APAC Artistic Director and Director of the Love Trapezoid APAC Workshop

As we continue with our goal to bring new works to Astoria, we are proud to introduce the APAC Workshop.

This season we’ll be presenting a new musical, Love Trapezoid by Matt Schatz directed by our very own artistic director, Tom Wojtunik.

In this interview Tom discusses where the APAC Workshop falls in the 2011-2012 season.

THIS HAS BEEN A SEASON OF FIRSTS AT APAC — A WORLD PREMIERE AND COMING UP NEXT IS THE VERY FIRST APAC WORKSHOP. WHAT CAN AUDIENCES EXPECT FROM THE WORKSHOP? HOW IS IT DIFFERENT FROM A MAINSTAGE PRODUCTION OR A READING?

Love Trapezoid by Matt Schatz will be the first ever APAC Workshop, and we are very much looking forward to it. The workshop will live between an APAC Mainstage and a Staged Reading. It’ll be different from a full production in the sense that there won’t be a real set or costumes. But the actors will be off-book and fully “staged”, and there will be a small band. It’s like we are rehearsing a mainstage and right before the technical elements are added, we stop and invite the audience in.

Another major difference is that we won’t be inviting press to review the workshop. It’s really about giving Matt the time to explore the material in a safe way; we’re only performing two weekends, and we’ve allowed rehearsal time in the schedule between the weekends, in case Matt wants to make changes after seeing it in front of an audience. Also, it’s a $10 suggested donation to see the workshop (unlike the $18 ticket price for an APAC Mainstage).

At an APAC Staged Reading, the actors are at music stands with the script in front of them, so this is definitely more advanced than that. It’s an opportunity for our audience to be a part of the development of a new musical, and we can’t wait to add them in—the audience is the last missing ingredient.

TELL US ABOUT THE PIECE YOU’VE SELECTED: HOW DID YOU FIND IT? WHAT WAS IT THAT MADE YOU WANT TO DEVELOP IT?

Matt Schatz sent me the script last year, after seeing MilkMilkLemonade. Matt and I had crossed paths at Ensemble Studio Theatre, but I wasn’t that familiar with his work. I liked the piece immediately. It’s not a traditional musical—structurally it feels more like a play in many ways. I loved the music and loved the characters.

After talking to Matt about the possiblity of APAC working on it, I learned that while it has been received successfully in a number of readings, it’s never been developed “on its feet”, and we both agreed the musical could really benefit from that type of exploration.

EVERY PIECE PRESENTS ITS OWN SET OF CHALLENGES, WHAT DO YOU SEE AS THE BIGGEST CHALLENGE WITH THIS WORKSHOP?

Love Trapezoid takes places in a lot of different locations, so finding ways to make it clear for the audience where we are in a workshop setting is definitely a challenge. The tone of the piece is also important—in many ways it’s a romantic comedy, but there are some elements of it that are larger than life, so it’s important to weave the right spell, or you’ll lose the audience.

WHAT’S YOUR FAVORITE THING ABOUT BEING PART OF THIS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS?

Working with new people. My favorite thing about theater is how collaborative it is, and developing a new musical is about as collaborative as you get. It’s exciting to have Matt in the room for the entire process, and to learn about the piece from the actors in rehearsal. Musical Director Eli Zoller is also extremely valuable in this process.

WHAT’S UP NEXT FOR APAC? TELL US ABOUT IT.

In May we will produce a revival of the Broadway musical The Secret Garden by Marsha Norman and Lucy Simon. I’m ridiculously stoked about it—I’m directing, and we’re reuniting almost the entire creative team from last season’s The Human Comedy. It’s a beautiful show with a breathtaking score, and I’m thrilled about the ideas that are percolating.

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RESERVE YOUR SEATS

Love Trapezoid, a new musical comedy by Matt Schatz - An APAC Workshop
February 10 - 18, Fri-Sat at 8pm, Suggested Donation $10

Email to reserve: [email protected] (please put RSVP Love Trapezoid in the subject line)

Where: Good Shepherd United Methodist Church
30-44 Crescent St (@30th Rd)
Astoria, NY 11102

Directions: Take the N/Q to 30th Avenue. Walk down 30th Ave toward the Trade Fair supermarket, past Mt. Sinai Hospital of Queens. Turn left on Crescent Street, then right on 30th Rd. The entrance is the second set of red doors on your left. Street parking only.