OUR COUNTRY–Buy your tickets today!

Good afternoon everyone! I have just found out some awesome information about the NYMF show “OUR COUNTRY”

Please read these amazing answers from TONY ASARO (music, lyrics, and original concept)

1) How did you come up with the idea for your show and how long ago did you start the process?

The answer to this question is a long one.  I first had the idea for a gay country western show in 2001!  Back then, I lived in the San Francisco Bay Area.  My good friend Liana had formed an alternative country western band with her boyfriend.  (In the early 2000s, alternative country music was all the rage with the young hipster crowd in San Francisco.)  Liana invited me to one of their gigs.  I had never really thought much about country music before, but it sounded like a fun excuse to drink with friends.  Well, their duo was pretty terrible, but some of the songs were funny.  Also, I noticed something that I had never noticed before: country songs are story songs.  They tell a narrative like musical theatre songs.

I was inspired.  I started writing my first country western song.  Having read an article on the secret lives of gay truck drivers in Out Magazine, I set about writing “The Ballad of the Gay Trucker”.  The six-minute song featured a touching story about rejection, perseverance, blackmail and Mexican prostitutes.  I had so much fun with it, that I wrote a few more. I was surprised to find that I really found a voice writing gay country songs.  I started thinking that this could be a fun idea for a show.

I began asking myself, what would happen if a country crossover star got caught in a George Michael-esque scandal?  George Michael was able to bounce back from his sex scandal because his following was comprised largely of liberal-minded and gay-friendly followers.  But, what if a country star was caught in a similar scandal?”  The conservative audience of country music turned its back on the Dixie Chicks for a single negative comment about George Bush.  What would their reaction be if one of their own were discovered to be a sexual deviant?  More importantly, what would be the journey of the outed celebrity? The country music scene is hostile to homosexuals; it was this hostility that drew me to the genre—it was rife with dramatic possibility!  With “Protect Marriage” coalitions making their presence felt all over the country, I began seeing the landscape of country music as a metaphor/microcosm of the United States as a whole. Immediately I saw the potential for a thought-provoking comedy that is timely and poignant.  That’s how OUR COUNTRY was born.

2) Is this your first experience with NYMF? If so, how has it been? If not, how has it been different from past experiences?

This is my first experience with NYMF (unless you count crashing the opening night party last year!)  My bookwriter, Dan Collins, had a show in NYMF two years ago called WOOD.

3) Have you always had an appreciation for country music? Is the score all “country” style?

Oddly enough, I didn’t really get into country music until I was doing research for the show.  Now however, I have a very strong appreciation for country music.  The show is written mostly in a pop-country style, but infused throughout with musical theatre story-telling.

4) Is there anything you want people to know about “Our Country” before seeing it?

I want people to know that this isn’t your average gay theatre piece. In fact, it’s a reaction against a lot of the gay theatre I’ve seen.
Often times, I think that writers are so intent on making “gay” theatre that they forget to make “good” theatre.  This show is timely and thought-provoking, but above all, it’s entertaining.

5) What do you want people to walk away with after seeing the show?

I want audience members, gay and straight alike, to walk away laughing, humming, and knowing that gays and lesbians have an equal place in the fabric of America.  The gay civil rights movement is happening right now,and I hope that this show will inspire people to get involved.  Maybe, if we can reach a big enough audience, we’ll see the effect of this show at the polls.

 

GO TO http://www.nymf.org/Show-1529.html TO LEARN MORE ABOUT “OUR COUNTRY” AND BUY YOUR TICKETS ASAP!

THANKS!

-SARAH  (MANHATTANVILLE COLLEGE)

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