So I just read a synopsis from November 2007 entitled “Word Is Bond” by Michael P. Northey. Northey and I have been friends since 02′ and collaborated with Greenthumb Theatre Company to produce a play called “Cranked” in around 2005 I believe. Cranked was an ambitious one man piece about the dangers of crystal meth and had a successful run across North America and Australia for youth audiences. Here is a NYC review… http://www.theatermania.com/off-broadway/reviews/01-2009/cranked_16877.html. Mike figured that infusing Hip Hop into the play could help take away some of the finger wagging and the “just say no to drugs” aspect of preaching a sermon as opposed to telling a true cautionary tale, with real life implications to kids. Greenthumb had the balls to back him and my services were called into give an auditory back drop from the character perspective of a talented battle MC who had signed a major label contract. I did some lyrics, wrote some tunes, helped Mike with some of his lyrics and Stylust provided the beats. I think it was 5 songs total, a day training the actor (Kyle Cameron) how to rap the tunes and watching a preview for final notes and comments. Not a ton of work and quite satisfying to see a piece of this nature have the run that it did. So when Mike forwarded me the synopsis of “Word Is Bond,” and thinking it would be a similar situation time commitment wise, I jumped on board for the ride. This one was to be a full fledged musical that I thought may take a couple weeks longer than Cranked so I wasn’t too worried about the process or commitment time wise. This was November 2007. As you can tell, I was a little bit off in my calculations…
“Word Is Bond” became “Slippin’” then “Halfway Crook” then “Sick Daze” and then a million other things before we settled on “Ash Rizin.” The basic story has stayed the same – a young influential Hip Hop kid who falls into the luster of gangsterism to the tune of a tragic fall from grace. As easy as that sounds, there has been countless manifestations of how this tale has unfolded. Characters changing or being added/withdrawn or possessing new or different humors, have all conspired to morph this story numerous times. I’ve never been so creatively frustrated, mainly because musicals are an ambitious, intimately collaborative process, such that I’ve never been part of before. Although I’ve been intimate with Michael P Northey several times on a personal level, it has never shaken down that way professionally… Jokes – of course it has. Seriously, I’m used to spending my creative time/energy in solitude trying to satisfy a theme or concept and when I have done that to my liking, my work is done. In a musical, story and character are the central nervous system and all forms of creation need to do them justice. Therefore, when a character or the story is changed, the musical narrative must follow suit and vice versa. Northey and I stepped into a beast of burden. Michael Northey IS a beast of burden, a highly sexual beast of burd… I’ll stop there.
The story initially was about Derrian (D-Skills) and Ash (Ash Rizin’) with a DJ named Jackie who didn’t speak. I think Mike kept it simple initially because it may have been another youth piece and the less hands on deck the easier to maneuver. It became evident that this was not just a youth piece and that Mike could open it up. The DJ Jackie became Clean which could make for a good triangle of sexual tension and another voice for music. We both thought Lauryn Hill and the Fugees dynamic with Clean being the missing element and possessing superior vocal/rapping/lyrical skills. I even wrote an audition piece for Clean called “Stereotypical.” That of course would change, as would the lyrics of the song but the song still stays in as a poignant part of our story. Mike then introduced Gat as the gangster counterpoint character to the now named “Sick Daze” rap group. “Sick Days” was actually a real alternative rock group and friends of mine, who are from my neighborhood and agreed to let us use their name. When I brought up the name to Mikey as a joke, he loved it and our rap group was born. Mike then brought in the character Angel to be the CEO of Gat’s gang to further flesh out this side of the story. Northey then created Dosha as a female counterpoint to Clean that would be Gat’s girlfriend. The cast of characters was born and (for now) Ash, D-Skills, Clean, Gat, Dosha and Angel are our Dramatis Personae. This could change though – my fingers are crossed.
I have written around 22 pieces of original music for this play. Some of my favorite shit is on the editing room floor but all of us have made sacrifices for the good of the overall production. I recorded 7 songs at Greenhouse with help from Doug Naugler (5 of those are still in use) and the rest were done with Stylust at All-In Studios. My brother Kevin has co-written nearly all of the material with me serving as musical accompaniment/melodic counterpoint to my lyrics and base melodic ideas. I’m particularly proud of his work on Loner and Moonshine, he is a beast in the lab. It’s been fun and less pressure writing with other people in mind as I’ve never written anything to be performed by anyone else except myself. Penning the lyrics for the forlorn female protagonist Clean on the track “Where Did You Go” was an interesting experience that came to life when Chantel Upshaw laid an immaculate vocal performance down. I had help laying down guides on these tracks from Dani Nelson (Dani and Lizzy) for Clean’s raps, Evil Ebenezer for Gat’s raps, Carly Campbell for everything sung by Clean aside from “Where Did You Go” and I handled Ash and Dee with different tones of voice.
