Musical Pawns: 5 Things To Know About The Show Before You Go (2012 FRIGID NEW YORK FESTIVAL)
by The Happiest Medium on February 17, 2012
Five Questions. Five Answers. And One Big Decision: Rock, Paper, Or Scissors?
Musical Pawns
Company: Lost Music Productions
Musical Pawns mixes fact and fantasy, humor and pathos in attempting to explain why David Nowakowsky’s musical masterpieces have disappeared for almost 100 years. A musical treat by North America’s best singing actors.
Show Times:
- Fri 2/24 @ 5:30pm
- Sun 2/26 @ 4:00pm
- Mon 2/27 @ 9:00pm
- Tue 2/28 @ 6:00pm
- Fri 3/2 @ 8:30pm
- Sun 3/4 @ 2:30pm
Answers by Ron Graner
(Writer/Producer)
Karen Tortora-Lee’s Question
That’s some title. How did you come up with it – and what does it mean?
Ron: They were “Musical Pawns” in a deadly game of political chess.
There are many governments who still try to suppress the arts and especially music. In Turkey it is still dangerous to play Kurdish folk-tunes. The government fears the music may spur “Nationalist feelings” among the Kurds, who will try to separate from the country and form their own independent state. Cambodian music and dance found safe refuge in Canada and the United States and other Western democracies during the Kymer Rouge period, before being restored to its original home. . There are many, many examples where music, poetry and religion are considered dangerous. Think of what’s happening now in Tibet! Even Elvis Presley, and The Bare Naked Ladies have had their troubles with bureaucracy and they live(d) in a modern democracy!
In the case of David Nowakowsky (1848-1921) his music disappeared until 1989. Even his tomb-stone was destroyed!
I am trying to tell the story as political satire, and to have as much fun with the political absurdities as I can. The music is drop-dead gorgeous. The Dance numbers are insanely funny. I can say this in all modesty, because I only wrote the words. The music (for the most part) is Nowakowsky’s and the dances were created by Sean Hawk, one of our multi-talented singing-acting-dancing performers.
