BWW Q&A: Michael Meth Talks Last Night at the Rue Bayou
Inside Last Night at the Rue Bayou: creator Mike on bottling the magic of New Orleans into an immersive musical.
New Orleans has inspired countless stories, but few have tried to bottle the city itself — the spicy air, the flicker of votive candles, the way a zydeco riff can turn strangers into family. That's exactly what creator Mike set out to do with Last Night at the Rue Bayou, an immersive new musical that transforms Storyville Music Hall in the French Market into a living, breathing New Orleans haunt where the living and the dead mingle freely, the stage becomes an altar, and a single night can change everything.
Mike's love affair with the Crescent City began long before he ever set foot there — first through the music of Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Professor Longhair, and the Zydeco and Cajun legends who stole his heart. But it was an extended stay in the 1990s, spent wandering neighborhoods on foot and bicycle, that convinced him a traditional "fourth wall" production could never capture what makes New Orleans feel like New Orleans. Drawing on his background as a creative director in the experiential marketing world, he began crafting something different: a show where the audience doesn't watch the story so much as step inside it, gumbo in hand.
For three weeks, Storyville Music Hall will cease to exist — in its place, the Rue Bayou, complete with café seating, two drinks, a bowl of Tiny Bouchard's secret-recipe gumbo, and a Mardi Gras ball where audience members themselves join the Krewe du Rue. In this Q&A, Mike talks about the magic and mystery woven through the show, his collaboration with director Tracey Conyers Lee and composer Martee Lebow on an all-original score, and his dream of the Rue Bayou becoming a lasting gift to the city and the theatre community that inspired it.
What inspired you to create "Last Night at the Rue Bayou," and how did your first visit to New Orleans spark the idea for this immersive musical experience?
The concept for the show was sparked not on my first visit to New Orleans but during the first visit when I was able to stay for an extended period. On foot, bicycle and public transportation I was able to explore many neighborhoods and interact with a whole bunch of local folks. That was in the nineties. I was employed as a creative director and writer in the live, “branded events” business so I was developing “immersive” experiences for corporate clients attended by customers and employees. I was interested in writing a New Orleans based story but it was clear to me that, while there have been many stories “set” in New Orleans, I wasn’t aware of one that allowed the audience to be more than a spectator. And so began the road to, “Last Night at the Rue Bayou.”
You've described New Orleans as "love at first sight" — what specific elements of the city's culture made you feel that a traditional stage production simply couldn't do it justice?
I say I had a “teenage crush” on the city because I felt an attraction long before I actually visited. First it was the music. Louis Armstrong, Jelly Roll Morton, Preservation Hall and all the Jazz forefathers, to Alain Toussaint, Dr. John, Irma Thomas and Professor Longhair. Then, when I heard Clifton Chenier play the Zydeco and Dewey Balfa and Doug Kershaw’s Cajun fiddle I was hopelessly in love. Once I started visiting, it was the food, the colors of Carnival, the energy in the clubs and the love in the hearts of the people. A traditional show behind a “fourth wall” just wasn’t going to do it.
Can you walk us through what audiences actually experience from the moment they walk through the doors of Storyville Music Hall?
First, our audience will not be walking into the, “Storyville Music Hall.” For the three weeks we are there, it IS the Rue Bayou. The outside signage and the inside décor will reflect the warmth and love that is the personality of the Rue. Guests are seated at café tables, high tops and bar rails and your ticket includes two drinks AND a bowl of gumbo. (The secret recipe of one of our characters, Tiny Bouchard.) Throughout the evening there will be interaction with our actors and volunteers from the audience will be featured in our “Krewe du Rue” Mardi Gras Ball. There’s lots more.
The show is described as a place where "the living and the dead mingle freely" — can you tell us more about the themes of magic and mystery that run through the production?
To me, “magic and mystery” are the heart and soul of the city. My first visit to St Louis cemetery was a real spiritual experience. While I know the practical reason why folks are interned above ground, it felt like a metaphor because as one of our characters, Reverend Beaucoup sings, “folks may go but they ain’t never gone. It’s a very fine line between the night and dawn.” There is magic and mystery in Last Night at the Rue Bayou. Observant folks may pick up the clues planted in the story but no spoilers here.
How did you approach writing lyrics and book for a show where the audience is meant to feel like participants rather than observers?
In writing the book, I felt I had to create opportunities for the cast and director to bring the story directly into the audience. In some cases, it is specific, scripted moments but our inventive director, Tracey Conyers Lee, and our wonderful cast of New Orleans actors are finding many more opportunities to use the story and the space to connect with our audience. Lyrically, the goal was to create songs that you could actually hear in a night out at a New Orleans club. BUT, I did not want to take the easy way out and make this show a “jukebox’ musical. I asked our composer, Martee Lebow to be a part of the team because she comes from the world of popular music and has deep roots in R&B and the New Orleans sound. The result is an all-original score that sounds and feels authentic to the world of the Rue Bayou. (I do want to send a shout out to Dwayne Dopsie who helped with some licks for our Zydeco number)
How do you balance the immersive, experiential elements of the show with the need to tell a compelling narrative story?
That word, “immersive” has come to mean many things over the years. While I enjoy the self-directed experiences like “Sleep No More,” that is not the appropriate style for us. We are inviting our audience to experience a night at the Rue Bayou. They are immersed in the story including entertainment from the stage and all the action behind the scenes between songs.
What do you hope audiences take away with them after their night at the Rue Bayou, and where do you see this production going from here?
7. Our hope for the show is that it could find a permanent home in New Orleans and then we bring the unique NOLA spirit to other music centric cities like Chicago, Nashville, Memphis, St. Louis, San Francisco as well as New York. My dream is that the show becomes a gift to the city and especially the theatre community of New Orleans as an on-going generator of jobs for actors, musicians, technicians and hospitality workers. In terms of the audience takeaway, our story is of New Orleans and the extended Rue Bayou family – which every audience member joins by attending, “Last Night at the Rue Bayou.” I’m hoping our audience comes away feeling what the Rue Bayou was built by and stands for – the love that flows through everything, every world, and everyone. In the words of our Cajun waltz, “Oh ma cherie, tout est ici. Oh my dear, everything is here.” All that and a bowl of gumbo.
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