TURN THE GAS BACK ON

A Madcap Musical by Max C. Golightly, C. Michael Perry and Neil K. Newell

It’s a zany show about a director and a troupe of actors trying to put on an improvisational musical inspired by a work of modern art. Roger Howard, Director of a small acting company, brings Marvin, a modern artist friend, to his theatre to see a rehearsal of some of the scenes of a play he’s producing, for the purpose of convincing him it can be done with the same resulting effects and methods the painter gets with his avante- garde paintings. As the play within the play proceeds, the actors and actresses try to apply natural motivations to the meanings in the play. Impressed with a song sung by Adele, an actress past her prime, who is replacing a regular member of the company, Roger includes the song in the show and succumbs to her warm charms. Wayne and Morris, who play opposite Myra, have difficulty in switching from the real to the unreal characters in their efforts to understand what significance “the Object” has in development of the theme of the play. This is further complicated by the relationship of Lily, Roger’s assistant, with her unknown to all mother, Adele. In the final scene Myra is carried away in her characterization of Looma, finally losing contact with her own identity. She is brought back to reality by the others when they realize that “the object” really belongs to the audience not the actors, for when a work of art is created and presented to the public, it becomes theirs–to be done with as they see fit. They give the object back to the audience in the end, because that is where it comes from. Actors emotions run the gamut. A challenging show.

My favorite song from this show is YOU! (a trio love-triangle song with a double melody that is sung together for the last part of the song, interrupted by a tap dance(edited out of the demo), joined by the chorus) demoed below.

SELECTED VOCAL DEMOS: from the original cast album

Published by Leicester Bay Theatricals