After four full seasons of singing and dancing to beloved old songs and familiar musical numbers during their Broadway Under the Stars shows at Jack London State Historic Park, the artists behind Sonoma’s Transcendence Theater Company are about to add a little more “new” and “exciting” to all that comfy “old” and “familiar.”
“We could very easily, in coming years, go into doing productions of “Hello, Dolly!” and well-known musicals, and kind of go down that road,” says Robert Petrarca, a founding member of Transcendence, and currently a resident artistic associate. “But what’s more interesting, for us, is the idea of developing and introducing new things, and being a place where artists can come and collaborate and create something new.”
Not that “new” is really all that new for Transcendence. For the last couple of years, in between its crowd-pleasing, large-cast Broadway shows held out at the Park, Transcendence has been quietly presenting a series of small showcases held in more intimate venues around the area. Some have been world premieres of new shows, or workshop productions of new musicals still in development, such as last year’s concert presentation of Witness to Uganda. Even during the Broadway Under the Stars shows, Artistic Director Amy Miller has sprinkled a few new songs here and there, introducing one original work each year, written especially for that season.
Now, with next week’s two-nights-only unveiling of an original show called Imagine-running Sept. 2 and 3 at Paradise Ridge Winery-Transcendence is taking another bold step forward, clearly letting its audiences know that every show the company has produced since setting up shop in Sonoma in 2011 has just been an appetizer for the upcoming main course, coming in the next year or two-something entirely fresh and decidedly original.
“Imagine is a celebration of the new, as explored through the art of songwriting,” says Petrarca, who is directing the show from an original script developed by a number of team artists, including Sonoma’s Lexy Fridell, who will appear as one of the show’s twin narrators alongside Leah Sprecher. “This show is about the process of creating new works,” Petrarca says, “from the creation of individual songs to the development of complete musicals. The show was written to give audiences a behind-the-scenes perspective into what goes into writing new music. It traces the path of developing a song from concept to creation, and demonstrates the process of collaboration that goes along with it.
“With this show,” Petrarca says, “we are excited to be breaking out into new directions.”
Imagine features eight singer-songwriters including popular Transcendence artists Stephen Stubbins, Carrie Manolakos, James D. Sasser, and others, several of which have written new songs specifically for the show.
“It’s incredibly exciting to create something completely new,” says Fridell, who recently presented a new show of her own with the Transcendence Artist Series premiere of Off to the Cloud, performed last month at Jacuzzi Family Vineyards. For Imagine, Fridell has written major parts of the script, essentially creating the unifying thread that brings all of the disparate pieces of the show together.
Writing the show, says Fridell, has been a rewarding experience.
“From the moment Robert told me the idea for this show, I was excited to be a part of it,” she says. “And making it happen with my friends has been amazing. Sitting in a room with other great artists and developing a new project, throwing out ideas, and watching everyone be inspired by each other, that’s just an amazing experience.”
In the show, true to form, the cast will toss in a few familiar tunes along with several originals, telling the stories behind their creation and then allowing audiences to experience them anew in arrangements that will change the way people think about those tunes.
“We’re doing Lady Gaga’s ‘Born This Way,’” laughs Petrarca, “and I guarantee you, the way we’re doing it will be unlike anything you’d expect.”
Asked if “Imagine” has a chance to become a staple of future Transcendence seasons, or perhaps to travel beyond Sonoma as a show able to stand on its own, Petrarca admits its possible, but that it’s not really the goal for that particular show.
“I actually think the biggest goal for this project is just to get our audiences excited about new works,” he says. “The goal of ‘Imagine,’ rather than just to create a show we will do over and over, is to get people excited to see and hear something they’ve never experienced before-so we can start delving into fully realized original productions and original songs in future years.”
When those “original productions” are likely to be staged in the old winery ruins at Jack London, Petrarca isn’t saying, but he does allow that shows like Imagine are taking Transcendence closer to that objective.
“We’re just lucky to have the opportunity to develop new work here,” says Petrarca. “This is a community that is interested in the arts, that is always excited to see something new-and one of the reasons we are so happy to be working here, is that we know they will continue to support these efforts to create something unique and wonderful.”
Email David at david.templeton@sonomanews.com.
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