Nonprofit fund-raising is less a science and more an art, there being no single way to successfully accomplish it many opportunities to fall short. None of this could have happened, however, without the necessary role a producer plays in theater: raising money from outsiders to underwrite the work and pay the bills. “It was like being on a luxury cruise liner in terms of support and staff, and an incredible feeling being in the Laurence Olivier theatre, an amazing kind of ancestry that pushed us to Broadway readiness.” Selling the vision “It was an extraordinary experience being at the National where they give you six weeks of rehearsal, which is just unheard of in America,” says Franzen. The gestation process took place across a few years, first with an off-Broadway run in New York, then an early production in Edmonton, Canada, and, most significantly, a run at London’s National Theatre. “I was looking to develop a musical, and, with my professional producing partner Mara Isaacs, it would be for The Broad Stage.”īut that vision broadened over time as key creative figures became interested in “Hadestown.”ĭirector Rachel Chavkin - “brilliant at finding the strengths of each new lead and each new character” – and actor Andre De Shields – “his performance was so gorgeous and so deep” - ultimately led the way, Franzen says. “My attitude wasn’t to develop a Broadway show,” says Franzen. In the montage version of what came after Franzen’s “aha” moment would be a blur of images up to opening night on Broadway.īut in her role as a lead producer and to get the show in front of that new generation audience - from the ground zero point of “some lovely people seeing it played in a Vermont barn” - there was work and fund raising that would span most of the 2010s and range across two continents.Ĭrucial, Franzen says, was being patient and finding creative talent to advance the piece. “That’s what ultimately made me get in touch with her manager and the artist and hear them say, ‘Yes, we want to make “Hadestown” into a full musical.’” So, while listening to this, I thought, ‘Wow, this could be great to reintroduce this classic myth to a new generation.’ “In my early years, I had sung in operatic versions of the myth of Orpheus. However pleasing for an interesting listen, the ideas in the piece engaged Franzen the arts impresario. And then there was the poetry of the lyrics, so beautiful.” But the harmonies immediately attracted me. “This felt really different, like there was a very long, evocative instrumental intro. The music, however, “grabbed me instantly,” Franzen says. One day she picked from a pile of unsolicited CDs a collection of songs from Anais Mitchell, a little-known New England based singer-songwriter. In 2011, she was the artistic, as well as founding, director of the Santa Monica performing arts center The Broad Stage. 9, this modernization of a classic Greek myth of the Underworld set to a swamp of New Orleans roots music captured a total of eight Tony Awards including for best musical in 2019.Īs the Chicago Tribune reviewer succinctly put it while naming “Hadestown” Broadway’s best show of the year: “Stylish, audacious and thoroughly original.”Īrriving at those desirable high points took a nearly decade-long climb of theatrical development that was shepherded 99% of the way by Franzen, a longtime Southern California performing arts renaissance woman whose career roles have included opera singer, artistic director, producer, educator and consultant.Īs the producer’s handcrafted bio summarizes: “My whole life has been serial entrepreneurism - finding things that don’t exist and making it happen.” A random discovery Opening a two-week run Tuesday at the Segerstrom Center on Tuesday, Aug. Few people likely have found the road to hell as satisfying as Dale Franzen has with “Hadestown.”
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |