Story Photos
 Photo by Bill Wagner Kurt, played by Tanner McDaniel, left, listens as the Piper, played by Steve Thorpe, sings a song from the production of 'The Piper' during rehearsal at Kessler Elementary School in Longview. The musical opens Friday night in the Kessler auditorium. |
New pied piper musical -- rats and all -- comes to Kessler stage
Thursday, June 22, 2006 7:56 AM PDT
By Tom Paulu
Printable version
E-mail this articleLongview will host the premiere of a brand-new musical based on a 700-year-old story.
Rising Star Productions will present "The Piper," a fantasy based on the classic tale of a colorful character who lures rats --- and later children --- out of German town.
This version of the story is "much lighter and happier than the original tale," according to director Jueanne Meyers.
"The Piper" is based on the 1849 Robert Browning poem "The Pied Piper of Hamelin."
"Everyone knows the story but they don't know the poem," Griffin said. Though he used some lines from the poem as song lyrics, he added subplots that aren't in the original. One involves a handsome Frenchman who comes to town to marry the mayor's daughter --- though nobody knows who she is because of a decades-old intrigue.
"This diverges from (the original version) almost from the beginning," said Steve Thorpe, who plays the piper.
The piper "isn't the bad guy portrayed in some versions," said Adam Wolfer, who portrays the town's blacksmith.
"In some parts it's sad but in most parts it's happy," said Natalie Reynolds, 9, who plays one of the town's children.
"Our ending is not the ending that everybody expects, which is good because it's not a fairy tale ending, either," he said.
Meyers recommends that parents accompany children age 6 and older.
Rising Star's coup in getting the premiere is a result of Meyers and Griffin's crossed paths in the early 1980s.
Griffin directed musicals at Meyers' high school in Lansing, Mich. At the time, he was a contract director at high schools and colleges.
While living in Chicago for 20 years, Griffin was active in a musical theater workshop in which members bounced ideas among themselves. He now lives outside of Detroit.
"There are a tremendous amount of people out there writing new works," Griffin said "But there are few venues for new material. Few people are willing to take a chance because of the financial pressures on theater."
Griffin said he wrote "The Piper" with companies such as Rising Star in mind, so it's just the right company for the debut. "The object for us is to get it out into the community theater," Griffin said.
"We've gotten to a point where we think it's done but we don't know," he said. "We consider this its premiere."
It is the sixth musical for Griffin, though only one of the previous works was full length.
He wrote the story and lyrics and longtime friend Roseann Hammill penned the music.
The show includes 24 songs, ranging from rollicking to plaintive.
"It's somewhere between the old light opera and Broadway," Griffin said. "You're not going to hear angst-ridden big show tunes."
"It's not easy music but it's very singable," Meyers said. "My cast loves it."
It's written for accompaniment by only a piano and flute, which will be provided by Greg Moore and Melanie Kitchens.
Because of all the songs to learn, Meyers started rehearsals in March for her cast of about 40. They recorded the soundtrack locally; CDs will be sold at performances.
In addition to Thorpe and Wolfer, Rising Star regulars Adam Pond, Janie Pond and Ron and Kay Naff have roles. Laurel Moore is vocal director. Dancers in big ears from the Evergreen Dance Center portray the rats.
Griffin will be eagerly watching his show when the lights come up Friday and Saturday nights.
"This show is a work in progress," Griffin said. "What we hope to take from this is a knowledge of what we've written. We're going to discover what we have."
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