Photo by Carlos Delgado
I recently wrote Todd Nielsen Returns to Robber Bridegroom at ICT for LA Stage Times, and I really tried to “circle the ideas” as Sasha instructed us, and have a “clear point of view”, as we’ve been discussing with David. What made it especially hard is not having seen any version of the musical in any decade. I tried to do as much research as I had time for, but I didn’t get a chance to read Eudora Welty’s novella, upon which the musical is based. This frustrated me a bit because I felt like I was right back in the workforce juggling deadlines and feeling rushed without enough time to conduct good research. But, I did approach this piece with the idea that I would focus on something (i.e., the director Todd’s philosophies about directing and about his opinion about the show’s underlying themes) and reveal more about the director than the show. Sort of like a look into Todd’s mind. How did I do?
Jessica Koslow 