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UW-Stevens
Point news release News Services, Stevens Point WI 54481-3897 Phone: 715-346-3046 Fax: 715-346-2042 E-mail: news@uwsp.edu www.uwsp.edu/news Back to News releases | News release archive | UWSP Home Released:
Feb. 24, 2004 |
Nelson�s musical staged at UW-Stevens Point
A compelling musical drama will give university students a near-professional experience in a production composed and directed by a faculty member at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point.
"Lisa and David: The Musical," with music by Roger L. Nelson, associate professor of theatre and dance, will be performed Wednesday through Sunday, March 10 to 14, in the Studio Theatre of the Fine Arts Building. Performances are at 7:30 p.m., except for the Sunday 2 p.m. matinee.
Admission is $9 for adults and $5 for youth. Tickets are available at the UWSP Box Office in Room 103A of the University Center, by calling 715-346-4100 or 800-838-3378, or on the Internet at https://tickets.uwsp.edu/Wt3/. A minimal ticketing charge is added to each ticket purchase. Visa, MasterCard or Discover cards are accepted. Tickets also will be available at the door if performances are not sold out in advance.
"As with all our productions, this musical gives our students a near-professional experience," said Ken Risch, chair of the Department of Theatre and Dance. "They will get the opportunity to work with newly revised material, an experience they will have when they work in professional theatre."
Set in 1959, the musical is the story of two exceptional young people. David, a brilliant 16-year-old, played by senior Andrew Cao of Green Bay, believes he can control time and is terrified of being touched. Lisa, a schizophrenic 15-year-old who speaks only in rhyme, is played by freshman Rosemary Zurad of Kenosha. Through the encouragement of the staff at the treatment center where they live, the two develop a budding friendship and begin to fall in love and take the first steps toward recovery.
Script and lyrics are by award-winning author and playwright, John Driver. Nelson is the director and Alan Shorter, assistant professor of theatre and dance, is musical director. First produced in 1984, the musical has been extensively revised for the UWSP production. It is based on the novel, "Lisa and David," by Dr. Theodore Isaac Rubin.
"The show is a journey, an opening up," Nelson said. Although the plot moves metaphorically from shadow into light, the play is not dark and "the end of the show is really the beginning for Lisa and David," he added.
The students had the script well before rehearsals began, but they got a new script for the first rehearsal and will continue to receive new lines and songs until a few weeks before opening night.
"This was a new experience for our students," Nelson said. "Generally they get a polished script to work with, but with this play they had new numbers to learn after the first few weeks of rehearsal."
With a class schedule that runs until 5 p.m. and rehearsals from 6:30 to 10 p.m., "the play has become my life," Zurad said. "I love it. It�s an adventure every day." Although she is a freshman and this is her debut at UWSP, Zurad is no stranger to the stage. She has been performing since she was 10 and was in numerous dramas and musicals during high school.
Unlike the novel, the musical also portrays the relationship of two therapists, played by Ashley Schmitt of Casco and Darrel Hager of Sauk Prairie. The development of their relationship is a counterpoint to the story of Lisa and David.
Schmitt interviewed social workers who deal with troubled people on a day-to-day basis. "From my research, I learned a lot about how therapists deal with situations," Schmitt said. "Patience and listening are two huge elements. This play shows what therapists go through daily and it is an opportunity to show people a different side of things. I love the potential impact that it can have."
The remainder of the cast has been seen on the stage of Jenkins Theatre last semester in either "Cabaret" or "Picasso at the Lapin Agile." All but one are musical theatre majors and all are excellent singers, Nelson said.
"This is a challenge for the students," Shorter said. "But it is not an intimidating or insurmountable one. This experience will be invaluable to our students when they find themselves in similar situations later in their careers. It is totally in concert with the mission of the musical theatre program, which is to prepare performers to work professionally."
The score is written for two keyboards, performed by Shorter and Stacey McKay, a senior from Columbus.
The original production won the prestigious Eugene O�Neill award and was performed at the O�Neill Theatre Center. Later it was produced at the Lee Strasberg Center in Los Angeles and The Hollywood Reporter hailed it as "a beautiful little musical." The newspaper added, "John Driver�s sensitive book and lyrics hit all the basic values. Roger L. Nelson�s music, with its wistful waltz melodies and eerie harmonies, fits it like a glove . . . haunting, dead on and artfully unpretentious."
An accomplished composer, arranger, conductor, pianist and performer, Nelson received the Grand Prize in the 1987 American Musical Theatre Festival Competition for the musical, "Mary S.," and has written opera, concert works and numerous song settings performed by concert artists. As an actor, he has appeared as the suave El Gallo in the New York production of "The Fantasticks," as well as in numerous regional and stock productions. His arrangements for The U.S. Army Band and Chorus continue to be standard repertoire for the organization.
Driver is co-author of "Chekhov in Yalta," winner of the Los Angeles Drama Critics� Award for best play. He also has written the young adult mystery novel series, "Undercover Cleo," and the novels, "Married to the Iceman" and "Hunger of the Beast." As an actor, Driver appears in the recurring role of federal prosecutor Bob Gervitz in "Law & Order" and as New York Police Commissioner Morris on "Law & Order: SVU."
Driver co-wrote the off-Broadway revue, "Scrambled Feet," which won the Show Business Award. Nelson performed, directed and arranged music for "Scrambled Feet" which became an RKO video production starring Madeline Kahn.
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