We asked award-winning artists HARMONY FRANCE (director) and MICHAEL MAHLER (music director) a few questions. Read the interview below:
You’ve both had extensive experience with bio-musicals [Harmony with Patsy Cline; Michael with Hank Williams & Buddy Holly]. How do those shape your vision?
HF: This is such a blessing of a show, and I learn something every time I work on it. With this iteration, I’m really interested in how similar Patsy and Louise are. One of them lives a normal life, and the other one is a star, but beneath all that, they are complicated, passionate, travel-worn, heart-first women. They are cut from the same cloth. When they meet on that magical night in Houston, there is a familiarity there. There is a reason they are instantly drawn to one another and have a lasting friendship. It’s that magical spark that happens when you adore someone instantly. Inside that spark is where the play lives.
MM: Like Hank and Buddy, Patsy was a true original and a trailblazer. Nobody before or since has sounded exactly like her. She set the stage for some of my favorite artists like The Chicks and Brandi Carlisle to sing loud and proud about their true feelings and emotions. The songs Patsy sings are like perfect little nuggets of theater, conveying complete stories that resonate with people because they ring true. And I love that our entryway into the piece is Louise – a fascinating person in her own right! Through her we get to experience Patsy up close and personal, and not only feel like her fans, but her friends.
What would you like today’s audiences to take away from this show?
HF: Well, first of all, Liz Chidester is going to blow them away as Patsy, and Molly Hernandez is the heart of the show as Louise and is so funny. So I hope the audience has a great time and enjoys the beautiful music. But if they can take anything else away from this, it would be how important platonic love and friendship are in our lives, particularly as women.
MM: Patsy was way ahead of her time. Instead of saying “stand by your man” she’s singing “how come women get blamed for relationships falling apart, when men are the cheaters 90% of the time?!” It’s that unflinching honesty that makes her voice and her songs timeless.
What are you working on next?
HF: The famous question. My mother told me to give you the lyrics to “How Do You Solve a Problem Like Maria?” i.e., “How do you catch a cloud and pin it down?” I have a few shows floating around in my head that I might do, a book I’ve been formulating for a while based on my grad school thesis, or maybe I’ll give it all up and go run a lighthouse somewhere and just watch the sunset every day. Whatever I end up doing, it won’t be boring.
MM: I’ve got a slew of writing projects in the hopper, but I’m also excited to be back at American Blues for our 25th anniversary production of It’s a Wonderful Life: Live in Chicago!