30 Days of NYMF: Day 18 The History of War

The History of War
30 Days to NYMF by Amanda Yesnowitz

Abramson, Yesnowitz, and Zien. Upper East Side law firm? No. JCC Board of Trustees? No. Musical theatre writing team? Yes.

That's right. Two and a half Jews in a room bitching over song placement, pronouns, and key changes. But after all, it takes three andThe History of War started with the three of us. Actually, it all started with Chip Zien in 2006. Well, to be more accurate it probably started with Chip Zien at the University of Pennsylvania where he was a history major. Who knew? Cut to many, many, MANY decades later when he meets Deborah and me, the obvious songwriting team to create a musical about warmongering barbarians, unbridled misogyny, and good old-fashioned carnage.

Now here we are four years later with our first draft of what we consider to be a very important theatrical endeavor. This is not an easy piece of theatre to watch. It's controversial and polarizing and ugly. Trying to dramatize Adolph Hitler without all of the requisite biases requires an artistic sensitivity I wasn't sure I had. Treating these tyrants as three-dimensional characters in a play proved challenging for all of us and we can only hope that the product challenges our audience as well.

We've been impossibly blessed to work with some wonderful people on the road to NYMF. Some of those fearless warriors include Nick Corley (director/referee), Brian Usifer (music director), and Darren Lee (choreographer). We've also been graced with some of Broadway's elite such as Max Von Essen, Jim Walton, Jason Kravits, and Tony nominees Paul Kandel and Sophie Hayden. Who wouldn't want to go into battle with an army of the highest pedigree?

This is the first musical I've written where I never had to ask myself ‘why' this story must be told. Our collective innocence hangs in the balance.

And if you're offended, just tell the Baker, "it's your fault."