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 Playwright: Kyle Jarrow, "Love Kills", New York Musical Theatre Festival Submitted Aug 28, 2007
Interviewed by Joanna Parson Tell us about your new musical, Love Kills. What is it about? LOVE KILLS is about Charlie Starkweather and his girlfriend Caril Fugate, who murdered eleven people in 1958. As the first teenage spree killers in American history, they were also the inspiration for the movies Badlands and Natural Born Killers, and the forerunners to the current sad trend of school shootings. Youth and violence are two of America’s great obsessions, and their story combines both—maybe that’s the reason for its lasting impact. Anyway, my show is set during the night after their arrest, when they’re interrogated by the local sheriff and his wife. In the course of this night, Caril ends up turning against Charlie (which really happened). The show looks at why she made this choice, and in the meantime explores the intersection of love and desire. It's called an "emo rock musical." How is the music incorporated into the show? Is it a traditional musical where songs played by an offstage band are sung by actors to further the action of the story? The emo style, and bands like My Chemical Romance or Sunny Day Real Estate, really capture the angst and raw emotionalism of adolescence. That’s why it seemed the perfect choice of musical style to tell this story of young love gone bad. The songs do integrate into the plot, but the band is going to be onstage, and the songs are going to be loud—it’s going to feel like a rock show. When and why did you become interested in the subject matter of lovers on a crime spree as the protagonists for a musical? What got me excited me about the story wasn’t the violence, but the opportunity it provided to explore the changing nature of love by comparing Charlie and Caril’s relationship with that of the sheriff and his wife. Basically, I wanted to write a love story that asked: is the intensity of young love a good thing, or an unhealthy thing? When love becomes calmer with time and age, is that a natural maturation or a kind of loss? You've produced shows at many different venues—why did you decide to debut Love Kills at the New York Musical Theatre Festival? NYMF asked me if I’d be willing to debut LOVE KILLS with them, and I thought it sounded like a great opportunity—an ideal showcase for a new piece. Jason Southerland, the director who’s been working with me on it since the first reading, agreed. So we went for it. You quote yourself on your web site as saying that "Musicals tend to suck." What do you mean by that? I just don’t like most musicals. It’s a taste thing—to me, there’s often something that feels awkward about traditional book musicals. But I think music can bring a lot to the theater experience, and shows like Hedwig or Spring Awakening or Cynthia Hopkins’s Must Don’t Whip ‘Em, to name a few, really do rock. I guess I hope to add to that canon: to create musicals that really do rock. What kind of actors do you like to work with? How can an actor impress you when you're involved in the casting process of a new piece of theatre? I’m attracted to actors who aren’t afraid, who’re willing to make bold choices and get excited about trying a bunch of different approaches. When an actor shows that kind of adventurousness in the audition room—I love that. You were a child actor. Tell us about your early theatre experiences. When I was a kid, I did a bunch of shows at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca, NY (where I grew up), and was also in a couple short films. I really enjoyed being onstage, but to be honest I had no idea what I was doing. When I was doing Scientology Pageant, I met all these amazing child actors with real talent and chops. Compared to them, I was a hack! When did you decide to shift your attentions to playwriting? When I hit puberty, I got all awkward-looking and I wasn’t getting cast anymore. But I still wanted to be involved in the theater, so I started writing plays. How did you first begin to get people to produce your work? Any advice for young playwrights who have scripts they're trying to get seen and produced? My advice is just go for it. Find some friends and put up your show, at whatever level you can manage, and invite people to see it. Producers are always looking for good work, but they often can’t recognize it on the page. For that reason, waiting around for someone to give you an opportunity can be frustrating. The most successful writers I know are the ones who put together DIY productions of their work when they first came to NYC. It can be a lot of work, but I think it’s the best way. A Very Merry Unauthorized Children's Scientology Pageant was an off-Broadway success, winning you and its director Obie Awards. Did you anticipate that the show would be as well-received and attention-getting as it was? Totally not. It was a very happy surprise. The play, performed by children, was an explanation and dissection of the ideas of Scientology in the guise of a traditional children's pageant. Were there any repercussions or reactions from the Church of Scientology itself? There were. During the rehearsals for the first production, we were contacted by the head of the Church in New York, who threatened legal action. During the productions in Los Angeles and Boston, the Church made contact with the theaters and in some cases the performers’ families. Nothing ever came of it, but they definitely made their disapproval of the show very clear. You've said that you're currently writing for TV and film. Have you had to adjust your sensibilities or writing style in order to write for the camera? The biggest difference, I’ve found, is that film and TV are plot-driven formats. You can dig deeper than plot, and you try to, but first and foremost you have to make sure your story beats are working. Theater, I think, is more based on themes and character nuance. What's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten about life in show business, as a performer or a writer? Best advice I’ve gotten: be a cheerleader. Not a pom-pom type cheerleader (though that could lead to a certain kind of success too I suppose)—but be someone who is positive about other peoples’ work and finds joy in your peers’ success. We’re all struggling in this tough industry together. If you give support to others, you’ll get it in return. ****** The New York Musical Theatre Festival runs September 17 through October 7. For more information or tickets, calls 212-352-3101 or visit www.nymf.org or visit the TheatreMania booth at the Virgin Megastore in Times Square. Love Kills performances at the 45th Street Theater are: Tuesday, September 18 at 8PM; Friday, September 21 at 1PM; Sunday, September 23 at 4:30PM; Wednesday, September 26 at 8PM; Friday, September 28 at 1PM; and Saturday, September 29 at 8PM. 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