An Assortment of Treasures

Introduction: During these challenging times, I will be sharing a range of ideas, dreams, essays and mostly-true tales stemming from the six decades (so far) of this wonderful career in the theater. I hope you enjoy.

– Joe Keefe

An Assortment of Treasures

“How do you pick the shows?” 

For an Artistic Director, this is a regular question with more answers than you can imagine. The technical aspects are pretty simple: licensing companies provide perusal catalogues, selections must serve the theater’s mission, production needs must match capabilities and then there’s a few dozen decades of personal experience to tap. Of the many tasks fulfilled by an AD, leading the selection of a theater’s shows is the most exciting undertaking possible, both critically important and completely rewarding. 

While technical considerations are crucial, the artistic aspects of shows – theatrical possibilities – are the foundation for each selection. A theater becomes known for the shows it produces and the quality of those productions and the shows in our upcoming season wonderfully embody the characteristics we seek. For this blog, I thought I’d examine one of our selections and share the reasons we pursued it. 

Little Shop of Horrors

Funny, outrageous, campy and feisty – Little Shop is the little cult show that succeeded against all odds. Its artistic appeal is apparent: a classic love story set in skid row, an otherworld antagonist, a powerful allegory of the price of success, all this supported by wonderful characters and excellent music. While these qualities add up to an excellent selection, emotionally connecting to each work of art aligns the show with our mission. 

My relationship with Little Shop goes back to my young teen years when I saw the original Roger Corman film at the Wilmette Theatre in the early 1970s. The movie was jaw-dropping: a bizarre and gritty film noir that smacked you on the side of the head. (Jack Nicholson’s comically sadistic dentist still gives me the shakes.) The 1982 off-Broadway smash hit transformed the film’s cynicism and low-grade violence into quasi-campy-comedy, keeping an edge to the story while balancing excellent music and comedy against the grit. 

The next set of relationships with Little Shop begins with the cast of the 1986 Frank Oz smash movie hit. I’ve worked with several cast members: Jim Belushi (Second City cast mate who once pushed me offstage), John Candy (bless him), Rick Moranis (improv set where Rick said almost nothing and got every laugh imaginable). And I used to get kicked out of the Murray family kitchen with some regularity – of course, most of the Murray boys did too. 

Selecting shows for a season is like going into an old fashioned bakery. Everywhere you turn there is something wonderful, the next option even better than the last. Composing each season brings together a dozen brains for storming in a series of “how about and what if” meetings. These sessions are coordinated by our excellent Lead Artistic Associate Robin Hughes and supported by the great Production Manager Bill Franz. After all the ideas are white-boarded and every possibility explored, when the coffee has evaporated and every availability checked, the final composition resides with the AD. It’s a joy beyond description. 

Stay warm and well. I look forward to seeing you soon. 

Joe Keefe