30 Days of NYMF: Day 15 Above Hell's Kitchen

Above Hell's Kitchen
Book Music, and Lyrics by Jonathan Spottiswoode

30 Days to NYMF by Jonathan Spottiswoode

Life definitely imitates art. It has become an occupational hazard.

Several years ago my band, Spottiswoode & His Enemies, released a CD - Building A Road - based on a song about the futility of ambition. We toured our asses off. Alas, it was a Sisyphean endeavor. Somehow, the song had become a prophetic parody of my own band's pathetic struggle!

The next CD, That's What I Like, followed a wannabe playboy on a journey through various relationships towards heartbreak and loneliness. Shortly after its release, my girlfriend and I broke up!

The title of our forthcoming CD is Wild Goosechase Expedition! No, that really doesn't bode well.

In a brilliant career move, I recently decided to write a musical. Jesse Berger, the talented artistic director of Red Bull Theater, suggested we collaborate on a modern re-telling of a classic. After we settled on Don Giovanni Jesse enlisted the brilliant playwright, Anton Dudley, to write the book - an uproarious picaresque romp. However, after a few readings both Anton and I grew tired of the project. I wasn't really interested in the adventures of an unrepentant rake. I'm a modern neurotic, a fan of Woody Allen and Ingmar Bergman. I like my characters to be conflicted.

And so I had the hubris to attempt to write a modern retelling of Don Giovanni all on my own. The result is Above Hell's Kitchen, a gothic chamber piece for six actors and six musicians. Set in a therapist's loft apartment, AHK follows the story of a playboy musician with one tragic flaw: a guilty conscience. His demise begins when he has to raise money to pay for his career.

And now we come full circle. The budget for AHK isn't cheap! Have I cruelly predicted my own fate once again?