Jack & the Beanstalk: an unfriendly ogre, a gay goose and twenty giant rats
30 Nov 2018.

by Drew Rowsome -

"There are so many things about this simple fairy tale that resonate for me and are relative in today's society," says composer and lyricist William Lavigne of his new musical Jack & the Beanstalk. "A young boy fantasizes about overcoming obstacles, bullying and insecurities. His mother is challenged on a daily basis with providing the necessities of life for her son and dealing with the loss of her husband. A young girl Gwendolyn is strong and determined to become a magician in a world that is dominated by 'men only.' These fantasy type challenges are relatable in today's society. There is a lot of hidden meaning in the innocence of this story-telling."

And some not so hidden. "I've also included a gay character in the re-telling. Greta the Grouchy Goose is a strong female character who is openly gay," says Lavigne. "It's all part of the story and as a gay man, I believe in inclusiveness and the need for young people to see themselves in stories that reflect today's society and their personal journey. All of the women in my show are strong, independent characters. It's an equal playing field for all of the characters in the show and it's actually the Unfriendly Ogre, the bully, who loses in the end."

Lavigne has assembled a stellar cast of musical virtuosos for the workshop reading. "I really wanted to develop a musical that uses legitimate theatre voices within a musical theatre framework. Musical influences for me for this work are, among others, the music and creativity of George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein and Rodgers and Hammerstein. I have also incorporated the musical style of Gilbert and Sullivan into some of the patter type songs in my show like 'A Sprinkling of Some Magic' and 'Notions, Lotions and Potions,' two songs sung by Gorvenal the Magician. I was trained as a classical musician so I relate more to a legitimate style of presentation as opposed to contemporary musical theatre or pop music, which are styles that I admire, but I don't think I would be able to write in."

Legitimate doesn't mean lofty, Jack & the Beanstalk is infused with lots of gags, fun and gorgeous melodies. "I think the thing that makes people listen to and understand music of any style is the accessibility. The simple fairy tale of Jack is enhanced within the framework of the songs and the dialogue of my show in a way that allows the listeners to enjoy the music, drama and lyrics in a seamless integration. In other words, I hope that people won't necessarily classify the content based on a musical genre, but are drawn in by the piece as a story telling. I think children understand and accept things in a non-biased way and they don't really care what kind of music you're presenting as long as they can understand the storyline."

Lavigne cites another holiday season classic for emphasis. "I guess a perfect example of what I'm getting at would be the ballet The Nutcracker by Tchaikovsky. When a child first sees this wonderful show, they don't think to themselves 'Oh, this is classical music and dance. I wonder if I should like it.' No, they like it because it's relatable and beautiful and they can allow their imaginations to run freely as they absorb the music and storyline. We seem to lose this ability as we get older and want to classify things into genres. Children will naturally be drawn to the timeless story of Jack & the Beanstalk, but I really think that a lot of adults will also rediscover their child-like imagination after experiencing the reimagining of this great fairy tale."

Lavigne began writing in 2015 and while he worked quickly, there were challenges. "The hardest songs for me to write in the show are the ensemble numbers. Writing for solo voice is pretty straight-forward. The more voices you add in a song, the more complex it becomes both harmonically and melodically. And of course you can also sometimes have several voices singing different text at the same time which makes things even more complex. A really challenging piece within the musical in this style is 'A Notion, A Lotion or a Potion' from Act I, which is a song sung by Gorvenal the Magician with the full ensemble. As for a favourite song, well I can't really say which one is my favourite. I don't think I really have a favourite song, but I do feel emotional when I hear someone sing 'Just A Boy.' It's a bit heart wrenching."

Gorvenal is a variation on the source material. "In Jack & the Beanstalk the character of Gorvenal was originally just a farmer or wandering merchant," says Lavigne. "I've enhanced this character and made him a magician which allows for a bit of fun staging with magic in a fully staged production. Each of the characters have a special place in my heart because they were born and developed in my imagination. It's really true how an imaginary character develops a life of its own and I sometimes felt within the creative process that the characters were telling me how they wanted to be presented. I know this may sound strange, but the process for me in writing this theatre piece was really organic. My imagination took over and I just wrote everything down."

But writing is only the first step. "It can take up to ten years for a musical to be fully developed," says Lavigne, "but I'm hoping my show will be on the main stage within five years, I found the writing of the music, lyrics and libretto challenging but not difficult. I'm realizing now that developing the show into a full production will be a lot more challenging." While the workshop reading will concentrate on the music, lyrics and performances, there are the giant rats who torment the Unfriendly Ogre to look forward to when Jack & the Beanstalk becomes a full-scale production. "I can't wait to see twenty giant rats dancing on stage as the Unfriendly Ogre is thrown around on his throne chair within the dream. It will be really funny and visually exciting!"