The New York-based composer Dana P. Rowe is no stranger to mixing genres for comic effect. Working with the lyricist/playwright John Dempsey — his longtime collaborator — Rowe has tackled American politics in The Fix, spoofed 1950s camp in Zombie Prom, and even composed the music for a West End adaptation of John Updike’s The Witches of Eastwick. Now, with the help of a grant from the Edgerton Foundation, Rowe is once again pairing up with Dempsey, this time for Brother Russia, a highbrow comic tuner commissioned by Arlington’s Signature Theatre and directed by Eric Schaeffer.
Opening in March, Brother Russia is set in a desolate potato field north of Omsk,
where a fourth-rate theater troupe sets up tents and wows the local farmers
with rock-fueled adaptations of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. One night, the company
tosses classic literature aside to showcase the life story of its star, the seemingly
immortal Brother Russia — more commonly known as Grigori Yefimovich Rasputin.
Show Business caught up with Rowe to discuss his latest project.
Show Business: How did the idea for Brother Russia come about?
Dana P. Rowe: We’ve long been attracted to Russian culture and that sense of determinism that seems to flow so vigorously through the veins of the Russian people. The idea of exploring this theme using Rasputin as a twisted metaphor came from a very long process involving a 94-year-old Russian woman in Queens, a very famous episode of The Sopranos and a few too many glasses of vodka. In other words, the idea came from whence all ideas come: a collection of incidents and memories and inspirations scrambled in just the right way and topped off with a dollop of luck.
SB: How did you first get involved with Signature Theatre?
DPR: We had just done The Fix at London’s Donmar Warehouse. Cameron Mackintosh, the co-producer, was keen to find a regional theater in America to do the show next. At, I believe, Stephen Sondheim’s suggestion, Cameron invited Signature Theatre’s artistic director, Eric Schaeffer, to London to see The Fix. Shortly thereafter Eric put it on the calendar for Signature. Thus began a very pleasant and fruitful relationship.
SB: Did you always know you wanted to be a musical composer?
DPR: I actually started as a kid, performing in school and then moving on to the local professional circuit. I started writing for theater during my college years.
SB: When getting a commission from a major theater, how does the process work?
DPR: The impetus for this show being written was actually an email from Eric a few years back. He quite simply said, “You guys need to write another show. Write one and we’ll see if we can’t produce it here at Signature.” I realize this isn’t a terribly exciting story, but from a writer’s perspective, an email like that is a rather magical occurrence.
SB: What advice would you offer to aspiring playwrights
and composers?
DPR: Nobody starts in New York. Your best opportunities are local. Theater is not centralized in the five boroughs. It is a nationwide thing. We are lucky to have the wonderful regional theaters we have in this country, Signature most definitely included. I would encourage all writers to seek out their local theaters — professional, amateur or somewhere in between. Oh, and only write what you know if what you know is actually interesting.
Brother Russia plays March 6 through April 15, 2012, at Signature Theatre in Arlington, Va. Visit www.signature-theatre.org.
