Thomas Quinn, artistic director of Montgomery Theater - which, like Norristown's professional Theatre Horizon, has coproduced shows with 11th Hour - says "every project they take on sets the bar high - and that's coming out of the youth movement, not most artistic directors, in their 50s or 60s or even 70s."
"A question for me is, can we produce it in a way that we're not going to shortchange it with the budget we have," says Steve Pacek. He and the others are sitting in a tiny dressing room talking about the collaborative way they choose shows - very much of a hey, I have an idea! concept that each time gets reseeded and mowed over until they make a decision on what to produce.
"To me," says Megan, "it's always important that we can do it with some relevance for today. If you do even Little Shop of Horrors, which has been around for years, you can see it's about what people do when they're in desperation." (The company did the show in 2009.)
"The story is definitely the most important thing," says Michael. "And we feel that if we don't have something special to say, then we leave it," Megan adds.
The company's fans expect a different take - a fresh interpretation of characters (Little Shop), to-the-max intimate staging (this year's zany The Bomb-itty of Errors, also a success at Milwaukee Repertory, where they were invited to bring it), or a whole new take (2007's The World Goes 'Round).
In that well-worn show of Kander and Ebb songs, the stage was covered in newspaper. After each number, a performer tacked up an image that gave a new spin to the song: "All That Jazz," for instance, and post-Katrina New Orleans. "New York, New York" was done with a clear post-9/11 feel. And one of Chicago's numbers, the wonderfully self-effacing "Mr. Cellophane," was sung into a video camera by a man who, it became clear, could be a terrorist.
Not everyone liked it. But no one expected it. Steve had pressed to do the show. "I had an idea we could tell it in a contemporary way and honor the songs - and show that they're still relevant today." A good description of 11th Hour's work in general.
Contact staff writer Howard Shapiro at 215-854-5727, hshapiro@phillynews.com, or #philastage on Twitter.
