Merrily Rolling Home :: Joey DeMita on FUDGE's Final Theatrical Treat

Since 2002, the FUDGE Theatre Company has been serving up ambitious theatrical fare around the Boston area. The group, led by producing artistic director Joey DeMita, has become adept at fitting large-scale works, especially musicals, into small spaces.

The group's tendency to think big didn't happen in increments. FUDGE launched itself onto the city's theatrical scene all those years ago with a production of the George Furth and Stephen Sondheim musical "Merrily We Roll Along," and the rolling hasn't stopped since: Over the course of the troupe's fourteen seasons, they've brought to life everything from "Assassins" and "Bat Boy" "City of Angels" and "Parade," drawing critical acclaim and bringing audiences shows they might have seen otherwise.

Among all those productions are a number of New England premieres (including "Bare," "Glory Days" and "Nevermore") and two World Premieres ("Half-Married" and "Jack the Ripper: The Whitechapel Musical," the latter featuring a book co-written, and songs composed by, EDGE music critic Steve Bergman).

DeMita himself has racked up awards and nominations for any number of FUDGE productions, a testament to his hands-on work in a startling assortment of categories -- he's done everything from direction to choreography to scenic, lighting, and costume design.

And now, with the end of its fourteenth season, FUDGE is set to present its final production: They're bringing it all home with a re-visitation of "Merrily We Roll Along" at the Arsenal Center for the Arts in Watertown from July 10 through 18.

The temptation is to cry out, "Why??" That's exactly what EDGE did, and Joey DeMita recently sat down to tell us all about it.

EDGE: From the name of FUDGE, one could get the idea that your theater company started in a dorm room around a case of beer, late at night, without anyone quite knowing the challenges of the undertaking. How close is this to what really happened?

Joey DeMita: Your interpretation of what happened is close, but not exactly accurate. The most accurate part being "without anyone quite knowing the challenges of the undertaking." But let me start at the beginning.

In the summer of 2001, just after I had graduated high school, I was asked to perform in a production of "Godspell" at a church in my hometown of Reading, MA. It was the first summer production being produced by the Youth Group of the church. Due to a lack of anyone really knowing how to mount a fully staged musical from the ground up, two of my friends from high school and I sort of took the reigns and helped the director and music director a whole lot. After that, one of us (I forget who it actually was, but I'd like to think it was me) had the idea of "Hey, why don't we do our own show next summer? What if we started a theater company? Think of how fun and easy that would be! We could do whatever shows we wanted!"

There was also a void in our town of productions that were geared towards people of our age -- out of high school but not yet part of the real world yet. There were already two great companies in our town (Quannapowitt Players and Colonial Chorus Players) that produced plays and musicals, but their shows weren't quite catered to our age group. So our idea was to start a company that would be entirely run by people in their late teens and very early twenties (I turned 19 during this decision making process).

The three of us (Christopher Smith, Laura Chandler -- now Laura Rogers -- and I) had our first official planning meeting at a friend's house. Our first order of business was to decide a name for the company. We threw probably hundreds of ideas around (no, I can't remember any of the other options... ) and were unable to come to a decision. At that point, our friend's mom walked into the room with a plate of homemade fudge. We desperately said, "What should we name our theater company??!" and her response, offering us some fudge having not heard our question, was, "How about some fudge?"

We laughed at her response, and then thought, "Hey, why not go with that?" And thus the original name of "How About Some Fudge" was born. Then we thought, "Well, that is a foolish name for a theater company. Let's make the word 'Fudge' an acronym for something." So we settled on "Friends United Developing Genuine Entertainment." We actually existed as, and filed our non-profit status with the state under the name, "How About Some F.U.D.G.E., Inc." It wasn't until a few years later that we decided to legally change the name of the company to "The FUDGE Theatre Company." Still to this day, we still pride ourselves on the "Friends United" part of that name.

Our first production of "Merrily We Roll Along" was as cursed as they come. We had auditions (I auditioned for this one -- hadn't ventured into directing yet) and had assembled a small but stable (we thought) cast. Over the next several weeks, every single cast member backed out of the production, except for myself (Charley Kringas) and the actress playing Mary Flynn (Amy Kligerman). The cast basically became a revolving door of people joining and then leaving the production. We finally managed to pull together ten actors who were committed enough to stick with it through opening night.

A tragedy occurred for one of our actors right after we opened, and we were forced to perform the show without that (relatively important) character for the remaining two nights. This led to a bit of improv and line rearranging (don't tell Sondheim or Furth... ) but we managed to get through it. Looking back, it's a wonder I am still here with this theater company! Amy joined us on the "Go FUDGE!" side of things, and we forged ahead with more productions.

