Myrtle Corbin, born in 1868, the musical follows this four-legged woman’s struggle when she’s forced to choose between her family of circus sideshow performers and her newfound love. An eclectic troupe of characters use classical Indian dance, contortion, juggling and shadow puppetry to tell their stories. Glimpse underneath the bigtop to explore alternative ideas of beauty and the bravery required to love what is “other.”
Describe the sound of your musical, it's like _______ meets _________
Tin Hat Trio meets Pippin.
Who is your favorite classic musical theater composer? And your favorite composer working today?
Frank Loesser, strangely enough. I've never been a huge fan of Guys and Dolls because I don't identify with the gender roles to which each character must adhere. Let the ladies dance around and shoot craps! However, I have so much respect for Loesser's bravery in writing The Most Happy Fella as an American opera. Yes, there are some very problematic parts of this show, but I love that it broadens what we expect musically from an American piece of music theatre.
I'm so happy to be alive in a time when Jeanine Tesori reigns supreme. Fun Home has changed the game in terms of what musical theatre can do for our culture. As a queer person, I am so grateful to finally have a piece of our canon that tells lesbian stories. I also admire that Tesori is an incredible collaborator. You can tell that people love to work with her and that she excels at capturing the best parts of everyone's ideas.
Why is it important to bring your show to Fringe?
This is a very tense time to live in New York, and in the world in general. We have an extremely important election coming up and there's a lot of fear in people's hearts. You feel it when you're on street or on the train and it's sickening. So yes, Extraordinary Fall is about otherness and the representation of unheard voices, but at its core it's a love story. It's about two people who are saved by the realization that they can be stronger, happier, and freed by their ability to love.
What's next for the show?
I'm hoping to workshop the show with the support of a theatre company so that I can have space to explore this world more deeply. We're also always looking for ways to make the experience more immersive and fantastical. For instance, wouldn't it be incredible to collaborate with the Coney Island Circus Sideshow?!
