NOW PLAYING:
Waterwell offers free tickets for high school students! Select a date for more info!
08/02/07 @ 9:30 p.m.
08/03/07 @ 9:30 p.m.
08/04/07 @ 9:30 p.m.
08/09/07 @ 9:30 p.m.
08/10/07 @ 9:30 p.m.
08/11/07 @ 9:30 p.m.
|
In the Q-Box: Tom Ridgley
Waterwell's The King/Operetta, hailed by nytheater.com as "The next milestone of American musical theatre," tells the story of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. in the last year of his life, as King barnstormed the country, squaring off against the most powerful forces in politics and commerce.
Waterwell producer, actor and the show's director, Tom Ridgely, steps into the Q-Box to answer our always informative, albeit mostly ridiculous, questions.
An operetta about Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. -- how'd Waterwell come up with the idea, and why did the company feel the best way to tell Dr. King's story was through light opera?
|
We came up with the idea when we read his "Beyond Vietnam" speech, and knew we wanted to do a show about him. Knowing ourselves, we also knew there would be a lot of music and some comedy as well, so...a rock operetta. It's an operetta in form more than tone really. The play gets pretty heavy and pretty dramatic, but there's a balance between sung and spoken passages so we couldn't call it a full on opera. Hence, "operetta."
|
So much of Waterwell's work involves music, what attracts the company to incorporating song and music into your performances?
|
Music is an access point. It communicates on a more gut level than just language alone. And alongside spoken text, it adds a whole new dimension to a show. A bit more bang for the buck if you will. And for us, we're always dealing with politics -- and that can get a bit dreary just hearing people talk about it for hours (unless you're David Hare or somebody and can write like that), so we add some songs to keep people awake and listening. We're always trying to strike a balance between popular theater like vaudeville, cabaret, etc... and the more "serious" dramatic theater. So we'll do a nightclub version of an Aeschylus play, or take King's last year and do it as an operetta, things like that.
|
How'd you go about choosing Waterwell as a company name, and what does it signify for you?
|
We chose the name just because we like the way it sounded. It was a mash-up of an old landlord and a street we used live on. Dick Wells and Atwater Ave. Together they sounded like someplace you'd go for sustenance or refreshment -- and that seemed to fit. There's also a Lorca poem we found later on that goes:
The Poem
the Song
the Picture
is only water
drawn from the well
of the people
and it should be given back
to them in a cup of beauty
so that they may drink
and in drinking
understand
themselves.
That really captured what we were after as well.
|
Do you have any opening-night rituals?
|
Panic. Wondering why we continue to put ourselves through this. The usual last-minute freak outs.
|
What are the craziest performance conditions you've had to work under?
|
Waterwell's had it pretty good so far as conditions. All the craziness has come from us rather than the environment usually. The first performance we did of The Persians was literally the first time we'd ever run the whole thing without stopping. We had no idea what was going to happen, much less if any of it would work. Later, the night The New York Times came, we scrapped an entire scene that we'd been using for weeks and added a new one that wasn't even written. We improvised around an idea once or twice before the show and then just did it that night. It worked out, but I wouldn't recommend it.
|
What was the last show you saw, and what's next on your "must-see" list?
|
The last show I saw was actually Grey Gardens. My girlfriend really wanted to see it. I was a little underwhelmed. Some nice performances but nothing really exciting going on beyond that. As for a what's next, I have no idea. Sadly I've been out of the loop, busy as I've been with this show. I'm more into the funky off-beat stuff than the Broadway/commercial Off-Broadway scene; I'm excited to see NTUSA's Don Juan whenever that goes up.
|
What's your favorite (as-of-yet-undiscovered) NYC spot?
|
They just finished renovating Father Demo Square on 6th Ave. & Bleecker. Perfect place to sit outside, bring a lunch, make some calls.
|
How did you get involved with the arts? Were you an actor first, or how did you make the leap into directing?
|
I got involved, like a lot of people, in school. There were school plays and school musicals and things like that as far back as I can remember. For a long time the focus was definitely acting for me. The directing happened because with Waterwell we basically decided somebody needed to be the point person -- for designers, for breaking ties whenever there were disagreements about which direction to go...things like that. Over the years it's developed into a more well-defined role, but it's still not directing in the traditional sense, because I somehow always end up being in the shows. It's more like actor-manager or one of those old-timey Charles Kean kind of roles -- except I never play the lead. And we don't have actor-managers anymore, so we call it director.
|
Who's the better band? The Decemberists or The New Pornographers?
|
Please. The New Pornographers. A.C. Newman is a genius. Those first three tracks off Mass Romantic might be the catchiest ten minutes of pop/rock in the past ten years. I can't wait for Challengers.
|
|
THE STATS:
High school attended: North Central High School, Indianapolis, IN
Favorite Class: Counterpoints (Show Choir)
Next-up on Netflix queue: Ingmar Bergman's Smiles Of A Summer Night, which you can catch a clip of.
Playing on his iPod right now: Sadly my iPod was lost/stolen at our March benefit that went up in flames. But on iTunes right now I'm listening to early Beatles solo stuff...McCartney, Plastic Ono Band, All Things Must Pass...
Favorite pizza topping: Pineapple
Last good book he read: At Canaan's Edge: America In The King Years 1965-1968
All-time, hands-down favorite piece of theater: Tough to say. Theatre de Complicite's Mnemonic was a big influence. I also love the concept album for Superstar and The Public's Broadway version of Pirates Of Penzance.
Harry Potter House: He hasn't read them. Ed's note: We'll give Tom the benefit of the doubt and put him in Gryffindor.
Steel-cage blood-match between Gypsy's Mama and Lady MacBeth winner: "Lady M.: 'I would, while it was smiling in my face, have pluck'd my nipple from his boneless gums, and dash'd the brains out.' Who stands a chance against a woman like that?"
|