Two years ago ATP agreed to partner with Greenthumb to develop our show. We went to Calgary with our draft and music last year, and had actors work on the material for a week. It became evident that our work wasn’t done and that the music and the book weren’t cross pollinating in an organic matter. Initially, Mike and I wanted this to be an ‘anti-musical musical.’ Translation: Characters don’t break into song on a whim to espouse their virtues of love on one another or asides to the audience. If Sick Daze was a rap group, we thought we would have plenty of natural settings for songs to break out in reality such as the studio, rehearsal space, the street, parties, parks etc. This of course changed and our music and story weren’t as seamless transitionally as we needed them to be. This was one of four key things evident in our readings with the actors in Calgary. The second detail was that our 2nd Act wasn’t moving with the same pace music/story as our first act. The third problem that was evident seemed to be the love story between Clean and Ash being thin. There didn’t seem to be any rational reasoning for her to stay with this guy. The other defining piece of evidence from this trip was the astonishing amount of professionalism, beauty, craftsmanship, and attention to detail the people at ATP provided. We were in good hands and the Martha Cohen Theatre was a monument to behold. We had our work cut out for us before the theatre presented anything mirroring it’s own prestige. Yes, I said it, Ash Rizin would become prestigious bitches…
On the music side of things, I set my course on blending scene dialogue with subversive musical interruption. I always wanted a scene in the studio illustrating the recording process and Mike always wanted a battle fortifying Ash’s superior rap prowess. I combined the two and solved a multitude of problems. The scene starts in the studio with Ash, Clean and Dee, after Dee Skillz has sought out Ash to join the group because of Ash’s profound literal graffiti content. Clean is laboring on laying down a tricky phrased verse when Ash offers help. Ash re-writes the verse quickly and spits it perfectly. Clean somewhat impressed and offended, challenges him to freestyle about the newspaper. Ash obliges, inadvertently offends Clean and a battle ensues with Ash mopping the floor with her in the end. Both Clean and Ash are upset, not thinking this collaboration will work when all of a sudden Dee Skillz presses play and shows them an edit of what they just performed, which he had been recording and mixing on the fly. This created sexual tension between the two characters, established Ash as an amazing MC, Clean as a great singer with things to learn, Dee as an enterprising producer capable of capitalizing on the moment, and all in the realm of a real studio setting that I so desperately wanted to capture. Mike had the brilliant idea of the newspaper that would have a gang related front page. Way to thread the needle Mikey!! This would lead nicely into our next dilemma of Clean and Ash.
I think that learning is an indescribable connection between people, especially when you are taught something that you are interested in. There is an inexplicable link between student/teacher and that bond is often breached romantically even in the classroom. We honor those who can do that which we cannot, ever more exceedingly if in a field that we respect. If Ash could teach Clean how to wield her artistry more effectively by giving insight into his own process, I felt we would be cooking with moonshine. He would show her how he views everything in terms of art/music. I felt his description could start a song organically with a beatbox that transformed into a song with the hook… I see the city in stories told, through cracks in the concrete and broken windows, lines in the road written down like it’s prose and I see the moonshine lighting it all. Here is a link to a video creating this piece of music… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wB4FK47CxE8
The second act began to take shape as we strengthened all of our key plot pieces with music. Mike truly drove the bus and I took nearly all of my cues from him conceptually. I never wanted to write anything without knowing the stakes, objectives, motivation or reasoning behind the tune. I tried to approach the music as scenes to help with Mike’s story. The finale was by far our biggest challenge because there was so much riding on how this play would end. This play has also ended in every imaginable tragic way possible. Mike finally settled, (with much protest from me initially) but as usual, his idea was drawn from experience not just whim and he was dead right with the conclusion. He wanted to re-visit some of the tunes from the entire play in a canon of sorts with a showcase by the group. For whatever reason, this took me forever to wrap my head around. He requested a piece of music where Ash is frantically trying to make it to the showcase and I just never got it right. My brother Kevin arranged and wrote a beautiful orchestral string section with thickened pace. It took Stylust and I a long time to gel this piece of music with our new showcase song and all of the throwbacks. I honestly hated what I wrote for Kev’s piece so I never got too attached. The string song has since been abandoned (thankfully) but in all honesty it took the most work. Very frustrating that I couldn’t get that one right but it all worked out in the end.
