Preview run of musical shines spotlight on Zelda as well as F. Scott Fitzgerald

By Elmer Ploetz

(Photo above by Jorge Luna)

F. Scott Fitzgerald spent almost 10 years of his childhood living in Buffalo. Now, he’s coming back for 2½ weeks.

The occasion is “The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul,” a preview production of a new musical with book, music and lyrics by Christie Baugher at the Irish Classical Theatre Company. It will debut Friday (Nov. 8) at the Andrews Theatre, 625 Main St., Buffalo. The musical is directed and choreographed by Danny Mefford, whose credits include choreographing “Kimberly Akimbo” and “Dear Evan Hansen” on Broadway. 

The significance of the production is that it’s a rare chance in Buffalo to see a play in development on its way to Broadway or Off-Broadway (where the musical’s creators hope it will eventually land). It’s the kind of final polishing step that Broadway plays frequently took in places like New Haven, Conn. (see the history of the Shubert Theatre) and still occasionally do in places such as Toronto (for example, “Aladdin” in 2014).   

In a recent conversation, Baugher and actors Jewell Wilson Bridges (F. Scott Fitzgerald) and Shannon O’Boyle (Zelda Sayre O’Boyle) talked about how the show came to be and their roles in it. 

The production has been 10 years in the making, since Baugher wrote the first three songs, through multiple workshops, readings and concerts  … and a pandemic. 

“It’s been exciting,” said Baugher. “It’s taught us a lot. The thing about making theater that I’ve learned is that what you read on the page is not what you hear, and what you hear is not what you see. And until you put a thing through all of those paces, you don’t even really know what you have.” 

“And so we’ve read it and we’ve heard it a lot, and this is our first time learning how the thing moves. And it’s proving to be kind of a complicated animal. It’s a memory play. And so it lives in sort of a liminal, abstract space, and literalizing that on stage, especially in an unusual space like Irish Classical’s, is teaching us a lot about how it operates. It’s been really thrilling and terrifying and exciting,” she said.

Irish Classical Artistic Director Keelie Sheridan said the theater’s commitment to the show is significant.

“Staging this production allocates resources and time to the next phase of development of a new musical, which I believe will have a big, beautiful life after its run at Irish Classical,” Sheridan said. “It’s a vote of confidence in the creative team, in the work, and in the importance of presenting new works of exceptional merit alongside established works.

“I’m also passionate about facilitating collaboration between local and guest artists. I hope the word will spread, and more outside eyes will see the potential in Buffalo’s theaters and artists. Although this is technically a preview production, our audiences can expect a fully staged performance of the excellent caliber they are accustomed to seeing at Irish Classical. I hope ‘The Fitzgeralds of St. Paul’ helps to build an appetite and excitement in our audiences for more new work. 

Baugher said the show is at the point where the script is going through just minor line tweaks and adjustments to delivery. It’s almost ready to lock down.

The theater won’t be fully in the round, as it normally is, as a platform is set aside for a small three-piece band. 

Baugher said she wrote the first three songs on a challenge when she was living in New York City. 

“I was asked to present some material 10 years ago at a song share night at a bar in the East Village by a friend,” she said. “I didn’t really have anything that I wanted to share, and this was around the time that I started getting interested in the Fitzgeralds. And so I was like, ‘OK,  I’m going to challenge myself to write a song for her, a song for him, and a song for both of them.’” 

“I presented those three songs at this event where there were 20 or 25 people in the audience. I said, ‘You know, I don’t know what this is. It may be nothing, but let me know what you think.’ And it was the best received thing I had ever written. People, like every single person in that audience, came to me afterward and said, ‘This is a show, and you have to write it,’” Baugher said.

The songs had some magic, because all three are still in the show. Baugher said one song is the opener and closer of the musical, one is F. Scott Fitzgerald’s big song and the other is the key duet with Zelda and Scott. 

Baugher is also crowdfunding a concept album recording of the music of the show, with the Kickstarter kicking off as the show opens on the Irish Classical Theatre Company stage on Friday (Nov. 8).

