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- [00:09]
A
This is all of it. I'm Alison Stewart, and for our last conversation of the day, we're going to hear some music from the cast of a new musical, the Seat of Our Pants, an absurdist musical adaptation of Thornton Wilder's 1942 play, the Skin of Our Teeth. In the adaptation, the story of Wilder's allegorical play remains largely the same. The show takes place at the end of the world, through which we see the Antrobus family navigate a series of crises, from moving sheets of ice to a torrential flood. It's a story of human failure and resilience. A funny story and a tragic one. Now it's set to great music. You can catch the Seat of Our Pants at the public theater until December 7th. A few weeks ago, the cast joined us here at WNYC Studios for a special live performance. Tony winner Ruthie Ann Miles, who plays Maggie Antrobus. Tony nominee Micaela diamond, who plays Sabina. Tony nominee Damon Dono, who plays Henry Antrobus. Allie Bonino, who you might remember her from, Suffs, and. And multi instrumentalist Michael Lepore, who plays various characters throughout the show. Before we got to hear their performances, I asked Ethan Lipton, who wrote the music and lyrics for the show and adapted it from the original Thornton Wilder play, to discuss his first exposure to the work of the playwright.
- [01:38]
B
I think I saw Our Town when I was a kid, and later I remember seeing the Skin of Our Teeth in a college production, which I wasn't sure I totally got, which I think is an experience that a lot of people have with that play for the first time. And then, you know, I think I, like so many great writers, you just revisit it over time and keep re encountering it and finding new things in it.
- [02:05]
A
When did you decide this could be a musical?
- [02:08]
B
I was approached by a guy named Jeremy McCarter at the Public about 12 years ago, and he was a huge Wilder fan, so much so that he is now the executor of the Wilder estate. And he knew my work as a songwriter and a playwright. And he reached out and said, would you have any interest in doing this? He was working at the Public at the time where I had a relationship, and I think he thought my sensibility might work with it. And I remembered the play and I was like, God, isn't that that bonkers play? And then I read it again with like my grown up brain, and I was just so touched by it. You know, it's so ambitious and epic and it's really playful about serious things and I like to be playful about serious things. And I felt like I couldn't say no. This was a playground I wanted to play in.
- [02:58]
A
How do you decide the kind of music that you would like to write for a play like that?
- [03:03]
B
For me, I try to listen to the play. I mean, the play is so grand structurally, but it also so provocative about these human archetypes. And I knew that with the music I wanted to try to get at the individuals within the archetypes. I wanted to kind of create a little bit of intimacy with these people. And, you know, I'm such a weird, idiosyncratic songwriter. I don't notate music. I don't play any instruments. I kind of write songs like a five year old, which means I sing them until they have a form. And I do that, you know, dozens or hundreds of times, whatever it takes, and then I bring them to my collaborators. But really I was trying to listen to the play and find out what it wanted.
- [03:50]
A
How did you figure out where to put a song in the play?
- [03:54]
B
Well, sometimes I've musicalized texts by Wilder, just sort of found the music that wanted to be with that text. And sometimes I've turned a single idea or line in the play into a song and it's really kind of probing and pushing it around. When I started doing this adaptation, I was very polite with the play. You know, I didn't.
- [04:19]
A
You're very polite with it?
- [04:20]
B
Yeah, you know, it's Thornton Wilder, he's. He's. He's kind of a fancy guy. And I wanted to be respectful. And then at some point I was like, well, you can't be reverent and respectful with such an irreverent play. And then I. At that point I really just had to trust my own intuition about what spoke to me as a song and what kind of a song that wanted to be in relationship to the other songs that were around it.
- [04:45]
A
We're going to bring in Ruthie Ann Miles now, who stars as Mrs. Antrobus. So the Antrobus family is presented as a real family, but they're also part of a bigger symbolic story, a biblical story. They've been married for thousands of years. As we learn at the moment we meet her, what's important to Maggie Antrobus.
