Interview: The Fire in His Being: Snowlion Repertory Mounts New Musical, MESMERIZED

"He said he had this power in his hand, fire in his being that he called animal magnetism," says Al D'Andrea, director and book author of Snowlion Repertory's new musical, MESMERIZED, which will run from May 3 - May 12, 2019, at the Portland Ballet Studio Theater. D' Andrea, who, together with Snowlion's Producing Director, Margit Ahlin, are the co-founders of this adventurous Maine theatre company, sat down to talk to Broadway World about their new work and about the history of their theatre.

Set in 177 Vienna, MESMERIZED explores the story of Dr. Anton Mesmer, who restored the sight of a blind prodigy pianist though a radical cure technique which became the forerunner of modern hypnosis and energy work. "There is a tension throughout the play between the medical community, who demands scientific proof of Mesmer's methods, and Mesmer, himself, who has the ability to cure without the ability to prove how he achieves this. It is a fascinating story about a man a couple centuries ahead of his time."

MESMERIZED is only one of a long string of works which D'Andrea and Ahlin have collaborated to create and produce. Says D'Andrea, "Margit and I have been together now for over thirty years as Theatre Partners and partners in life." The couple, who tend to finish each other's sentences in this interview, clearly share an artistic vision for their company.

Ahlin and D'Andrea (a coincidentally Darryl Curry who is MESMERIZED's composer) met in 1983 when they were performing together in a show in New York. Ahlin, who holds a BA from NYU, began as an actress in New York City in the 1980s, but she recounts, "I very quickly turned my attention to writing. We formed our own theatre company in New York for a while in the late 1980s and dedicated ourselves to creating and developing new works, which was not as common a practice in those days. We would perform at a theatre on 48thStreet in Hell's Kitchen."

D'Andrea took degrees in engineering and law in the 1970s. "But after a few years of practicing law in Washington D.C.," he recalls, "I realized this was not my calling. I moved back to New York and studied with Stella Adler and began to act and direct. In 1993 we decided to move to Los Angeles to pursue work in film and television, and then in 2009, we moved back east to be nearer to family. We were looking for a vital cultural and arts hub in New England, and that turned out to be Portland. We wanted to work in a smaller venue to which we felt we could contribute something unique."

That dream took shape in Snowlion Repertory, which they incorporated in 2011. "Our mission," Ahlin says," is to create new and newly imagined works of cultural, spiritual and ethical value. We like to explore stories that are about something going on in culture at the present time, so when an idea or issue presents itself, we often have to work very quickly." She cites the example of the recent production of their play ANYTHING HELPS GOD BLESS, which responded to Portland's debate over the homeless median strip controversy.

D'Andrea continues, "The controversy provided a lens for us to take a look at homelessness and poverty in an atmosphere of mindfulness, enthusiasm, and acceptance." He goes on to explain that Snowlion's entire philosophy is dedicated to "providing a nourishing, collaborative, empowering environment for everyone who works there."

Ahlin expounds, "We pay our actors a healthy stipend or hire Equity actors, and while we have office and rehearsal space at Mayo Street Arts, we do not have a permanent residency in any theatre, though the past couple years we have worked at Portland ballet Studio. The beauty of not carrying a space," she explains, "is that we can spend our time writing and developing work, and when it is ready to go, we can gear up and produce it. We would have to produce four-five shows a season to maintain a permanent space, and then we would have no time for anything else."

D'Andrea notes, however, that not having a resident home, "It is something of a task to load in a show and load it out two weeks later. [Especially because] we are not interested in skeletal productions. Everything we do is fully realized, and the sets and costumes get built all over the place and then collected and assembled at the theatre."

This strategy appears to work for the company. Ahlin talks of some of the favorite past productions which were successful received. "One of my favorites was THE MAINE DISH, which was actually a series of twelve short pieces written by our Playlab authors. And performed in 2015 during Maine Restaurant Week."

D'Andrea adds some of his best memories: "One of the first musicals we did was based on a Dickens story. It was called THE CHRISTMAS BRIDE and was a musical romance set around the holidays. We were lucky to get THE PORTLAND PRESS HERALD to review it, and they gave it a rave, so we completely sold out." Or he cites THE ELEPHANT PIECE, which " was an environmental call to action, a story about a band of hackers in pursuit of the last living elephant."

Ahlin adds to the recollection, "It was a minstrel style show, very hard hitting - just the sort of thing we like to do."

And so how will MESMERIZED carry on Snowlion's mission to create original musicals? D'Andrea notes that since coming to Portland, their company has produced five original musicals, and he sees the story "as the intermingling of a personal story and a societal story about someone who is trying to bring about change, where changes is unsettling to individuals and society as a whole."

The trio of D'Andrea writing book, Curry composing the music, and Ahlin, under the pen name of M.K. Wolfe writing lyrics have created what Ahlin terms, "classically based musical theatre. Darryl's [Curry] music doesn't sound out of place being sung by people in period costumes. It is a contemporary legitimate style musical theatre work, not a pop score, that will be played on piano by the show's music director, Nell Britton."

D'Andrea talks about the six months of research they did to get a feel for the authenticity of the characters and the period. And Ahlin describes the challenges of creating the 18thcentury on Portland Ballet's Studio Theater's stage. " You can't just go to Goodwill to search for costumes and period furniture for this era is hard to find. We had to search high and low because the props and furniture and a few beautiful scenery elements are all we have to establish the period on a relatively small stage."

Says D'Andrea, "MESMERIZED is the biggest musical we have done so far with a cast of fourteen Equity and local actors. And we have been devoting all our energies now to it."

But after this premiere, where does Snowlion see itself positioned on the Portland theatre scene and in what direction does it hope to take the company? D'Andrea says that he sees their Snowlion Repertory "on a par with well-established companies at the level of theatres like The Good Theater, Mad Horse, or Dramatic Repertory."

While Ahlin stresses the company's special mantra: continuing to "continue to respond to what we are feeling; to create and develop new work, and to help emerging playwrights develop theirs through our Playlab."

Photos courtesy of Snowlion Repertory,

MESMERIZED runs for eight performances from May 3 - May 12 at the Portland Ballet Studio Theater, 517 Forest Avenue, Portland, ME www.snowlionrep.org 207-518-9305

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