Musicals
Perfume River: A Swamp Water Love Story
A new Orleans musical about the qualities of swamp water.
Marie loves Jon the piano player. Does he love her? At the Crawdaddy near New Orleans, the late-night crowd finds the rhythm and blues of a night transformed by an aphrodisiac nonpareil -- the swamp water out back!
Lyrics & Music by David Maddox & Jon Carroll.
Book by David Maddox, Mary Hall Surface & Jon Carroll
http://www.myspace.com/perfumeriveraswampwaterlovestoryLIFT: Icarus and Me
Set on the dunes of East Texas, a young man named Lenny, who has inherited the daring of Icarus andthe genius of Daedalus, discovers his wings and his lost father.
2007 nominee for a MacArthur Award for best new musical or play.
Music by David Maddox. Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface. Book by Mary Hall Surface.The Odyssey of Telémaca
Set in a Mexican world of magical realism, this musical is inspired by the Odyssey, told from the point of view of the daughter Odysseus leaves behind. Workshopped in May 2002 at the Kennedy Center, it premiered at the George Mason Concert Hall in June 2004. Get it at iTunes.
Music by David Maddox. Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface. Book by Mary Hall Surface.Sing Down the Moon: Appalachian Wonder Tales
Six musical folk tales from the Appalachian Mountains, including versions of Cinderella, Beauty and the Beast, and others.
Music by David Maddox. Lyrics by Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox. Book by Mary Hall Surface.
Published by Dramatic Publishing. Get it at iTunes
The Nighingale
A dance-theater telling of Anderson's familiar story of an Emperor who falls in love with a beautiful bird. On national tour from the Kennedy Center 1999-2003.Perseus Bayou
The Greek myth of Perseus and Medusa set in post-Civil War Louisiana. Alligators, Andromeda, Heroic Deeds, Danae and Doucet, C'est bien!
Music by David Maddox. Lyrics by Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox. Book by Mary Hall Surface.
Published by Dramatic Publishing. Get it at iTunes.
Mississippi Pinocchio
Steamboats, gamblers, Dixieland music, danger and opportunity at the edge of an apparently limitless New World. Published by Dramatic Publishing.
Music by David Maddox. Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface. Book by Mary Hall Surface.Dapper Foxes, Singing Pigs, and Cajun Lullabies:
A cabaret of songs from Sing Down the Moon, Perseus Bayou, Mississippi Pinocchio, The Odyssey of Telémaca, and Nightingale. Recently at the Kennedy Center.
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Buy these cast CD at Amazon.com, or
HERE at this site (let the artists get the money).
Listen to music from these CDs.
Perfume River:
A Swamp Water Love Story
Music & Lyrics:
David Maddox
& Jon
Carroll
Book:
David Maddox, Mary
Hall Surface & Jon Carroll
A New Orleans bayou musical about the qualities of swamp water.
Last call! The house band plays the last song of the night at the Crawdaddy, a down and out little bar on the Louisiana Bayou. Jon, Stump, Babe and Radon X (he’s from out of town) say good night and Corrine the Queen, the bar’s manager, ushers out the last customer – a mysterious guy in a suit. Let the after-hours party begin! But everything isn’t quite right; the Crawdaddy has fallen on hard times. People are restless and out of sorts. They need a change.
Marie owns the bar. She and Jon the piano player have loved each other since third grade but went their separate ways after high school. Marie never married and now wants to use her herbal knowledge in a way she never has before: to heal herself with love. Jon is back home after twenty years in LA, his music career played out. Are they finally ready? She’ll call on the spirits to help. Armetta and Stump had a kid and a life together. Now that their boy has grown up and gone, they don’t know each other anymore. Change is coming. But is it a deal with the Devil?
At the Crawdaddy, near New Orleans, the late-night crowd finds the rhythm and blues of a night transformed by an aphrodisiac nonpareil–-the swamp water out back of Marie’s house.
Love conjures all.
Hear at it MySpace
Listen to other clips here.
A "musician's musical," in which the band members are also actors.
