Rehearsing and preparing to perform a musical is a task in itself. But performing an original production for the first time—and asking the community to give honest criticisms of it—is a true labor of love.
Last weekend, Renoites Bill Quinby and Marva Gregorio De Souza premiered their original musical, Rum Runners. The play was created and written by Quinby and De Souza, and, according to Quinby, “has been five years in the making.”
Quinby, a musician and music teacher, came up with the concept of the play and wrote the score. De Souza, born in England, is a poet and playwright whose short story anthology, Pocket Full of Bleeding Poesies, was published earlier this year. She penned the script.
The play is set during the Prohibition era in 1933, but is more evocative of South Pacific than Boardwalk Empire—it channels the politics and hardships of the time through cheery songs and a love story between law-and-outlaw that drives much of the plot. The story focuses on Captain Harry “Lucky” Peters—played by Quinby himself—and his crew of “rum runners” who collect and deliver contraband alcohol to clubs in New York City. Peters’ family, his daughter Josephine “Jo” Peters (newcomer Marissa Knapp) and wife Penelope (MOBY Productions founder Debra Hull), are in on the operation. Trouble brews when Jo falls in love with the handsome Alex Richards, an officer working to shut down illegal rum rows on the coast. Meanwhile, the rest of Lucky’s crew dabbles with morality and love in the midst of criminal activity.
The cast and crew rehearsed the show for less than a month—roles were still being cast as late as July 13. A dress rehearsal and three “workshop productions” were held on Aug.1, 2 and 3 in the Laxalt Auditorium to give Quinby and De Souza a chance to showcase their production for the public.
“A workshop production means the actors are working ’off the book,’” says De Souza, referring to the way actors have memorized their lines and won’t be using scripts. “It means the actors and props are often moving around. The set is more implied in places. It has a basic set and basic costumes. We’re mostly trying to see if the script works.”
Even so, De Souza jokes that they may still have gone “overboard” with the set and costumes. The props were fairly sparse but required a brief set-up time between acts. The main actors wore simple costumes with identifying items—Quinby donned a captain’s hat, and rum-drunk assistant Juniper “JD” Delano (played by Truckee Meadows Community College musical theater student A.J. Gonzalez) wore suspenders. A couch, a bar, and a couple of podiums with ship’s wheels attached served as the set. The music is performed live by a band backstage.
At the performances, feedback forms were distributed to the audience with questions such as “Was the balance between music and dialogue OK?” They also asked the public to vote on their favorite song through a Facebook poll.
“This show is being put on for the others,” says Quinby. He reiterates De Souza. “We need to know if the script works. We need to know that the story works.”
Response to the play has been heartening, according to De Souza and Quinby, despite some technical difficulties during the performances. They hope to use the feedback from the surveys to improve the script and performances.
But improvement is all part of the process, says Quinby. “It’s theater!”