VIVADRAMA
Teacher Finds Success with Lost Boys
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Dwight-Englewood School
an you be old and still a child? Can fantasy be destructive? These are some of the questions raised in an original musical written by Middle School performing arts faculty member Jake Lloyd. The musical is called The Lost Boys, or An Awfully Big Adventure, and it relates the story of J.M. Barrie, the author of Peter Pan, and the real-life Davies boys, who inspired Barrie’s characters and the fantasy worlds he created. Barrie was a stranger who befriended the brothers one day at a public park, but he went on to become increasingly involved in their lives, to the point of becoming their guardian at the death of their parents.
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The idea for the musical came several years ago, after Lloyd saw the 2004 Johnny Depp film about Barrie, called Finding Neverland. Intrigued by the portrayal of Barrie and the Davies family, Lloyd began reading everything he could find—eventually coming to the conclusion that the film’s narrative wasn’t historically accurate. He says, “I decided to write one more true to the actual people who lived.” Lloyd had written other songs, compositions, and arrangements before, but this was the biggest, most sophisticated project he’d ever undertaken—and he didn’t quite finish it until a few months after the Brooklyn Association of Performing Arts signed on to produce the show. He describes the music of the two-and-a-half-hour production as “leaning to a classical feel with a contemporary harmony and rhythm.” As for the story, it’s very much a cautionary tale that—despite the connection to Peter Pan—is not for young kids. Lloyd says that the most compelling aspect for him is “the importance of parents’ direct involvement in their children’s lives.” He hopes it will make people think about their own family dynamics. He also notes that the musical touches on themes of growing up and says that in writing it he drew on knowledge from his work with young people. “Being in education, I see a lot of kids trying to form their own identity,” he says.
Five Weeks, One Play
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rite an original play in just five weeks. That was the challenge Middle School drama teacher Carla Moriarty faced in a playwriting workshop this summer at Primary Stage’s Einhorn School of Performing Arts. Moriarty says that on the first day of class, the students could hardly believe that the instructor was serious. She recalls, “There were five other women in the class, and we all balked.” But she had an idea, and she got to work. Five weeks later, she completed the first draft of a oneact play with the working title of FACEBOOK, the Musical. “It is not a musical, but an interactive mixed media piece that explores the effects of modern technology on everyday life,” explains Moriarty, who is the D-E theater department’s costume coordinator, in addition to directing student performances. “We follow six main characters throughout a week’s time and watch their lives unravel, and shift.” While she’s not sure when her play will come to full fruition, in the meantime she is directing the Upper School’s production of the play Bang Bang You’re Dead this fall.
The show debuted in September in Brooklyn, and was even more special to Lloyd because of some Dwight-Englewood School connections. Brian Hajjar ’11 auditioned and was cast as one of the Davies boys (“He’s amazing,” says Lloyd), while Ian Hartsough ’03 played in the orchestra. “It’s been really neat,” says Lloyd. “It’s been a way to tie both of my worlds [as an artist and a teacher] together.” Lloyd was gratified by how well the audiences received the performances and calls the whole experience “amazing.” He says, “We had such a strong response from the audiences that came and saw it.” The show moves to Manhattan for dates in late November and early December. Information is available at www.thelostboysmusical.com.
Faculty member Carla Moriarty (left) is immersed in the act of developing her script during a summer playwriting course.