Characters (cast of 8, including the band, plus two horn players):
The Crawdaddy - “Home” to everybody there.
Marie Philosophe – Hairdresser and dabbler in potions. Owner of the Crawdaddy. Never married but has always loved Jon; 40-something.
Corrine the Queen – The manager of the Crawdaddy. A big presence with a good heart; 40 or 50-something.
Armetta Robecheaux – The waitress at the Crawdaddy; an empty-nester that needs a new start; 40-something.
Baxter – A smooth-talking swell from out of town. A developer (and con-man). He is, more or less, Satan. Timeless.
Jon Dupris (piano) – Full of wise cracks and fun. Just returned home after twenty-plus years in the LA music scene. He’s sorting out his new life; 40-something.
Stump Etuffe (guitar) – A fisherman by day and long-time partner of Armetta; mid-life crisis victim;
40-something.
Babe Benoit (bass) – In love with his bass.
Radon X (drums) – A guy with a secret.
Virgil Domengeaux/Sister Dooky Russell (horn) – Non-speaking band member (male or female).
Chief Lafitte Magritte/Coco Zito (horn) – Non-speaking band member (male or female).
Note: Characters may be of any race.
©2007 Maddox, Carroll & Surface
Music by David
Maddox
Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface
Book by Mary Hall Surface
Set on the dunes of East Texas, a young man named Lenny, who has inherited the daring of Icarus and the genius of Daedalus, discovers his wings and his lost father.
Commissioned
by Theater of the First Amendment and the Clarice Smith Center for the Performing
Arts.
A 2007 nominee for MacArthur Award for Best New Play or Musical (Helen Hayes Society)
When you grow up, you no longer dream of flying.
A western-swing telling of the Icarus myth, set in east Texas just before the Wright brothers. Cast of eight, band of five.
Sing
Down the Moon:
Appalachian Wonder Tales
Conceived by Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox
Book by Mary Hall Surface
Lyrics by Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox
Music by David Maddox
Journey into the Appalachians with clever Jack, the mysterious Catskins, the Sow's three pigs and the hungry fox, and find your heart's desire in the arms of The Enchanted Tree. This new Southern musical deftly weaves traditional tales and original music into a keepsake quilt of mountain lore and wisdom for the whole family.
Available as an original cast double CD HERE or at Amazon.com.
More photos and information on Sing Down the Moon.
Six Appalachian stories adapted for the stage: "Jack and the Wonder Bean", "Catskins" (a version of Cinderella), "Jack's First Job"," The Sow and Her Three Pigs", "Jack of Hearts and King Marock", and "The Enchanted Tree" (a version of Beauty and the Beast, only with a crow and tree).
Commissioned
by and first produced by Theater of the First Amendment in Fairfax, VA, the
show calls for nine actors and a four piece band. The six stories can be mixed
and matched to alter the total show length (all six stories total about 80
minutes).
A Cast Album from the premiere production is available from
AMAZON.COM.
Five Helen Hayes Award nominations! Including Best Musical, Best New Play, Best Music Direcion, and Best Direction. And starring Dwayne Nitz, 2001 winner of the Helen Hayes for Best Lead Actor in a Resident Musical.
Perseus
Bayou
Conceived by Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox
Lyrics by Mary Hall Surface and David Maddox
Music by David Maddox
Book by Mary Hall Surface
The myth of Perseus set in the chaotic world of post-Civil War Louisiana. To save the Bayou from greed and destruction Percy journeys to the edge of the human world. He becomes a Hero, fulfilling the promise of this beautiful story of supernatural and Heroic deeds. Percy saves his Mamon and he and Andomeda are placed in the stars for all time. Cajun music plus lots of Alligators. C'est bien!
Check out the original cast album, winner of a 2002 PARENT's CHOICE AWARD for Audio.
Available as an original cast CD HERE or at Amazon.com.
