Tattered Fabric: Lizzie Borden – The Rock Musical!

by Faye Musselman, Tattered Fabric: Fall River’s Lizzie Borden, Aug 5, 2009

Illustration by Elijah Leonard

There’s been books and tons of articles and websites and blogs.  There’s been an opera, a ballet, one act and two act and three act plays.  There’s been documentaries and t.v. movies and mini Youtube movies and annual re-enactments.  And now – at last!  A rock musical on Lizzie Borden!

Jenny Fellner, above, plays Lizzie Borden
(photo by Joseph Marzullo/WENN)

This production offers up a new and different genre from what we’ve been used to:  A rock roadshow retelling the tale of America’s inscrutable sweetheart, “LIZZIE BORDEN”, by Steven Cheslik-deMeyer and Tim Maner which will be performed September 10 through October 17, 2009 at The Living Theatre, 21 Clinton St., New York City. Tickets are $25 and can be purchased HERE.

I note that one of the cast members, Carrie Cimma, who plays Bridget Sullivan,  previously performed in “Sweeney Todd” – a bit of sweet symmetry doncha think?

“Took An Axe Productions LLC
In 2007, Peter asked Hillary what she wanted for her birthday. Without doubt, he was hoping it would be inexpensive and located at a neighborhood shop. He was wrong on both counts. Having seen an earlier one-act version of LIZZIE BORDEN, and having been since haunted by its beautiful music, Hillary said that she wanted the rights to produce LIZZIE BORDEN. Together they formed Took An Axe Productions LLC. Took An Axe has been developing and workshopping the piece ever since. Along the way, we have had the privilege of working with supremely talented composers, writers, directors, musicians, actors, designers, engineers, and casting directors. It has been a truly collaborative process that has gotten us to where we are today.”

This sounds like a very creative collaboration:  Alan Stevens Hewitt (musical direction, orchestrations), Caleb Levengood (set), Christian M. DeAngelis (lighting), Jamie McElhinney (sound) and Bobby Frederick Tilley II (costumes).

If I were in NYC, I would definitely go see this!

Tattered Fabric: Fall River’s Lizzie Borden
Musings, reflections and sharing on this enduring fascination. copyright 2007

BroadwayWorld: Took An Axe Productions Presents LIZZIE BORDEN At The Living Theatre 9/10-10/17

by BWW News Desk, Broadway World, Aug 4, 2009

Took An Axe Productions proudly presents a special limited 6-week engagement of the rock musical LIZZIE BORDEN. Written by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner with Alan Stevens Hewitt and directed by Tim Maner, this production will play Thursday, September 10 through Saturday, October 17 at The Living Theatre.

Lizzie Borden took an axe. Gave her mother forty whacks. When she saw what she had done, gave her father forty-one. In 1892 on a sweltering August day in a small New England town, “somebody” brutally murdered a well-to-do elderly man and his second wife with an axe. Lizzie Borden, their young daughter, was named the primary suspect, arrested and tried. Without any witnesses to the hideous crime, she was acquitted and the murder remains unsolved to this day. Though Lizzie was ultimately declared innocent according to the law, her infamy lives on.

The rock musical LIZZIE BORDEN enters the horrifying Borden household to explore these notorious events through the eyes of Lizzie, her older sister Emma, Lizzie’s close friend Alice and the housemaid Bridget. Through original songs performed by four fierce rockers accompanied by a live band, this driving musical reveals a tale of repression, patricide and two very bloody murders - and why Lizzie Borden may have taken up that axe.

Directed by Tim Maner, LIZZIE BORDEN features Marie-France Arcilla (Off-B’way: Shout! The Mod Musical, Sidd, The Ark; TV: “Law and Order: SVU,” “Cashmere Mafia”), Lisa Birnbaum (TV: “Guiding Light;” numerous productions at Yale School of Drama and Yale Rep), Carrie Cimma (Nat’l tour: Sweeney Todd, The Wedding Singer, Oliver!, The Full Monty) and Jenny Fellner (B’way: Pal Joey, Mamma Mia!; Nat’l tour: All Shook Up). Casting by Sara Schatz at Jay Binder Casting.

Music is by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer with Alan Stevens Hewitt. Lyrics are by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Tim Maner. Book is by Tim Maner. Musical Direction, Orchestrations and Arrangements are by Alan Stevens Hewitt. This production includes Set Design by Caleb Levengood, Costume Design by Bobby Frederick Tilley II and Lighting Design by Christian M. DeAngelis.

Following a foray from East Village post-punk neo-folk bands to downtown theater, Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer wrote and performed music in many original experimental productions through the late 80s and early 90s, mostly with directors Kristin Marting and Tim Maner, including musical adaptations of Frankenstein, The Scarlet Letter and an early incarnation of LIZZIE BORDEN. In 1992, he and Jay Byrd started an act called Y’all, performing original songs and stories based on Grand Ole Opry-style country entertainment. The act sprang from the downtown theater scene and went on to play in coffeehouses, churches, retirement homes, community centers and schools across the U.S. and in Europe. Steven made a documentary film about his longtime relationship with Jay Byrd and the final years of Y’all called Life in a Box which premiered in the San Francisco International Film Festival in 2005 and was screened and well received at several other festivals across the U.S. and Canada.

