He Knew He Would Say It (But Could He Believe It Again) – A new music theater piece that explores the complexities of queer love using the words of Tennessee Williams set to original music.

THE PROJECT

In April 2016, He Knew He Would Say It – But Could He Believe It Again? will be staged at Le Petit Theatre in New Orleans, Louisiana as part of the 30th Anniversary of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival. 

The project, which has been in development over the past two years, was created by Zachary Clause and Jeremy Lawrence using fragmented text from the plays, journal entries and poetry of Tennessee Williams.  Composer Rob Kendt joined shortly after, and has created a beautiful original score for the project.

Music has always been a part of Tennessee Williams’ work, whether in underscoring or actual song. The cadence of his words suggest music—especially his poetry. He Knew He Would Say It was created from Williams’ poems, fragments of his plays, and journal entries; including unpublished material. Rob Kendt brings an eclectic style of contemporary music to this piece about the search for love between men. Williams was a romantic, and it was the pursuit of love in which Williams believed—more than its possession. This is not a love story, but love finally manages to be the hero.

Your pledge will allow this project to be produced in New Orleans as part of one of the most prestigious Tennessee Williams festivals in the world, and will help these artists further develop and explore this new piece in front of a live audience. Pledge now and support a fresh theatrical approach to one of the greatest writers of all time in the iconic city that inspired and shaped his work.

THE TEAM

Jeremy Lawrence (Creator/Performer) has performed in New York, Los Angeles and in regional theatres across the country as well as on TV and in film. His original plays have been produced in Chicago, Los Angeles and Buffalo. For more than ten years he has been compiling material from research in the various collections of Tennessee Williams work (published and unpublished plays, poems, essays, letters, stories) creating some six one-man solo shows and playing the writer in his own words. His shows have been seen at all the major Williams Festivals as well as at Universities around the country. He was invited to participate in Mr. Williams’ induction to The Poet’s Corner at St. John the Divine as well as at the celebration of Williams at the 92nd Street Y on the occasion of the centenary of his birth.

Zachary Clause (Creator/Performer) is currently studying at The New School. As an actor he has performed Off-Broadway, The Fringe and NYMF festivals, as well as many regional theatres across the country. For the past several years he has performed alongside Jeremy Lawrence in Tennessee Williams’ The Chalky White Substance and The Traveling Companionin Williams Festivals all over the country as well as Dublin.

Rob Kendt (Composer) is a member of the BMI Advanced Composer/Lyricist Workshop and a graduate of the USC School of Cinema/TV. His credits includes scores and music direction for the L.A. Drama Critics Circle-nominated An Appalachian Twelfth Night, Suicide in B-Flat at Company of Angels, Uncle Vanya at the Met Theatre and Pacific Resident Theatre, and The Strip at the Evidence Room, and a musical role in Cornerstone Theater Company’s For Here or To Go? at the Mark Taper Forum. In New York, he’s written several scores for the Metropolitan Theatre, including for a new musical based on Washington Irving’s classic The Devil and Tom Walker (published by PlayScripts). As a pop singer/songwriter, he has released two albums, I Hope It’s Me and I’m Not Sentimental. By day, he is a theater journalist who served as founding editor of Back Stage West. He now works as Senior Editor for American Theatre.

Michael Bush (Director) is the resident mentor Director/Dramaturg in residence at the Johnny Mercer Foundation Writer’s Colony at Goodspeed and was previously Director of Artistic Production of the Manhattan Theatre Club and artistic director of the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center’s Cabaret and Performance Conference, He has directed Off Broadway in regional theatre and has directed 9 shows for the NYMF Festival and will be directing two more this season.

 THE NUMBERS

In order to present this project as part of the Tennessee Williams/New Orleans Literary Festival in April, we need to raise a minimum of $5,000:

$400 – Props and costumes

$1600 – Roundtrip airfare for 4 team members 

$3000 – Lodging for 4 team members over 4 nights

These budget items are essential in order to bring the project to New Orleans, share it with festival audiences and provide for the continued growth of the project.

PLEDGE NOW to support this exciting new piece and give these artists the opportunity to further develop their work in a city that was integral to the artistry of Tennessee Williams.  

Source: Icrowdnewswire