30 Days of NYMF on BroadwayWorld Day 13: Uncle Jed's Barbershop

Article by: David Wohl, composer, co-lyricist and co-creator (Co-creators: Kenneth Grimes and Susan Einhorn)

UNCLE JED'S BARBERSHOP, an official selection of the New York Musical Theater Festival, and Winner of the 2005 Directors Choice Awards, is our heartwarming and highly entertaining new family musical. Performances begin Sept. 20, 8 PM, at the St. Clements Theater,: 423 West 46th Street; Tickets: 212-352-3101. Info: 212-664-0979. It runs through October 2 (see web link below for more details).

As a longtime composer for theater, multimedia, film, television and dance, I have always sought to compose for projects that engage my heart, soul and mind, and hopefully those of the audience as well. UNCLE JED'S BARBERSHOP represents for me the pinnacle of this personal goal.

UNCLE JED'S BARBERSHOP is about how the passage of time affects dreams, and dramatizes this through the loving and complicated relationships of 4 generations of a family and its community. The story concludes as an exuberant celebration of the human spirit!

Every new work has an emotional and spiritual center, as well as specific technical requirements, which determine its musical language. UNCLE JED'S BARBERSHOP contained two key elements that affected what I wrote: 1) The story takes place in a close-knit African-American family and community in the Delta region of Arkansas, from 1928-1970; and, 2) the show, as a meditation on dreams and lifetime memories, regularly juxtaposes and overlaps different time periods .

These two elements led me to compose music that suggests particular periods and locales, but, equally important, music that is "timeless" and theatrical, and– above all– true to the emotional spirit of the story and its characters. In this regard, I leaned towards memorable melody and harmonic richness; second, a wide range of styles (e.g., creole/West African, gospel grooves, softshoe, country shuffles, ballads and "Motown"); and, lastly, an integration all the songs through various musical devices–thus reinforcing the memory aspect of the story.

"Lord Be Our Strength," Act 1's church song, is one intriguing example of this approach. The song commences in the rustic a capella style of a mid 1930s rural church of Sarah Jean's youth. But, because it unfolds, in "reality", within Sarah Jean's more contemporary 50 year-old mind, it exploits stylistic diversity, and ultimately climaxes in a "modern", and thrilling, gospel mode!....The song is triply ambitious in that it also advances key plot lines, such as the romantic storyline for Uncle Jed! It was a pleasure to collaborate with the highly talented and insightful cast in crafting this, and every, song. For more information on UNCLE JED'S BARBERSHOP, including tickets, please go to: www.nymf.org