The past three months have been a whirlwind for the creators of About Face Theatre's world-premiere holiday musical We Three Lizas.
"It was so fast," said We Three Lizas director and About Face Theatre artistic associate Scott Ferguson about getting the go-ahead to create the show this past August. "I was thinking it would be a year from now, but [About Face Theatre director Bonnie Metzgar] was like, 'No, let's go. We've got to get started, we've got to get a schedule and start having auditions,' and we were like, 'Whaaat?!'"
Ferguson's first fellow collaborator on We Three Lizas was About Face artistic associate Scott Bradley, who is best known for his locally produced camp musicals like Alien Queen and Carpenters Halloween through The Scooty & JoJo Show. Bradley performs in the show and is also responsible for the show's libretto.
Bradley admitted to singing in his hairbrush along with Cher and Liza Minnelli growing up in the 1970s, and he felt it was vital to pick just the right gay icon with a "larger-than-life iconography to match the holiday."
"Really, Liza still sits in this strange place," Bradley said, regarding Minnelli's position as a gay icon following on the heels of an older generation's idea of a gay icon like her mother, Judy Garland, and subsequent generations' embrace of more defiant performers like Madonna and Lady Gaga. "Everyone knows about Liza Minnelli as a gay icon because of her resilience—that quality of taking these knocks and coming back and that reinvention that she's able to do."
And because Liza grew up among showbiz royalty with her mother as a mega-watt Hollywood celebrity and her father, Vincent Minnelli, as a major film director, Bradley says she "always lived in a different realm from the rest of us" and has always been part of a "Hollywood and Broadway mythology."
Hence the concept for We Three Lizas, which focuses on an aging gay man named Conrad Ticklebottom who tries to recapture his glory days by conjuring the "Great Queen of Wishes" to bestow upon him youth, wealth and beauty. Instead, three distinct and mystical versions of Liza Minnelli come to bestow their gifts in A Christmas Carol style to Conrad and his anxious assistant, Reggie.
Those three versions of Liza include her at her effervescent performance peak from the 1970s (played by Danielle Plisz), Liza as we know her today from her Arrested Development TV roles and tattered vocal range (played by Scott Bradley in drag) and a sort of future Liza known as "Liza Always" that Ferguson describes as "the Liza that lives in everyone's hearts" that is voiced by Sean Blake and will involve some form of puppetry.
Because of the tight deadline, Ferguson was keen to bring aboard someone who could write music quickly and be able to make quick adjustments as a music director. Luckily, Alan Schmuckler was available, a multiple Jeff Award-nominee known for his acting chops (A Minister's Wife, Sugar) and acclaimed composing skills on Chicago Shakespeare Theater children's shows like The Emperor's New Clothes and How Can You Run with a Shell on Your Back?
"I grew up not particularly immersed in the Liza lore," said Schmuckler, who was more familiar with the scores and songs of frequent Minnelli collaborators composer John Kander and lyricist Fred Ebb rather than their ties to a single iconic performer. But in doing his research on Liza Minnelli, Schmuckler came to see why she has become such an icon.
"[Liza] was and continues to be a pretty striking performer," Schmuckler said. "She has such an unbridled passion for what she does and it comes across in waves."
So far Ferguson and Bradley have been exuberant with praise for Schmuckler's music and additional lyrics, particularly a Kander and Ebb-sounding number for Plisz called "I Can't Believe I'm Me" featuring a Bob Fosse-inspired routine by choreographer Patrick Andrews.
"Danielle looks and sounds just like Liza Minnelli, and then she has her two backup dancers doing this number that is just going to stop the show," Ferguson said.
Much like Hell in a Handbag Productions' Rudolph the Red-Hosed Reindeer or the Goodman Theatre's A Christmas Carol, the creators of We Three Lizas hope that the show will develop a following and become an annual tradition for About Face Theatre.
"The show takes a lot of traditional holiday shows and movies and books and sees them through sparkly queer eyes," Ferguson said about We Three Lizas. "It's just really a lot of fun."
We Three Lizas runs in previews from Nov. 30 to Dec. 1 with an official press opening on Sunday, Dec. 2. The regular run continues through Sunday, Dec. 23, at The Steppenwolf Garage, 1624 N. Halsted St. Performance times are 7 p.m. Thursdays and Fridays, 3 and 7 p.m. Saturdays and 7 p.m. Sundays (an extra 3 p.m. matinee is Dec. 16). The main event begins following a 45-minute "cocktail hour" in Liza's Lounge featuring opening acts by guest artists. Tickets are $25 and $15 for students. Discounts are also available for groups of 10 or more. Call 312-335-1650 or visit www.steppenwolf.org or www.aboutfacetheatre.com for more information.
