As I was finishing up our third iteration of A Connecticut Christmas Carol at Goodspeed this past December, I was suddenly approached by my friend and colleague Ethan Heard, faculty directing advisor at Yale School of Drama, to step in last-minute to music-direct a new production of the cult musical Alice by Tom Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan. The story behind the show was perhaps as interesting as the musical itself, and both were new to me. With a concept by legendary experimental theatre creator Robert Wilson and a libretto by famed author and translator Paul Schmidt in the early 90s, Alice opened in Hamburg, Germany, before touring around Europe and very briefly at BAM before disappearing like the titular character down the rabbit hole. Waits began folding in songs from the musical into his live sets before recording a concept album in 2002, but the recordings were all in his voice, with little to no connection to their onstage antecedents. The only artifacts from the famed European tour (outside perhaps a few protected archival recordings) only exist online due to the songwriter's car being broken into in late 1992.
Enter director, Logan Ellis.
Ellis, who grew up both as a Tom Waits fan and a classical violist, had a few connections to the piece before choosing it as his graduate thesis at Yale School of Drama. A mentor from his days in a youth symphony happened to be the violinist on Tom's concept album; she was also his cousin, and provided him a means of contact. Schmidt, who wrote the (German) libretto when it toured Europe in the 90s, was a professor at Yale later in life, and released the English translation in a university publication. With rights approved, a talented creative team, and a cast of MFA candidates, Logan just needed someone to take on the musical reins, after a student music-director had to step down due to illness. Logan and I had a great chat on the phone, and I was brought on board.
There were no theatrical arrangements or orchestrations for the show whatsoever; the only materials given to us by the music publishers were what I call "songbook" arrangements, based off the 2002 concept album, and a couple lead sheets of incidental tunes. The music didn't match the libretto, nor did the materials specify the gender of characters, or vocal designations. My favorite detail was a list of instruments (some quite obscure) that Waits used in his recording, and instructions that basically said, "have fun!" That may seem frustrating, but it was very liberating to the team; we had the freedom to basically do whatever we wanted. I reconstructed the score from the ground up, trying to preserve some semblance of the "Tom Waits Sound" while making the arrangements approachable to the audience, and in service of the book. I was given six talented student musicians, and wrote an orchestration to feature them as best as I could. Thankfully, my work was deemed a success, with some especially kind words from my old boss, Michael O'Flaherty, who came in from Goodspeed to see the show Opening Night.
Enter director, Logan Ellis.
Ellis, who grew up both as a Tom Waits fan and a classical violist, had a few connections to the piece before choosing it as his graduate thesis at Yale School of Drama. A mentor from his days in a youth symphony happened to be the violinist on Tom's concept album; she was also his cousin, and provided him a means of contact. Schmidt, who wrote the (German) libretto when it toured Europe in the 90s, was a professor at Yale later in life, and released the English translation in a university publication. With rights approved, a talented creative team, and a cast of MFA candidates, Logan just needed someone to take on the musical reins, after a student music-director had to step down due to illness. Logan and I had a great chat on the phone, and I was brought on board.
There were no theatrical arrangements or orchestrations for the show whatsoever; the only materials given to us by the music publishers were what I call "songbook" arrangements, based off the 2002 concept album, and a couple lead sheets of incidental tunes. The music didn't match the libretto, nor did the materials specify the gender of characters, or vocal designations. My favorite detail was a list of instruments (some quite obscure) that Waits used in his recording, and instructions that basically said, "have fun!" That may seem frustrating, but it was very liberating to the team; we had the freedom to basically do whatever we wanted. I reconstructed the score from the ground up, trying to preserve some semblance of the "Tom Waits Sound" while making the arrangements approachable to the audience, and in service of the book. I was given six talented student musicians, and wrote an orchestration to feature them as best as I could. Thankfully, my work was deemed a success, with some especially kind words from my old boss, Michael O'Flaherty, who came in from Goodspeed to see the show Opening Night.
Concept by Robert Wilson
Music and Lyrics by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Libretto by Paul Schmidt
Directed by Logan Ellis
Music Direction, Arrangements, and Orchestration by Dan Pardo
Costume Design by Meg Powers
Scenic Design by Anna Grigo
Lighting Design by Riva Fairhall
Sound Design by Dakota Stipp
Projection Design by Brittany Bland
Production Dramaturgy by Evan Hill
Technical Director: HaoEn Hu
Stage Manager: Bekah Brown
Photos by T. Charles Erickson.
CAST
Sola Fadiran
Robert Lee Hart
Daniel Liu
Ilia Isorelýs Paulino
John Evans Reese
Julian Sanchez
Jackeline Torres Cortés
Adrienne Wells
Jessy Yates.
BAND
Jillian Emerson – Cello
Nate Huvard – Guitars/Banjo
Dan Pardo – Piano/Celeste/Concertina/Melodica
Music and Lyrics by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan
Libretto by Paul Schmidt
Directed by Logan Ellis
Music Direction, Arrangements, and Orchestration by Dan Pardo
Costume Design by Meg Powers
Scenic Design by Anna Grigo
Lighting Design by Riva Fairhall
Sound Design by Dakota Stipp
Projection Design by Brittany Bland
Production Dramaturgy by Evan Hill
Technical Director: HaoEn Hu
Stage Manager: Bekah Brown
Photos by T. Charles Erickson.
CAST
Sola Fadiran
Robert Lee Hart
Daniel Liu
Ilia Isorelýs Paulino
John Evans Reese
Julian Sanchez
Jackeline Torres Cortés
Adrienne Wells
Jessy Yates.
BAND
Jillian Emerson – Cello
Nate Huvard – Guitars/Banjo
Dan Pardo – Piano/Celeste/Concertina/Melodica
Some press about ALICE
New Haven Review: 'Call Me Up in Dreamland: Review of Alice, Yale School of Drama'
"Filtering the adventures of Alice through Waits and Brennan’s Beat carnival sensibility provides a curious and delicious oddity not to be missed. Then filter those songs through arrangements by music director Dan Pardo as sung by some fine voices from the Yale School of Drama that lend them the heft and glow of opera and Broadway and that indeed should be attraction enough.” –Donald Brown, New Haven Review
Yale Daily News: 'Watch Her Disappear: A Review of Alice at Yale School of Drama'
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