"Perseus Bayou" is a triumph of atmosphere and theatrical imagination. Surface and Maddox are the same team that set familiar fairy tales in Appalachia for last year's "Sing Down the Moon" at the same venue, and they have again created a smart, charming, extremely well-produced show that kids and grown-ups can watch together. Washington Post
See
more photos, listen to a sound clip.
Interested
in producing Perseus Bayou? Click here.
The Washington Post review of Perseus Bayou
Theater 'Perseus
Bayou': Magical Myth Tour
By Nelson Pressley Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, March 16, 2001
Page C01
In "Perseus Bayou," the Greek myth that playwright-director Mary Hall Surface and composer David Maddox have transposed to post-Civil War Louisiana, actors in alligator masks snap giant jaws at Percy, the young hero. Percy glides away on a single skate, pushing himself forward with a pole as if he were on a backwater flatboat. Set designer Tony Cisek surrounds Theater of the First Amendment's stage with mesh panels and a canopy bathed in Dan Covey's blue, green and purple light; a sloping ramp twists upstage with the graceful curves of the Mississippi River. The environment feels like a swampy overgrowth and a mysterious underworld. In other words, "Perseus Bayou" is a triumph of atmosphere and theatrical imagination. Surface and Maddox are the same team that set familiar fairy tales in Appalachia for last year's "Sing Down the Moon" at the same venue, and they have again created a smart, charming, extremely well-produced show that kids and grown-ups can watch together. The story takes a few liberties with the Perseus myth, but the essence of the tale is the same. Danae, pregnant with a child (Percy) sired by stars that flutter from the fly space, is banished by her angry father. She is set adrift down the river, where she meets a kindly fisherman named Doucet. Danae, Doucet and Percy become a family that is threatened by Polydectes, Doucet's rich cousin. Polydectes has eyes for Danae; he kills Doucet and tricks young Percy into promising he will slay the snake-haired Medusa. With that, Percy's growing-up journey begins in earnest. Surface and Maddox work almost seamlessly together. Though the show's music is basically continuous, there are few true songs. Characters speak more often than not, yet it's not uncommon for them to sing a quick line or repeating refrain. Maddox's melodies, played by a five-piece band (guitar, piano, accordion, fiddle and bass) generally have a jaunty Cajun feel. He has a gift for moody incidental music, too: When Percy's quest gets perilous, the score grows as shadowy and foreboding as Covey's lighting. Surface keeps the action pressing forward, and she sometimes folds narration into the dialogue. When Percy is suddenly smitten by a tomboy named Andromeda, he looks at the audience and says, "She made Percy's head spin." Surface works in a storybook style, handled with a light comic touch. The actors settle into that approach nicely. Dwayne Nitz is earnest and spunky as Percy, and Sherri L. Edelen's Danae is a winsome young mother in distress. Andrew Ross Wynn is a cape-twirling villain as Polydectes, while Eric Lee Johnson is a hardworking role model for Percy as Doucet. Wanda Kelly, in Afro-Caribbean garb by costume designer Jelena Vukmirovic (who also created the show's animal and ball masks), patrols the action in the slightly underwritten role of the magical Miss Athena. Colleen Delany is Percy's adventure-loving match as Andromeda -- "Andy," the tomboy insists. The script loses its way a little as Percy loses his. A character named Panther Hermes (Paul Takacs, garbed like a great cat) is both helpful and suspicious. After his less-than-direct advice to Percy, the audience is as likely as the hero to lose track of what his journey is about. The show's other minor flaws have to do with performance. Some of the group singing, especially during a witty number about three ghostly women who share a single eyeball, is sloppy, and Percy's climactic battles are staged as a slow blur. They lack the anticipated ring of triumph. But these small problems are far outweighed by the fluid staging and the distinctive way Surface and company flesh out the script with such an appropriate density of music and images. They take their make-believe seriously, which makes "Perseus Bayou" a true enchantment.
Perseus Bayou, written and directed by Mary Hall Surface, music and musical
direction by David Maddox, lyrics by Surface and Maddox. Choreography,
Beth Davis. With Steven Tipton, Dori Legg and Michael Bryant. Through
April 1 at Theater of the First Amendment, George Mason University, Fairfax.
