Leah Coloff’s new show, Super Second Rate, is heading to the Edinburgh Fringe.
“While clearing out her family home, Leah discovers a letter her father wrote suggesting she lacked what it takes to become a professional musician.
But cellist Leah Coloff just won a Grammy and has played alongside the greatest names in contemporary music – from David Bowie to Debbie Harry. Hear her story, told through spoken word, music and song in this funny, humane show.”
Where: theSpace at Surgeon’s Hall
When: 2-10, 12-17 Aug
Ticket link: https://tickets.edfringe.com/whats-on/super-second-rate
Leah reveals all about the show.
What are you looking forward to the most at Fringe?
It’s exciting to be performing Super Second Rate outside of the U.S. and for an audience that’s so enthusiastic about performance they’ve come to see loads of it!
The opportunity to see lots of shows and meet other performers will be a really stimulating atmosphere for me.
Fringe is going to be a fun adventure on many levels, I’m sure!
Super Second Rate involves a letter dated some years ago from your dad, saying you’ll never make it in the music industry. But you did! So what’s the show all about?
Finding the letter and reading the thoughts of my Dad regarding my talent and interest in music was a validation that this voice in my head telling me I’m not good enough is not a personal flaw.
It’s the voice of my Dad and my upbringing around music. Of course, I’d always known this and had been battling it my whole life, but seeing it on paper was shocking.
It made me decide to go back and actually look at my experiences and relationship with my Dad.
Being willing to take a closer look allowed me to see the complexities of my relationship to music and how my Dad helped and hindered me.
I realised just the other day that it’s very much a portrait of my Dad and not just the negative aspects – my Dad was a very creative person and he fostered in me and my siblings a love and connection to all things artistic.
I love my Dad and appreciate that instead of trying to keep his kids from artistic endeavours, it’s what was important to him. But it wasn’t an easy relationship, and my Dad was a very complicated person.
Also, it allowed me to see the ways in which I rebelled and protected my own creative leanings. It was important for me to see that I wasn’t as much of a victim as I felt.
I have found success – just not in the way that my Dad would have wanted.
I would say that most people spend their lives navigating the systems of values, beliefs and expectations they receive from their family of origin and also society.
Success doesn’t necessarily ameliorate the struggle to come to terms with all of that. It doesn’t negate the need for awareness or acceptance.
Audiences will hear stories as well as music from your life. How easy has it been to develop this into a coherent show?
I joined a writing group led by Chris Wells that meets once a week on Tuesdays. I was obligated to read every other week, so that got me writing.
I started writing whatever memories came up for me around music. I received really important feedback from him and the group that let me know the stories were engaging.
When I realized that I had enough stories to create the show, I started arranging and whittling down the stories for performance.
Chris is an actor and writer, so he understands the difference between writing for the page and for an audience.
I had previously created a similar kind of show with stories and songs called ThisTree. That show was my first venture into creating theater.
I learned so much about the kinds of information, language, and pace that will keep an audience interested and following the story from the director, Ellie Heyman.
I have a wonderful director for this show as well, Raquel Cion, who has really infused fun and life into the show.
The process of taking stories and making coherent theater is an exciting challenge to me, but I know it’s not something that I can do by myself- getting and taking feedback has been crucial.
Has there been one point in your professional life you are most proud of?
Winning a Grammy was pretty special!
But in terms of satisfaction, I think it’s a toss up between creating and performing ThisTree at the Prototype Festival, a highly respected opera/musical theater festival in New York City, and the first solo record I made, Dark Sweet Heart.
Both of them were the beginnings of me stretching my creativity and music into a new realm.
What’s next for you?
I’m in an MFA program called PIMA – Performance and Integrated Media Arts at Brooklyn College and this coming year I’ll be creating my thesis show.
It’s still coming together in my mind, but it will center around a book of poems by concrete poet, Mary Ellen Solt called Flowers in Concrete.
I’m planning an installation with video and sound that will include various types of performances. I’ve never done anything like it, so it’s another new form to explore music!