'The Last Smoker in America' debuts in Columbus

New musical premieres here before heading to Broadway

By Dwayne Steward

Metromix

Talk about a leap of faith. For its first show since merging with the Phoenix Theatre for Children, the Contemporary American Theatre Company is betting on a world premiere.

Tickets went on sale Aug. 19 for "The Last Smoker in America," a completely new musical that will have its debut run in Columbus Sept. 29 though Oct. 24 before opening off-Broadway next year.

"It's a tremendous risk," Phoenix Theatre founder Stephen Anderson said while taking a break from the first set of rehearsals in New York City.

The newly dubbed CATCO artistic director, who's taken over for the company's founder and 26-year director Geoffrey Nelson, is pretty sure the risk is going to pay off. He's putting his faith in some pretty high-profile hands.

"Last Smoker" is the product of two-time Tony-nominated lyricist Bill Russell ("Side Show") and composer Peter Melnick, a Drama Desk Award nominee for the off-Broadway play "Adrift in Macao." The show is being directed by Andy Sandberg, who won a Tony just last year for his revival of "Hair."

The musical, with a score that pulls influences from rock, rap and gospel, chronicles the travails of a woman (Katy Blake) who struggles with smoking in a futuristic America where the vice has been outlawed. The story is complicated by her rock-star-wannabe husband (John Bolton), confused teenage son (Teddy Toye) and nosey, conservative neighbor (Natalie Venetia Belcon).

The show went through a critically acclaimed, sold-out and extended run at the 2009 New York Musical Theatre Festival a year ago.

"It was the first time we had put the show out there in any way," said Sandberg, who immediately attached himself to the project after early developmental readings four years ago. "Anything we'd done before that was around a music stand and piano."

Sandberg said Columbus quickly rose to the top of the list when he was shopping around the country last year for a spot to premiere to show before heading to Broadway.

"I visited a lot of regional theater company's around the country," Sandberg said. "We wanted to mount a fully produced production of the show before taking it to New York ... CATCO was in a transitional period and they were really excited about the project, and we wanted to work with people that were passionate about what we were trying to do."

Anderson added, "It was a long negotiation process—it had to be a win-win for everyone involved. Going forward, I would like CATCO/Phoenix to be the place where this kind of work can have an incubator."

A New York writer, a New York composer, a New York director and a New York cast? Some might say Anderson is putting all of CATCO's eggs in someone else's basket.

"The scenery is being built in Columbus, the costumes are being made in Columbus and I've been involved with the production from the readings to the rewrites and auditions, and now the rehearsals" Anderson said. "The show's gone from being a two-act musical to a 90-min, one-act musical, and there have been some significant changes since we got involved."

As for why Columbus residents should support the project, Sandberg had a simple answer.

"It's hilarious and a lot fun," he said. "You can be entertained and also have a meaningful conversation at dinner afterward, and that's the measure of great theater."

"The Last Smoker in America" runs Sept. 29 though Oct. 24 in Studio One of the Vern Riffe Center, 77 S. High Street. (Previews start Sept. 29, opening night is Oct. 7.) Tickets are $11.50-$40, call 614-469-0939 or visit CATCO.org. Also check out LastSmokerInAmerica.com for a sneak peek at some of the music and more information about the show.