The Man Behind the Moon
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Jason Powell is no stranger to MOT! From new works to clever adaptations, his wit, humor, and way with words have made him a favorite for audiences. His adaptation of Rusalka is just one of many projects we’ve collaborated on. Here’s a little interview for you to learn more about Jason and his work!
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How did you start working with MOT?
In 2009, Jill Anna Ponasik and I were both cast in a promotional video for a hotel chain. I never got to see the finished product.
I was in the midst of casting a show I'd written and was going to independently produce, and I assumed Jill would never be interested in being in the work of some nobody. But I asked her anyway and she said yes. Then right around the same time at which that show closed, Jill became the new artistic director of Milwaukee Opera Theatre. She suggested I write a show for MOT, which became Fortuna the Time-Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom. MOT produced Fortuna and then remounted it again two years later. And a pleasant time was had by all! Jill was kind enough to commission other work from me in the years following, including Doc Danger and the Danger Squad, One Stop Opera Shop, and a song called "Sweet Midwestern Girl." I also got to be in MOT's Mikado, and played a very small role in one of the very earliest MOT/Danceworks collaborations, Maria de Buenos Aires.
How did this project get started?
I wasn't there at the beginning, but my understanding is that Christal Wagner and Jill were talking about Rusalka for the latest in a long, fruitful line of very creative collaborations between MOT and Danceworks Performance Company. When I came on board to do my rhyming-couplet schtick that I always love to do, there were production meetings amongst Jill, Christal, dramaturg Danny Brylow, music director John-Ruben Piirainen, and myself. And we ultimately agreed all the singing should stay in its original Czech, with no translation or supertitles or any such things. So the emotional values of the story are still expressed through the beautiful music and movement ... but the nitty gritty, expository elements of the narrative could be told in the dialogue that I would write.
In 2009, Jill Anna Ponasik and I were both cast in a promotional video for a hotel chain. I never got to see the finished product.
I was in the midst of casting a show I'd written and was going to independently produce, and I assumed Jill would never be interested in being in the work of some nobody. But I asked her anyway and she said yes. Then right around the same time at which that show closed, Jill became the new artistic director of Milwaukee Opera Theatre. She suggested I write a show for MOT, which became Fortuna the Time-Bender vs. The Schoolgirls of Doom. MOT produced Fortuna and then remounted it again two years later. And a pleasant time was had by all! Jill was kind enough to commission other work from me in the years following, including Doc Danger and the Danger Squad, One Stop Opera Shop, and a song called "Sweet Midwestern Girl." I also got to be in MOT's Mikado, and played a very small role in one of the very earliest MOT/Danceworks collaborations, Maria de Buenos Aires.
How did this project get started?
I wasn't there at the beginning, but my understanding is that Christal Wagner and Jill were talking about Rusalka for the latest in a long, fruitful line of very creative collaborations between MOT and Danceworks Performance Company. When I came on board to do my rhyming-couplet schtick that I always love to do, there were production meetings amongst Jill, Christal, dramaturg Danny Brylow, music director John-Ruben Piirainen, and myself. And we ultimately agreed all the singing should stay in its original Czech, with no translation or supertitles or any such things. So the emotional values of the story are still expressed through the beautiful music and movement ... but the nitty gritty, expository elements of the narrative could be told in the dialogue that I would write.
What is one thing that stuck out to you first looking into Rusalka?
A lot of credit goes to Danny Brylow's dramaturgy, since he actually collected and collated the necessary information about Rusalka for me. He and Jill and Ruben had a lot of ideas about what music to keep, and what elements of the story to exclude, and how it should all be arranged, so that I simply had to execute the task of turning certain key story elements into comedic rhyming couplets -- which is the fun part, of course. Basically Danny, Jill, et al ate all the vegetables for me so that I could get right to the dessert.
I didn't know until reading the synopsis that the story is almost beat-for-beat the same as "The Little Mermaid." I put a little joke about that in the text, just to acknowledge it.
There are other elements that struck me about the story as I was working through Danny's cliff notes, and oftentimes those observations just got dropped into the actual narration I wrote. That's one of the nice things about having a narrator in a show. It's a conceit that already has you breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience, right from the start. So if something strikes you as odd or unusual, you can just call it out. You can make a little joke out of it, and hopefully the audience will be amused too.
How did you decide on making the moon a character?
That was all Jill's idea, so far as I know. I don't go outside much, and I like to eat unhealthy foods, which has ultimately made me both very pale and very round. So I think Jill looked at me and thought, "Moon!"
A lot of credit goes to Danny Brylow's dramaturgy, since he actually collected and collated the necessary information about Rusalka for me. He and Jill and Ruben had a lot of ideas about what music to keep, and what elements of the story to exclude, and how it should all be arranged, so that I simply had to execute the task of turning certain key story elements into comedic rhyming couplets -- which is the fun part, of course. Basically Danny, Jill, et al ate all the vegetables for me so that I could get right to the dessert.
I didn't know until reading the synopsis that the story is almost beat-for-beat the same as "The Little Mermaid." I put a little joke about that in the text, just to acknowledge it.