The play begins and ends with Zelda in a mental hospital after Scott’s death, but traces their entire relationship through memories as the two found fame, celebrity and tragedy as America was redefining itself in the 1920s and ‘30s. 

The actors have been intensely involved in the development of the show. O’Boyle (who lives in Los Angeles) started working with the musical in a workshop in 2020 (just before the pandemic) and Bridges (who lives in Cleveland) started working with Baugher last year. 

Bridges said the role is intense enough that he can carry the role with him. 

He said, “The beautiful thing about Christie’s writing is that from beginning to end the show really just carries us to where we need to go. The words, the music, everything is so perfectly executed that it’s so easy to connect all those dots.” 

“And, of course, you have an on ramp as an actor before you do the show, in preparation for it, and I definitely need an off ramp. There are times where I kind of have to remind my body that this is not a real psychological, emotional journey that I went on, and I need to shift gears,” Bridges said.

O’Boyle concurred, saying, “I do sometimes have to kind of allow myself to process that a little bit and release that after we leave. I think just processing the emotion –  and really being fascinated by both Zelda herself and Christy’s writing – it takes a minute to step away from it.”

Baugher said Zelda’s story was one of the keys to her interest in the story. 

“When I started getting interested in them 10 years ago, there was a version of their story that I wanted to see that I had never seen told, and it was from her perspective,” Baugher said. “I do think in all of the historical tellings, she gets short shrift, as you know, the ‘crazy wife of the genius.’” 

“She gets a term that we use in rehearsal a lot. She gets painted with the ‘crazy brush.’ And I think there’s a version of her story that needs to be told with compassion towards mental illness. That extends to him (Scott) as well. I mean, the addiction part of it is such a crucial component of their story. And the things that they are celebrated for are also the things that killed them,” Baugher said.

So how DID “The Fitzgerald’s of St. Paul” wind up coming to Buffalo? 

Baugher said that a contact had reached out to her and suggested, “we have a new artistic director who’s looking for exciting new things to do here. How do we get a hold of your show?”

Baugher gave the friend her contact info, then forgot about it. 

“I didn’t really think anything of it because we’ve tried to find a regional theater home for the show for a really long time, and due to the pandemic and to just the various programming edicts that theaters have … Some places have said it’s too small. It’s a two-person show. Some of them have weirdly said that it’s too large, which makes me worry for their future,” she said.

“But then a few months later, (Sheridan) reached out and said, ‘This is a perfect fit for us. And she talked about the Fitzgerald connection to Buffalo specifically, which I weirdly, in my research, had never come across. So I found that really exciting. I found the Irish Classical mission and space really exciting,” Baugher said.

Sheridan said, “When planning my first season as AD at Irish Classical, I was really excited about the possibility of producing a musical in our space, but wanted to make sure it was something local audiences hadn’t seen before, and something that would fit well in our intimate venue.

“Our Audience Services Manager, Stephen Schapero, knew composer/writer/lyricist Christie Baugher from their time in New York City, and knew that Christie had a new musical. They sent me a recording of some of the music, and I fell in love. The more I learned about the script, and about the Fitzgeralds themselves, the more perfect it seemed to produce it here.

“F. Scott Fitzgerald was of Irish descent, and spent part of his childhood here in Buffalo, attending Nardin, learning to dance at the Twentieth Century Club, and living in the Lenox Apartments (now the Lenox Hotel.) This piece also struck me because, although for many, F. Scott is the household name, this piece really focuses on the experiences of his wife Zelda — an artist herself.

“This piece lets us spend time with these literary giants on a stunningly human level. I saw it as such an exciting opportunity for Buffalo audiences to be the first to see this gorgeous new work fully staged, and to be a launching pad for its future.”

F. Scott Fitzgerald’s family lived in Buffalo from 1898 to 1901 and from 1903 to 1908.

And now he’s back, in a stage production, and Zelda is more prominent than ever. It’s a complex story told with a small cast and the band — and they’re ready to bring it home. 

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Elmer Ploetz is editor-in-chief of The Buffalo Hive.