Musical to bow on Perrysburg stage

2 local dramatists present original 'Ottville'

Trevor Dorner, left, and Edward Bean co-wrote the musical 'Ottville'

THE BLADE/JETTA FRASER
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Trevor Dorner, left, and Edward Bean co-wrote the musical 'Ottville'

Political corruption, forbidden romance, laughter, and music will fill the Commodore Building in Perrysburg from July 8-10.

Perrysburg High School graduates Edward Bean and Trevor Dorner have written a full-length musical, titled Ottville, which will play in the Commodore's Juliet Beck Auditorium at 140 East Indiana Ave.

The show will run at 8 p.m. July 8 and 9 and 2 p.m. July 10.

The script as well as the music and lyrics for the production were written and composed by Mr. Bean, who will study music composition at New York University in the fall, and Mr. Dorner, who will study musical theater at Ohio Northern University.

Lori Bean, Mr. Bean's mother, said that the play is about class struggle, the corruption of those in power, with a love story that crosses the boundaries, all while bringing in a comedic element to provide lightness to the play.

"Its a story about what happens in a society when the ruling class is in control of the government and the military system, and the basic workers, the townspeople, start to look at that and go 'wait a minute, we're not incapable or unintelligent,' and they end up revolting," Mrs. Bean said.

So far, Mrs. Bean said that the whole town is rallying behind them.

There have been costume and scenery donations from Perrysburg Junior High School, and some local professional musicians have offered to play for the production for free.

Although the musical originally started out as a book that Mr. Bean had began writing during his freshman year, he soon decided that he was conveying the story in the wrong medium thought "let's give it a go as a musical."

Mr. Bean said that the story has strong Shakespearean influence with a focus on Romeo and Juliet and Julius Caesar.

Nick Case, 15, of Whitehouse, and Andrew Bean, 20, of Perrysburg, rehearse a scene from 'Ottville.' Mr. Bean is the brother of Edward Bean, a co-writer of the musical , which will be performed this weekend in Perrysburg.

"We see how each character reacts differently to the inheritance of power; some want it and some are forced into those positions of authority," Mr. Bean said. "It shows how humans become corrupt with power and how they deal with it."

The show is not a traditional narrative, and Mr. Bean said that the story sets itself apart from other musicals by being an overall darker show.

"It has this perpetual idea of these changes in government; it's a bit radical," Mr. Bean said.

Working on just a $5,000 budget all from Mr. Bean's pocket, the biggest purchases have gone to rentals and technical equipment. All of the actors are working on a voluntary basis.

Mr. Bean is a classically trained pianist and said that since the age of 9, he has always been partial to improvising his own ideas and thoughts into other artists' works to create something original.

"I would loathe practicing because I knew that thousands of people have played these before," Mr. Bean said. "Why be a poor imitation of someone else's work when you could just write your own work and no one can play it better than you?"

Mrs. Bean said she is confident in the production that her son and his friend have created.

"We've been stage parents for years and if they weren't doing something that was spot on, I would be able to tell them that," Mrs. Bean said.

"But we've been able to listen to him compose the music from the start and there are those pieces in there, those memorable tunes that get stuck in your head; I wouldn't encourage my child to put himself and so much on the line if there wasn't anything there."

Tickets are $8 for adults and $5 for students and can be obtained as general admission by reserving them at: eddiebeanfilms.com/Ottville.html.

"I find the show hilarious. It's such a dark show, you need the comedy interjected within it. It's a revolution, and the people are dying, but it's done in a very tongue-in-cheek kind of way," Mr. Bean said. "I like to describe it like we're slapping the audience across the face from one way to the other."

Contact Payton Willey at: paytonwilley@theblade.com or 419-724-6065.