BWW Interviews: Direct From Signature: Eric and Charlie talk Elmer (Gantry)!

One constant in Washington-area theater for which we should all be grateful, is that the wonderful creative minds and souls at Signature Theatre in Arlington, VA, can be counted on to bring us fresh, innovative and carefully crafted productions of shows that may be new to many of us. This season, Signature is giving us three world premier productions of new musicals (Sheryl Crow's Diner; John Kander's Kid Victory and DC-native Nick Blaemire's Soon), but also a revival of a musical version of the story of Elmer Gantry, a traveling salesman turned preacher, who brings a religious revival a possibly dangerous spark in his pursuit of love. Almost 90 years ago, Sinclair Lewis brought Elmer Gantry to the page and Signature's Artistic Director Eric Schaeffer (at left during Gantry rehearsals with his team), is bringing him to the Signature stage for 2014 audiences.

Eric was kind enough to make time, in the midst of working on both Gantry, and the upcoming Kennedy Center world premiere production of Gigi, coming in early 2015, to give us some thoughts on Elmer Gantry, which begins previews tonight, October 7, with performances through November 9, 2014.

What is your earliest theater memory?

Seeing The King and I at my high school. I was impressed how good it was for a little town in the middle of Amish Country, Pennsylvania.

As the director, what do you consider your most important job?

It's telling the story in a clear concise way. There are alot of elements to any new musical but you need to make sure that all the elements are working together in the best way to tell the story you want to tell.

What was your first experience with the story?

My first introduction to the story was at Ford's theatre in 1988, and I instantly loved the story and the material.

What made you decide to include the show as part of Signature's 25th Anniversary season?

I had the opportunity to direct the last production of Elmer Gantry in 1998 in Chicago. The show hasn't been done since then, for a number of reasons and it was one musical that has always stayed with me. I always kept thinking about the show in the back of my mind and so I called Mel Marvin [the composer] and said it was time to give the show a new production and a new beginning, and our 25th anniversary season was the perfect platform to make that happen.

What did you see in the show personally, that you hope Signature's audiences will also experience, or that you hope to convey?

The show resonates with so many things happening in the world today. I think it gives us time to see how every one of us is constantly moving, constantly traveling - within our own lives or through others. It shows how life is so unpredictable and unexpected...something we can fail to recognize.

Did you feel there was a particular element of a production of Elmer Gantry that was the most challenging in telling the story the way you wanted; e.g. casting, set design, music direction?

Getting the two leads with the right chemistry was key to this production. I was lucky to find Charlie Pollock and Mary Kate Morrisey, who are perfect for these roles.

Sinclair Lewis' book was extremely controversial when it was published in 1927, and there have been a number of adaptations of the story for stage and screen, both as a play and a musical. What is it about this particular adaptation that appealed to you as a production for Signature?

This is a lean production. The book is extremely tight in the story telling and it's very raw. That is what i find most exciting about this new version. We also created a brand new orchestration by Bruce Coughlin as well, which creates a universal sound to Mel Marvin's score.

What one word comes to mind when you think of this production?

Lust.

8) Is there a "dream show" that you'd like to direct that you haven't yet had the opportunity?

I've never directed A Little Night Music, so that's one I'd love to tackle. And there are a number of exciting new works I have in development that I look forward to bring to the stage in the coming years.

Thanks Eric!

As a bonus, I also had the great pleasure of speaking with Signature's Elmer Gantry himself, Broadway actor Charlie Pollock (left, during rehearsals) about the firsts for him with this production: working with Eric for the first time, working in DC for the first time and working at Signature for the first time.

Speaking of firsts, I wanted to know Charlie's earliest musical theater experiences, and appropriately for someone playing Elmer Gantry, he started performing in church (the ability to sing the alphabet backwards a lasting skill from his first solo); and in elementary school thanks to the encouragement of a school music teacher. Although he also liked movies, he had a sense that theater could do things that just couldn't be done in the movies.

His favorite role so far has been Bobby Strong, lead character in the 2003 Broadway production of Urinetown The Musical, whom he found to be fascinating and funny, and the whole show experience to be very "complete and satisfying." Charlie's most recent Broadway show, about which he also raves, was Jeanine Tesori's Violet, with Sutton Foster and Joshua Henry, which closed in August, 2014 after several extensions.

His experience with taking on the role of Elmer Gantry though, was very personal. Although he is loathe to take jobs that keep him apart from his wife and children in New Jersey, he enlisted his wife's help in making the decision on Gantry; having her read the script as well, before he accepted. Both agreed it was almost eerily perfect for Charlie, and resonated deeply. It's a story of the American South (he and his wife met at the University of Texas in Austin), and along with starting his career in church singing the alphabet backwards all those years ago, Charlie spent three years as a worship pastor. He finds Elmer's deep commitment to the woman with whom he's fallen in love (and lust, as Eric pointed out!), very relatable and his, perhaps questionable, decisions that make him that much more interesting.

And then there was the opportunity to work with Eric Schaeffer, who many of his colleagues had raved about over the years. Charlie says that it was "instant comfort" with Eric, and that the best thing a director can do for an actor is to be the kind of patient problem-solver that Eric is, and to create a "lush landscape" in which actors can play and stretch, and try new things.

He wants the Elmer Gantry audiences to take their seats with open minds, ready to be told a very human story of love and desire, in a very different way.

As far as his time in DC, he hasn't yet had much time to explore beyond the Signature world, but is looking forward to having his family join him for some adventuring. Meanwhile, we can find him on stage in Arlington, introducing us all to Elmer Gantry.

Find out more about the show, and get tickets at http://www.signature-theatre.org/shows/elmer-gantry.

(Photos by Christopher Mueller)