arts & entertainment

Fun And Fancy

[I

Children's book comes to life
on Berman Center stage.

Suzanne Chessler

I Contributing Writer

D

anny Abosch knows what it
means to have a wish come true
— only bigger and better.
Abosch, a University of Michigan gradu-
ate focused on writing for musical theater,
had wanted to meet lyricist-librettist Susan
DiLallo after seeing Iron Curtain, one of
her plays.
Six months later, the
Vital Theatre Company
— New York's leading
nonprofit children's
theater group — not
only introduced them
but also asked them to
collaborate on songs for
Composer-
a production of Fancy
lyricist Danny
Nancy the Musical,
Abosch
now on tour and being
performed Sunday after-
noon, Oct. 20, at the
Berman Center for the
Performing Arts in West
Bloomfield.
"That collabora-
tion was special; says
Librettist-
Abosch, 24, in a phone
lyricist Susan
conversation from his
DiLallo
New York home. "We
worked in a lot of dif-
ferent ways. We have worked in the same
room at the same time. We've emailed
each other ideas and talked on the phone.
"Generally, the process has involved
thinking of the moments in the show and
deciding what the song moments would

•

At The Movies

Now in theaters is the documentary
16 Broadway Idiot, which follows the
odyssey of Green Day's Billie Joe
Armstrong as he worked to turn his
CI) 2004 rock-opera CD, American Idiot,
into a Broadway musical. The film is
CD directed by Michael Mayer, 53, who
directed the Broadway show and
co-wrote the musical's book with
Armstrong. A touring production of
American Idiot comes to the Detroit
Opera House Jan.
31-Feb. 2, 2014.
Carrie, which opens
on Friday, Oct.18, is
the third film produc-
tion of the Stephen
King horror novel
about a teen girl with
Ansel Elgort
telekinetic powers.

t A

42

October 17 • 2013

be. One of us would
think of a title or
hook and go from
there. Whether that
A scene from the family show Fancy Nancy the Musical
resulted in a lyric or
a little bit of melody
Abosch, who is single and works at a
depended on the song:'
technology company that develops soft-
The musical, based on the children's
ware for arts organizations, is preparing
book series by Jane O'Connor with illus-
two adult musicals started as he completed
trations by Robin Preiss Glasser, follows
graduate studies at New York University.
Nancy and her friends about to perform in
One is a romantic comedy based on the
their first show, Deep Sea Dances.
theft of the Mona Lisa, and the other is
Nancy, who is positive that she and
semi-autobiographical based on a scam-
friend Bree will be picked as mermaids,
ming attempt he confronted.
winds up as a tree and is challenged to
"The semi-autobiographical musi-
bring her fancy flair to the role even
cal explores a lot of Jewish themes:' says
though it isn't the one she wanted.
Abosch, whose high school years placed
him in a Jewish singing group that enter-
"I love the joy in the musical, and I also
think it does a good job of being educational tained at synagogues and high schools.
in a fun way:' Abosch says. "Young audienc-
Abosch, whose grandparents (Irene
es learn a lot of vocabulary because Nancy
and David Abosch) were musicians in the
loves fancy words. It's also about life's lessons Colorado Symphony, has been playing the
— practicing teamwork, dealing with failure piano since he was very young, an instru-
mental skill he shares with DiLallo.
and making the best of a situation:'
Abosch, although assigned his first
"Usually, I do books and lyrics for
children's musical, was familiar with the
shows, but Danny has done lyrics as well
book series because he had student-taught as the music for Fancy Nancy:' explains
elementary-school music.
DiLallo, 66. "It was a lovely experience. We
"The first song I wrote for the show,
were muses for each other, collaborators
Anyone Can Be Fancy: is special to me
and editors. I'd never done that before as a
because it encapsulates what the show
lyricist, and I really enjoyed it.
"Part of the fun of working with Danny
is about:' Abosch says. "I think of it as
Nancy's anthem:'
is that he's in the age group of my four
The composer-lyricist has been writ-
kids — including triplets. We write for the
ing musicals since his senior year in high
same reasons and have the same sensibili-
school outside Chicago. He recalls some of ties and the same sense of humor:'
his best times in Michigan connected to
DiLallo, married to novelist Richard
Musket and Basement Arts, U-M student
DiLallo and settled in New York, started
writing lyrics while working in advertis-
theater organizations.

The new version
stars Chloe Grace
Moretz as Carrie, with
Julianne Moore as
her religion-obsessed
mother, Margaret.
Newcomer Ansel
Elgort, 19, co-stars as
Peirce
nice boy Tommy Ross,
who takes Carrie to
the prom. Tommy's father is played by
Ansel's real-life dad, Arthur Elgort, 73,
a famous fashion photographer. Carrie
is directed by Kimberly Peirce, 46, best
known for directing and co-writing Boys
Don't Cry (1999).

first time was in 2006; Johansson

is the magazine's only double win-
ner). Like Mila Kunis, 30, another
Jewish actress who tops "sexy" lists,
Johansson glows with an appealing
energy and intelligence that trans-
mutes into that elusive thing: "sexi-
ness." Previously married to actor
Ryan Reynolds, she is newly engaged
to French journalist Romain Dauriac.
Johansson also is on the cover
of the October issue of Interview
magazine, and inside
she is interviewed
by director Darren

Arnfosky (Black
Swan), 44. They

Sexy Lady
Esquire magazine named actress
Scarlett Johansson, 28, its "Sexiest

Woman Alive" for the second time (the

Johansson

cover everything
from Johansson's
SAT scores to poli-
tics to her upcoming

ing. She would come up with jingles as
creative answers for marketing problems.
"Through that, I took some lyric-writing
classes and got involved with a couple of
workshops:' she says. "I learned the craft
of theater writing, which is very different
from lyric writing for pop music. I made
connections and have been hopping from
project to project:'
Two previous shows for the Vital
Theatre Company were based on Angelina
Ballerina, a series of books for little girls.
Her current project is a musicalization
of a James Patterson novel, Sundays at
Tiffany's, a fantasy about a little girl whose
imaginary friend turns into a love interest
as she grows up.
"Fancy Nancy is wholesome entertain-
ment filled with fun and surprises:' says
DiLallo, who had her bat mitzvah as an
adult. "It's a feel-good experience in a not
terribly feel-good world.
"Of special meaning to me is 'Make the
World a Fancier Place: a song mostly writ-
ten by Danny. It's a wonderful philosophy,
and I try to live by that:'

❑

Fancy Nancy the Musical will be

performed at 1 and 3 p.m. Sunday,
Oct. 20, at the Berman Center
for the Performing Arts in West
Bloomfield. $17 children; $22 adults.
(248) 661-1900; theberman.org .

films, which include an adaptation of
a Truman Capote story she has co-
written and will direct.
Google "Johansson and Aronofsky"
to find the interview online.

This And That

As I write this, the Nobel Prizes in
chemistry, medicine and physics
have been awarded; six out of the
eight individual winners are Jewish.
The co-winner of the Nobel Prize in
Medicine, University
of California-Berkeley
Professor Randy
Schekman, 64, has
a Michigan connec-
tion: His son, Joel,
is a clarinetist with
the Grand Rapids
Symphony.
Schekman

❑