BRYAN FENKART AND EMILY WALTON IN "DARLING GRENADINE"
PHOTO BY ADRIAN BROOM
Self-described on her website as a director, writer, producer and dreamer, Kristin Hanggi has recently devoted her time and talents to a few projects of note: “Rock of Ages,” “Clueless,” and “Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List.” While “Rock of Ages” celebrates the classic rock hits of the 1980’s from Pat Benatar to Poison and Styx to Twister Sister, and “Clueless” is a coming-of-age comedy reminiscent of Jane Austen’s 1815 novel “Emma,” the third “Naomi and Ely’s No Kiss List” is a movie about what happens when the title pair’s long time friendship and bonding are threatened by a new guy and all bets are suddenly off.
Hanggi is equally at home and equally excited whether she is working on musicals, plays, movies or television. “In the job, I follow my heart and the story will dictate the particular directions I take. I am attuned to the music, the dance and the story telling and seek the best format.” An adaptation of the 1997 cult film “The Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion Musical,” premiering in Seattle this summer, is a perfect example of her talents. It features two single L. A. party girls who need to reinvent themselves for their ten year reunion.
This “lover of new musicals and spiritual exploration” is in the midst of a new challenge,directing “Darling Grenadine” with book, lyrics and music by Daniel Zaitchik that will be enjoying its first full mounted production at Goodspeed Musicals’s little sister spot, the Terris Theatre in Chester, August 18 to September 17.
Three years ago, Hanggi heard the composer sing and play a number of his tunes at an L.A. showcase and immediately knew “his music was special and I had to direct it.” At the time it was "just a handful of songs” and she encouraged him to expand it with a storyline and “Darling Grenadine” is the happy result.
With good reason, Kristin Hanggi calls herself “a show midwife,” taking a seedling of an idea and nurturing it until it is fully grown. This is a “personal relationship, as intimate as raising a child should be.” As with an individual child, each show is different and the challenges always change. “The process of discovery is an adventure.” She reads a script, has a vision, with tone and color, but can get into the rehearsal room and it all changes. Finding creative solutions can be “happy accidents.”
With “Darling Grenadine,” we meet Harry (Bryan Fenkart), a singer/songwriter who has a hit jingle about burgers that gives him financial security. Harry is a modern man living in Manhattan who falls in love with Louise (Emily Walton), an actress in a Broadway show “Paradise.” In addition, Harry has a brother (Ben Mayne) and a labrador retriever, a marionette created by Philip Huber, both of whom are named Paul. This “musical within a musical” has an old-fashioned quality: think “Singing’ in the Rain,” as well as a contemporary feel. Zaitchik describes it as “one foot in the past and one foot in the future” while Emily Walton claims “it is equal parts funny and moving and no better showcase for Daniel’s work." Woven into the piece are illusion and magic, a fantasy about how we perceive things.
For Hanggi, “Darling Grenadine” is a magical wonderful ride and she calls Zaitchik a genius who does incredible work that she is honored to be part of developing. The title comes from a love of Shirley Temple cocktails and the true sweetness they contain. Harry is a great pianist and singer, a funny man who never leaves the stage. He has a dark and a light side, is charming, and a man we want to root for. His dog Paul is a puppet who can exhibit emotions, from shy to afraid to joyful and he is beautifully voiced by a trumpet. Zaitchik, who has known Emily Walton for over a decade wrote the part of Louise for her, a woman who has a whole journey of her own.
As a director, Hanggi finds the music filled with fantasy and whimsy that honestly explores emotions She feels listening to the tunes will dictate how to treat them, to “decode” them, “like being on an adventure with absolutely no map.” She has to trust her actors and “figure out how to sculpt like Michelangelo handled his David.” Seeing images in her head and visualizing the writer’s intent are her primary jobs and, for her, “nothing is more fun.” Doing this innovative work for fifteen years, she rarely says yes to revivals.
For tickets ($42-59), call Goodspeed Musicals at 860-873-8668 or online at www.goodspeed.org. Performances are Wednesday at 2 p.m and 7:30 p.m., Thursday at 7:30 p.m., Friday at 8 p.m., Saturday at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m. and Sunday at 2 p.m and 6:30 p.m. The Terris Theatre is located at 33 North Main Street, Chester, exit 6 off route 9.
As for the audience’s reaction to “Darling Grenadine,” Kristen Hanggi would like the focus to be on “personal power and responsibility that at any moment can transform ourselves into the kind of person we choose to be.” Let “Darling Grenadine”, thanks to Daniel Zaitchik and Kristin Hanggi and whole team of collaborators, cast you under its spell, in a brand new musical that captures the old school magic of the MGM Golden Age married to a contemporary New York beat. Shine on!
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