By Alec Clayton
Taking a play from the first glimmer of an idea to curtains up on opening night is an arduous process that involves hard, collaborative work, and loads of talent. It also requires a lot of money, which has to be raised through the goodwill of others because most theatrical producers, especially on the local level, do not have deep pockets.
It has taken Ted Ryle five years but his musical production has reached the stage.
The original musical, Cinder Edna, is a take-off on the classic children’s tale “Cinderella.” In this version Cinderella has a next door neighbor named Cinder Edna who lives a parallel life. Both are dirt poor and forced to work long, hard hours by their evil stepmothers and nasty stepsisters. Edna is the more industrious of the two. She’s something of an entrepreneur who makes, among other things, tuna fish casseroles that she sells to her neighbors. Both girls dream of marrying a prince. Ella’s prince is named Randolph and Edna’s is named Rupert.
It is based on a children’s picture book by Ellen Jackson that Ted read to his daughters when they were little. The daughters are young women now.
Before writing the text for the musical, he first developed the music five years ago, and then began working on the script a year later. Next, he got together with guitarist Rich Sikorski, who has played with Tune Stranglers and Hot Club Sandwich, to further develop the music. “He helped give me structure and assisted with the chord structure and harmonies,” Ted said.
Finally, in 2011, he teamed up with Miriam Sterlin, who writes children’s music. They said they first began talking about the musical on a camping trip in August and then began meeting regularly a few months later to work on the songs. At the time, Ted had only two or three songs written. Meanwhile, he had already written the book of the musical. “It hung out about 40 percent done until January 2012,” he said, when he thought it was developed enough to present it to wife Jen Ryle along with Olympia Family Theater co-founder Samantha Chandler. He also shared it with local actress, Kate Ayers.
It was March 3, two days before Miriam was due to deliver a baby. They arranged for Rich on guitar and Stephanie Claire, a pianist who had artistically directed many of the plays at OFT, to play the music. They arranged for three singers, including two of Ted’s daughters, and they basically presented the entire play. “It was brand new material for Samantha, and pretty fresh for Jen too,” Ted said.
New work is always risky, and OFT had only done one other original show, “Wind in the Willows,” adapted by local actor and writer Andrew Gordon. But they liked Cinder Edna enough to give them the go-ahead to produce the play.
Nineteen days past her due date Miriam gave birth to her second daughter and the work was just beginning.
The next step was to score the show and nail down vocal lines in order to bring in musicians. “We expected to be much further along by fall then we were,” Ryle said. “We needed to be able to pay people with skills, so that’s where the Kickstarter campaign came in.”
I interviewed Ted and Miriam a couple of days after their successful Kickstarter campaign. They were preparing to audition 10 actors who will perform in the show. Towards the end of the interview, I asked, “Is there anything else you’d like to add?” and they both chimed in:
Miriam: “It’s been a lot of run. It’s largely music.”
Ted: “Operetta style.”
Miriam: “The tunes are really catchy. It feels really good. It’s been really fun getting together with Ted and working on it.”
Ted: “It’s been a hugely collaborative process. It speaks to how much talent there is in Olympia, and it speaks to how courageous and crazy OFT is. As parents of all girls, I see it as a message of empowerment.”
The lyrics from the song “Edna Whistles,” Ted said, “kind of capture Edna’s spirit, and a theme of the show”:
I like to whistle, in the morning
I like to whistle while I’m working in the morning
Washing the dishes, sweeping the floor
My lazy family makes me do all the chores
But when they’re not looking I do more
Some day I’ll leave here, walking out that door
Not coming back, that’s for sure
My family doesn’t know it
Really goes to show if
You work hard, you make your own luck
Cinder Edna will run through June 9. Showtime information and ticket purchases can be found by clicking here.
