December 03, 2004

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Palo Alto Online

Real life rock opera

by Robyn Israel

Brendan Milburn never set his sights on being in an alternative rock band.

His first love was musical theater, and he was enamored with plays like "The Most Happy Fella" and "Guys and Dolls." Seeking to pursue a career in the theater, the San Francisco native moved in 1993 to the Big Apple, where he enrolled in New York University's musical-theater writing program.

Miburn completed the program, only to find himself drawn into a rock band called GrooveLily that toiled in obscurity for years. The trio -- keyboardist/vocalist Milburn, electric violinist/vocalist Valerie Vigoda and drummer/vocalist Gene Lewin -- released six independent albums and dreamed of getting signed to a major label, to no avail. Executives simply didn't know how to market the band's "show-tune" sound, witty lyrics and theatrical flair.

But thanks to a twist of fate, Milburn is now doing exactly what he envisioned: writing music for a live show. The current project, entitled "Striking 12," has brought Milburn full circle. A mix of theater and live pop-rock show tunes, "Striking 12" is a different sort of holiday musical.

Developed as part of TheatreWorks' New Works initiative, the production is a rewired version of Hans Christian Anderson's classic tale, "The Little Match Girl." It will have its Northern California premiere this Saturday at Palo Alto's Lucie Stern Theatre under the direction of Ted Sperling.

Created by Milburn, Vigoda and co-author Rachel Sheinkin, "Striking 12" features GrooveLily in three different incarnations: as themselves, as characters from "The Little Match Girl" and as contemporary, fictitious characters who mirror the Anderson tale. The latter story revolves around a curmudgeon who meets an incandescent girl filled with holiday spirit.

The title is a reference to the concert-play's New Year's Eve setting, but "Striking 12" is also a coming-out party for the New York-based indie band in several ways. For Milburn, the show marks his return to the Bay Area. For GrooveLily, it marks a celebration of the band's recent signing to PS Classics, a label specializing in cast albums ("Fiddler on the Roof," "Assassins") and Broadway singers. Their production of "Striking 12," recorded in September at Symphony Space in New York, will be available at the Lucie Stern shows.

The concert-play also represents the discovery -- after nearly a decade, six albums and two managers -- of the proper showcase for GrooveLily's talents.

"For the first few years, we tried to put ourselves into a niche," Milburn recalled. "But now we're embracing our sharp edges, instead of trying to smooth them."

Still, GrooveLily has developed a following over the years, and the trio anticipated that at least 30 devoted "petal-pushers" would be making a trip to Palo Alto to catch "Striking 12."

Originally formed in 1994 (as the Valerie Vigoda Band), GrooveLily started to gel three years later, when Lewin joined the band. Each brought separate skills and styles to the table: Vigoda, a Princeton graduate and former Army lieutenant, had been trained as a classical violinist. Lewin, also a Princeton graduate (although he and Vigoda were not friends in college), had earned a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music and specialized in jazz. Milburn brought his love of music theater to the mix.

"It's a rock band with three really different influences that came together to form a unique band," Lewin said.

The college circuit followed, along with the fatigue and frustrations of life on the road -- driving for miles, loading and unloading the van, staying in motels. It got tiring -- and almost led to the band's break-up, as well as the dissolution of Vigoda and Milburn's marriage (the couple wed in 1998).

Plus, the band had to compete with a burgeoning interest in teen pop and rap rock -- artists such as Britney Spears and Korn.

"They (record executives) would say, 'I love this -- I'd buy this for myself. But I have no idea how to market this. It's too theatrical, too Broadway.' So we ended up losing out," Milburn said.

But slowly things began to change. Vigoda, who, like Milburn and Lewin, had always had to rely on side gigs (hers included tours with Cyndi Lauper, Joe Jackson, Tina Turner and Cher), got a job with the Trans-Siberian Orchestra in 2000. It was a hard-rock Christmas spectacular, in which Vigoda was the concert-mistress, leading an eight-piece string section.

Milburn came to see her perform at the Warfield in 2001, and was inspired with a new idea.

"I thought, 'It's not 'The Nutcracker.' It's not the same traditional show. Groove Lily could do this! Let's do the GrooveLily holiday show -- then she'll never have to go away again." he recalled.

Several days later, at Joe's Pub in Manhattan, Ted Sperling saw the band perform and pulled Milburn aside.

"This is music that should be in the theater," Sperling said.

The band had no idea that Sperling had been the music director for many Broadway and off-Broadway shows, including "The Full Monty," "How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying," "Kiss of the Spider Woman," "My Favorite Year" and others.

"We would have been more intimidated had we known who he was!" Vigoda said.

Next came the introduction to Sheinkin, who was recruited to develop the larger story arc of "Striking 12." Her instructions: create a holiday show -- something uplifting, secular and inclusive. Listening to the band's tune, "Little Light," inspired her to frame the concert-play around "The Little Match Girl."

"The song is about a person carrying a match," Vigoda said. "The message: No one needs my little light, but it's there for me. The metaphor is that the music industry doesn't want you, but you still feel relevant."

To Sheinkin, the band was relevant -- and it made sense to her to maintain the band's identity while writing the show.

"I love that the third level always exists, even as they're telling the story of 'The Little Match Girl,' even as they're telling the secondary story about this grumpy guy. We (the audience) always understand they're GrooveLily, rock musicians, telling us this story. It's without pretense, even as they're playing these characters."

"Striking 12" premiered in 2002 at the Prince Music Theater in Philadelphia, followed by a run at San Diego's Old Globe the following year. In April 2003, the band came to the Bay Area to work on the show, as part of TheatreWorks' New Works Initiative. For an entire week, the band and Sheinkin, who had previously communicated primarily through e-mail and cell phone, worked on the show.

"The four of us had spent so little time in the same room -- this was an incredible atmosphere of creativity," Vigoda said.

The TheatreWorks show will mark the evolution of "Striking 12" from a one-act to a two-act production. The second act, they said, will be akin to a "DVD bonus feature, something like a 'Behind the Music' rockumentary."

On the horizon for the group is another show, called "Wheelhouse," inspired by the "worst 22 months in the history of the band, when they lived out of an RV and couch-surfed for a year.

"It was the most exciting mistake we made -- consequently we must sing about it!" Milburn joked.

For now, the New Yorkers are relishing their recent record deal with PS Classics, as well as the luxury of staying in one place over the holidays.

"My suite here is bigger than my apartment in Brooklyn," Sheinkin said. "Being here for the holidays does not suck!"

What: "Striking 12," featuring alternative rock trio GrooveLily. Presented by TheatreWorks, the show is a rewired version of Han Christian Anderson's classic tale, "The Little Match Girl."
Where: Lucie Stern Theatre, 1305 Middlefield Road in Palo Alto.
When: The show will preview tonight at 8 p.m. and open on Saturday at 8 p.m. Regular show times are Tuesdays at 7:30 p.m.; Wednesdays through Fridays at 8 p.m. and Saturdays at 8 p.m. (additional 2 p.m. performances on Dec. 11 and Dec. 18) and Sundays at 2 and 7 p.m. (2 p.m. only Jan. 2) No shows Dec. 24-26 and 28. "Striking 12" will run through Jan. 2.
Cost: Tickets are $20-$50, with discounts available for youth, students, seniors and members.
Info: For tickets and information, please call (650) 903-6000 or visit www.theatreworks.org.

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