Photo Flash: Schwartz's My Antonia'
By: BWW News Desk May. 06, 2008
Rubicon Theatre Company continues its 10th Anniversary Season with the Southern California premiere of MY ANTONIA, the stage adaptation of Pulitzer Prize-winner Willa Cather's classic novel. As part of the Southern California Festival of New American Musicals, this new play features a rare professional collaboration of father and son, Stephen and Scott Schwartz.
MY ANTONIA is the poetic drama of a spirited Eastern European immigrant girl on the Nebraska plains in the late 1800s. Told through a series of flashbacks by Antonia's childhood friend, Jim Burden, the play encompasses years of experiences, revealing a soulful portrait of a simple yet heroic woman and the trials and triumphs of the American immigrant.
Director and playwright Scott Schwartz returns to Rubicon, where he previously directed tick...tick...Boom! His work on Broadway includes Golda's Balcony and Jane Eyre and his many off-Broadway credits include the much acclaimed Bat Boy: The Musical and Tick...Tick...Boom!
Schwartz embarked on the creation of MY ANTONIA 12 years ago. After being inspired by the Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, Schwartz decided to try his own hand at adaptation. He was drawn to Willa Cather's My Antonia by the complex love story between a young American boy and an eastern European immigrant, his connection to the piece as a descendent of Eastern European immigrants, and, as Schwartz describes, "Willa Cather's language, which is extraordinarily beautiful and incredibly vivid."
A desire for authenticity to the period and the spirit of Cather's novel sent Schwartz searching for a composer able to underscore the stage adaptation, giving it a cinematic feel, and who could create music for period songs from the novel and from Czech and Russian poetry Schwartz had uncovered. During the development of MY ANTONIA, Stephen Schwartz (the composer of Wicked, Godspell, Pippin and many Disney musical films) came to a reading and asked his son, "Would you give me a shot?" While the two rarely work together, Scott employed his father, noting, "Though he's known for his pop musical scores, he has a real ear for period music. And since this is a play with music, and not a musical, we thought we'd have fun exploring this unusual medium."
MY ANTONIA had its world premiere at Theatre Works in Palo Alto, CA in 2004. Schwartz related, "The production in Northern California was developmental...I learned a huge amount about the show... Afterwards, I did a major rewrite and reshaped and changed an enormous amount of the play. It really is a new play for this production at the Rubicon, so much work has been done in the past four years."
After an appearance in Rubicon's Plays-in-Progress readings in 2005, and further script tweaking, Rubicon's production of MY ANTONIA will preview May 8th and 9th with its gala opening Saturday, May 10th. The production will continue through June 1 and will then transfer to Pacific Resident Theaters where it will have an open-ended run.
The production is choreographed by Staś Kmieć, an expert in Eastern European folk dances, who draws upon his rich experience to create Komar, utilizing folk movement, and the American period dance sections.
Utilizing a minimalistic set to employ the audiences' imagination, the production enlists 14 actors to play 21 specific roles as well as numerous townspeople, spoken memories, farmhands, etc.
The accomplished cast of MY ANTONIA is led by Shiva Rose as Antonia, Kevin Kilner as James Burden, and Michael Redfield as Jimmy. It also includes Orestes Arcuni, Tom Beyer, Kate Fuglei, Karen Landry, William Lithgow, Julia Motyka? Bob McCracken? Miguel Perez, David Rogge, and Nancy Sauder.
MY ANTONIA is produced in association with Michael Jackowitz and co-produced with Venice Beach's Pacific Resident Theatre Ensemble. It is part of the Southern California Festival of New American Musicals.
For a complete performance schedule, visit www.rubicontheatre.org. All performances are at Rubicon Theatre, an intimate historic church built in the 1920s. The theatre is located at 1006 E. Main Street (the corner of Main and Laurel) in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.MY ANTONIA previews May 8, opens May 10 and runs through June 1.
