N.J. native composer Laura Kramer makes her off-Broadway debut with 'A Letter to Harvey Milk' at Theatre Row's Acorn Theatre March 6 to May 13. Two other N.J. natives play lead roles.
Growing up in New Jersey, the theater was a big part of composer/lyricist Laura I. Kramer’s life.
Her parents took her to local shows as well as larger productions in New York and Philadelphia. Her first Broadway memory? Seeing the original “Oliver,” which featured future Monkee Davy Jones as the Artful Dodger.
“I remember seeing the marquee,” said Kramer, who grew up in Cranford and now lives in West Orange. “I was shaped by New Jersey, and I love it.”
After years working as a composer/lyricist, Kramer will have her first musical opening off-Broadway March 6. She wrote the music and co-wrote the book for “A Letter to Harvey Milk,” playing at Theatre Row’s Acorn Theatre through May 13.
“It’s been quite a journey,” Kramer said.
She knows that’s an understatement. She first thought of crafting a musical with a strong lesbian voice in 1994 during a musical theater workshop. Inspired by the short story by Leslea Newman, she began crafting her adaptation.
Set in 1986 San Francisco, the show centers on the relationship between Barbara, a writing instructor at a senior center, and Harry, her seemingly reluctant student. Barbara can’t see any common ground between herself and Harry, a retired butcher.
Then Barbara asks her class to write a letter to someone important to them that they’ve lost and Harry pens a note to Harvey Milk, a prominent gay rights activist who was the first openly gay elected official not only in San Francisco but California. Milk and the city’s mayor were gunned down by a former colleague in 1978.
The letter makes Barbara reconsider her first impression of Harry.
“I loved the character of Harry and felt he needed to sing. His wants and needs needed to be heard,” Kramer said. “I would love for people to take away a greater understanding of what it was like to be gay or lesbian in the 1970s and 80s.”
Then Kramer hit pause for about 11 years. She picked it up again in 2005 in collaboration with songwriter Ellen Schwartz, whom she’d bonded with at the original workshop.
The musical was first shown at the New York Musical Festival in 2012, where it was named “Most Promising Musical” and four other Awards for Excellence, including one for Schwartz’s lyrics. The show was also a finalist for that year’s Richard Rodgers Award.
Executive producer Lisa Dozier King first saw the show in 2012 and was struck by “the authenticity and human spirit elements of the piece.” She was eager to see it become widely produced.
“It’s about validating our identities and our human connection,” she said.
Then Schwartz died unexpectedly in May 2013. The show was again put on pause.
“I’d been working on it so long, I needed to put it away and come back to it, especially since we lost Ellen,” Kramer said. “I knew it too well.”
The Acorn Theatre production has three leads — Barbara (Julia Knitel), Harry (Adam Heller) and Harry’s deceased wife, Frannie (Cheryl Stern). There is also a three-person ensemble.
Some of the music has a Jewish-feel, a nod to Harry’s heritage, while others are influenced by Barbara’s favorite musicians including Carole King and Joni Mitchell, Kramer said. The song “Love is a Woman” may be one of musical theatre’s first duets sung by women.
The production runs “an emotionally fulfilling and thoughtful 85 minutes,” King said, and she hopes audiences leave the show feeling the same way.
“I hope our audience has a deep emotional resonance with the piece and, whatever their identity is, that they celebrate it,” she said. “I hope they take time to reflect on the people who have helped shape who they are.”
A LETTER TO HARVEY MILK
March 6 – May 13
Acorn Theatre
410 W. 42nd St., New York
Tickets: $ 79-99, available online at Telecharge.com.
Natalie Pompilio is a freelance writer based in Philadelphia. She can be reached at nataliepompilio@yahoo.com. Find her on Twitter @nataliepompilio. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook.