By: Alec Clayton
In the mid-’90s Steve Schalchlin was dying of AIDS. He was in and out of the hospital and taking piles of pills. So what did he do? He wrote a musical. Now, thanks to new drugs, he is still alive and hard at work writing and performing. He has written the lyrics for two award-winning musicals, and he performs in venues big and small all over the country. He also has a very unique connection to Olympia where he has performed many times in special concerts to benefit PFLAG-Olympia, Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays.
This month he will perform two concerts at Traditions Café with The Righteous Mothers, a popular group that has been performing in the area for well over two decades. The Mothers blend folk, rock and gospel into rollicking, hilarious and socially conscious songs.
When Steve was at death’s door back in the ’90s he wrote a series of songs about living with AIDS — songs that were both insightful and hilariously funny despite the horror of the disease. His partner, Jim Brochu, wrote the book of a musical based on his songs, and the play, “The Last Session,” opened Off Broadway to rave reviews. It had two highly successful runs in New York City and also played in Laguna Beach, Los Angeles, Denver, and many other cities.
“The Last Session” is a semi-autobiographical musical about a singer who is dying of AIDS. It gained a cult followings in New York and Los Angeles and garnered such awards as: the GLAAD Media Award, Best LA Theatre Production; Best Score and Best Book, Los Angeles Drama Critics Award; PFLAG Oscar Wilde Award; Best Musical Nominee – LA Ovation Award and others.
There was a time when his one hope in life was that he would live long enough to see his play performed on stage. It was during that time that he was surfing the Internet and came across Gabi Clayton’s website. Gabi lives in Olympia. She is my wife. On her website there was a photograph of our son, Bill, and the words: “My name is Gabi Clayton and this website is in honor of one of my two sons, Bill. Bill was openly bi-sexual. In April of 1995, he was assaulted in a hate crime here in Olympia. On May 8, 1995 Bill committed suicide, despite loving support from his family, friends and many wonderful people in our community. Bill was 17 years old.”
Steve wrote to Gabi: “I just found your home page and when I saw the picture of your son and the story that went with it, I wept right here in the living room. I can’t tell you how much it affected me, that someone so beautiful and obviously so loved by his mother would still be crushed by the hatred in this world. If only these bigots truly understood how much damage they cause.”
Gabi and Steve became very close Internet friends and finally met in person when Gabi was flown to New York by a mutual friend for the opening of “The Last Session.” After that we invited Steve to come to Olympia to perform at Capital Playhouse. Jeff Kingsbury, the artistic director of Capital Playhouse at the time, donated the use of the space, and Steve did three different concerts there in a span of nine years, plus he was back in Olympia this past summer for a two-day performance of a concert piece called “New World Waking,” which was originally performed by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus at Davies Symphony Hall. In Olympia he did it with a chorus and soloists comprised of local performers and students from South Puget Sound Community College.
There was one other special event that cemented his unique connection with Olympia. The singer George Michael owned the piano that John Lennon composed “Imagine” on, and he had it transported to sites around the world where violent acts took place, such as Dealy Plaza where John F. Kennedy was murdered and the site of the Oklahoma City bombing, each event on the anniversary of the incident it commemorate. The piano was brought to Olympia, and Steve was flown in to play it on the anniversary of Bill Clayton’s death. Steve played “Imagine” and many of his own songs in front of a small audience under a tree in our front yard. That event inspired “New World Waking.”
“I had been writing the songs over a period of four years, with a general idea of what it was about, but the thing hadn’t come together. I didn’t know what I was writing. I just knew these songs were making a lot of sense to me. (I’ve written the scores of both our shows in this Zen fashion, writing without a destination in mind.)
“And I thought how amazing it would feel to write a song of perfect peace. A song that reaches so far into your heart that it strikes a common chord of yearning we have as human beings for peace and justice (because one without the other is impossible).
“That’s when I saw the entire song cycle in my mind, as if John Lennon had given me a little gift. But that’s not where this journey started.
Steve’s lyrics are funny, sad and inspirational. His songs tell stories about living with AIDS, about love and loss, about living in the closet and coming out, about war and peace. His musical style combines gospel, rock, folk and the tradition of show tunes, all delivered with passion and sincerity.
It’s a style that fits beautifully with The Righteous Mothers, four women who are known for powerful, tender and outrageously funny songs that blend folk, rock, gospel and other genres.
Hit Righteous Mothers songs include the unforgettable “Old Fat Naked Women for Peace,” “Pesky Angel, “and “60,000 Naked Hoosiers.”
Righteous Mothers composer Clare Meeker says, “After so many years singing together, we finish each other’s musical thoughts. That’s how our wacky, close-harmony arrangements work.”
They will open for Steve and will sing some of his and their songs with him.
Steve said: “Ever since I first heard their music, and learned of their dedication to justice and peace, I was determined to sing a concert with The Righteous Mothers. Their musicality, their clever, incisive writing and their hilarious take on life is infectious and inviting. This is a dream finally realized.”
Steve will also sing songs from his musicals such as the beautiful “Connected,” a funny song about the side effects of pharmaceuticals called “Friendly Fire,” and the tender “Going It Alone,” which New York critic Liz Smith called “The best AIDS inspired song I’ve heard in the last fifteen years.”
There will be two performances, Jan. 27 and 28 at 8 p.m. at Traditions Café, corner of 5th and Water Streets in downtown Olympia. Tickets are a suggested donation $25.00. Call Traditions: 360-705-2819.
For more information, go online to:
http://www.righteousmothers.com
http://www.traditionsfairtrade.com
