BWW Interviews: Tony LePage on New Air Supply Musical LOST IN LOVE

Musical Theatre and 80s rock are about to collide once again as a new project gets off the ground this Tuesday in New York City. Lost in Love is a modern day retelling of Shakespeare's classic Midsummer's Night's Dream set to the music of Air Supply and starring Constantine Maroulis and Kate Rockwell. Featuring sixteen Air Supply songs and new Music and Lyrics by Graham Russell, the show is an attempt to merge two mediums and introduce a new audience to the joy of live musical theatre.

Lost in Love has a book by two current Rock of Ages cast members, Tony LePage and Justin Matthew Sargent. BWW sat down to chat with Tony LePage about how the idea came to fruition, as well as what it's like trying to write a new musical while starring on Broadway:

First of all, how did Lost in Love come about for you?

It was really surreal the way the whole thing happened. There was a version of it about a year ago, but the producers wanted to completely re-do it. Justin Matthew Sargent, who I'm in Rock of Ages with, approached me and asked if it was something I might be interested in. We started writing it together, pitched it to Graham Russell he loved the whole concept. So we all got on board.

How do you find time to write a new musical while starring in Rock of Ages?

A lot of it gets written in between shows on a Saturday or even when we're in the vocal booth at the theatre. I keep my computer on me and Justin and I get together when we can because we were really eager to jump on this opportunity.

So what exactly is the concept behind Lost in Love?

It's a comedic modern day retelling of Shakespeare's Midsummer Night's Dream. Set to the music of Air Supply.

How does one even come up with something like that?

The idea originally came from the fact that Air Supply have so many great love songs, and that's what they're known for. Midsummer Night's Dream is all about love in different forms, so we thought it would fit well into the construct of their music. What we didn't realize was just how well it would fit. It was oddly perfect the way it all came together.

We've taken all the names and modernized or changed the, set the story in NYC and formed the plot around Air Supply's great music. So it's the same story, but with music and modern day language.

How many Air Supply songs do you feature?

We have sixteen Air Supply songs and Graham Russell has written new songs as well. It was pretty incredible getting new music from Graham Russell, and the new stuff is fantastic and works so well.

Graham is very excited about the entire project so we're hoping it finds life beyond this reading. It would be great if we could present it as more of a staged workshop at some point in the future.

Did you always know you wanted to write a musical?

I've always been someone who writes, and I did a show back home called Plastic the Musical when I was in New Brunswick and it was really well received. So I think the desire has always been in me, and when this opportunity came up it was the perfect storm. It has almost been serendipitous the way it's all come together which is really exciting.

Do you have a big eleven o'clock number? If so, which of their songs is it?

It's actually a new one called 'Runaway' which Graham has written. The two lead females since it at the end of Act 2 when they get their redemption and it fits really well.

Do you think this is an opportunity to get a New Group of people into the theatre?

Absolutely. I think people will respond really well to it, I know there are a ton of Air Supply fans out there. When people hear it they get really excited because it brings them back to a nostalgic time, and Graham is really excited about having his music out there and he's honoured to be a part of it. I think when you're able to tap into that emotion and nostalgia that exists within everyone, that's when you can really do something special and I think that's what we've done here.

Pictured: Tony LePage in ROCK OF AGES. Photo Credit: Jennifer Broski.