Across a Crowded Room (1/6/2024)

This is a New York Public Library–sponsored writing program for budding composers, lyricists, and librettists. The attendees get assigned, randomly, with each other and tasked with writing a 20-minute music theater piece (standalone, part of a larger work, or something that may bridge that gap). It’s a summer program, with the fruits of their labors presented in autumn. Alas, I missed the November 2023 presentation. But there were extras. The program leaders build in the fact that some pairs/trios will fall by the wayside. Guess what? That didn’t happen in 2023, so we were gifted with five new works in early 2024. And I’m glad.

The five works were (and I’m not making this up, you know) – that’s like saying, I vomited your dinner or the I still love you short; Polar Excess; Helen & Cassandra, Gifts of the Gods; CURSES!; and “The Bees”.

The good news is that after each presentation, a panel of two offered constructive criticism to the authors. Sometimes I agreed with the panelists, sometimes not. I tended to be a bit more critical while they tended to be more nurturing, which is only natural. These are budding writers—we don’t want to scare them away.

The first work was my least favorite, and that seemed to be the same with the panelists. Here are my notes: “The breakup of a relationship between two women. Fairly static, dramatically and musically.” The title was almost longer than the finished product.

The second (with the composer at the piano) was a political musical with much more fun music. The characters included two US Senators with opposing views of global warming/climate change. Oh, and they used to be married to each other. Here are my notes: “<Sound effects> Musical motifs included Up, Up, and Away (all five characters got a crack at the motif), and Running Away from a Polar Bear.” The composing included actual harmony while the minimal staging included a kick line. Did I mention fun?

The third was a two-hander (though the composer/pianist had minimal spoken/sung text). The opening number tried to cram too much text into too small phrases. Also (and I’ve noticed this before with composer/pianists) the piano was often too loud. I think they might like their music too much to the detriment of the overall performance. The vocal writing for Helen and Cassandra was a bit too uneven to my ear.

CURSES! had a few interesting twists and turns involving the two characters. The music was a nice mix of sad (which worked well), lovely (a song about seeds, of all things), and hope (which included a deftly done combination of harmony and unison lines).

“The Bees” was a lot of fun and also gave us lots of information about the hive mentality as well as human family relationships. It had simple but effective tunes, leading us to the conclusion that it was sweet and the honey didn’t dry up.

There were no clunkers. Here’s my minor quibble. I know that this is a writing program, but it’s also a performance program. Perhaps the folks in charge could stress to the performers that it’s very important to take a bow. That is their way of thanking us for our applause. OK, off my soap box now. I’ll be sure to keep my eyes peeled for future editions of Across a Crowded Room.

ConcertMeister