Fresno Beehive: From Page to Stage Series - Children’s Musical Theaterworks nabs a brand-new musical

Original Post: September 29, 2011
By Donald Munro
http://fresnobeehive.com/2011/09/theater_beat_cm.html

VIKING FEVER: Skyler Gray, artistic director of Children’s Musical Theaterworks, is excited over a big change to the season — as well he should. CMT will be producing a workshop production of the new musical “Yo, Vikings!,” which recently received a reading at the Off-Broadway York Theater. The show was a finalist for the prestigious 2011 Richard Rodgers Award.

The musical is based on the popular book by Judy Schachner about a young girl with a vibrant imagination. The Fresno production of “Yo, Vikings! — which replaces the previously scheduled “Aladdin, Jr.” in the company’s early March performance slot — will be the first time the show will be seen on the West Coast. The full-length musical has been expanded from 60 minutes in its original incarnation to about 1 hour and 40 minutes. The creative team of Sam Willmott and Marcus Stevens will come from New York for tech week to help fine-tune the show and for opening night.

On the jump: I chat with Gray some more about “Vikings.” Plus: One of Fresno’s small theater companies, Theatre Ventoux, disbands; Woodward Shakespeare Festival is looking for directors; and a sneak peek at the set for “T.I.C. Trenchcoat in Common” at Fresno State.

Question: Can you tell me a little more about the book on which the musical is based?

Answer: It tells the story of Emma Katz, a young girl with a vibrant imagination. Much to her mother and teacher’s disapproval, Emma dresses up as something new everyday. Today Emma is a fox. Emma is assigned Erik the Red, Viking Explorer, for her World Discovery Day Report. In her research for the project a whole new adventure begins. Mr. Sigurd, the librarian, shows Emma the limitless possibilities books can bring as the Vikings on the page come to life. Emma, with the help of her brother Ollie, embark on a quest to save the library and obtain a real Viking ship. Emma’s adventure of self-discovery helps her understand what is truly the greatest adventure of all.

How were you able to snag this workshop production of a new musical?

The way CMT came about the work is actually quite interesting. It arrived at South Coast Repertory [where Gray worked] and was lovingly passed on to myself as a possibility for CMT. I fell in love with it. I was struck by the same thing I felt with “13: The Musical.” Even though the show is directed at young teens, the characters are complex and face real life problems and situations. From there I was able to meet with Sam Willmott during my vacation in New York. We really hit it off as we discussed the show and the development it has undergone. A month later Sam contacted me to say that they were interested in continuing the development of “Yo, Vikings!” after its reading at The York Theater and then offered us the Workshop Production for our 2012 Season. The rest as they say is history.

Do you think the creative team will be doing lots of tweaking/changes on the show?

Sam and Marcus have already done some quite extensive development to the script, but it is still ever evolving. As we speak they are working on four new songs for the show which will be featured in our production. As this will be the first time the new version will be staged, Sam and Marcus will working from New York to help develop the script based on our rehearsals … It is such an exciting thing to work on a script that has yet to be staged and really create these characters from the ground up. Plus, have the chance to work hands-on with the playwrights!

Have you heard anything about future plans for the show beyond the Fresno date?

The future of “Yo, Vikings!” is ever evolving. After the reading at The York Theater, the show gained some great exposure, and the future looks bright for this production. I can’t go into any specifics as to the future of the production on the professional end, but I can say that I know our production will be the first of many to come.