The Music of Marvin's Room

One thing Laura Jane Bailey (the director) and Jeffrey Lo (the sound designer) talked a lot about when coming up with the concepts for Marvin's Room was the music to play before, during, and after the show. With the wall rotations we knew early on that we'd need to fill some time in blue light with some music, and that the music in these scene transitions would really be instrumental to setting the tone of the show. Laura Jane had some requests and generally thought that the show should be influenced by the music of the 1960/1970s - upbeat but with some occasionally darker lyrics. She shouted out artists like The Beatles, Dusty Springfield, Sonny and Cher, and the like as examples. Jeffrey did an amazing job of coming up with some songs that really captured the flavor of the show. We'll highlight a few songs and artists over the next few weeks - some that we used in discussion to really shape the show.

First off is a song by singer Diane Birch called "Rise Up" that we all really dig. This girl can SING.

One thing I love about doing a show with Jeffrey is that I always learn about some female vocalist that I'd never heard of - for Private Eyes last year it was Adele - right before she blew up with her monster hit "Rolling in the Deep." So far everything I've heard from Ms. Birch makes me want to go run and buy her stuff. I did enjoy a comment on iTunes though as I was researching her: "Diane Birch is to Carol King as Oasis is to the Beatles." This is hilarious as we referenced both Oasis and the Beatles for this show, but more on that later. Enjoy the bluesy voice of Ms. Birch!

See you at the theatre!

--Kim