“I was under the bridge and now I’m on the bridge,” laughs musical director Leilani Fenick.
It’s not unusual in the relatively small world of Richmond professional theater for someone like Fenick to be working on overlapping productions. It is weird, however, to have those productions both be set at the same iconic location.
When we talked, Fenick had just wrapped up a month performing as musical director and keyboardist for Swift Creek Mill Theatre’s “BKLYN,” a show where the story is told by a troupe of homeless performers living under the Brooklyn Bridge. She is now hurtling headlong into “From Up Here,” a more intimate musical set atop the same bridge that opens this week at HATTheatre.
Fenick says the bridge is more than a setting in this latest show. “In ‘From Up Here,’ the bridge is almost like a character,” she says. “Characters talk about the bridge and are contemplating their future while standing on the bridge. It’s important for it to be a very familiar place that people can visualize.”
The musical tells the story of five strangers whose lives become connected thanks to unexpectedly crossing paths. The show was developed more than 10 years ago, starting as a devised piece by students at the Royal Conservatoire of Scotland, then expanded by composer Aaron Lee Lambert. It has been championed by the production company Global Musicals, the same group that discovered “SIX: The Musical.”
“The music is very ethereal and very character-driven,” says Fenick. “You can tell which characters are in a scene just by the rhythmic pulse of the music. There’s a lot of jazz harmonies that make it really interesting.”
“It’s not like anything you’ve heard before and it allows the text to really come through.”
It’s also a show that prompts bridge metaphors galore, particularly for this production, which bridges the theater worlds of two cities. Two members of the cast, Aaron Hoffman and Doug Schneider, are carpooling to Richmond from Charlottesville.
Schneider has been a regular on local stages for decades, notably winning a Richmond Theater Critics Circle Award for his performance in Richmond Triangle Players’ “Cabaret” in 2014. Not long after directing RTP’s “Sondheim on Sondheim” in 2018, he felt like he wanted to take a break.
“Then the pandemic hit and slowed everything down,” says Schneider, “and I thought, perfect, I’ll just focus on teaching.”
In addition to acting and directing, Schneider works as a vocal coach. Being cast as Scrooge in a production of “A Christmas Carol” last year rekindled his desire to be on stage. He says Vickie Scallion, the executive director at HATTheatre, coaxed him back to Richmond with this specific show.
“Vickie is easy to say ‘yes’ to because she loves actors, she loves theater and she treats people with such respect,” Schneider says. “She also finds these amazingly obscure and really creative pieces of theater that no one’s done around here.”
Having turned 70 last year, Schneider finds that “From Up Here” also serves as a bridge between generations. “[Director] Frank Foster told me he sees my character, Henry, as similar to Clarence, the guardian angel from ‘It’s a Wonderful Life,’” says Schneider.
“There is a kindness and a gentleness to Henry; he’s kind of the philosopher,” says Schneider. “He’s going through his own struggle but his life intersects with this young woman and they start a very gentle, sweet relationship. Henry sees people in trouble and he doesn’t always know exactly how to help but his purpose is to be the older, wiser person.”
Fenick says that having someone with Schneider’s experience around is also a great help in real life during rehearsals.
“I can’t hear everything because, a lot of times, I’m playing at the same time,” she says. “It’s nice to have someone who can say, ‘hey, we might want to check that pitch.’”
“It’s great to have him there as an asset; I love having extra ears.”
“From Up Here” plays at HATTheatre, 1124 Westbriar Drive, from March 2 to March 15. Tickets and information available at https://hattheatre.org/season.html.
