Today I chat with David Lutken, the creator and performer of Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie, which heads into London direct from this Edinburgh Fringe, and a long international run.
“A musical journey through the fascinating, defiant, wildly prolific life and all-too-relevant career of Woody Guthrie.
The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame calls him “the original folk hero”, the man who turned the folk ballad into a vehicle for social protest. Now this award-winning show brings his story to London.
Join us on an authentically American musical journey, told in Guthrie’s own words and over two dozen of his timeless songs, in one joyous, toe-tapping musical.”
Where: Underbelly Boulevard
When: 8-19 Sep (7pm, plus 3pm on Sat, 4pm Sun). 80 mins.
Ticket link: https://underbellyboulevard.com/tickets/woody-sez-the-life-music-of-woody-guthrie/
Why Woody Guthrie as a subject and why now?
Woody has been a favourite subject for at least 60 years of my own life because I’m a “Folk” guitar-player – the influence, or the building blocks or the shadows of his writing and playing run through in-and-around a giant swath of the music, folk and other music, of the last 80 or 90 years.
I’m also a writer and an actor, and the reason he’s a subject for the theatre is two-fold: the struggles and politics of his time, as they compare and contrast with our present, and his truly amazing, difficult and dramatic life-story of love, loss, failure, willfulness, wanderlust, perseverance, success, tragedy, and incredible energy and endurance.
How would you describe the show?
Woody Sez: The Life & Music of Woody Guthrie is a biography for the stage that I devised along with three actor musicians and our original director around the songs and writings of one of the 20th century’s most revered “protest balladeers”.
We play, live and un-amplified, more than a dozen instruments on stage over a variety of music that includes 26 of Woody’s songs, woven together with the story of his tumultuous life – family, colleagues and friends.
Woody Sez brings to life a defiant spirit striving to illuminate what is best in all of us when we rely on and believe in each other.
Was it crucial to have the backing of the Guthrie family to do justice to Woody?
The generosity and support of Woody’s daughter, Nora, has been central to our efforts since the beginning, and her daughter, Anna Canoni, now the President of Woody Guthrie Publications, continues that friendship and foundation for us.
A large part of the inspiration and nurturing of our effort also came from the late Harold Leventhal – Woody’s manager and longtime Trustee of his estate, and also from my own 30-year friendship with Woody’s late sister, Mary Jo Guthrie Edgmon, and her indelible and wonderful memories.
How did you go about developing the show?
In 2002, Helen, Andy, Darcie and I – already cast mates and co-workers from previous musicals and shows, put together a presentation for school children entitled This Land Is Your Land with the support and help of Harold Leventhal.
It was based upon California to the New York Island, a tribute concert from 1956 scripted by Woody’s contemporary and erstwhile bandmate, Almanac Singer, Millard Lampell.
Mr Leventhal and Nora Guthrie encouraged us to further our efforts for a “staged musical biography” of Woody, and with the crucial addition of Producers Pierre and Mary Cossette, we began in earnest to create a show aimed at 2007’s Edinburgh Festival Fringe.
Nick Corley came on at that point, and with his direction and collaboration, we began a development process that continues even now. The show has grown through multiple casts, directors, designers and productions around the world.
What has been your favourite moment so far?
There have been far too many to choose from: singing with Union protesters on the Royal Mile during our first Edinburgh run; a huge, outdoor audience in Rudolstadt standing to sing along with “This Land Is Your Land”; Hootenannies in Vienna, London, Seattle, Shanghai, Jerusalem, Gdansk, Inverness, Brecon, Munich, New York City, Oklahoma City; handing out harmonicas to hundreds of school children in Ramallah and Jenin, singing “All You Fascists Bound to Lose” live on the radio in Warsaw, and “Pastures of Plenty” for the 2012 ‘Musik und Politik Symposium’ in Berlin.
Another wonderfully hopeful aspect of each run is that we are able to present local chapters of The Huntington’s Disease Association with audiences’ generous donations and contributions to ongoing Research and Support around the world.
Whatever the favourite moment is now, I’m looking forward very much to the next one!