- [05:05]
C
When we very first meet Mrs. Antrobus at the top of act one, her children are playing outside and their maid has just let the fire go out. Now we know that it's cold outside. Mr. Antrobus is not yet home and we don't have any Food or fire until he comes back home. So the thing on her mind is getting her children warm. What are we gonna eat tonight? And make sure when my husband comes home, he's not in a bad mood. So we have to, collectively, as a family, get together, be good. We're gonna put our best faces on for dad.
- [05:35]
A
She has an interesting relationship with her children. How would you describe it?
- [05:42]
C
Mrs. Antrobus is every mom all the time. We have to wear 10 different hats all the time. And so she has to, you know, listen to them and give them confidence and feed them and. Yes, yes, honey, of course. But also, you drive me absolutely crazy if you ask me that question one more time.
- [05:59]
D
Ooh.
- [05:59]
C
And if I don't, you know, I hope I don't raise my hand at you today, but she's constantly wearing these hats. And so, yeah, it's complicated, but it's also real life, isn't it?
- [06:08]
A
Is she maternal?
- [06:09]
C
She is maternal. I think she's maternal, but she's also. She's a woman. She's got. She needs quiet. She needs her mental health back. She needs sleep. And she would really love. The kids would just cooperate. They would be on my team. Kids.
- [06:24]
A
Hey, Michael, can you come up to the microphone? This is Michael Lepore. We're gonna hear a song that happens in Act 1. And you're playing the telegram boy.
- [06:32]
E
That is correct.
- [06:34]
A
What have you come to communicate to the Antrobus home?
- [06:37]
E
I've come to communicate a message from.
- [06:39]
A
Her husband, Mrs. Antrobus, which is actually.
- [06:41]
E
Not quite important or helpful to any of the world ending situation that is happening. But then before I head back out into the cold, I ask her for some advice on how to survive the end of the world.
- [06:53]
A
And can you describe your outfit for us?
- [06:56]
E
Imagine, just like a Wes Anderson yellow.
- [07:00]
A
And blue telegram boy.
- [07:01]
E
Like, my suspenders are super high up and I have a sweet little hat, and it's amazing.
- [07:07]
A
So the song we're about to hear is Stuff It Down Inside. Ruthieann. She's the one advocating that we kind of stuff it down inside. Why does she think that is the best thing to do in this moment?
- [07:20]
C
Because if you let the cap off at all, you're gonna blow. And the best way to keep everyone moving forward, everyone safe, everyone happy, everyone fed, is to, you know what? Keep your emotions in check. Better yet, push it so far down, you don't even see it.
- [07:39]
A
This is Ruthie Ann Miles, Michaela diamond, and Michael Lepore with Stuff It Down Inside from the new musical, the Seat of our pants.
- [07:49]
E
Mrs. Atrobus, can I ask you one other thing? I have two sons of my own. If the cold gets any worse, what should I do?
- [07:56]
C
What does one do about anything these days? Just keep as warm as you can.
- [08:04]
E
And gather all your fears. Fold them in a pie, Seal it with your tears and bake that thing on high. And when it's done, my dear boy, don't even bother looking for a knife. Just open up right here, boy. And eat the whole thing in one bite. And stuff it down inside. Stuff it down inside. Keep it from your children. Keep it from your bride. You could share it with them. But there's a reason God gave us pride. So all those awful feelings could have a safe place to hide. Pack all of your sorrow into a suitcase every night. Think about tomorrow. Is everybody gonna be alright? Find some hope to borrow.
- [10:17]
C
From the.
- [10:17]
E
Faintest little ray of light. Then grind it up real fine. Pour it in a glass of wine. And stuff it down inside. Stuff it down inside. Stuff it down inside. Keep it from your children, Keep it from your bride. I could share it with them.
- [11:05]
C
No.
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E
There'S a reason God gave us pride. So all those scary feelings.
- [11:20]
D
Could have.
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E
A cozy place to hide. If you're having trouble dealing. Just stuff it down inside.
