Tarragon Theatre and The Musical Stage Firm are presenting the world premiere of the musical After The Rain, a brand new Canadian musical. The piece is written by Rose Napoli, with music and lyrics by Suzy Wilde.
The present runs within the Tarragon Theatre Mainspace from Might 27 to June 22, 2025, opening June 4.
The Present
The premise of the present is easy — deceptively easy as described on paper. It centres across the character of Suzie Evans Stone, a struggling composer who’s earning money secretly giving piano classes, all whereas singing backup in her dad and mom’ band.
She takes on a brand new scholar, and within the course of, finally ends up altering her life. The scholar, an older newbie, insists on studying and mastering just one piece: Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No.1.
The story follows Suzie touring along with her dad and mom’ band, as she makes new relationships and discoveries concerning the individuals near her, and helps her scholar make sense of Satie’s seminal work. There are household troubles, life’s complexities, and, in fact, numerous music. It’s a refined story concerning the ups and downs of life, how a music evolves, and the way making music collectively has an simple therapeutic energy.
Music additionally tells the story. You’ll be able to hear a pattern of it right here.
We spoke to Rose Napoli and Suzy Wilde concerning the present.
The Interview
Toronto-based Suzy Wilde is a songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, instructor, choir director, and dwell performer. She works in each the dwell music and musical theatre communities.
Canadian playwright and actor Rose Napoli is an alumnus of Nightwood Theatre’s Write From the Hip Program. As an actor, she has labored extensively in TV and movie in addition to on stage, and obtained a Dora nomination in 2016 for Excellent Efficiency, amongst different accolades.
It’s not the primary time that Wilde and Napoli have teamed up. Their challenge The Carrette Sisters, a part of a collective adaptation of the works of Mavis Gallant titled Retold, was nominated for a Dora Award. After The Rain obtained Tarragon Theatre’s Bulmash-Seigel prize and the Aubrey and Marla Dan Fund prize for brand new musicals.
How did the story come about? It appears… fairly particular to have been dreamed up out of the blue.
“I’m not a musician. I’m a music lover. I took piano as a toddler. I took piano classes, and didn’t have the endurance in it,” says Rose.
Her personal story resonates with the scholar character of the story, who’s a middle-aged novice.
“I might undoubtedly draw off these experiences that I had,” she says.
“However, Rose has nice rhythm,” provides Wilde.
Wilde relates how After the Rain happened.
“It began with a music, an previous music that I had written and accomplished nothing with,” she begins.
The music was about two individuals she’d met who had change into her music college students. It could be a matter of years earlier than she bought round to enjoying the music for Rose, who instantly acknowledged the potential.
“She stated, it is a present,” Suzy remembers. “However actually, the present is, we all the time say it’s concerning the life you need to dwell to jot down a single music.”
“And that music is named After The Rain,” Napoli provides.
In different phrases, there’s a truthful foundation for the present, and numerous dramatization of the reality within the story.
“We’re by no means specific of which is which — and sure, it’s primarily based on numerous true tales.”
For the present, they’ve assembled a created band, and the musicians provided their very own anecdotes which grew to become a part of the fabric.
“Plenty of Canadian musicians will see this present and acknowledge tales that we’ve extrapolated from their reality,” Napoli says.
Why Satie?
Erik Satie’s Gymnopedie No.1 is a piece that any scholar of the piano will acknowledge.
“One of many characters has a phenomenal meditation on the music as she’s truly enjoying it on the piano,” Napoli says.
As she performs, she talks concerning the piece.
“It appears as if it’s fairly easy while you hearken to it,” Rose says.
However, that simplicity is misleading. There’s lots that goes into with the ability to create that air of peacefulness and ease.
“The music serves as a extremely lovely metaphor about what numerous the characters within the present are searching for,” Napoli provides. It’s the right option to seize the spirit of the play.
“It’s such a pop music in a method,” Suzy provides. “We had a good time studying about Satie and what he was like throughout the present.”
The lead character is intrigued by the truth that Satie failed music college, and that his lecturers famous his ‘laziness’.
“He looks as if a humorous, quirky type of particular person,” Wilde says.
“He brazenly stated that he had no need to achieve success,” Napoli factors out. “He discovered transgression in tranquility.”
The concept that such a refined and easy sounding piece of music may very well be so highly effective and affecting is the purpose.
“Music doesn’t must be in your face,” Rose says. “Music could be life altering and be quiet and easy on the similar time.”
At many concert events these days, the conductor will discuss to the viewers, giving context and biographical particulars to raised perceive the music that’s about to be carried out.
“I believe in a method, that’s what we’re endeavouring to do with our present,” Napoli says. By way of the story of teaching one particular person on one musical work, they take about two hours to construct up the context, together with the individuals who surrounded and influenced the composer.
“It feels that there’s so many layers of have an effect on within the present, that we’re understanding one lady attempting to study Satie — however the viewers as effectively is studying,” Rose says. “These tales actually enrich your expertise of that music.”
The present additionally appears to be like to demystify the music, and show that even a brief piece of music can transfer you as a listener — the composer’s entire life, primarily, goes into every work, irrespective of how easy or transient.
“We actually, with our present, we needed to democratize the music. We needed to speak that music will not be a virtuosic factor,” Napoli explains. “They are often equally moved by simplicity as by virtuosity.” She factors out that it’s additionally about underscoring the sense of group that comes from the act of constructing music. “It’s a particular factor no matter one’s music skill.”
“When someone sits down to jot down a music it’s popping out of that particular person, it’s additionally popping out of the particular person they spoke to 5 minutes in the past, and somebody they knew ten years in the past. It’s such a domino impact,” Suzy says.
As she factors out, it was a girl who requested for piano classes to study one single music that sparked all of it.
“And due to her thought, a music was created, a present was created,” Wilde says. “Little tiny seeds from anybody can actually develop into one thing particular.”
“It implies that we’re all artists,” Rose provides. One of many songs within the present entails a girl singing about her mom, and recalling that she would sing whereas she swept the flooring. “I didn’t develop up in a household that will have known as themselves artists,” she says. Nonetheless, there was singing and music. “There are such a lot of individuals on the market who’re stuffed with creative sensibility. I believe this present desires to pay homage to the artistry of these individuals.”
Suzy additionally factors out the position of music schooling and the way in which it’s primarily vanishing from public colleges.
“In a metropolis the place music in colleges is beginning to crumble, it appears increasingly necessary to have these conversations,” she says.
“They should come to see our present,” Rose says of metropolis politicians.
Hitting the street…
The present might be touring to the Nationwide Arts Centre in January.
“Our need is to proceed to take this present out on the street and journey it. We do suppose, like Satie, there’s something deeply necessary about this present,” Napoli says. “It feels prefer it’s huge and it’s small on the similar time.”
Above all, it’s a human story of discovery and group, in addition to delving into the music and what music efficiency is, with out getting on a soapbox.
“Like Satie, it appears like one thing fairly easy, and but fairly transgressive.”
- Discover extra particulars concerning the Toronto premiere, and tickets, [HERE].
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Anya Wassenberg is the Toronto Metropolis Editor at Ludwig Van. Beforehand, she was a contract author with a specialty in tradition and journey for 3 many years, and a inventive writing teacher for Ontariolearn.