Dr. Jack Wann and “Tower by the Thames”- the making of a new Musical Comedy!

 

Jack Wann is a gift to those with whom he works. A dedication to theatre that started with teaching. A

ferocious focus on detail, each word a universe of emotional opportunity. Opportunity for

an actor to make choices, develop back stories, determine what the character wants and

what obstacles must be surmounted to reach it. Actors speaking dialogue, not because it is memorized, but

because it is necessary, demanded by the action of the play moving forward.

And the best line you will ever be able to utter on stage? It is the one you will never be able to say.

It is true that there are no small roles in the theatre, and your percieved insignificance may be the most

meaningful opportunity in the play!

 

Don’t trust me, this almost 90-year-old director is still paying it forward.

Audition for one of his shows and you will experience his famous “Character Conferences.”

Then you will begin to get it and get him. Insight and experience will begin to flow through

you, too.

 

And so here we go again!

It is the World Premiere of “Tower by the Thames,” the second  Wann-Van

Stockum Musical.  This one is a Comedy, situated on the banks of the Thames River in London, England. It

will be brought to life on the historic, 60 year old stage of the Little Colonel Players theatre in Pewee Valley,

Kentucky (just outside of Louisville) during the first two weekends of April, 2025.

 

It is directed by the playwright himself, Dr. Jack Wann, with the talented Lynne Chenault as Musical

Director. She will be on stage herself as a character, providing piano orchestration and accompaniment.

I wrote  the melodies and will also be on stage singing and acting myself.  Erika Wardlow is our able stage

manager/ costumer. Kevin Bushong is on Lights and Sound, Mike Price on set and prop construction,

Jenny Friendenberg choreography, and Teresa Wentzel, producer. Pretty groovy!

 

Tickets are at https://cur8.com/39691/project/124140

The Wann-Van Stockum collaboration started back in 2010. It began at Christmas party at the Shelby

County [Kentucky] Community Theatre. Jack was new in town, having recently returned from New York

City where he taught for 10 years at the American Academy of Dramatic Arts.

 

Dr. Wann had previously established theatre programs at Northern Kentucky University and Northwestern

State University in Louisiana. He had come back to Eminence, Kentucky to live with his daughter and be close

to his ailing brother in Jeffersonville, Indiana. He introduced himself to me at the Christmas party.

He heard that I was a songwriter and musician.

 

“Can you put Shakespeare to music?” he asked.

 

“Of course,” I said, being younger and more foolish.

 

And so I did, scoring a melody and chord structure for the famous funeral eulogy in Shakespeare’s

“Cymbeline.” It was premiered at Asbury College during the performance of Jack’s play entitled

“Shakesperience!” at the Grand Opening of their impressive new performance facility!

I think I wore a tuxedo!

 

It wasn’t long before I, too, was auditioning for his plays. That’s when his Shakespearian magic set in and the

hard work began. For Shakespeare is his specialty and will become yours, too, once you begin your study with

such a Shakespearian scholar and student! And you may learn of a  whole new world that you may not have

known existed.

 

I am a lawyer and a biologist, and a writer of Fiction Science and Magic Realism. An

imaginative fellow, I like to think, and I write emotionally. Jack Wann quickly picked up

on all that, and soon enough, we were having weekly meetings exploring creative

opportunities.

 

During Covid, we jointly produced podcasts at the Shelby County Community Theatre with our “Corps of

Actors” performing selections of plays from Shakespeare and the Modern Realists. And yes, Jack conducted

Character Conferences for those audio roles also!

 

You can still listen to those podcasts on my blog at http://www.vanstockum.blog. You will hear many of

our great actors performing famous play scene selections. Her are two links to get you started.

https://vanstockum.blog/2024/01/08/shakespeare-sez-part-1-all-the-worlds-a-stage-a-podcast/

https://vanstockum.blog/2024/11/11/realism-is-born-podcast-part-one-ibsen-chekhov-strindberg-scct/

 

About that time, Jack was writing the script for a new musical to be set in Louisiana.

He came to me to compose the music and work on the lyrics. When Covid closed down the

opportunity in that southern venue, we decided to write a whole new musical set in

Kentucky.

 

The result was  “Jubilee Barndance,” which premiered at the Shelby County

Community Theatre in February 2022. You can see clips of the musical on my YouTube

channel and listen to the music on your favorite streaming service  (such as Spotify). Just

search under the name “Reggie Van Stockum.”

 

“Let’s write some more.” I suggested to Jack.

 

It was easy to say, sitting across from one so talented in that way. Where do we start next? What is the set-up,

the conflict? What germ of a thought could sprout into a full play’s foliage?

 

I had, by then, written and published a number of short stories and novels through my publishing house

Bareham Tsuga Press®.

 

“Here, Jack, take this one home and give it a read.”

 

I thought that some of my curious adventures might get him thinking further. So I gave him one of my  short

stories entitled, “Cleopatra’s Needle.” It is a true story about events that occurred near the Thames River in

London, England where I was working on environmental issues for a client.  In it, I described my precarious

misadventures while ,“Looking For A Loo.”

 

Jack returned the next week with the elements of a play already developed into a script. It would become this

musical comedy, “Tower By the Thames.”

 

Jack was hired by the Little Colonel Players to direct it and I, along with 12 other splendid actors, sing, act and dance it.  What a  wonderful creative accomplishment!

 

But the barn doors had just been blown open. More of my more unusual writings

were reviewed, and more imaginative scripts were developed and brought back by Jack.

He takes my creative writings  and molds them into the structure of  stage plays.  His mind is fiercely

productive and once he puts together all of the play  elements,  he brings in the dialogue. Then we start

pouring over each line, each concept, and each movement. He is a superb playwright, with  great creative

talent.

 

We soon formed “Wann-Van Stockum Productions” and began marketing our plays to theatre organizations. Our meetings then increased to about twice a week.  That’s how we began, and the momentum still carries us vigorously forward!

 

Here are our six musicals and plays jointly written to date:

1) “Jubilee Barndance”, a country musical;

2) “Tower By the Thames” a musical comedy;

3) “Hedge Apple,”  based on one of my Fiction Science  short stories ;

4) “Side Step,” based on one of the short stories in my world of Magic Realism;

5) “Dawn of Dusk,” based on my dark novelette, combining elements of all of my interests;

6) “Cosmos, the Stellar Stalker,” a Radio Play in five episodes, based on my novel of Fiction Science, and located in the area of old Louisville, Kentucky, around the corner from “Fourth and Fellini.”

I wonder what will be next!