- [11:47]
A
We're having a special live performance from the new musical the Seat of Our Pants. We'll have more after a quick break. This is all of it. You are listening to all of it on wnyc. I'm Alison Stewart. We are hearing a special live performance from the new musical the the Seat of Our Pants. I'm speaking with the man behind the music, lyrics and adaptation, Ethan Lipton. Plus a very talented cast, Ruthie Ann Miles. Michaela Diamond Damon. Let's see if I get it right. Donno. Yes. Ally Bonino and Michael Lepore. Okay, Ally, you are up. You play a few characters in the show. We're about to hear a song that comes from a fortune teller. It's the Tomb, Act 2. What's going on? The scene before we hear this song from the fortune teller.
- [12:40]
F
Yeah. This song comes at a really fun moment. We're a little bit into Act 2 and it's a completely different setup from where we were in Act 1. Act 1, we are in the antrobus house. And Act 2, we are transported to a boardwalk that is simultaneously in like the 1920s, the 1950s, and sort of out of time altogether. And we are at a convention where we see the evolution of mammals in a very fun way, which I will not divulge here because Come and see the show and see it for yourself. It's very fun, but it's kind of this. We have a big tone shift from where we end at Act 1 into Act 2. And time has passed, we have moved on, we have come back stronger and it's very jovial. The theme at the top of Act 2 is enjoying yourself. And we're at the boardwalk. There are games, there are shining sparkling lights everywhere. And then you have Esmeralda, the fortune teller, who is just this sort of walking void of truth and sort of like holding the mirror up to a society that wants to look anywhere but in that mirror.
- [13:45]
A
This is Allie Bonino with the future.
- [13:56]
F
I can see the future on your faces. I can see what happens when you sleep. If I were you, I would avoid high places. Cause someday you're gonna wanna take a leap. Keep an eye on things in Kansas City. Your partner will deceive you on a deal. I describe your termites as a pity. But the termites think your house is matzo meal. Watch out for your posture. Ease upon the wine. Cirrhosis of the liver and sclerosis of the spine. Bright's disease. Shin splints. You're going to have 18 grandkids and they're all going to move in with you. Don't believe the charlatans of history. No one knows a thing about the past. Your own youth has now become a mystery after you swore you'd find a way to make it last. The future is the only game to count on. And I'm the only one who knows the story. Someone here is gonna hurt your feelings. And someone else will wish they'd hurt them even more. Watch out for your posture. Ease upon the wine. Cirrhosis of the liver and sclerosis of the spine. Bankruptcy. Apoplexy. Death by regret. Type Y. You'll try to be angry, but no, just a whimper. And then. Finny. Watch out for your posture. Ease upon the wine. Cirrhosis of the liver and sclerosis of the spine. Sclerosis. Very uncomfortable. And what, you ask, will happen to old Antrobus? Well, what becomes of any great man's rise? He'll huff and puff and puff and blow away from.
- [15:58]
D
From us.
- [16:00]
F
Until a bolt of lightning strikes him from the skies. And the rains will wash it all away. And then the rains will wash it all away.
- [16:27]
E
And then the rains will wash it all away.
- [16:36]
F
And then the rains will come. And then the rains will come. You will see shameful things before the deluge. And some of you will say, let him drown. He's not worth saving but you're wrong Keep your doubts to yourself Again there will be a narrow escape the survival of few from destruction from total destruction and then the rains will come.
- [17:17]
B
And.
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F
Then the rains come will come.
- [17:25]
A
And.
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F
Then the rains will come and then the rains will wash it all away.
- [17:46]
A
That was Allie Bonanno. Bonanno singing from the seat of our pants. It's so interesting in the show, Lethan, the show has deep roots in the Bible, from Noah's Ark to Cain and Abel. That's talking about you. Coming up next, how did you think about composing music for the show while keeping the idea of the Bible in the back of your mind?
- [18:14]
B
Oh, gosh, I don't know that I had the Bible in the back of my mind.
- [18:17]
A
What was in the back of your mind then?
- [18:19]
B
I was just trying to serve the play. You know, I like 20th century American music, and so the show has country and folk and rock and roll and jazz, Tin Pan Alley, and then a kind of smudge of a lot of different things in there. And then I spent about a year this past year with Dan Kluger, our orchestrat, turning the songs into the music that we now have in the show, trying to make sure that it felt dynamic from song to song, but also that it felt like a cohesive whole. And hopefully that that swath of music and genres would feel epic in the way that the play does and in the way that the Bible does, that it would give it a kind of scale.
