Gerald and Piggie, your favorite elephant and pig, right there on stage, talking, singing, and dancing—as Gerald might say, unpossible? Oh no, very possible! But taking a story from the pages of books to the big lights on stage took a lot imagination and problem solving from a whole team of people. Members of the team will discuss the process of bringing “bestus” friends Gerald and Piggie to life. You’ll hear them discuss three main parts of creating a musical—the writing, music, and design. But before you watch, let’s meet the team and learn what they do to create a musical (a story told on stage with actors, songs, and dancing).
The writer or playwright (Mo Willems) imagines the whole story and plans what all the performers on stage will say and also sing. No pressure! And yes, that’s the same Mo Willems who wrote and illustrated all the Elephant & Piggie books. The director (Jerry Whiddon) organizes and leads the whole team (think of the director as kind of like “the boss”).
The composer (Deborah Wicks La Puma) writes the music to go with the lyrics (the words to go with the songs). The dramaturg (Megan Alrutz) is an expert in creating theater who helps the writer and director perfect the play or musical.
The scenic designer (James Kronzer) creates how things look on stage.
The costume designer (Kathleen Geldard) plans and produces what the actors wear.
The actors play the roles of all the people (and animals!) on stage—including Gerald, Piggie, and the Squirrelles. Although you won’t hear from them directly in the videos, you’ll see them performing in clips from the show.
And keep in mind these other important people on the team: the lighting designer (who plans and manages all the different lights), the choreographer (who plans all the movements), the music director (who often plays piano during rehearsals and conducts the music during the performances), and the stage manager (the person backstage who makes sure each performance runs without a hitch).
The Writing
The story of Elephant & Piggie’s We Are in a Play began as a book—well, six books to be exact. But to tell the stories on stage, playwright Mo Willems had to adapt, or change, them so they would work together as one story. He describes it as putting them together like a puzzle. Also listen for what Mo says a writer needs to do first. Do you agree with him? Do you do this when you write or imagine stories? Why or why not? You’ll also hear Mo and the director discuss how Gerald and Piggie face conflicts and crises during the story. Conflict is often created when characters want something and can’t get it, disagree about how to solve a problem, or feel pressured to do something they don’t want to do. Conflict helps create suspense in a story—you wonder what will happen next and whether the characters will remain friends. This is a very important part of storytelling, and it’s called “dramatic conflict.”
Music
In a musical, songs and music play an important role in telling the story—helping audiences understand what is happening, what the characters are feeling, and even how characters are changing. Listen for when Mo says, “What a song can do is…underline the emotion of what the scene is.” The challenge for the writer and the composer of a musical is to decide when a song expresses actions or feelings better than spoken words alone. For example, they could have Piggie say, “I’m mad.” Or they could have her sing, “I never ever ever ever ever felt so saaaad...maaaad...saaad…maaaad…” Which do you think works better? After deciding where they want to include songs, the writer has to write all the lyrics (words) and the composer creates the music.
Design
So, we’ve talked about what happens on stage and how it all sounds, but what about how it looks? That’s important, too, and the scenic designer, costume designer, lighting designer, and choreographer all help create the look and feel of a show. That’s a big responsibility because, as scenic designer James Kronzer says, “we want to make sure that we’re listening very carefully to the words” and not letting the scenery distract the audience’s attention from the story itself.