BWW Interviews: Composer Adam Gwon on ORDINARY DAYS and its 100th Production

Up-and-coming composer Adam Gwon recently spoke with BroadwayWorld about his musical ORDINARY DAYS, the 100th production and Utah premiere of which will be staged by Utah Repertory Theater Company from July 10 to 26 at the Sugar Space Studio Theater in Sugar House.

He will be in attendance opening night, Friday, July 10, and will also be presenting a master class on Saturday, July 11 from 10 am to 12 pm. Those who purchase a ticket to a performance on either July 10 or 11 may attend the master class free of charge.

Gwon is the recipient of the Kleban Award, the Fred Ebb Award, the Richard Rodgers Award, the Frederick Loewe Award, and more. His songs have been heard at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center, the Kennedy Center, 54 Below, and Joe's Pub, and they have been performed by Audra McDonald, Kelli O'Hara, Liz Callaway, and Brian d'Arcy James.

1. How would you describe ORDINARY DAYS for someone who hasn't experienced it?

ORDINARY DAYS is a four-character musical that traces the paths of two pairs of young people in New York City. One is a couple whose relationship is seemingly coming apart, and the other are two people who meet for the first time, and at the climax of the show, the two stories intersect. It's almost entirely sung, and the whole story's told through a series of individual songs, strung together--so part of the fun is watching all the pieces coalesce into a bigger picture than you might have initially imagined.

2. ORDINARY DAYS is seeing a successful post-off-Broadway life all over the world. What about the New York story do you think is resonating with other audiences?

I think that, at their core, all the characters are struggling with the fact that their lives haven't gone according to plan. They have a clear vision of where they'd like to be, and yet have no idea how to get there, or, ultimately, if that's the best place for them to wind up. All of them have to shift their perspectives and, as one character sings, "let things go." They have to find the joy in what is, rather than what will be. I think that's a pretty relatable feeling for a lot of people. I'm always struck by the response of older audience members--being a young person myself when I wrote the show, I understood how this was a common young person's dilemma. But older audience members consistently talk to me about how these themes resonate with them--that the notion of second chances and plan Bs and letting go of "what ifs" is something that persists no matter where we are in our lives.

3. How often do you get to see regional and community productions of ORDINARY DAYS?

The frequency has dwindled these days, as productions get farther-flung and I'm not really involved in them anymore. But I've seen at least a dozen--and actually, Utah Rep marks the show's 100th production, so I'm extra thrilled that this is one of the ones I get to see! The last time I saw the show was a little over a year ago, when I happened to see two productions back-to-back: a big production at the Round House Theatre in DC, not far from where I grew up, and an entirely student-produced production at a high school in the Bronx. They couldn't have been more different, which is something I love about seeing the show have a life that's out of my hands.

4. What are your hopes and expectations for your upcoming experience at Utah Repertory Theater Company?

I always love seeing how different people interpret what I've written. There's a lot that's dictated by the script and the score, but there's a lot that isn't. Seeing that stuff is always the most fun part about seeing new productions of the show. There's also at least one eager fan from Utah who's been anxious for the show to come to Salt Lake City for some time now, so I hope the experience will live up to his expectations!

5. You provided wonderful songs for the BroadwayWorld web series SUBMISSIONS ONLY. What did you enjoy about that project?

SUBMISSIONS ONLY was one of my favorite writing experiences, hands down. I would walk through fire to work with Kate Wetherhead, who starred as Deb in ORDINARY DAYS off-Broadway and created SUBMISSIONS ONLY. It was an amazing group of people who kept me constantly in awe. And I loved the rapid-fire nature of it. For the third season, I got to be part of the writers room, and the energy of spit-balling with a group, of writing tons of material and churning songs out until the jokes were just right, was so invigorating. It was a nice break from the much slower paced development process of a musical.

6. What are you working on currently and in the near future?

I have two shows premiering this fall, both of which I wrote with Julia Jordan: CAKE OFF at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA and BERNICE BOBS HER HAIR at the Lyric Theatre of Oklahoma. BERNICE is something we wrote a long time ago, and CAKE OFF is brand-spankin' new, so it'll be fun bouncing back and forth between the two. I'm also in the middle of cooking up some new shows commissioned by Roundabout and Playwrights Horizons.

7. What piece of advice would you give an aspiring musical theatre composer?

Write a lot and see a lot. The more you write, the better you get. And the more you see, the more you figure out what you like and what you don't. And it's your particular voice--what you value seeing on stage--that'll get you noticed.

The Sugar Space Studio Theater is located at 616 Wilmington Ave. in Salt Lake City's Sugar House neighborhood. Advance tickets and additional information are available on the Utah Repertory Theater Company website at www.utahrep.org.