Disco Biscuits guitarist, Jon Gutwillig, along with longtime New Yorker journalist and noted author Nicholas Schmidle, have announced a second showing of their highly-anticipated debut of The Very Moon: A Steampunk Musical on Sunday, 5/14. After selling out the originally scheduled 5/13 performance in a matter of minutes, the pair added a subsequent Mother’s Day matinee showing of the theatrical adaptation of Gutwillig’s iconic rock opera Hot Air Balloon at the intimate FringeArts performing center in Philadelphia.
“We’ve been working on this for almost a year”, explains Schmidle, who has taken on the roles of co-producer, writer, and lyricist for this project. “That seems like a long time but that’s nothing in the lifetime of an average musical.
“We wanted to re-break the story and delve deep into the characters. Some of whom you’ll know, some of whom you won’t. And we’re still trying to figure out how, for instance, “Eulogy” is going to sound in the voice of an actor. Or how any of the new batch of songs are going to sound in the voice of anyone! It’s exciting but also a bit terrifying.
“It’s a test pilot mentality, the belief that perfect can be the enemy of good. The best way to figure out what an experimental airplane needs is to get it airborne and see how it flies. We’re hoping for something similar. A bigger audience hopefully means a richer workshop and ultimately a better show.”
In addition to Glide’s recent exclusive interview with Gutwillig about the upcoming “developmental workshop”, and much more, the pair have also released some behind-the-scenes rehearsal footage of The Very Moon material featuring Biscuits’ keyboardist Aron Magner.
From the original press release:
Twenty-four years ago, guitarist Jon Gutwillig wrote a steampunk rock opera about a hopeless romantic’s quest to fly. He called it “Hot Air Balloon.” Gutwillig and his Philadelphia-based band, The Disco Biscuits, have played the nine songs from the opera hundreds of times since then. But the music has never been adapted for a theater stage.
Until now.
On May 13–14, join Gutwillig at FringeArts for an open workshop of THE VERY MOON: A STEAMPUNK MUSICAL. This intimate night of musical theater, presented by Gutwillig and co-producer, writer, and lyricist Nicholas Schmidle, will feature the first public performances of THE VERY MOON. Other contributors include Aron Magner (composer) and Alex Bechtel (arranger, musical director).
Gutwillig and Schmidle will host a conversation after the performances, where attendees will be invited to participate in a discussion about the show. This is a developmental workshop, so no audio or video recordings by audience members will be allowed.
Tickets can be purchased this Thursday, 4/20 @ 10am EST at https://fringearts.com/event/the-very-moon-a-steampunk-musical/
