Can A Play, Like A Cult Movie, Have An Afterlife On Video?

The beauty of theatre is that it's a live experience. But can a play "imitate" a movie and have an afterlife on video?

This question arose in the past year as I presented my first play, The Springtime of Our Lives. The drama, which has touches of comedy and musical flourishes, debuted Oct. 19-20, 2013, at the Columbus Performing Arts Center's Shedd Theatre in my hometown of Columbus, Ohio.

Me (center, seated) and the Springtime cast during our
June 7, 2014, run at the Kennedy's Theatre in Cleveland.
L-r: Nancy Niki Penn, Helen Price-Outlaw, Sufiy James,
Keith "Speak" Williams, Paisha Thomas, Christian Cooper,
Jerry Weekly and David Holland.

I describe The Springtime of Our Lives as an urban Romeo and Juliet set in modern times. Young star-crossed lovers Gary Bennett, a struggling musician from the wrong side of the tracks, and Denise Devereaux, an aspiring teacher from an affluent background, must overcome class differences to build a life together and live their dreams. (For a more detailed synopsis and info about the cast, visit http://www.springtimeofourlives.com/. )

Staging Springtime was the realization of a longtime dream, since I got the idea when I was in high school in the late '80s and now I'm - ahem - a few years older. It was an overwhelmingly positive experience and the cast and I received mostly good reviews from family and friends (not that they're unbiased critics, of course).

However, one thing about the production bugged me: nobody seemed to want to see the show more than once. And in my mind, a show is really a hit if audience members come back to see it again and again, like The Lion King, which is currently playing the Ohio Theatre in Columbus.

After the big debut last fall, we presented Springtime again at the Peggy McConnell Arts Center in the north Columbus suburb of Worthington in March of this year (so we actually performed Springtime in the spring). And we took the show on the road for a June 7 performance at the Kennedy's Theatre in Cleveland.

(This June 7 date had a special significance for me since I'm a huge Prince fan and that is The Purple One's birthday. One of my fondest memories of the whole Cleveland experience is driving home blasting funky tunes by Prince, Sheila E., The Time, Vanity 6 and other Prince-inspired groups as the cast and I jammed in the minivan I rented for the day. You can read my review of Prince's concert at this year's Essence Festival on the Fourth of July by clicking this link: http://chrisbournea.blogspot.com/2014/09/looking-back-on-one-of-highlights-of.html)

It bugged me that friends and family who'd seen the show the first time didn't seem interested in coming back to see the show again at our McConnell Center or Cleveland run. I felt confident that the cast was strong and did an excellent job of inhabiting each character. And judging from the positive comments we got, the story seemed to resonate with people of different races.

But I got to scratching my head, trying to figure out how to make Springtime a show that people would flock to see repeatedly. Did I need to trim some scenes and cut the running time? Did I need to add more music - or less music? Did I need to punch up the dialogue and add more jokes or less jokes and heighten the drama?

An interesting thing happened, though. Several people who saw the show at one of the shows in Columbus or Cleveland later asked me if it was available on DVD. This cheered me up because it struck me that maybe Springtime is like one of those cult movies that people may not go to see in droves during its theatrical release, but enjoys an afterlife on video.

Of course, the ultimate goal is to take Springtime to Broadway, followed by a national (and maybe even international) tour.

One thing is for sure: next time we do the show, I'll have it professionally videotaped so I can sell copies of the DVD and enable Springtime to bloom perennially.

Thank you for indulging my Springtime reflections in the fall...