Bristol Riverside Theatre stages the Old West musical ‘I Married Wyatt Earp.’
By: Matt Smith
Following his death in 1929, Wyatt Earp’s common-law wife, Josie Marcus Earp, helped create the legend of the Old West gunslinger consulting on films about Earp and the 1881 shootout at the OK Corral in Tombstone, Ariz. Many years after her death in 1944, Mrs. Earp’s own legend grew thanks to a provocative photo she purportedly posed for in her Tombstone days.
The image captured the attention of Sheilah Rae. The writer/actor/songwriter became fascinated with Mrs. Earp, who came from an upper-middle-class San Francisco family and found her way to the desert in a Gilbert & Sullivan opera troupe.
"Here was this Jewish girl taking a picture like that," Ms. Rae says. "I thought, ‘What could this be?’ I started uncovering the story and thought, ‘This is the stuff of musicals.’"
That resulting musical, I Married Wyatt Earp, is world premiering at Bristol Riverside Theatre through Oct. 16, under the direction of BRT Artistic Director Edward Keith Baker. Unlike the 1994 film about Wyatt Earp’s life, which Ms. Rae calls "dull," her version of events is told from a woman’s perspective. The story bounces back and forth between 1879-1881 and 1943.
"It was just a linear musical, but in telling the story that way, you couldn’t get a sense of the scope, what Josie went through for (all those) years," says Ms. Rae, whose musical Funny, You Don’t Look Like a Grandmother was staged at BRT in 2003.
Josie is played by two actors, Jennifer Zimmerman and Leila Martin, who star as "young" Josie and "old" Josie, respectively.
"In the old films (about Wyatt Earp), women were just tarts or put-upon wives," says Ms. Martin, who originated the role of Madame Giry in the Broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. "Here they’re spirited, and show the contributions that they made while the guys were out there being macho."
"Josie just had a different spirit than her atmosphere," adds Ms. Zimmerman, who played Fantine in Les Miserables on Broadway for 2½ years. "She wanted to break out of the walls that were built around her, and she had no problem voicing her opinion."
Both women say they are enjoying the challenge of the unique songs in I Married Wyatt Earp, which feature lyrics by Ms. Rae and music by Michele Brourman.
"They’re unusual," says Ms. Martin. "They have a feeling of the West, a feeling of the traditional and a feeling of the contemporary. But you get a sense of place in the music. It isn’t as though suddenly there’s a song that takes you out of where you are. It’s very much, I believe, in the spirit and feeling of the texture of Tombstone."
"They’re very challenging," adds Ms. Zimmerman. "A lot of songs usually modulate up as the song builds, and (Ms. Brourman) likes songs that modulate down and then make a fast jump. I’ve never sung material like that before.
"It’s so great to be in something where you’re not just connecting the dots," she continues. "A lot of musicals can be very formulaic and calculated, and we know exactly how the songs go they have the same patterns. But in this musical that is not true."
"You usually don’t hold a low note forever," adds Ms. Martin, demonstrating with a snippet of the I Married Wyatt Earp song "Room to Breathe."
"These are not songs for women who twirl their parasols," adds Ms. Zimmerman. "These are songs for women who get dusty."
"And the ensemble," says Ms. Martin, "their numbers are gritty and earthy… Sometimes you miss male sounds but you don’t here. It’s so rich and full. It isn’t like a church choir sounds."
The BRT cast also features Diane J. Findlay as Allie Earp, wife of Virgil Earp, and Jean Arbeiter, who plays Mattie Earp, Wyatt Earp’s common-law wife prior to Josie. Lisa Asher portrays Bess Earp and Lyn Nagel appears as Bess’s daughter, Hattie. Mary Mossberg stars as Kate Haroney, Doc Holliday’s mistress, while April Woodall, Tara Korbelak and Anya Paulina Ismail round out the cast.
Ms. Rae says the BRT run of I Married Wyatt Earp will be helpful in "tweaking" the show.
"We’re getting ready for prime time," she says. "I’d like to be able to move this forward to other theaters, and maybe into New York." Or, perhaps, Tombstone, Ariz.
I Married Wyatt Earp plays at Bristol Riverside Theatre, 120 Radcliffe St., Bristol, Pa., through Oct. 16. Performances: Wed., Sat. 2, 8 p.m.; Thurs.-Fri. 8 p.m.; Sun. 3 p.m. Tickets cost $34-$42. For information, call (215) 785-0100. On the Web: www.brtstage.org