EDGE: Why has FUDGE focused on musicals?

To be quite honest, FUDGE has focused on musicals because that is what has always interested me the most. I grew up with a heavy interest in musical theater (and still have one), and had never focused too much on acting. It was until I became a serious director that I began exploring the world of non-musical plays. I would say that I now have an equal passion for both. The other main reason, from a business standpoint, is that musicals are just easier to sell to Boston audiences.

EDGE: Why, after 14 seasons (and various critical nods), are you calling it quits?

Joey DeMita: FUDGE has been struggling for quite a long time now, financially. One of our biggest issues has always been finding enough man/woman-power to keep producing the quality of shows we had come to expect from ourselves. For a while we had some amazing volunteer artists and designers who were very passionate about the company (and still are), but as we all continue to get older, it becomes harder and harder for people to take time away from their careers and personal lives to commit as much time to each production as was necessary, so I found myself working harder and harder with each passing production. We were never able to raise enough money to be able to offer people enough of a stipend to make the time and effort worth their while.

As I approached the age of 32, I made the decision that it is time for me to also focus on myself personally as well as professionally. I had created a great company that produced some great work, but I was beginning to really see the toll it had taken on my "career" and personal life. With 100 percent honesty, I've never made a single dime off of any work I've ever done for FUDGE (I always wonder who knows that... ), and in fact spent more money than I'd like to admit on keeping the company going. I'm no longer in my twenties, and realized that I can't keep going on like this.

EDGE: FUDGE has put on some pretty ambitious productions. Were there plays you wanted to produce but -- despite your obvious willingness to tackle big, complex stuff -- you just ended up saying, "No, that's too intimidating?"

Joey DeMita: This is an interesting question. One of the philosophies I've adopted after working in the Black Box at the Arsenal Center for so long off of such a limited budget was that any show can work in any space -- with the right creativity. Some people will argue with this and say, "But 'Les Miz' needs that epic sound of the full orchestra!" and to that I have to say, "Does it need it? Or is that just what you expect?" I love taking big shows and scaling them down to really get at the core of the music and the story.

Two of our most successful shows were done with this concept in mind: "Carousel" and "Parade." If you told me eight years ago that in the fall of 2012 I would direct "Parade" with my theater company, I would have laughed in your face! It just seemed way too intimidating and expensive. But as I grew to adopt my philosophy of any show working in any space, this became a much more realistic option for us. When I told people that we would be producing "Carousel" in the summer of 2011, many said we were crazy -- that a big Rodgers and Hammerstein musical couldn't be done on our budget and in a space the size of the black box. We successfully produced both musicals, each with a cast size of less than 15 and a total design budget of less than $400, to critical acclaim.

The more usual reason for deciding not produce something that I really wanted to produce was the audience appeal of the show. I'm a huge fan of new works (both original, Boston-created works as well as smaller shows from NYC that haven't made their way into the mainstream yet). There are still so many I would love to produce, but, realistically, finding an audience for them would be very difficult.

The one musical that I have always wanted to produce in a black box theater with a minimalist feel to it is "Miss Saigon." We seriously threw this idea around for the past couple of summers -- who needs an actual helicopter?? I was excited by the challenge of fitting it into that space. The story is so powerful and the music is so epic, I think it would still play in a very emotional way -- if not more emotional! The issue with it was that I refused to do it without a cast of the correct ethnicity, and that was decided (rightfully so, I would imagine) to be too difficult.

EDGE: What did you not produce that you now wish you had gone ahead and done?

Joey DeMita: See "Miss Saigon" above! The other show that I've wanted to direct since starting FUDGE all those years ago is "Falsettos" by William Finn and James Lapine. This has been my favorite show for as long as I can remember. Back in the summer of 2003, our third musical production was William Finn's "A New Brain." I was playing Gordon Schwinn (I had not yet switched into the land of directing), and we were having a lot of difficulty filling in some of the roles. We actually had an entire rehearsal where the seven cast members we did have (three men and three women) sang through the score to "Falsettos" as a possible show-change moment.

Ultimately, we decided to stick with "A New Brain" and were able to fill out the remaining roles before opening night! I have a looooong list of "I Wish!" shows, and hopefully will have the chance to direct/produce them down the line. ("Mack & Mabel," "Falsettos," "Miss Saigon," "Little Shop of Horrors" -- the all-male version -- "A Man of No Importance," "Angels in America," "Marvin's Room," "The Lieutenant of Inishmore," "The Normal Heart," etc...)

