Google's Superbowl Ad
Simple Rules for Watching the Super Bowl
Pullin' Shots: Soulfood Books, Music and Organic Coffeehouse in Redmond
Sound Off! An Underage Battle
You Live By The Sword, You Die By The Sword
Local Singer/Songwriter Joanna Horowitz got a crazy idea a year or so ago. A long-time musician involved in the theater business, she thought it might be fun to write a musical. Enter 100 Heartbreaks...
The plot, in a nutshell: Singer/songwriter Charlane wants to cross over into country music. She figures that, if she gets her heart broken 100 times, maybe she'll be ready to write an honest country heartbreak song. She gets stuck when she's halfway there, though, and hilarity ensues. Or so we're told--the show opens tomorrow night at CHAC, with special guests Purdy Mouth (gay country-western band) there to help celebrate. We got some time to chat with the author and star of this one woman show recently. Here's how that went down:
What did you do to research for this role?
I watched a lot of live country concerts on DVD: Loretta Lynn, Dolly Parton (who is such an amazing performer). I listened to a lot of 50s-era country music: Patsy Cline, Hank Williams, Johnny Cash. Then I drank a lot of whiskey, went out with a lot of fine young men, got my heartbroken a few times and wrote some songs.
How much have you come to love country music? Are you nervous that country music fans won't be amused?
A lot. I have really come to appreciate it as this pure, simple form of storytelling that can be both heartbreaking and really frank and funny. I hope people will realize that although there is some tongue-in-cheek ribbing in 100 Heartbreaks, the heart of it is about how much the character loves that style of music and will do anything—include get her heart broken 100 times—to sing it well. I'm not nervous about country fans not liking it because I think, with the help of my music director John Osebold, I've really payed homage to my influences. On the flip side, there's enough satire to quell the country fear of some city dwellers.
Seattlest Seth mentioned he may have been part of the inspiration for this project....
Can we expect to see Seth called out and embarrassed in this show?
Ha ha. No, I didn't really end up writing in any incriminating details about any of the dates I went on in the last year. In an earlier draft I wrote this song that railed against all the clueless boys I had been out with (Seth is not in that camp, for the record. We had a very nice time.), but as I worked on the script, Charlane became farther from me, and it didn't feel right to use that inspiration. Plus Charlane really can fall in love with anyone, despite any flaws they might have.
Where can people go to hear the other songs you've written in your life as a singer/songwriter?
Well, I've recorded some songs and played live a fair amount, especially on the east side before moving to Seattle, but being a singer/songwriter has never been something I've devoted all of my creative energy to. I don't have a website with my music or anything. I do know that in the past few months I've written some songs I think are great and have been informed in a really lovely way by my country research. Hopefully once things with the show wind down I might try those out. It's just so much more fun to play music as someone else...which I guess is why theater is a good medium for me.
What's next for you after this weekend? We talked briefly about some possible sequels (i.e. the rap version)….have you developed any of those ideas?
Well, after this weekend I still have two more weekend of shows (100 Heartbreaks closes on March 1). After that I'll take a little breather and then launch into booking the show some other places and setting up a tour. Down the road I'd like to develop a film script based on the story. As far as a sequel goes...I guess we'll see how Charlane and I get along. I might reach my whiskey saturation and have to write a show about a teetotaler. Though that wouldn't be nearly as much fun.
100 Heartbreaks // Feb. 15-Mar. 1 // 8:30pm // CHAC // 1621 12th Ave // $15
(photo by Nick Perleros)
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Post a comment (Comment Policy)