New musical lands in Chapel Hill’s theater scene

Since the 2010 Broadway production of “The Scottsboro Boys” and the loss of his long-time partner Fred Ebb in 2004, composer John Kander has taken a leave of absence from the theatre — until now.

His newest piece, “The Landing,” brings his work back into the spotlight and is being produced outside of New York for the first time by Chapel Hill’s Deep Dish Theater Company.

“It really is a chance for us to be contributing to the life of this piece,” said Paul Frellick, founding artistic director of Deep Dish Theater.

Kander, known for his music in the Broadway hits “Chicago” and “Cabaret,” has paired his music with playwright Greg Pierce’s lyrics and script to create a collection of three mini-musicals that comprise “The Landing.” The show opened in New York in 2013, and after successful reviews and audience feedback, it has made its way to Chapel Hill.

“I am honored to be doing Kander’s first piece since Ebb’s death,” said Erin Tito, the only female actress in the musical. “This piece is by far the most exciting piece I’ve ever done.”

The show is carried entirely by four actors, including a 13-year-old boy, who all play multiple characters in the three musicals that tell the stories of a math-loving boy, a magical brick and a pair of curious parents .

“When you get a team right, it’s lightning in a bottle,” said John Allore, a lead actor in the musical.

Allore said the unexpected combination of the plays will surprise the audience.

“Each of these plays starts off in a somewhat state of normalcy or expectancy and then, somewhere along the way, goes very awry or off-kilter in a very different direction than what was originally pitched to you,” Allore said.

Despite it being a musical, the show does not include any big numbers. The script weaves spoken word into the dialogue. In the intimate 70-seat theater at University Mall, none of the actors use a microphone, and all of the music is acoustic.

“(The music) fills it up in a way that a bigger house sometimes doesn’t,” said Frellick, who is directing the musical. “You hear those individual instruments, and it’s a conversation going among them and between them and the actors as well.”

Allore said although the combination of three different plays might seem fractured and unrelated, they actually deal with similar adult themes such as same-sex marriage, adoption and adultery.

“Each piece takes the expectations that you carry from the last piece and twists them around and sends you in a different direction,” Frellick said. “It was fun to let the pieces teach us where they wanted to go and then find out where we were at the end of the evening.”

He said the pieces stir up a great deal of passion among audience members and work to create discussion about relevant themes in the world today.

Tito believes that Kander’s return to a simpler and more intimate approach is refreshing.

“A big musical is distancing. You need to be far back to be able to see the patterns of the dances and to take in the bigness of the music with a full orchestra and such,” Frellick said.

arts@dailytarheel.com