- [19:07]
A
At the microphone, we have Damon Dano.
- [19:10]
B
Hello.
- [19:11]
A
Plays Henry Antrobus. We learned that your character Henry used to go by the name Cain.
- [19:18]
D
That's right.
- [19:19]
A
He has some very violent tendencies.
- [19:21]
D
Indeed. To the chagrin of my mother. Father, I suppose.
- [19:24]
A
What's going on with Henry internally?
- [19:28]
D
That's a loaded question, Alison. I think what's going on with Henry internally is an absolute void of love. I think he just wants to be a part of the crew, part of the. You know, to be held and seen and cared for and nurtured like everyone else he sees happening in his world. It's too late. Mom. This is Ruthie Ann Miles hugging me from behind. Listeners? Can't tell. Little too late. Yeah. No, I think that, you know, as the potentially one of the resident antagonists of some of the drama that happens, I always think that to empathize with a character to, you know, find out what is in their heart and not sort of judge them as the bad guy or the guy who's evil or does murdery things, those are all very result sort of oriented in these ways. And actually, it's way more complicated than that, isn't it? Much like life. Much like Ethan Lipton's brain. And so I think that he represents a lot of the intensity of life. You know, there is a yang to it all, isn't there? And so there has to be a Malvolio. There has to be someone that reminds us the other side of the coin is still the same coin. And so we're quick to shun. But I think he's there to say you can't necessarily get rid of it in life.
- [21:00]
B
He's still part of the family.
- [21:02]
D
Thank you, Ethan. I am part of the family.
- [21:04]
A
You're gonna sing Cursed With Urges.
- [21:06]
D
That's right.
- [21:07]
A
When does this come on in the play?
- [21:09]
D
Well, this happens in Atlantic City on the boardwalk. And, boy, Henry just wants to bust out and he just can't. He lives his life in a proverbial straight jacket and just can't seem to get anything right. His natural tendency, though, he's very passionate. And sometimes that means violent. Most of the time, it means violent. And so when he's told not to follow his gut instincts, he's constantly raging against his own impulses. And he wants to be free and just live and honor his impulses just like everyone else. And so this is a moment where, much like in life, where we win imaginary arguments, you know, we sort of replay a moment and, boy, we could have let him have it this way, you know, and, like, everyone around us supports you. And it's like a really. This is one of those moments in Henry's head where we see him really speaking from his heart. Finally.
- [22:08]
A
This is Cursed with Urges from the new musical by the Seat of Our Pants.
- [22:18]
D
Why can't I ever enjoy myself? Why must I always deny myself? Tell me why, tell me why I.
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E
Can'T do what I like.
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D
You say I gotta control myself. You don't know what a power surge is. You never seen a person cursed with urges.
- [22:47]
E
I decide how to employ myself. I can't lie, I gotta be myself.
- [22:59]
D
When I die, I'm gonna free myself.
- [23:05]
E
What can I tell me why I can't take what I like.
- [23:10]
D
You say I gotta contain myself. You don't know what a power surge is. You never seen a person cursed with urges. I decide how to remain myself.
- [23:27]
A
I go like this, Tell me why.
- [23:47]
F
Tell me why I can't go where I like.
- [23:51]
D
You say I gotta control myself. You don't know what a power surge is. You never seen a person cursed with urges.
- [24:03]
E
I decide how to deploy myself.
- [24:09]
D
I decide how to deploy myself.
- [24:18]
A
That was my conversation with some of the brilliant performers and creatives behind the new musical the Seat of Our Pants, which is running at the public theater until December 7th. And listeners, if you like theater, you should know that tomorrow we'll be airing a full hour of Broadway on the radio with the new cast of Hadestown. And after that, we'll hear from the actors behind two plays, Art with Bobby Cannavale and Queens, with the playwright and two of its stars. Tune in tomorrow at noon for a celebration of local live theater. And that is all of it for today. If you missed any segments this week, catch up by listening to our podcast, available on your podcast platform of choice. I'm Alison Stewart. I appreciate you listening and I appreciate you. I will meet you back here next time.
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C
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