CLAYMATION COMES TO LIFE
Skillman, Cronin stage a labour of love
Anyone welcomed into Bobby Cronin and Crystal Skillman’s circle of friends should consider themselves fortunate indeed. The philosopher Aristotle said friendship is essentially a partnership and that is how Cronin and Skillman treat their friends, wanting them to be part of their creative endeavours.
Cronin and Skillman are the writing duo behind Theatre Calgary ’s world premiere of Mary and Max — A New Musical, that runs in the Max Bell Theatre Oct. 16 to Nov. 11. Mary and Max is a labour of love that began five years ago when friends of Cronin suggested he consider using the 2009 Australian Claymation movie of the same name as inspiration for a musical.
“From the moment I watched Mary and Max I could see it as a stage musical and there was no one but Crystal that I wanted to help me bring it to the stage,” says Cronin, who met Skillman 20 years ago when they were both beginning their careers in New York.
Mary and Max is the story of two lonely people, a young girl in Australia and a middle-aged man in New York, who become pen pals and find, from each other, the strength to add some meaning to their lives. It was the themes of friendship, bullying and coping with afflictions such as stuttering and Asperger’s syndrome that drew Cronin and Skillman to this award-winning Australian animated feature.
Cronin says that growing up, he was “an athlete who happened to love musicals so I didn’t really fit in. I was teased and pushed into lockers.
“The bullying ended when I got to college and discovered everyone else was a bit weird, too.”
Skillman says hers is a “pure, old, nerd story. The kids at school teased me on the school bus, calling me Lydia Deetz, Winona Ryder’s character from Beetlejuice. It became so traumatic my mother had to drive me to school so I could avoid the teasing.”
These former feelings of being outsiders helped Cronin and Skillman get into the souls of Mary and Max and the people they encounter.
When Cronin and Skillman finally secured the rights to Mary and Max, they were working on a different project with Theatre Calgary’s new artistic director Stafford Arima, who was a freelance director in New York.
“We love that Stafford creates from his soul and that he only works on material he loves and cares deeply about. He is so artful in his direction and wonderfully theatrical. We knew he would be the perfect fit for Mary and Max,” recalls Stillman.
Cronin set up a meeting with Stillman and Arima to talk about what would be required to take Mary and Max from celluloid to the stage.
“All three of us agreed our goal was to have people feel changed by taking the emotional rollercoaster ride we planned to create,” says Cronin, adding “Stafford said even if he was not involved we had to turn this story into a musical. He also told us not to be bound by the film and that we should expand and explore new avenues and characters.”
Arima did agree to become involved in the project, to direct the workshop productions and direct TC’s premiere of the new musical.
Cronin and Stillman invited four New York artists — Lauren Elder, Anthony Galde, Nick Adams and Chase Crandell — to be part of the Calgary production because these artists have been involved in the major workshop productions.
Elder, who plays the older version of Mary, was one of the people who urged Cronin to watch the animated film and to consider bringing the story and characters to the stage.
“I met Lauren through mutual friends when she was doing the revival of Hair in London,” said Cronin. “After I completed my first song, I asked Lauren if she would sing the demo of it for me. I let Stafford hear the demo and then he watched her perform an additional three songs and he insisted we could not do the show without her.”
Galde was originally contracted to play Mary ’s father in the Atlanta workshop production of Mary and Max.
As fate would have it, the actor contracted to play Max had to pull out at the last moment. Stillman recalls that when they moved Galde into the role of Max, it was pure magic.
“Tony won the hearts of the cast and audiences. He was Max and he insists he has never encountered a character he feels more connected to. Tony is able to bring out the heart in Max, but also to add humour to the character and that is the essential combination we need.”
Cronin and Stillman couldn’t believe their luck when Adams, whose Broadway credits include Priscilla Queen of the Desert, The Pirate Queen and La Cage Aux Folles, agreed to come to Atlanta to play the small role of Damian, a young man with a stutter who becomes Mary’s boyfriend.
“Nick is very big in the Broadway scene, but he is also a great fan of new work. As soon as we began to expand the role of Damian, we knew we needed Nick. Once he began working on Damian we knew we had to expand the role even further,” says Cronin.
The fourth fast friend of Cronin and Stillman to become part of TC’s production is Chase Crandell, who plays The Moon, the narrator of the show.
“Chase is a real Renaissance guy and when he sings he takes your breath away. Because Chase loves to sing with his guitar, we turned the role of The Moon into a balladeer.”
Also in TC’s production are Eric Wigston, Katie McMillan, Alana Hibbert, Kevin Aichele, Kelsey Verzotti and Canadian musical theatre superstar Susan Gilmour.
Joining Armia on the production side are musical director Joshua Zecher-Ross, choreographer Jenn Rapp, set and costume designer Bretta Gerecke and Anna Ebbesen, who is overseeing the orchestrations.