A peek inside composer / lyricist Colleen Porter's musical closet

by Monica Sampson

Songs From My Closet, an evening of unheard songs from unseen musicals by Colleen Porter, will premiere this Sunday at the Kerr Cultural Center in Scottsdale.

This evening is Porter's debut as a musical theatre composer, while taking a fast ride through three new musicals, The Bachelor Prince, The (unofficial) Princess Bride, and Uprooted!

This incredible speed through passion project is the brainchild of Porter and will feature Valley musicians, actors, and voices, all part of the International Women's Voices Day.

While skipping through three musicals, Porter took a moment to talk with PHX Stages, to answer questions about Songs From My Closet, how this project came to be, her passions and her past.

How would you describe this show to audiences?

"Songs from my Closet shares some of my musical theatre creations from the past five years while sharing my personal journey of becoming a composer/writer in midlife. While a few of my songs have been heard in new works festivals, most of these songs are virtually unheard... but will be brought to life Sunday night by favorite valley artists and musicians, some who have performed or recorded my work before. This is the largest reveal of my work since beginning to honor my path as a songwriter and composer five years ago. I have had a such a positive response from people that have heard my work and I felt it was finally time to reveal several of my creations in one big night.
      
Though somewhat of a workshopped show, this sampler of new works has more staging, more elements, and more polished performances than a reading and an overall storyline is shared through the personal songs I've written as an artist trying to honor the call to create. These songs, sung by Brandi Bigley who plays the writer, holds all the pieces together as she shares the visions of her creations from her desk and watches them come alive on the stage below. She has been doing such a fantastic job in her role and really captures the intensity of these more personal songs that I wrote as my journal, with no thought of them ever being performed or staged. 
     
The evening especially highlights The Bachelor Prince,  a musical comedy that will be workshopped/produced with Actor's Youth Theatre early in 2019...  featuring a mash-up between "The Bachelor" TV show and well-known princesses while sharing a deeper story of practicing unconditional love and being one's authentic self. That show is designed to be entertaining and relatable to all ages and has some memorable and comedic songs. You will also hear songs from Uprooted, which was my first musical about the real estate bubble, The (unofficial) Princess Bride , along with the story of how I came to write those songs, and a song from Community Theatre, which is a musical that shares stories of why individuals come together to create and connect through theatre."

Jessica Sinodis, Holly Payne, Jessie Jo Pauley and Sarah Pansing
 in rehearsals for Songs from My Closet

What lead you to this piece?

"There are so many reasons I was inspired to invest in this evening of works. First, this is an opportunity for a musical theatre "closet composer" to come out of the closet and have a larger number of my works revealed to a larger number of people. It's been difficult to become known as a lyricist/composer/writer before a full musical is produced... which, as those in the  industry know, often takes more than five years. In addition, this evening gave me the pressure and motivation to get new songs from my musicals "done" in time to perform while allowing me to copyright my songs in a large body of work which is cheaper than copywriting individual songs. Finally, this evening breathes life into scribbles in notebooks and recordings of melodies on my phone. Ultimately though... I was inspired to share my story of finally listening to my heart, honoring who I am, and following through on the what I feel I'm called to contribute as an artist."

What makes this group of short musicals new or different? 

"All of the reasons above, and I'm not sure anyone has really attempted anything quite like this before. Revealing an artist's struggle at the beginning of the journey is a rare thing... as our opening song jokes "We're doing it all Wrong, Like the Sun before the Dawn..."  

I think other artists will especially be able to relate to the struggle of following inspiration and trying to emerge despite those around them that don't understand the artist's drive to create."

You have quite a history in theater, could you describe some of that?

"I do have such a love for theatre that started as a child when I found joy on stage as early as 1980 back when youth theatre hardly existed in the valley. I was a child actor in several adult plays and musicals through elementary school and Jr High including new works and classics like Pippin, where Ben Tyler played the narrator. I was in several productions under the direction of Sabrina Switzer, I guess she must have liked me. Sometime in Jr High, I turned my focus solely to orchestra and violin which later led to my music degree, through ASU. Then for almost two decades I was a busy mom of three boys and hardly had time to think about or even attend theatre. But my love for theatre came back like wildfire in 2012 when my youngest son Austin became involved and I was in a production of Oliver with him. Since then I've started performing in shows again and taking courses in theatre... mostly indulging in the inspiring program at CGCC with Tracy Miller, Marc Denton, and Kent Burham, leading instruction in musical theatre, acting, directing, production, and playwriting with John Perovich. It wasn't long before my love for theatre, my background in music, and my ability to write poetry and lyrics combusted and I started writing songs for stage.

Though I've reached this path late in life, l was selected to participate in the Irene Ryans and KCACTF with all the younger students and was selected as KCACTF regional finalist for theatre journalism, critical review, and advocacy which I also enjoy writing for. Last year I was also selected to attend the Kennedy Center Playwright Intensive which has given me some amazing connections and other artists I can share my experiences with. This year I have gotten more serious about this career shift and my goal is to really put myself out there and submit my work for more opportunities to be developed or heard."

Stephen Serna and Miguel Jackson
in rehearsals for Songs from My Closet

How has your theater history helped you in this show?

"If it weren't for my well-rounded experiences in theatre, there is not a chance I would be able to self-produce, stage manage, write, and put together my own show... let alone communicate intelligently with other people involved in any aspect of the production. I'm a terrible stage manager though... I openly admit to that. Luckily in this solo venture my generous cast has all the talent and ability to find the funny moments and the touching moments in my songs without me having to direct them too much.  I am so excited to see them perform my visions and hope you can join us Sunday night at 6:30 at the beautiful Kerr Cultural Center to see all these creations come to life for the first time."

CLICK HERE for more information and to purchase tickets to Songs from My Closet or call the Kerr box office at ASU:  480.596.2660 for tickets during open hours to save on Ticketmaster fees.