MY ANTONIA is the poetic drama of a spirited Eastern European immigrant girl on the Nebraska plains in the late 1800s. Told through a series of flashbacks by Antonia's childhood friend, Jim Burden, the play encompasses years of experiences, revealing a soulful portrait of a simple yet heroic woman and the trials and triumphs of the American immigrant.
Director and playwright Scott Schwartz returns to Rubicon, where he previously directed tick...tick...Boom! His work on Broadway includes Golda's Balcony and Jane Eyre and his many off-Broadway credits include the much acclaimed Bat Boy: The Musical and Tick...Tick...Boom!
Schwartz embarked on the creation of MY ANTONIA 12 years ago. After being inspired by the Royal Shakespeare Company's adaptation of Nicholas Nickleby, Schwartz decided to try his own hand at adaptation. He was drawn to Willa Cather's My Antonia by the complex love story between a young American boy and an eastern European immigrant, his connection to the piece as a descendent of Eastern European immigrants, and, as Schwartz describes, "Willa Cather's language, which is extraordinarily beautiful and incredibly vivid."
A desire for authenticity to the period and the spirit of Cather's novel sent Schwartz searching for a composer able to underscore the stage adaptation, giving it a cinematic feel, and who could create music for period songs from the novel and from Czech and Russian poetry Schwartz had uncovered. During the development of MY ANTONIA, Stephen Schwartz (the composer of Wicked, Godspell, Pippin and many Disney musical films) came to a reading and asked his son, "Would you give me a shot?" While the two rarely work together, Scott employed his father, noting, "Though he's known for his pop musical scores, he has a real ear for period music. And since this is a play with music, and not a musical, we thought we'd have fun exploring this unusual medium."
MY ANTONIA had its world premiere at Theatre Works in Palo Alto, CA in 2004. Schwartz related, "The production in Northern California was developmental...I learned a huge amount about the show... Afterwards, I did a major rewrite and reshaped and changed an enormous amount of the play. It really is a new play for this production at the Rubicon, so much work has been done in the past four years."
After an appearance in Rubicon's Plays-in-Progress readings in 2005, and further script tweaking, Rubicon's production of MY ANTONIA will preview May 8th and 9th with its gala opening Saturday, May 10th. The production will continue through June 1 and will then transfer to Pacific Resident Theaters where it will have an open-ended run.
The production is choreographed by Staś Kmieć, an expert in Eastern European folk dances, who draws upon his rich experience to create Komar, utilizing folk movement, and the American period dance sections.
Utilizing a minimalistic set to employ the audiences' imagination, the production enlists 14 actors to play 21 specific roles as well as numerous townspeople, spoken memories, farmhands, etc.
The accomplished cast of MY ANTONIA is led by Shiva Rose as Antonia, Kevin Kilner as James Burden, and Michael Redfield as Jimmy. It also includes Orestes Arcuni, Tom Beyer, Kate Fuglei, Karen Landry, William Lithgow, Julia Motyka? Bob McCracken? Miguel Perez, David Rogge, and Nancy Sauder.
MY ANTONIA is produced in association with Michael Jackowitz and co-produced with Venice Beach's Pacific Resident Theatre Ensemble. It is part of the Southern California Festival of New American Musicals.
For a complete performance schedule, visit www.rubicontheatre.org. All performances are at Rubicon Theatre, an intimate historic church built in the 1920s. The theatre is located at 1006 E. Main Street (the corner of Main and Laurel) in Ventura's Downtown Cultural District.MY ANTONIA previews May 8, opens May 10 and runs through June 1.
Kevin Kilner and the cast of My Antonia.
Michael Redfield (Jim) and Julia Motyka (Lena) in the Rubicon Theater's production of My Antonia.
Michael Redfield (Jim) and Shiva Rose (Antonia) in the Rubicon Theater's production of My Antonia.
Staś Kmieć (choreographer), Scott Schwartz (play author and director), Stephen Schwartz (composer)
Staś Kmieć (choreographer), Scott Schwartz (play author and director), Stephen Schwartz (composer)
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