Call 703-218-6500.
© 2001 The Washington Post Company
The
Odyssey of Telémaca
Lyrics by David Maddox & Mary Hall Surface
Music by David Maddox
Book
by Mary Hall Surface
Telémaca,
the daughter of a Mexican populist hero, has been left behind along with
her mother during her father's twelve-year absence. When her mother is
pressured to marry her father's enemy Don Ricardo, Telémaca sets
out on a journey to find her father and bring him home. Inspired by Homer's
Odyssey and reset in a world of Mexican magical realism, The Odyssey
of Telémaca is a musical story of the child left fatherless
to face the world. Commissioned by Childsplay in Tempe, Arizona, Telémaca
is a Rancheras style musical with a cast of eight and a band of accordion,
trumpet, violin, guitar, bass, piano & drums. Presented as part of
New Visions/New Voices at the Kennedy Center in May 2002, The Odyssey
of Telémaca premiered at George
Mason University's Concert Hall in June 2004 and originally commissioned by ChildsPlay in Tempe, AZ.
Available as an original cast CD HERE or at Amazon.com.
"An enchanting odyssey down Mexico way."
The Washington
Post
Details:
Length: Two acts, approximately 100 minutes
Cast: Nine (5 male, 3 female, one either)
Band: Seven (accordion, trumpet, piano, violin, guitar, bass, drums).
PARENTS' CHOICE GOLD AWARD WINNER 2004
Mississippi
Pinocchio
Lyrics by David Maddox &
Mary Hall Surface
Music by David Maddox
Book by Mary Hall
Surface
Premiered
at Theater of the First Amendment,
Fairfax, VA, on 13 March 2002.
Nominated for a Helen Hayes Award for
Best New Musical.
"There
is no better telling of the [Pinocchio] story
than Mississippi Pinocchio."
--Times Community Newspapers
Published by Dramatic Pubishing
(www.dramaticpubishing.com)
The rich and magical original tale placed in the American South circa 1900. Pinocchio is the "bad good boy" navigating his first and formative experiences in the world . His and Gepetta's journey from powerlessness to possibility is a metaphor for both growing up and the evolution of the distinctly American character. Dixieland music, steamboats, gamblers, danger and opportunity at the edge of an apparently limitless New World.
From Mississippi Pinocchio
GEPETTA
YOU'LL FIND MORE MISCHIEF
YOU'LL BREAK MY HEART.
PINOCCHIO
I'LL NEVER DO WHAT I SHOULDN'T DO
GEPETTA
WELL THAT'S A START
PINOCCHIO
I'LL PROTECT YOU FROM THE PIRATES
I'LL NEED A SWORD, YOU CAN MAKE ME ONE.
I'LL FIGHT DRAGONS, I'LL SLAY MONSTERS
ALL FOR YOU
IT'LL BE FUN
GEPETTA
"I suppose you'd save me from the belly of a
whale if one gobbled
me up?"
PINOCCHIO
"I could. I would!"
GEPETTA
(Softening.)
"Of course you would."
PINOCCHIO
"Momma!"
I'LL NEVER DO WHAT I SHOULDN'T DO
I'LL NEVER RUN AWAY FROM YOU.
I'LL GROW UP AND STAY WITH YOU
( Gepetta laughs)
"It's true!"
GEPETTA
WHEN I'M OLD?
PINOCCHIO
PROMISE.
No
words are spoken between them for a moment.
GEPETTA begins to carve new
feet for him.
©2002 Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox
*****
GEPETTA
Gepetta did not understand.
Day after day, week upon week, no one would buy.
CHORUS
LIVING ON THE RIVER
I FEEL SO FREE
NOBODY'S GOING TO SEPARATE
MY MONEY AND ME
GEPETTA
Soon she was poorer than she had ever been in Italy.
Gepetta's hope for the good life in America grew dim.
CHORUS
WIDE OPEN SCENERY
NOBODY STAND IN FRONT OF ME!
