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Composer James Kaplan reels in a big one with
"Guys on Ice," opening at Detroit's Gem Theatre.
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ames Kaplan, like the charac-
ters in a musical he helped
develop, might seem to be
treading on some thin ice as he
plans out his return to more solid
ground.
The composer's situation has nothing
to do with the success of his musical
comedy Guys on Ice, which debuts Feb.
7 at the Gem Theatre for an open-ended
run. The problem has to do with his
finding some fresh career directions after
the unexpected death of his writing part-
ner, Fred Alley, who last May had a fatal
heart attack while jogging.
Guys on Ice recently became the
biggest box office hit ever at the Purple
Rose Theatre Company in Chelsea. It is
being picked up by small theaters
around the country.
The two main characters in the show
are ice fishermen, best-friends who corn-
municate in some stereotypical male
ways. During the characters' time in the
spotlight, the audience witnesses some of
their superficial amusements while learn-
ing what's really going on in the depths
of their lives. Their dialogue and antics
provide broad-based humor that takes
an emotional twist.
The Purple Rose cast — Joseph
Albright, Paul Hopper and Tom Whalen
— reprise their roles for the Gem under
the direction of Anthony Caselli.
Originally, Guys on Ice was written
with some backing from the
Wisconsin Sesquicentennial
Commission, says Kaplan. "It
addresses an aspect of Wisconsin
culture that has translated well in .-a
lot of places. It's been performed in
Oregon and is going to upstate New
York and California."
Perfect Partnership
Kaplan and Alley were build-
ing a strong string of musi-
cals after setting up shop
James Kaplan: His "Guys
on Ice" recently became the
biggest box office hit ever
at the Purple Rose Theatre
Company in Chelsea.
at the American Folklore Theatre
(AFT) in Wisconsin's Door County, a
resort area.
"When Fred died, we were geared up
to go into production for the AFT
summer season," says Kaplan, 39, only
slightly older than his late co-writer. "It
brought Fred's closest friends and asso-
ciates together with work to do.
"We did a brand-new musical that
Fred was not a part of, and we redid
Lumberjacks in Love, which has been a
very popular show that Fred and I
wrote. We staged the revival in his
honor, and I think it was probably the
best circumstance for helping people
grieve.
"Fred and I wrote six musical come-
dies together, and the last three we
thought of as a trilogy because they all
were about men isolated from women
and how they went about their lives."
Kaplan, who learned the piano at his
family home in New Jersey and spent a
semester at the Berklee College of
Music in Massachusetts, never thought
seriously about pursuing a theater
career until he met Alley at a
California electronics store. Kaplan was
a full-time employee; Alley worked
there only part of the year, to supple-
ment his seasonal income at AFT.
As their friendship developed in the
early 1990s, Kaplan showed samples of
music he had written
to Alley, and