Following up last year’s successful revival of Webb’s City: The Musical, we’re bringing back another historic musical by the same creative team. Crossing The Bay, with book by Bill Leavengood and music and lyrics by Lee Ahlin, will take the stage this Friday through Sunday.
Crossing The Bay is a fictionalized version of the early days of St. Petersburg and Tampa, focusing on the race to bring the railroad – and with it the tourists and the commerce form the north – to both cities.
Like Webb’s City, this production is a “concert version” with less staging and props, but all the story and music intact. Showtimes are Friday, 9-20 and Saturday, 9-21, at 8 p.m. and a Sunday, 9-22 matinee at 3 p.m. For tickets and information you can call our box office at 727-822-3590 or follow this link for on-line tickets and info.
Leavengood is again directing, this time working with a new musical director who should be familiar to Palladium audiences – Constantine Grame.
I had a walk-on part when the show was produced in 2005, along with the mayors of Tampa and St. Petersburg (I was then the Creative Industries Manager for the City of Tampa). I’m back with a walk-on on Friday night. And Sunday St. Pete Opera maestro Mark Sforzini and Mayor Rick Kreisman will be making a brief appearances. Rui Farias, executive director of the St. Petersburg Museum of History appears on Saturday. Other actors and celebrities will appear in small roles all weekend.
I interviewed Bill Leavengood during a break in rehearsals this week and hopefully the Q & A below will get you in the mood for this weekend’s shows.
PalladiumPaul: Bill, tell me a little about the birth of this musical and the connection with a piece of classic literature.
Bill Leavengood: After Webb’s City and Manhattan Casino (Leavengood was the producer of that show) I was looking for another historic subject for a musical. So I looked at my Florida history books. This seemed to be a pivotal point in our history. I was interested in northern rail barons and post-civil-war Florida. I had also been wanting to write a musical based on Pride and Prejudice. It struck me that I could marry the two stories together. It seemed to work very well.
PalladiumPaul: Who are some of the real characters who appear in the show?
Bill Leavengood: There is Henry Plant, and Peter Demens (Demens Landing bears his name) and John and Sarah Williams (Williams Park). Hamilton Disston and Peter Demens made a deal that made St. Petersburg the premier city in Pinellas over Gulfport. And Henry Plant didn’t want St. Pete to be a competing metropolis. He did a lot of things to stop it from happening.
PP: Let’s talk about the music and the cast.
BL: It’s a different show than Webb’s City, where Lee (Ahlin, the songwriter) was trying to mirror different types of music that fit different decades. This show was more organic. He created a soundtrack for a specific story and a specific group of characters.
This time around it’s a six-piece band, the same as our original production, but with a guitar taking the place of a trumpet. And Constantine is music director.
There are 16 people in the cast and it includes some of my superstar students from Shorecrest (High School), Shannon Wright. Julia Marquis and Eric Jacobson. We’ve also brought in Amanda Ladd, an actor now in New York. She is from St. Pete and coming home for this production.
PP: Do you need to know the story of Pride and Prejudice to enjoy the musical?
BL: Not at all. If you know Pride and Prejudice, you’ll say you know those characters. If you don’t you’ll get a real taste of Pride and Prejudice relocated in Florida at the turn of the century.
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