Infertility, a Musical Hard to Conceive, Plays NY Fringe Aug. 17-28
By Kenneth Jones
15 Aug 2004
Hudson Stage Company will premiere the new theatrical revue, Infertility, billed as "the musical that's hard to conceive," as a part of the 2004 New York International Fringe Festival Aug. 17-28.
The show, which also played a cabaret run in Manhattan in February 2003, "follows five would-be parents as they try to beat the stork. The show follows the journeys of a husband and wife undergoing fertility treatments, a single professional woman trying to adopt and a lesbian couple seeking the perfect sperm donor."
Music and lyrics are by Chris Neuner, with direction by Dan Foster, musical direction by Amy Neuner and choreography by Michelle Yaroshko.
The cast includes Erin Davie, Jenni Frost, Marya Grandy, Seri Johnson, Larry Picard and Mitchell Jarvis.
Neuner is the author of a serious-minded biographical musical about Henry Ford called Any Color You Like (As Long as It's Black).
In summer 2002 "while in rehearsals for a reading of Any Color You Like, my wife and I were undergoing In-Vitro Fertilization," Neuner previously told Playbill On-Line. "Before rehearsals every morning we would make our way to the Upper East Side for daily monitoring of just about anything you can imagine. I must have had babies and musical theatre on the brain. While my wife was having eggs removed from her follicles, I was in the 'Collection Room' producing a 'specimen.' Sounds like great material for a musical to me..."
Song titles include "I've Got Sperm In My Pocket and I'm Talkin' to Eileen," "Adoption Interrogation," "Finding a Father," "You've Got Parts" and the aria "Il Mio Sperma Funziona Nell'Abondanza."
Although the Broadway musical, Baby, memorably featured a husband who was "shooting blanks," as the script said, this new show by composer lyricist Chris Neuner fully focuses on the issue of the title: The inability to make a baby. The work was inspired by Neuner's own six-year journey through the world of modern infertility, he said.
The Neuners, Chris and Amy, had twins Garrick and Olivia in March 2003.
"The infertility clinic is a surreal experience — especially in New York City," the writer explained. "Wall Street warriors, corn-fed Upstaters, aging single women, teachers and taxicab drivers all brought together by one unspeakable problem. Besides hopefully producing a child, my wife and I took this as an opportunity for character analysis. As I began to speak about writing a musical on the subject to other supposedly 'normal' friends of mine I discovered that a great deal of them have had problems with infertility. Add to that the ultimate infertility — having a same sex partner, and you can start to see that the subject matter really isn't exclusive at all."
Hudson Stage Company of Westchester County, NY, is a professional non-profit theatre "committed to producing original, affordable and provocative new plays."
Infertility plays The Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, 3 Spruce Street Aug. 17 at 8:30 PM, Aug. 24 at 10:15 PM, Aug. 26 at 3 PM, Aug. 27 at 5 PM, Aug. 28 at 3:15 PM.
All tickets are $15. For tickets visit www.FringeNYC.org or call (212) 279-4488. For more information, visit www.infertilitymusical.com.
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