Tim Maner was a founder and artistic director of the critically acclaimed Tiny Mythic Theatre Company, Inc. and a co-founder and co-director of the award-winning HERE. With them, his theatrical producing/presenting history spanned over a decade and hundreds of productions including: Basil Twist’s Symphonie Fantastique (Drama Desk Nom., OBIE Award), Music Theater Group’s Running Man (Pulitzer Prize Nomination), Target Margin’s Mamba’s Daughters (OBIE Award), and Eve Ensler’s The Vagina Monologues (OBIE Award, Drama Desk Nom.). He has written, directed, musical directed and produced over 20 original theatrical works including: The Hawthorne Project, a six-year collaboration with writer/adaptor Elizabeth Banks building a trilogy of multi-layered multi-media events adapted from Nathaniel Hawthorne’s three American novels that brought together over 100 artists (performers, musicians, composers, writers, dancers, poets, designers, poets and philosophers) and The Opera Project, a five-year collaboration with composer Matthew Pierce and writer Ruth Margraff creating a series of original New Wave Operas.

Alan Stevens Hewitt was born into a professional performing arts family and began music studies at an early age. As a member of The Low Road (Caroline Records) through the 90s, he released two EPs and three full-length albums and toured extensively with artists such as Los Lobos, Barenaked Ladies and label-mates the Ben Folds Five. He has shared the stage with Pete Townsend, Jeff Buckley, Marianne Faithful, Sinead O’Connor, T-Bone Burnett, Marc Ribot and others. As a member of the short-lived Raw Ltd., he opened for Nirvana, touring in support of Bleach. With his own group, The Signal Corps, he has released an EP (Transitiontransmission) and a 7” single (Cherry Tree b/w You Are Beautiful) of his original songs. His theater credits include playing bass for Broadway’s Spring Awakening and Off-Broadway’s Everyday Rapture (2nd Stage), among many other musician credits on New York stages. Turns out he is related (distantly, by marriage) to Lizzie Borden.

The earliest incarnation of this show, entitled LIZZIE BORDEN: AN AMERICAN MUSICAL, debuted in summer 1990 at the Ohio Theatre produced by Tiny Mythic Theatre Company as part of The American Living Room (TALR). Its two-night run was a sold-out hit. This one-act version was based on actual trial transcripts presented in operetta-style original rock songs with live drums, bass and guitar.

Later, LIZZIE BORDEN: A ROCK AND ROLL SHOW, the second incarnation of this work, enjoyed a two-week run in September 1994 at HERE Arts Center. In this version, the cast was backed by Staten Island metal band Stealth, and fake blood was liberally splattered on the stage. The show has continued to evolve into its present format - a full-length original rock musical, LIZZIE BORDEN.

This production is presented by Took An Axe Productions (Hillary Richard, Executive Producer / Peter McCabe, Producer).

LIZZIE BORDEN plays as follows: Thursday-Saturday at 8:00 PM, with late shows on Friday & Saturday at 10:30 PM. Tickets are $25.00. For tickets, visit http://www.theatermania.com or call (212) 352-3101 or (866) 811-4111. The Living Theatre is located at 21 Clinton Street just south of Houston Street.

For more info, visit: http://www.LizzieBordenTheShow.com.
Facebook: facebook.com/LizzieBordenTheShow
MySpace: myspace.com/LizzieBordenTheShow
Twitter: twitter.com/LizzieBordenNYC

Theater Mania: Lisa Birnbaum, Jenny Fellner, et al. Set for Lizzie Borden Musical

By: Dan Bacalzo, Theater Mania · Aug 4, 2009 · New York

Jenny Fellner (© Joseph Marzullo/WENN)

Marie-France Arcilla, Lisa Birnbaum, Carrie Cimma, and Jenny Fellner will star in the rock musical Lizzie Borden, to be presented by Took an Axe Productions at The Living Theatre, September 10-October 17. Tim Maner will direct.

The show features music by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer with Alan Stevens Hewitt, lyrics by Steven Cheslik-DeMeyer and Maner, with a book by Maner. It tells the infamous story of Lizzie Borden, who is widely believed to have brutally killed her parents with an axe. Today marks the 117th anniversary of the Lizzie Borden Murders.

The creative team will include Alan Stevens Hewitt (musical direction, orchestrations), Caleb Levengood (set), Christian DeAngelis (lighting), Jamie McElhinney (sound), and Bobby Frederick Tilley II (costumes).

For more information, visit http://www.LizzieBordenTheShow.com.