The Good Years: A Chat With Kait Kerrigan

Kait Kerrigan is a busy woman. Just after four on Thursday, the time scheduled for our chat, she has just gotten in and has to throw some things in the refrigerator before talking to me. So. What keeps Kerrigan so busy? Among other things: teaching a class at Primary Stages, working on several theatrical projects with writing partner Brian Lowdermilk, working on an upcoming CD featuring their music, having one of her plays produced at the Hapgood Theatre this season (click here for more information) , and generally being fabulous. If you know of Kerrigan, it is probably in the context "Kerrigan and Lowdermilk." How did "Kerrigan and Lowdermilk" happen? "Brian and I first met when he was in a production of LOST IN YONKERS that my dad directed at the local community theater. He was about ten years old and played Artie. I was twelve. We were not friends. We met a second time at summer camp doing LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS. He was Seymour and I was Audrey. I was 16. He was 14. Again. We were not friends." But third time's the charm, no? "Then we met when I was in college after he'd started writing musicals and I'd started writing plays." Within a few weeks they were collaborating on their first musical. "We didn't really know any better," says Kerrigan, "We just started writing a show. There's something fantastic about not knowing anything. You make terrible mistakes, but you also trip over amazing, happy accidents". Now in the opposite position, Kerrigan shares her accumulated knowledge with students in her two libretto writing classes at Primary Stages (Libretto Writing I and Advanced Libretto Writing.) After doing several readings at Primary Stages and developing relationships there, she was asked to teach the course, originally five weeks, now lengthened to ten. "The pace is extremely fast and I kind of kick their asses," she says. But that's what they're paying for, right? "That's what I tell them when they groan." Lowdermilk also teaches at Primary Stages: a Composition course. For more information about all of the classes offered at Primary Stages, visit their website: http://www.primarystages.org/writing#musicaltheater. While it's hard to pick favorites when it comes to Kerrigan-Lowdermilk tunes, the song cycle TALES FROM THE BAD YEARS probably tops my list. If you're not acquainted, listen here to the haunting beauty of my favorite song from the show, "Two Strangers." "We were actually asked by a company to write a song cycle and we were really reluctant to do so. We thought about it for a while and tried to figure out what we could bring to that genre that would make it feel fresh," Kerrigan explains, "What we realized was that we were interested in talking about [the "twenty-something"] generation that doesn't quite know what to do with themselves and that seem to be waiting for something to happen to them." Freed of a traditional plot, Kerrigan and Lowdermilk realized that they could focus more on the story telling and musical journey of the piece. "That became the mission." Unfortunately, the company that had originally requested the song cycle ran into financial problems and was unable to move forward on it. "But by that point, we were interested, so we kept working on it. It's been a really nice project to have happening in the background." As of now, nothing is planned for the show, but I advise you to either head to Kerrigan and Lowdermilk's website or their Youtube channel to hear more of its beautiful music. One show not happening in the background is THE UNAUTHORIZED AUTOBIOGRAPHY OF SAMANTHA BROWN: It is dawn. Samantha Brown, a high school valedictorian, is supposed to leave for college today but daydreams about driving into the unknown. She sits in her car with her bags packed, but she can't turn the key in the ignition. She is filled with doubts. As the defining moments of her senior year flash through her mind, Samantha has to come to terms with her parents' expectations, her first love, and a lost friendship before she can turn the key and make the first decision of her adult life. The show has just received a new website, which according to Kerrigan will be outfitted with lots of interactive features soon. "Apparently, the road is going to move," she says, "It's crazy." Stay tuned for upcoming information about the show's future. Finally, for any of you confused by Kerrigan's ambiguous tweets last week, such as, "So - I don't "kiss and tell" but we're not not recording with someone remarkably talented/famous today. & we're not not making an album... –k" They actually ARE making an album. Which I suppose was somewhat ruined by the opening paragraph of this blog. Apologies. More information about the album, along with a pre-sale and fundraising campaign, will be released in the next month or so. "We are incredibly lucky to have the collaborators we're working with and I can tell you that the tracks that have been mixed are crazy good." And we cannot wait to hear! For more information on Kerrigan and Lowdermilk see: Official Website: http://www.kerrigan-lowdermilk.com/ Youtube Page: http://www.youtube.com/kerriganlowdermilk Till Latah, Jess

haven't written on here in a while...oh and I'll talk about theatre, too

Hey there!
So I haven't really been able to post on here in a while. About to start my second theatre-filled year at college (GO EAGLES) and I've caught up with that and summer's professions. Saying this, I will now tell Jess how much I love her for keeping the blog afloat without me. I'd be lost without you!

Anyway, back to theatre. This article will be a theatre review of a national outdoor drama that I hope some of you have seen to share in how in awe I was the entire time. I am talking about the show, Lost Colony. The show is about the "Lost Colony" of Roanoke and how they got there, etc.

Originally there were plans in the outer banks area of North Carolina to create a movie based on this mysterious tale. A movie was made in 1921 using members from all over the community of Roanoke Island. Later, the movie idea was transformed into a pageant in 1925, and finally in 1937, Paul Green (Pullitzer Prize winner) was asked to write a play concerning the story. The end result was a riveting "Symphonic Drama" of love, loss, war, and peace. It began in 1937 and has been up for practically every summer since.

I learned about the show when my friend from college got a job as a costumer/stitcher backstage and I finally got the chance myself to see it. By the end, I was amazed. The show was flawlessly performed with a Renaissance-style, meaning the actors were the stagehands and moved around the set pieces during the show. The singing was clear and brilliant, and the costumes were meticulous enough that every actor's costume (well, many costumes) was unique to themselves. Flawless design job by non other than the tony-award winning William Ivey Long! Bravo to you!

As for the acting, I loved every moment. The actors were alive so vibrantly that they could easily take anyone into this world they were in and this story they were telling. Some characters that stuck out to me were Sir Walter Raleigh, Old Tom, and the Queen of England herself. Sir Raleigh, played by Nathan Bennett, served as the narrator moving in and out of the action of the show from time to time. Great job at that, and the costume change used to emphasize that was very nice. He brought the drama to the show, and was balanced with the comic relief that was Old Tom, played by Ira David Wood IV. Wood did a great job with his character, creating this sweet lighthearted drunk that you fell in love with in the beginning. What made him interesting the transition of him becoming more confident as the town grew more in despair. His heroic grandeur by the end lifted your own spirits for the townsfolk, as you learned of their challenges to stay alive right along with them. These challenges brought along by the stubbornness of the Queen of England! Her majesty, played by Rhonda Karson, was ferocious to the end, making you hate her more and more. And if Karson can portray the Queen so well at only 19, I'm ready to see what she will do in years to come.

All in all, a spectacular performance from the cast and crew. This is a show that I actually hope to audition to be in myself. I took the backstage tour and marveled at what it takes to run this show at such a professional level (i.e. equal parts of water and vodka make for a mixture better than frebreeze. Amazing!). I hope I can experience this, myself.

Oh! I saw Wood's family came to see the show tonight, including his sister, Evan Rachel Wood. She was.......a tad short of fabulous. But I'll just let you keep your opinion in your minds. With that, I leave you! Goodbye!

P
C