EdFringe Talk: A Mirrored Monet

Posted in Theatre by

“I thought my show would be too big and too expensive to produce at the Fringe. But it’s coming together and it will give me a chance to see the audience reaction to it.”

WHO: Carmel Owen

WHAT: “In the dramatic musical A Mirrored Monet, it’s 1916 and the painter Claude Monet struggles to complete his government commission for the Water Lilies. Esteemed his greatest work, to him it meant regular deliveries of food, fuel, wine, and cigarettes – hard to find during the war. He is suffering a creative block as WWI advances and worrying that unless he can paint as before, the lifeline of deliveries will cease. He searches for answers, taking us back to his young-artist days in late 19th century Paris with Renoir, Manet and Camille, his first wife and model.”

WHERE: Greenside @ Nicolson Square – Emerald Theatre (Venue 209) 

WHEN: VARIES (60 min)

MORE: Click Here!

Is this your first time to Edinburgh?

I was in Edinburgh as a visitor to the Fringe and Scotland last summer (2022) and fell in love with both Scotland and the Fringe. I liked the open and free feel of it, the crowds in the streets, the games and performances in the streets as well as in the make-shift theaters –it was a bit like a medieval fair with performers, street people and food of all sorts available as well as people of all ages, but particularly young people having a great time. Although I could see the challenges of putting up a musical in the environment of solo and smaller shows, I did see things that made me think it was possible and that there might be audiences for that too.

Although I’ve been involved in other festivals, nothing as big or engaging as the Fringe so have no comparison, there is nothing to compare it to that I know of.

What are the big things you’ve learned since 2022 and have you absorbed any of the lessons yet?

Attending a Fringe session in London in January 2023, I learned a great deal more about what it would take to put up a show. I was encouraged by the wonderful people presenting there and connected with a venue where there were experienced and connected people who helped me see that I could do it, put my musical on at the Fringe. I didn’t really believe that would be possible in 2022 summer. I thought my show would be too big and too expensive to produce at the Fringe. But it’s coming together and it will give me a chance to see the audience reaction to it.

Tell us about your show.

I am the author (music, lyrics and book) but many creative individuals have contributed to it over time. It started out as a story just about young Monet and his struggles –then with a previous book writer but I realized it had to be more and that Monet at 76 was far more interesting. I had to rewrite the book.

I have organized a few investors who support my work to join me in producing it this summer at the Fringe. My Director Fraser Grant and Music Director Neil Metcalfe are both Scots in Edinburgh who put together auditions in Edinburgh which I was able to participate in by zoom from my home in NYC. We hired all the actors except one (the young Monet) at those auditions in May this year—all Scots who live in either Edinburgh or Glasgow or nearby. The one actor from the US played the role of Young Monet for me in an initial reading and was truly irreplaceable so he is with us now too.

The musical will premiere at the Fringe on August 17th, having had its initial reading/developmental workshop in April 2022 at the Dramatists Guild Fund’s Music Hall in NYC.

We are hoping that this Fringe production is the beginning of a long life for A MIRRORED MONET and look forward to it touring and playing at major venues globally. It is an international musical and Claude Monet is a character known to people all over the world who love his work and will enjoy spending an evening or afternoon with him learning more about him as a person…his struggles as well as his successes.

What should your audience see at the festivals after they’ve seen your show?

I would encourage audiences to go see more musicals and to support them! Some new musicals I’ve spotted in the programme that I’m looking forward to seeing are Alan Turing – Guilty of Love, Café L’Arté, No Love Songs, and Woven.

It’s all out there to be experienced and the Fringe is just the place to see a lot of new and exciting work. Go for it!

LIKE WHAT YOU JUST READ? FOLLOW US ON TWITTER! FIND US ON FACEBOOK! OR SIGN UP TO OUR MAILING LIST!

INTERESTED IN BEING INTERVIEWED TOO? CLICK HERE!