If you have children, you have probably heard of Milo and are people who look at the trip via the train in the book ‘Milo Stelayes the World’. Now Matt de la Peña’s children’s book is coming to the stage at the Alliance Theater.
“Milo Images The World” is a new musical that adjusts the story of Milo in a fully -fledged adventure, with music by Christian Magby, texts by Christian Albright, and book by Terry Guest. From 25 June-27 July you can become a member of Milo and his sister, Adrian, while Milo imagines the inner lives of the people he sees on the train and slowly comes to his own self-discovery.
Rough Draft Atlanta recently sat with Magby, Half of the musical team of the showTo talk about adjusting the book in front of the stage. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.
You have acted and composed for years. How did you originally enter this industry?
Christian Magby: My biggest start with everything in the art was through the youth sample of Atlanta, where I grew up since I was 11 or 12 years old. It is not only a training company, but they also do original musicals based on the problems. So I grew up in a company that created their own works. Then I wrote my first game when I was 15. With their support I was able to use various adult actors and everyone paid. But it is interesting because I did not necessarily know that there was a lifespan or career for what I did. I knew there was, but as far as it composing, I never saw it. It was something I always did. [I’m] I am enthusiastic that I think it worked out [laughs].
Do you remember a moment when you were, oh, this is something that I can do for a career? When did it click?
MAGBY: I think that when I and Christian Albright started to write our musical ‘Mother of God’. It was selected by the Atlanta Musical Theater Festival. I think realizing that to a certain capacity … and at least are able to just get our names, because it relates to songwriters and writers in general – I think that was a really decisive moment. But it was only then “The Incredible Book Eat Boy” Here at the alliance where we were: “Oh, we can do this for a living.” [laughs]
You were born in Atlanta. How was it for you who saw the transformation in the past decades of Atlanta in an industrial city?
MAGBY: Oh, I love it. I have always seen it that way, just like a child. When I was younger, my aim was just to be a working Atlanta actor, because I saw so many people doing it and made life that it came out yes. There was nothing as nicer as a child than to turn on ‘House of Payne’, and so, man – someone made it! I am very happy, but not surprised to see everything that happens in our art community.
Removing to “Milo depicts the world”, how did you become aware of this work? Did you read the book? How did you get on board?
MAGBY: I had certainly heard of the story, just because I have friends who have children. So I may have seen it on a shelf. But it was brought to us by Children’s Theater Company, the Rose Theater and Chicago Children’s Theater, who originally gave us co-committee to write the piece. That was the first time I ‘read’, read it. I was intrigued because I thought, where is this story going? Why is this boy on the train and why does he put his imagination in such an effective way to use? And then of course you come to the end, and it is like, ah! Which made me go back and read it again. I was just so involved in the story. I had something like that, I have to work on this.
How do you record that feeling as a composer? How do you put the feeling of, I want to go back?
MAGBY: I think one of things – especially when it comes to things that have already been written, such as books or films – is finding the moments that musically speak to me and continue and are, that seems like a musical moment, or something that we would like to explore. Only the small checkpoints of the story that we know can explain in character and story.
How do you define “musical moment”? I talked to other composers about this – when does anyone choose to sing? What does that push?
MAGBY: This book specifically I think there were things that jumped off the page. I think Milo and Adrian’s relationship – First of all, I don’t think his sister had a name in the book, but she was there all the time. So that was a relationship that we knew we wanted to explore. We also have the task, how do we work that you could read in this one-hour trip in 5-6 minutes?
I really think it just read and re -read and re -read a lot. Once we have a moment that we know that we want to go to zero … there is a moment in the show called “Reflection” that Sings Milo, where he, after he has imagined the lives of a few different people, keeps his own account. What do people see when they look at me? Only from that idea, as well as this argument that he and his sister have, I think that was our first two [moments where we said]We know we have something here. Then it is about expanding this way, instead of writing in a linear way. I think sometimes we just know together which beats we want to touch, but it always starts from the fleshy parts of the story and where our morality starts to come into play. How can we expand this way versus that way?
How was it for you to write music for children? Finding the strengths in those younger voices? I know it can be difficult if you come to a certain age, because everything changes.
MAGBY: I admit it is difficult. This is our second show with a young male lead and our voices change. So being able to find someone who can do all of that, it always seems that we are taking a risk. But we know that there is someone, especially because I was one of those children, and I came around to children who could do the thing and tell the story.
Regarding how you can put together to that arena. I have never been left to be a child, and where I know they like to listen, the same things we like to listen to. It is about not necessarily trying to bring them to our world, they are part of our world. I would say it is like – oh, I hate to use this reference – but like Kidz Bop, in a certain sense. It is the same number, but it is packed in a way that you can deliver. Or like a Disney film, because the parents would take their child with you to see the film, but they will also take something from it.
Can you talk a little about your working relationship Christian Albright? I know you have done a few things together.
MAGBY: We met through the Youth Semble of Atlanta. I was already writing my first game that he came and saw. Since then we are the best friends, which is great. I think we have worked on our first piece [when] I was still in high school … and since then we have been working together on musicals.
I think it’s because one, we can interpret each other’s thoughts a little, and we are usually always about story. We see the same great things in the story. We see the same things that we don’t necessarily like in the story. Our working relationship – it’s interesting because it has changed over the years. Sometimes we live in the same city, sometimes not. Sometimes we work together in the room on a song, sometimes we work separately. Sometimes he will first write lyrics, sometimes I write music first.
I was going to ask.
MAGBY: I would usually say it is texts first. It is rare. I may have a musical soundscape, but my musical soundscape is always based on what the lyrics say … usually, when I read his lyrics, if it is an idea that we know that works, I already know what it sounds like. Only because it is a bit embedded in the DNA of the character. We always write from the point of view of the character – not what we want, necessarily an audience to walk away with, but what speaks to the truth of the moment. In terms of noise, how can we supplement that?
Do you have a favorite moment in the show? Has that ever changed?
MAGBY: I think my favorites have always changed. “Another Sunday” used to be my favorite, which is a kind of our opening – we also have a fake opening that you have to see [laughs]. But the moment it speaks to me the most, it was something that was written after our first production of the show – it is called “reflection (reprise)”, and it is at the moment when the question that Milo asked earlier in the show is, do people only see what I draw in my sketchbook? Is that what people know me for?
But in the ‘reflection (repetition)’, when he sees that what he imagines may not have always been the case, they ask him: only see what you draw in your sketchbook? I think that moment has always landed in a different way for me, because I think that is the question that we also want to ask of our audience. Do you only go to the story that you have in your head versus people to get to know people for who they are? That is definitely a special moment for me in the show. That’s funny, because it’s the least rhythmic, and not as nice as all our other songs. But it is the moment in the show that says to me: this is what it’s all about.
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