BWW Previews: IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN at Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival

Ever wonder how one-person musicals are born? In that case, read all about IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN, because this Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival selection is just that. With the lyricist, composer, music director and creator also being the sole actor on stage, Chris Alonzo is a bit of a multi-tasker.

Chris actually premiered this musical 16 years ago and has been fine-tuning it ever since. He explains the show as a mix between rock and roll and storytelling, with him singing, playing guitar, rocking on drums and music directing.

Check out the Q&A below to see why Chris describes it as "the world's finest pirate-themed one-man rock opera based on the myth of Orpheus."

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JCA: What inspired you to create this show? Was there just one moment that made it click for you or was it an evolution over time?

CA: The show came to me in a dream in 1999 or so, dropping out of my head more or less fully-formed as an apology/love letter to my ex-girlfriend once we'd decided to give it another try. I spent months writing and arranging the songs with the drummer of the original production, Justin "Junebug" Spencer, and pretty quickly had workshops running in various Austin festivals. The real light bulb moment came when I was describing it to the original director, Maria Aladren, and she said, "You know you're describing the myth of Orpheus, right?" I did not. After that, I studied up on different versions until I found one, by Ovid, that I really liked. Some of the lyrics, in fact, come verbatim from Ovid's original text.

JCA: Tell us about your reaction to being selected for this festival.

CA: I was honestly stunned. I didn't think they'd go for it. I assumed AMTF wanted more traditional musical theatre than my punks and pirates dirty joke-fest, but I thought it was worth a laugh to apply since I had the summer off from the Atlanta Fringe Festival I'm the marketing manager, so the festival eats up all my free time and then requires a long break in activity to recover, but we took this year off.

I was actually out on a date, at a cocktail bar, when I got the email and immediately reopened the check we'd just closed so we could celebrate.

JCA: Give us an idea of what the Atlanta community can expect to see from you after AMTF.

CA: Maybe this show again? I love this show so much. If not, I've really been wanting to remount the solo show I did at the first Atlanta Fringe Festival, when I'd first moved to town and didn't know anybody yet. Otherwise, I'll keep doing my thing, rolling up at live lit events like Write Club and Scene/Song Missing and playing guitar at all of my friend's weddings. I'll also probably drop an EP of 2-minute guitar songs at some point this year.

JCA: And just for fun, what is your favorite musical currently on Broadway?

CA: Ugh, hang on. (Googles what's even on Broadway right now.) I was more of a downtown guy when I lived in New York.

Oh, wait. Hell yes. War Paint. I want to take a bus of Atlanta people up to New York to see War Paint together. It's Patti, man. I mean, I can mean mug on my PUNK RAWK STREET CRED all day, and the plays above my writing desk are all by weirdos like Richard Foreman and Mac Wellman, but literally right next to them is a vinyl edition of the original Evita soundtrack with Patti and Mandi Patinkin. That s**t is my jam.

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IN THE MIDDLE OF THE OCEAN will debut at Out Front Theatre Company on July 30 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $15 per seat and can be purchased online.

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