EDGE: What plays stand out as productions that you really weren't sure would work, and then exceeded your expectations?

Joey DeMita: Hmm... I can't really think of one. I was usually pretty careful about only choosing to do shows that I was sure would work one way or the other. There have been times that I wanted to run for the hills during a rehearsal process ("Wedding Singer," the original "Merrily We Roll Along," "A New Brain," "Bat Boy") because the uphill battle just seemed like a lost cause, but we were able to overcome the obstacles and create some exceptional productions.

EDGE: Did you have any real disappointments along the way?

Joey DeMita: I guess one of the biggest disappointments is the extremely low audience numbers for some of our premiere shows. We had a season where we mounted three premieres, and that season was our weakest financially, even though we ended up spending the least amount of money on the shows themselves.

This was the season of "Nevermore," "Half-Married," "Glory Days" and "Violet." I was extremely excited about each and every show in this season, and the turnout for all four was incredibly disappointing. Whenever anyone asks me if there is a show I would love to do again, my first answer is always "Nevermore." It was the perfect storm in terms of shows that appeal to my directing style. It was a brand new musical with a small cast and a very dark and abstract thematic element.

The show took place during the last five seconds of Edgar Allen Poe's life, just before his tragic death. During those five seconds, we see flashbacks to his life and what lead him to where he was ultimately about to die alone. We had an incredible design team for the show, and I had a lot of fun staging the abstract dream/nightmare-like musical sequences. The show get very good reviews, but only ran for one weekend in Watertown, so a lot of people never got the chance to see it.

"Half-Married" was a world-premiere play by the lyricist of "I Love You Because," which we had produced a year or two earlier. It was great to work with him and his writing partner on the play, and we had some pretty full houses for that one, thanks to the writer having lots of family in Massachusetts!

Following that was "Glory Days," the ill-fated show that ran for only a single performance on Broadway (after its preview period). I was determined to find the good in this one. The score is a great contemporary musical theater score for four young men, and we assembled a great cast. The main issue with this show was its book, and I had a lot of trouble trying to navigate around the issues. The show ended up being a lot of fun to work on with the group we had, but became very difficult to market. We ended the season of "premieres" with a show from my "wish list" at the time -- "Violet" (way before the Sutton Foster revival!). We ended the season on a slightly happier note with some fuller houses for this one, but overall the season was a bit of a let down, despite some great performances and productions!

EDGE: For your final production, you've circled back around to "Merrily We Roll Along." Why is that?

Joey DeMita: For the past six or seven years or so, we've been saying we wanted to do a remount of "Merrily We Roll Along" at an important point in the company's history. For a while, it was our hope that we would be able to christen a new performance venue (owned by FUDGE) with the production. When that seemed to be too far off, we decided that it would maybe work for a 15th season anniversary production. When we decided that this, our 14th Season, would be the final season for FUDGE, the show choice was a no brainer.

While the show holds a lot of sentimental value to me as a person, it also holds a lot of symbolism for FUDGE and where we are. It asks the question "How did you get to be here? What was the moment?" It will provide us with the chance to look back on the past 13-14 years, and try and answer this question for ourselves. The show also tells the story of three friends who start out with many ambitious hopes and dreams, which mirrors the hopefulness of Christopher, Laura and I back in 2002.

Aside from all of that symbolic/emotional mumbo jumbo, it's a brilliant piece of musical theater that doesn't get performed nearly enough (aside from the other two productions that coincidentally are happening in this area right now... ) The score is littered with brilliant songs that have been recorded by many famous musicians ("Not A Day Goes By," "Old Friends," "Good Thing Going" and "Our Time," to name a few). It is probably one of Sondheim's most "accessible" scores, with a very big, Broadway sound. I am ecstatic to begin working on the production at the end of May, and to present it to our devoted audience members in July as a farewell performance.

EDGE: What's next for you, Joey?

Joey DeMita: Good question! My parents have been asking me that for years!

My plan is to make the big move to New York City at the end of the summer. It is something that I've wanted to do since graduating college, but since I had a child to raise (The FUDGE Theatre Company) it was very difficult to leave it behind. I was very close a few years back -- and had a few meetings with the Executive Board to discuss what would happen to the company in my absence -- but I decided it would be too difficult to leave FUDGE.

I'm now in a place where I feel comfortable letting go and moving on to (hopefully) bigger and brighter things. I will always have FUDGE as one of the most important aspects of my life, and know that if I ever want to come back and start up again, people will jump at the chance to join and support me.