A different kind of war theater

The Civil War, a stage show opening in Tampa this week, doesn't fit neatly into a category: It's not a traditional musical, but it's more than a concert.

By JOHN FLEMING

© St. Petersburg Times, published May 6, 2001

The Civil War has been called a lot of things. A musical, of course, since it is the creation of a theater composer and author (Frank Wildhorn) and his co-authors (Gregory Boyd and Jack Murphy). The show had a brief Broadway run and is touring to venues such as Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center, where it opens Tuesday.

But Wildhorn, whose other musicals include Jekyll & Hyde and The Scarlet Pimpernel, also calls it, variously, a song cycle or an oratorio or a thematic musical. Finally, speaking on his car phone during the drive in from his horse farm in Westchester County, N.Y., to his office in Manhattan, he settles on an "American musical tapestry that pays homage to and honors both the people and the ideals from the Civil War."

Likewise, Larry Gatlin, the country music star who heads the cast, isn't quite sure how to describe it. "There's a band onstage, but it's more than just a concert," Gatlin said. "There's choreography and a set and scene changes, but it's not a typical book musical with a story that goes from A to B to C. It's not about just two or three people. It's about the 600,000 people who died in this war."

For The Civil War, Wildhorn wrote a batch of songs in a range of pop styles, from country to gospel to rock. The book consists of excerpts from documents of the time, such as writings of Walt Whitman, Mary Chesnut, Abraham Lincoln and Frederick Douglass.

As Wildhorn tells it, he was motivated by his teenage son, Justin, to write the show.

"He was studying the Civil War in school a few years ago, and I didn't think the textbooks were inspiring the passion in him that I thought the Civil War would," he said. "We were looking at a speech by Frederick Douglass, and I said to him, "If Hootie and the Blowfish were singing these words, would you pay more attention?' He said, "Sure, you go make that happen, Dad, and I'll listen.' Well, I took that as a challenge."

Along with his musical theater career, Wildhorn is in the record business, as head of the Atlantic Theatre label, and the result of his son's remark was a double CD of The Civil War. He put together an all-star cast in the studio that included James Garner, Maya Angelou, Charlie Daniels, Travis Tritt, Dr. John, Deana Carter, Trisha Yearwood, Patti LaBelle and, yes, Hootie and the Blowfish.

The album got better reviews than the show, which, with a non-celebrity cast, had a disastrous Broadway engagement in 1999. It was retooled for the road by director Stephen Rayne to be less of a traditional musical and more of a staged concert.

Gatlin is the biggest name in the company. He plays a Confederate captain.

"They needed a kind of grizzled old guy," he said. "This beard is a lot whiter than the last time I tried to grow it about 10 years ago. I'm not exactly a Southerner, coming from Texas, but I lived in Nashville for 21 years. I know a lot about the Civil War, it has a special place in my heart, and I love singing this music."

The Civil War tour has done decent business, with Gatlin promoting the show to country music listeners.

"My fans, God love 'em, have come out to see this, because I've urged them," he said. "Musical theater traditionally has not been a big favorite of country music fans, but I tell them not to be put off by the fact this is a quote-unquote musical."

Gatlin got the musical theater bug several years ago when he appeared on Broadway in The Will Rogers Follies. He wrote a musical, Texas Flyer, which was produced in Bristol, Pa., and Houston. Now he's hoping to write a musical theater opus with the backing of Houston's Alley Theatre, where Boyd is artistic director and Wildhorn has had shows produced.

"I have a six-musical cycle -- Wagner had only four in his Ring cycle, and I have six in mine," he said. "These are musicals that are Texas in nature and universal in scope. The Texas six-pack, I'm going to call it, for lack of a better term."

As for the Gatlin Brothers, "Steve and Rudy and I have not done any work together in the last two or three years," Larry said. "When I do go out for concerts now, I take my daughter and niece. I can do a few dates, pay my bills, live in Austin, Texas, and drive my little convertible."

Wildhorn has a new musical in the works, Dracula, which premieres next fall in La Jolla, Calif., with a high-powered creative team of director Des McAnuff, playwright Christopher Hampton and lyricist Don Black. As a record producer, Wildhorn can take a different approach to developing a new musical than other songwriters. In April, he was recording a demo album of the show with a cast of Broadway performers that included Terrence Mann, originally from Largo, who starred in Beauty and the Beast and Les Miserables.

"I do demos on all my shows," Wildhorn said. "Creatively, I do them because it becomes the first workshop of the show. It's the first time I get to be by myself with great artists in the studio, not on the producer's dime but the record company's dime, playing around with the material."

It's also part of Wildhorn's marketing strategy to put an album out before a show opens to create interest. The Dracula demo will be heard by potential investors.

"Businesswise, the demos I do are very sophisticated, and they become the international calling cards for the show," he said. "In the past, they've been the reason for major money coming in and deals being made even before the show does its first performance."

Wildhorn also is working on another musical intended to be a vehicle for his wife, singer Linda Eder, adapted from a French movie about a sculptor, Camille Claudel.

Two years ago, Wildhorn had three shows -- Jekyll & Hyde, The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Civil War -- playing on Broadway at the same time. He has never really won the critics over, but there's obviously an audience for his work.

"Ultimately, I am the audience for my shows," he said. "I'm not some snobby New York theatergoer. I'm just a regular guy, and I want melodies that feel good on my ears and I want cool stories."

PREVIEW: The Civil War opens Tuesday and runs through May 13 at Tampa Bay Performing Arts Center. Tickets: $19.50-$61.50. (813) 229-7827 or toll-free 1-800-955-1045.

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