After all of this time and work, the 12 show performance is finally upon us in the Martha Cohen Theatre at ATP, Calgary Alberta. From January 2nd -12th I had the honor of meeting and working with this tremendous cast and crew. I went to Calgary to offer my musical director version of Kyprios’ Hip Hop Bandcamp. The cast were given rhyme books and we started every day with a freestyle cipher. Rap, like many Italian conversations, is overtly physical and full of hand gestures. You can gain insight to a theme of a song just by watching an MC perform on mute. There is a physical narrative to this art form that compliments the aural form. My job was to help convince these actors that they were legitimate rappers. To rap is just slang for conversing so drawing on this fundamental aspect, we went to work at finding a natural conversational way of rhyming. I was devastated by the commitment this troupe showed and the immediate impact of their efforts. Luc Roderique (D Skills) had the only experience in performing live. He was the only actor that I had seen perform and his attention to detail is startling: RAP CAPTAIN. Allison Lynch blew me away with writing a double time rap on Day 2 and then writing/recording one of the best female rap songs that I have heard in Canada on Day 7 SONG BIRD CAPTAIN. Mike Wasco (Angel) will bring the fucking house down every time he performs “I Hate Hip Hop.” I relinquished all ownership of the song around Day 5 when I was getting goosebumps and feeling frightened. NAP CAPTAIN Kyle Jesperson (Gat) has emotional gears for days and watching him silently switch through them while executing faces of genocide, angst, power and an I don’t give a fuck attitude is awesome. SLAP CAPTAIN. Ksenia Thurgood is a bad ass. I never thought the version “Where Did You Go” would be touched but her levels of mourning and loss are shaded perfectly by her vocal performance. Rapping wise now she can only be explained through Top Gun. I am Ice Man and she is Maverick, now watch… http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sz_EnEx9m5g . BACK BALL CAPTAIN. Double A Aaron Hursch (Ash) is a beast and our leader. Dood just has a nice touch on stage. Very instinctual, attached inherently to character at all times, never straying from the misguided solitude and confusion of our protagonist Ash Rizin ACT CAPTAIN. Let’s not forget about DJ Burner. Tobi Berner picked up Serrato and made it his bitch quickly. Having a DJ as an orchestra is the shit and I’m very happy that Tobi is killing it on the ones and twos BRRAP CAPTAIN…
The process is nearing completion. In the beginning it was Ivan, Patrick (Greenthumb) Mike and I. Now there are many hands on it holding it up to share with an audience. Seeing our director Patrick McDonald is an inspiration as he guides us through each moment of narrative. I feel that he is the final channel of our stories communication and I’m happy to hear his voice on the piece throughout. He puts lights on dialogue or lyrics that illuminate the story in ways that I never even imagined or saw myself.
I had worried for my reputation as the only person who lives in the world of Hip Hop and the guy who would return to this world and have to answer for anything that wasn’t handled according to the culture of this music. My co-sign and pride are put on this musical now and that is a tribute to the people who have picked it up and lifted it to levels I could never have achieved through my own machinations. Thank you to Ivan for his continual support, Patrick for his limitless energy and enthusiasm for this project (and sports), all of the staff from Greenthumb, thank you to Vanessa, Vicki, and Diane, Marcy, Quinn, Ashley, Strilla, Laurel, Aldona from ATP and everyone else who has helped this production.
Finally, a big shout out to Greenthumb for imagining that this could be anything. No one from our side of the country has tried to do this at such a high level. It started with a seed that has blossomed into a powerful piece of art with a message that needs to be heard by young audiences. As this goes against the demographic of a perceived theatre society, I am proud to have the dice rolled on our behalf knowing that this is a long shot and by no means a financial slam dunk in the black. It is my sincerest hope that this musical transcends all boundaries of age, gender, race, creed, stereotype or musical taste and that is seen entirely on the virtue for what it is… A great story. As much as Northey could be a pain in my ass to work with, I acknowledge that his vision and motivation were the fuel behind my efforts. I’m proud to have worked with my friend again and I think this is his strongest work to date.
I put my life and career on hold in an effort to immerse myself in this project, I used to refer to that as a sacrifice and now it has become a privilege.
Support original theatre.
*kyprios12*