30 Days of NYMF: I See London, I See France

I SEE LONDON, I SEE FRANCE (THE UNDERWEAR MUSICAL)
by Jeremy Desmon (composer and co-lyricist)

So, I'm sitting in rehearsal the other day, watching three gorgeous and sexy women belt out devastatingly tight harmonies and I'm thinking "damn, I have a great job." Plus, the costumes come this week. And, no, we're not selling tickets to rehearsal...

I See London, I See France (The Underwear Musical) started a few years ago when my co-writer Vid Guerrerio and I were younger and had more hair. Vid pitched this crazy idea for a fast-paced, scantily-clad book musical about advertising and sex and underwear and it seemed just twisted enough to write. It was a candy-colored world filled with fabulous (and fabulous-looking) characters ready to get stuck in hilarious situations and aching to sing to the rafters. And we thought, with the unfiltered arrogance of youth, that we could say something mind-blowingly profound and earth-shattering about our culture and American values. But then a funny thing happened.

We got older.

And as we got older, the show matured. We knew we had a sexy and entertaining evening filled with some pointed satire, but with time... let me explain: The show is about Gina (played by Sandy Rustin), a jilted thirty-five year old ad exec, who finds herself, cast off by the youth- and sex-obsessed world around her. Desperate to regain her footing, she finds herself falling for a young underwear model and ultimately creating an underwear ad that might change the world.

In our early drafts, Gina, the heart of our show, got some short shrift as we focused our attentions on the frivolities of youth and the pressure society puts on us blah blah blah. And that's all still there – Warren Adams' choreography is sexy and hysterical – but as Vid and I approach 35 ourselves, Gina's journey comes through more than ever. And with that, the heart of the show beats louder and louder, as Gina opens herself up to face her life with a sense of adventure and wonderment.. 

So, I'm back in rehearsal now. We open in a week, and I'm getting nervous. But you know what they say: if you get nervous, just picture everybody... well, you get the idea. And it seems to be working.