Interview: THE LADY JULIANA Has Taken Orlando's Elaine Pechacek Around the World & Back Again

The past year has been a whirlwind of travel, workshops, research, and re-writes for Orlando area composer Elaine Pechacek. On January 18th, 2015, the musical theatre writer debuted four songs from her latest musical THE LADY JULIANA at a new works concert near Rollins College, and then in April, she premiered a 10 song version in Winter Park. From there, her latest work has taken her to England, Australia, and later this month, to France.

In June, she traveled to England with regular collaborators Beki Herrbach and Sarah Hanchar, to present a fully-narrated, 11 song version of the show at the York New Musical Festival. Due to the success at the festival, the Pantseat Academy invited Pechacek to Newcastle, Australia for a full month in November, which culminated in a performance of an hour-long, 12 song version of her show in progress.

THE LADY JULIANA tells the true stories of a group of English, female convicts shipped to help populate the Australian penal colony in the late 18th Century. Originally inspired by a documentary, Pechacek believes that the knowledge that she has gained about her story over the course of her travels has been invaluable to the show's development.

"I don't think it's an accident that a musical that I wrote about a group of strong women traveling from England to Australia in 1789 has taken me, as the writer, to England and Australia even before it was finished," Pechacek said. "I was able to physically stand where the women set sail from England, and exactly where they landed in Sydney Cove. I was able to walk the streets where they were arrested in England, and to put my feet in the sand where they first came ashore in Australia. It's interesting how the opportunities that have opened up for the show are going to, in the end, make the final version of the musical much stronger."

After she returned from Australia, Lisandro Nesis, the Artistic Director of Paris' Broadway au Carré invited Pechacek to become the first solo, female composer in the series' history. Broadway au Carré features contemporary American Musical Theatre writers in concert each month in France.

"Their series has proven to be a wonderful asset for new American writers," Pechacek said. "I will be the first woman composer in the series to be showcased, and I'm flattered to have been asked."

"Just One Moment with Elaine Pechacek" will be directed by American Amanda Bestor-Siegal, and will star Parisian actors Sarah Tullamore, Lauren Van Kempen and Nesi, as well as Broadway au Carré's young rising star Lily Kerhoas. The concert will feature selections from Pechacek's catalogue, including THE LADY JULIANA, SEASONS, DELAYED, and pieces from a number of her song cycles.

In addition, Pechacek will debut some new, never-before-heard songs from her latest song cycle, CHOICES, including a passionate song called "Time." The composer describes CHOICES as an exploration of true stories about women overcoming obstacles, finding strength, and discovering who they truly are through the process of making difficult choices.

While in Paris, Pechacek will also be giving workshops to local Parisian performers. "Each participant will select two of my songs to perform," she said. "Then, we will work to get to the message of the song, as well as on vocal technique. I think it's a great opportunity for young, professional actors in Paris to work one-on-one with a composer."

While working with Nesis, he convinced Pechacek to submit her show SEASONS, co-written with Katie Hammond, to the first Paris Fringe Festival. SEASONS was a breakout hit of the 2014's Orlando Fringe and has been a party of numerous Fringe Festivals around the world. While the Paris Festival has yet to announce its official slate of shows, the composer is working with a number of producers to launch a European tour of SEASONS later this year. If selected for the Paris Fringe, Pechacek said that the French cast would likely go on to tour Europe, produced by Nesis through Broadway au Carré and her Orlando-based Squeaky Wheel Theatre Project.

With so many shows in development, Pechacek has been enjoying the process, despite the fact that it can often be exhausting. After her March trip to France, Pechacek might be returning for Paris Fringe, and will be traveling to Seattle to do a run of THE HAPPY PINK GIRL with Hanchar in June.

Then on July 18th, she will hold her next New Composers Showcase in Winter Park, and on September 16th, she will be doing a birthday concert with some of her multi-talented friends performing selections from her various shows.

Then, on October 7th and 8th, The Squeaky Wheel Theatre Project will present the first, fully-staged reading of THE LADY JULIANA, which has become an extremely personal task for the composer.

"I believe writers write because they feel that they have something to say to the world, or that they have a message or subject that they want to shine a light on," Pechacek said. "I don't think writers ever expect their work to so clearly and poignantly speak directly back to them as THE LADY JULIANA has to me in my life. I am not the same person that I was when I first put pen to paper to write this musical. I have been humbled to present the true stories of the amazing women of The Lady Juliana to the world. They have changed me, and they have already begun to change the lives of audiences all over the world."

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