The Chelsea Standard
A Heritage Newspaper
Weekly Publication
Gatlin kicks off musical theatre project
By Sean Dalton, Staff Writer
PUBLISHED: January 24, 2008
The leading third of The Gatlin Brothers, Larry Gatlin, is coming to town tomorrow to kick off the Encore Musical Theatre Project in a big way.
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The Gatlin's blew off the barn doors during the '70s and '80s with a salvo of hits, including Grammy Winner "Broken Lady" and Academy of Country Music Album of the Year "All the Gold in California."
Gatlin himself has collaborated with household names like Kris Kristofferson, Willie Nelson and Johnny Mathis and legends like Johnny Cash, Frank Sinatra and, remarkably, Elvis Presley.
"I've had quite a life," Gatlin said, recalling the days prior to the dawn of his fame, a week of which was spent with Presley.
"I remember sitting on the floor of his dressing room eating Hungarian Goulash," he said. "I had tried out for his gospel backup group, The Imperials. He recorded two of my songs."
At the time, Gatlin was waiting tables in Houston, while attending law school.
These days The Gatlin Brothers have a 50th anniversary behind them and Larry in particular has developed a passion for musical theater, saying that there is a great need to put tales of American heritage in the annals of musical theater.
Gatlin says that he is very supportive of the idea of and concept behind the Encore Musical Theatre Project. Daniel Cooney, who grew up in Westland, serves as the Artistic Director for the project and its founder.
Cooney, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama, has worked on Broadway in national tours of Evita, Fiddler on The Roof, The Civil War and Les Miserables. He has been involved in several other national theater companies, has taught as a New York University professor for 15 years and has credits as artistic director of the Music Theatre of Michigan and Broadway Advance.
"We share a mutual love for Broadway stage and everything theatrical," Gatlin said. He is no stranger to performing in Michigan and knows about the character of its people and the challenges that they face.
"(Cooney) has shared his vision with me on several occasions ... we were in a sports bar in New York when he told me," Gatlin said.
The benefits to a community and its revitalization, either economically or culturally, depending on the circumstances are readily apparent, he said.
"I'm currently working on a production to do down in North Carolina down in Raleigh and you need people," Gatlin said. "You get people involved and the creates jobs and it also changes the community. You need guys and gals to come along and make things happen. They don't come out of the blue sky. You need local talent, dancers, singers and playwrights.
"There's more to running a theater, running a theatrical company, than the folks who sing and dance. You need lights and wardrobe people. It's more than just for the theatrical community. It can so revitalize an area. We have seen it time and time again. Most downtowns are open from nine to five. We want to bring the people back down at 6:30."
Cooney said that he was looking for the right area with a community that was seeking something like what the Encore Musical Theatre Project offers, and Dexter Village seemed like "the perfect place."
"I just love that little village," Cooney said. "It feels like a wonderful place that has a wonderful town life."
He describes the project's goal as providing musical theater geared mainly towards the family, with only a few musicals "here and there" on the edge.
The project functions as a non-profit and currently has 10 people teamed up to make it happen, according to Cooney, who along with the rest are using everything, including personal credit cards, to make this take off in the community.
"We've got the first big step in place, with the company name and web site set, Larry Gatlin has donated his time to us and the community, and Broadway talent is coming in,"
Establishment of the theater as a permanent fixture will ultimately be up to the community.
"Once the support is there, my physical vision of what the theater is going to be is a block box theater, right in downtown Dexter," Cooney said. "We're just presenting the product first and asking the community to show us how much they're interested."
Cooney promises to continue to bring a high caliber of performance and people to the area for quality shows.
He envisions something that not only fits into Dexter, but also compliments what Chelsea has in the Purple Rose Theater, which he admits initially intimidated him.
"The reason I first shied away from it early on was the Purple Rose," Cooney admitted. "I didn't know that they're not musical, but straight plays. It is very complimentary. I hope they will check it out and say that it's wonderful and that we can support each other."
Tomorrow's performance will be the test in a lot of ways, according to Cooney.
The 7:30 p.m. performance at the Dexter Center for Performing Arts consists of four Broadway performers performing the first act of the show.
"What's really special is that 4 local professionals will get to work with our Broadway talent," Cooney said. "It's amazing how many fantastic people are in the area."
He said the goal is to merge professionals with local talent from the community to create the highest level of professional theatre.
From that point, The Ninth Avenue Band will open for Gatlin, who will be introduced by W4 Country 102.9 FM.
Down the road, Gatlin would like to bring his own musical to Dexter. He has been working on "The Texas Flier" for quite some time now. It might even premier here, since he has asked Cooney to get aboard as its producer.
It's a tale about a father-son relationship that takes place in a Texas oil town that has dried up. The relationship dries up in a similar fashion, as the son wants to strike out on his own - a whisper from Gatlin's transition to adulthood.
††††††† "I had to tell my daddy that it's nothing personal, even though it's based on us, it's no autobiographical," Gatlin said. "You're supposed to write about what you know, and that's what I did, but it's for everybody.
"Our obligation and our dream is to bring the arts to as many people as we can, starting with Dexter."
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