There are other elements that struck me about the story as I was working through Danny's cliff notes, and oftentimes those observations just got dropped into the actual narration I wrote. That's one of the nice things about having a narrator in a show. It's a conceit that already has you breaking the fourth wall and talking to the audience, right from the start. So if something strikes you as odd or unusual, you can just call it out. You can make a little joke out of it, and hopefully the audience will be amused too.
How did you decide on making the moon a character?
That was all Jill's idea, so far as I know. I don't go outside much, and I like to eat unhealthy foods, which has ultimately made me both very pale and very round. So I think Jill looked at me and thought, "Moon!"
What did you find most rewarding about the 2023 production?
Many things! It was really the first big theatre thing I did post-Covid. I wasn't even sure I wanted to start doing theatre again, post-pandemic. I had actually enjoyed NOT doing anything for a couple years. So Rusalka ended up being a reminder of the reasons I used to love doing it: Collaboration with other creative people; connecting with an audience; all the laughter and camaraderie generated during a rehearsal process. All of that was there in Rusalka, which was great. And the cast turned out to be a great balance of familiar friends I'd worked with before, and brand-new brilliant people I was meeting for the first time.
Plus, the combo of Jill, Christal and Rubin as director/choreographer/music director respectively, that's hard to beat. All three of them are geniuses at what they do, and their three particular brands of genius all mesh. They're like the Ferrari of production teams.
What makes you most excited about returning to this piece?
Working with the team again. Sometimes with theatre people, it seems like we're all so busy that the only way to hang out with each other is to do a project. So I'm glad we're doing one!
And I'm glad it's Rusalka again, because audiences seemed to enjoy it, and it would be lovely for people who missed it the first time to now get a chance to check it out.
Many things! It was really the first big theatre thing I did post-Covid. I wasn't even sure I wanted to start doing theatre again, post-pandemic. I had actually enjoyed NOT doing anything for a couple years. So Rusalka ended up being a reminder of the reasons I used to love doing it: Collaboration with other creative people; connecting with an audience; all the laughter and camaraderie generated during a rehearsal process. All of that was there in Rusalka, which was great. And the cast turned out to be a great balance of familiar friends I'd worked with before, and brand-new brilliant people I was meeting for the first time.
Plus, the combo of Jill, Christal and Rubin as director/choreographer/music director respectively, that's hard to beat. All three of them are geniuses at what they do, and their three particular brands of genius all mesh. They're like the Ferrari of production teams.
What makes you most excited about returning to this piece?
Working with the team again. Sometimes with theatre people, it seems like we're all so busy that the only way to hang out with each other is to do a project. So I'm glad we're doing one!
And I'm glad it's Rusalka again, because audiences seemed to enjoy it, and it would be lovely for people who missed it the first time to now get a chance to check it out.
What is your favorite MOT project (other than Rusalka) that you've been involved in, and why?
Fortuna the Time-Bender will always be a really special one. Jill trusted me to write an entire opera from scratch -- the libretto AND the music. And really without her trust and support and guidance through that process, I don't think I could have. But thanks to her, I did!
What is one thing you want audiences to remember about this show?
Not to sound too much like a walking press release, but Rusalka is a great fusion of different aesthetic elements. The music by Dvorak is really cool, and the cast sings it beautifully, to expert accompaniment by Ruben on piano, and Erin Brooker-Miller on harp. Meanwhile, you've got tremendously creative choreography from Christal, executed by the always-excellent DPC performers. And then for those of a more verbal persuasion, I've tried to throw in as many clever rhymes and water-related puns as I could think of.
So, whatever you're into, I feel like Rusalka has something to offer. I can't narrow it down to one thing that I'd want audiences to take away from it. But as with any theatre I do, my main hope is that the piece connects with them, on any level at all. That connection is what it's all about, for me.
And also I hope they hang around in the lobby after the show is over, so they can tell me I did a good job. My self-esteem is low, and without occasional compliments I would wither and die.
Fortuna the Time-Bender will always be a really special one. Jill trusted me to write an entire opera from scratch -- the libretto AND the music. And really without her trust and support and guidance through that process, I don't think I could have. But thanks to her, I did!
What is one thing you want audiences to remember about this show?
Not to sound too much like a walking press release, but Rusalka is a great fusion of different aesthetic elements. The music by Dvorak is really cool, and the cast sings it beautifully, to expert accompaniment by Ruben on piano, and Erin Brooker-Miller on harp. Meanwhile, you've got tremendously creative choreography from Christal, executed by the always-excellent DPC performers. And then for those of a more verbal persuasion, I've tried to throw in as many clever rhymes and water-related puns as I could think of.
So, whatever you're into, I feel like Rusalka has something to offer. I can't narrow it down to one thing that I'd want audiences to take away from it. But as with any theatre I do, my main hope is that the piece connects with them, on any level at all. That connection is what it's all about, for me.
And also I hope they hang around in the lobby after the show is over, so they can tell me I did a good job. My self-esteem is low, and without occasional compliments I would wither and die.
~ January 27th, 2025
