INTERVIEW: Helping to bring Ella Fitzgerald and Andrea Frierson’s story to life
Murphy Cross and Paul Kreppel, co-directors of the new Ella Fitzgerald show at The York Theatre Company in New York City, are the go-to team for one-person shows. They led the way on Jay Johnson: The Two and Only, the hilarious and touching Broadway show starring ventriloquist Jay Johnson, and also produced The Big Voice: God or Merman? That’s in addition to their TV acting credits, which include everything from Laverne & Shirley to That 70s Show.
They’ve lived theatrical and entertainment history, and continue to put their unique touch on shows. Their latest project is with Andrea Frierson, writer and star of Me & Ella, which plays through July 23 as part of York’s New2NY series. The show not only tells the story of Fitzgerald, one of the most famous songstresses of the 20th century. It also delves into the history of Frierson and how she came to love the “First Lady of Song.”
“We do a lot of work on one-person shows and two-person shows, small shows,” Cross said in a recent phone interview. “We’re like a mom ‘n’ pop organization.”
Cross and Kreppel had a chance meeting with Frierson, but didn’t know her background, which is extensive. Frierson has appeared on Broadway in The Lion King, Once on This Island and Marie Christine, among other productions.
“I literally asked her if she could sing, and she just smiled softly and said, ‘Yes,'” Kreppel said. “Then we finally did our homework. We realized she was a five-week Star Search winner back in the day, did Lion King, was in the original cast of Once on This Island, and it was like, well, wait a minute, which one of us wasn’t in the business, her or us. We didn’t realize who she was because we’ve been going back and forth from New York and Los Angeles for the last 15 years.”
Eventually they came around and found out about Frierson’s accomplishments. “We fell in love with Andrea’s heart and her spirit, and we said, ‘Well, let’s see what we can come up with together,'” Kreppel said.
After developing the musical with their friend, musical director Ron Abel, they are now bringing Me & Ella to York audiences. The New2NY series features simply-staged presentations of new musicals, similar to the York’s Musicals in Mufti series.
“[We] first put it up on its feet almost as a concert with a little bit of Andrea’s story and touching a little on Ella, and now it’s evolved into a real theater piece where it really talks about Ella’s journey and how it affected what she did in her music,” Kreppel said. “It also touches a lot on what the 20th century was like, and what the African-American experience was like in the 20th century and then, of course, Andrea’s own experience throughout her life being influenced by Ella.”
Kreppel called the York staging a “developmental workshop reading” with a set number of rehearsal hours. For the run of shows, he and Cross will look specifically at how Frierson’s book has evolved for the show.
“It will look good, and it will fly,” he promised. “It really has a great energy to it, and she’s such a wonderful performer that we can’t wait to see the reactions in front of an audience. We did a reading; it wasn’t really so much a reading. We did almost another concert version at the York last year, and the audiences just fell in love with her. So we’ll be trying out a lot of new stuff this time.”
Throughout the development stage, the show has changed here and there, but the “heart and soul,” as Cross put it, have remained centered on Fitzgerald and Frierson.
One part of the show that may be new subject matter for audience members is Fitzgerald’s backstory. Because the singer was shy and didn’t always divulge the details of her upbringing and struggles, the story behind her songs is sometimes unknown, even to Fitzgerald devotees.
“I think what’s changed the most is that we realize that people don’t know that much about Ella’s life,” Kreppel said. “Unless you really are a student of hers, you don’t know what she went through. You just think that she had this beautiful life where she just came upon the scene when she about 16, 17 years old and just sang for decades and decades.”
“She had a really tough life,” Cross said.
Kreppel added: “She had an incredible determination throughout her life and obviously an amazing musical ability. She always treated what she did as if she was one of the musicians in whatever band or orchestra she was singing. And it was so, so natural. She never really had formal training, but she just got it.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Me & Ella continues through July 23 at The York Theatre Company. Click here for more information and tickets. Click here for Hollywood Soapbox’s interview with Andrea Frierson.