NO RESPONSIBILITY!
THE LAND OF THE FREE!
GEPETTA'S
hope is fading.
And she has given out all her money.
GEPETTA
HARD ROAD
CHORUS
GIMME SOME MONEY
GEPETTA
HEAVY LOAD
CHORUS
OH IT'S HOT AND SUNNY
LAMPWICK
sneaks up behind GEPETTA and steals the
doll she is trying to sell.
GEPETTA
"Thief! Stop! Stop him!"
A Melee erupts.
©2001 Mary Hall Surface & David Maddox
******
Cast
of 8:
4 mean, 4 women
Band of 5**:
piano, clarinet/flute double, trombone,
guitar/banjo double, bass
**A recorded version of the score (piano only) is available
from Dramatic Publishing.
Authors' Notes
Ours is a musical adaptation of Pinocchio set along the Mississippi River circa 1900. Mississippi Pinocchio will be true to the spirit of Collodi's original, the journey of a "bad good boy" navigating his first and formative experiences. His essential goodness is reflected in his honest nature and, ultimately, his learning to make good decisions about companions and family. But he must overcome his inevitable "badness": inconsiderate behavior, anger, desire and the poor choices that are the raw materials of maturation. Pinocchio resembles two pivotal American characters: Huck Finn and "Jack" of the southern Jack Tales. Pinocchio shares their essential goodness, but also an ultimate success that results from perseverance, not prior wealth, status, or even exceptional intelligence. Jack is the quintessentially American character: a boy who succeeds by dint of keeping at it. In our adaptation, the arrival of an immigrant "Gepetta" initiates an analogy of Pinocchio to the creation of the American character (both immigrant and perseverant). The original music will be in the style of Dixieland, which can capture the wild enthusiasm and improvisational nature of Pinocchio's personality. Pinocchio is an exciting candidate for a new adaptation. It is rich in characters, magic and meaning. Adults are familiar with the basic story but can be captivated by the unexpected depth of the original. Kids can see themselves and their complex emotional life in Pinocchio's maturation. As with our Perseus Bayou, audiences of all ages can thrill to a vivid and evocative story that oozes with theatrical possibility: steamboats, gamblers, danger and opportunity at the edge of an apparently limitless New World.
The
Nightingale
Adapted
by Mary Hall Surface
Music by David Maddox
Choreography by Dana Tai Soon Burgess
Adapted from
the story by
Hans Christian Anderson
An Emperor falls in love with a the Nightingale, the most beautiful thing in his Kingdom. But when he receives a gift of a mechanical Nighingale, he forsakes the Real Bird. When the mechanical bird inevitably breaks, the Emperor realizes his mistake and despairs. But, the loyal Nightingale returns, giving the Emperor strength to overcome Death. With the help of the Nightingale, he has learned the true meaning of friendship and loyalty.
Originally
commissioned in 1997, it has enjoyed two runs at the Kennedy Center and
four national tours.
Available as an original cast CD HERE or at Amazon.com.
The piece calls for one actor/soprano and five dancers. The music is available either as a recording or as a score for live musicians.
Dapper
Foxes, Singing Pigs, and Cajun Lullabies:
A
cabaret of songs from Sing Down the Moon, Perseus Bayou, Mississippi
Pinocchio, The Odyssey of Telémaca, LIFT: Icarus and Me,
and The Nightingale
Hear the practical pig Nancy outwit the hungry Fox, a Cajun lullaby to Perseus Bayou, Mr. Fire-Eater instruct Pinocchio about how grow up. Surface and Maddox have written five award-winning musicals for children and families which have been performed around the country at a variety of theatres, including the Kennedy Center.
This is a one-hour "cabaret"-style show of shows. Originally performed at the Kennedy Center's Millenium Stage, it can be used as it's own show, or as a entertainment for fund raising.
Details:
Length: Up to 90 minutes, any length is possible
Cast: Six singers (3 male, 3 female), although fewer are possible
Band: Four (piano, violin, guitar, bass), although can be performed with just
a piano