As Music Supervisor for the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign’s production of Philip Dawkins’ Failure: A Love Story, I navigated a unique and rewarding challenge: bringing the play’s poignant narrative to life through music. For future music directors embarking on this journey, I’m sharing insights into the musical landscape we created, particularly focusing on the role of guitars and how we used chord arrangements to underscore the story’s emotional core. This production beautifully intertwined love and loss, and the guitar chords became an essential voice in expressing these themes.
Staging Music with Actor-Musicians: Guitars and Ukuleles at the Heart
Entering the rehearsal process after initial staging, my first task was to integrate the music seamlessly. We adopted a collaborative approach, teaching the actors the musical pieces and then adapting the staging to incorporate live accompaniment. With a focus on accessibility and the actor-musician concept, we utilized two guitars and two ukuleles, skillfully played by five actors throughout the performance – ensemble members, Gerty, and Mortimer.
This organic process allowed for exciting discoveries. Sometimes, staging was subtly adjusted to enhance musical ideas that emerged during rehearsals. Conversely, musical arrangements were refined to better serve the physical and emotional demands of specific scenes. A notable example is the trio involving Mortimer Mortimer, John N, and the Gramophone. The staging and musical interpretation evolved significantly from the initial script, becoming a collaborative creation between myself, the director JW Morrissette, and the actors. We worked together to ensure the music amplified the emotional depth of these pivotal moments, often relying on the nuanced tones and chords of the guitars to convey unspoken feelings.
Selecting Songs to Resonate with Love and Loss: Original Tunes and Beloved Classics
The script’s score presented a fascinating starting point: original melodies by Philip Dawkins, sometimes challenging to decipher in their pixelated form and lacking chord indications. The production number “The Feeling (Johnny W)” initially posed a key challenge. While starting in actor-musician-friendly C major, the intended shift to B major proved impractical in rehearsal. Ultimately, transposing the second half to C major ensured playability without sacrificing the song’s energy and emotional impact.
“I Don’t Need Anyone,” another original tune, stood out for its melodic complexity. Harmonizing it for actor-musicians while supporting the Gramophone character required careful consideration. Experimentation was key, particularly with a reversed version intended for a memory sequence. We explored both lyric-reversal with unchanged music and a complete retrograde version. While conceptually intriguing, the retrograde version proved too abstract, losing its connection to the original melody. The goal was to evoke memory and distortion, not complete alienation from the song’s emotional core.
Beyond the originals, the score included a jingle for Tonsiline throat gargle – lyrics only. Responding to JW’s vision for a sung preshow announcement, a talented undergraduate theatre major crafted a short, engaging piece that effectively set the tone for the performance and introduced the play’s unique style.
The pre-existing songs were carefully chosen for their thematic resonance, particularly with the “love story” element:
- “Let Me Call You Sweetheart”: This classic became a recurring motif, poignantly marking each death in the play, its sweet melody tinged with sadness.
- “I Can’t Give You Anything But Love”: A powerful declaration of love, its inclusion highlighted the passionate relationships within the narrative.
- “I Guess I’ll Have To Change My Plan”: This song spoke to shifting expectations and the bittersweet nature of love and loss, reflecting the play’s themes of fate and change.
- “Lover Come Back To Me”: A yearning plea, this song underscored themes of longing and the enduring power of love even in the face of absence.
Philip Dawkins’ “A Note on Music” in the script offered crucial guidance, acknowledging the mix of public domain, original, and licensed songs. His suggestion to substitute songs with similar themes if licensing proved problematic provided flexibility while maintaining the intended emotional and thematic landscape of the play. This underscores the importance of understanding the emotional arc of the “love story” and choosing music – and guitar chords – that amplify these feelings.
In conclusion, musically staging Failure: A Love Story was a journey of collaboration and creative problem-solving. By focusing on actor-musicianship, carefully selecting songs that resonated with the play’s themes of love and loss, and thoughtfully arranging music for guitars and ukuleles, we crafted a score that deepened the emotional impact of this unique and moving theatrical experience. The guitar chords, simple yet expressive, became an integral part of telling this poignant love story.
