Classical-music composer Andrew Maxfield never intended to write a musical — until, in something of a "reverse order of operations," he found himself with a stage.
The opportunity came after popular Provo-based band Fictionist performed with the BYU Jazz Ensemble in 2014. Maxfield had been working as the band's interim manager and had secured Fictionist a spot as a guest artist. The concert was so successful that the ensemble's director, Mark Ammons, suggested a future collaboration. Soon, Maxfield learned that the de Jong Concert Hall stage at BYU would be his in February 2016.
"I had the venue but there wasn't a scrap of music," said Maxfield. "I would normally recommend coming up with the idea first and finding a way to represent it."
With a stage and nothing to perform on it, Maxfield turned to New York writer Glen Nelson for brainstorming. The result was "The Bridge," a musical adaptation of Ambrose Bierce's 1890 short story "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge." Maxfield's version of the story features four local performers who do not have speaking roles and a soundtrack that works as a concept album. The narrative is expressed through the vocals of his brother Stuart, co-founder of Fictionist, who wrote the music to the lyrics that Andrew Maxfield created — a reversal of roles for the two brothers. The cast dances along to Maxfield's narrator, while a chorus of vocalists performs as his backup.
"The Bridge" makes its debut one night only on Wednesday. Maxfield talked about channeling Fictionist to put the musical together and why the subject matter is relevant today.
Electronic theater
We didn't want a story where the characters onstage are singing like musical theater or opera because we wanted it to connect with what Stuart has done with Fictionist. We decided to keep the voice of the story in the body of the narrator — kind of like a narrator in Greek drama. He's not telling the audience what the story is. Instead, what he's saying and singing is a commentary on the action throughout. Sometimes it is a little bit ironic, sometimes it's meditative, occasionally it's singing the mind and the heart of the protagonist. It has some qualities that people who are familiar with Fictionist will find is cool, but also, it allows Stuart to push his musical envelope.
Choosing the story
"An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" was published after the Civil War but it is set during the Civil War in northern Alabama. The story itself is interesting first because it's great storytelling. Bierce was a journalist for most of his career and he has a really terse, declamatory style — what you might expect from a telegram news report. He applies that style in relaying the content of this intense short story and I think it's really effective storytelling because of that. Thematically, the story is important: It's a wartime story and asks us to think about to what extent we are willing to carry our ideals and whether we take them past reasonable limits. Another interesting aspect is the way that the narrative unfolds. I have heard it described as a very early example of stream-of-consciousness narrative. It has this very in-your-head flowing, almost surreal at some times feeling to it.
Relevance in "The Bridge"
I feel like there's just as much conflict in the world now as then, if not more. I think we would all do well to put ourselves in the shoes of characters like the protagonist from this story — as well as lots of other stories like it — and think about the costs of conflict. In a story like this, you look at the protagonist and he is about to be [hanged] for having attempted to burn down a bridge. He is being [hanged] for treason because the bridge is on territory claimed by the Union. I've always just wondered if he thinks he has succeeded in some strange way or if he has a moment of realization where he feels like his cause wasn't justified. It's inviting us to have vicarious experiences through good stories to help us become better people.
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'The Bridge'
The musical by brothers Andrew and Stuart Maxfield features the BYU Jazz Ensemble & Jazz Voices.
When • Wednesday, Feb. 10, 7:30 p.m.
Where • De Jong Concert Hall, Brigham Young University, Provo
Tickets • $15; thebridge-musical.com
Soundtrack • Those who buy an advance ticket will receive an early soundtrack EP.
Cameron King | Courtesy Andrew Maxfield and his brother Stuart (singer/bassist of Fictionist) have written a new musical, "The Bridge," which makes a debut performance at the BYU Harris Fine Arts Center on Feb. 10.
Cameron King | Courtesy Andrew Maxfield and his brother Stuart (singer/bassist of Fictionist) have written a new musical, "The Bridge," which makes a debut performance at the BYU Harris Fine Arts Center on Feb. 10.
Andrew Maxfield | Courtesy Andrew Maxfield and his brother Stuart (singer/bassist of Fictionist) have written a new musical, "The Bridge," which makes a debut performance at the BYU Harris Fine Arts Center on Feb. 10.
Monika Ottehenning | Courtesy Stuart Maxfield (singer/bassist of Fictionist) and his brother Andrew have written a new musical, "The Bridge," which makes a debut performance at the BYU Harris Fine Arts Center on Feb. 10.
