A new musical inspired by Ithaca's Fall Creek Brass Band will receive two public readings at the Hangar Theatre, giving audiences a chance to experience a work still in development. Brassquatch, with a book and lyrics by Becca Blackmore and music by Alec Staples, grew from a collaborative effort involving the band's members and director Sarah Plotkin.
The project's origins trace back to a novelty song called Brassquatch, written by Matt Lowe and performed by the Fall Creek Brass Band. Blackmore said the image of a Sasquatch playing brass instruments sparked the idea for a full-length musical.
"It's a typical hero's journey," Blackmore said. "We have someone with a goal. He sets out, he saves the day, he comes back. I don't want to spoil it for everybody, but it's got a lot of danger and fun and jokes and a lot of sense of community. That felt like it fit the band."
Plotkin said the musical evolved from an initial idea to create a jukebox musical using the band's existing repertoire. Instead, Staples proposed composing an entirely new score, and the creative team invited the musicians themselves into the development process.
"My background is in devised theater, which is a way of making theater collaboratively in the room with other people," Plotkin said. "We all brainstormed together what a musical inspired by the band would look like and feel like. That's how we landed on the idea of brass-playing Sasquatches."
The story follows three young Sasquatches—Barry, Melba and Chet—as they prepare for an important coming-of-age ritual. When things go wrong, the trio embarks on a quest that ultimately benefits their entire community.
Blackmore said discovering the Fall Creek Brass Band's concerts helped shape the script.
"I wanted to really lean into that sense of community, that sense of fun, that sense of play," she said. "The entire creative process has been utterly joyful. We really got to talk about what it is to pursue a passion and how you balance that passion with the rest of your life."
The score reflects both the band's eclectic musical style and the demands of musical theater. Blackmore said some songs draw on the New Orleans-inspired brass tradition familiar to the band's audiences, while others have a more theatrical sound. "All of the songs drive the plot forward," she said. "We wanted the songs to advance the story and be integral to it."
Because Brassquatch is still in development, the readings offer audiences an opportunity to see the creative process firsthand. Plotkin noted that Blackmore completed an initial draft in just a few months before the team gathered feedback through private and public presentations.
Blackmore said audience responses led to significant revisions, particularly in deepening the motivations of the show's antagonist.
"Our antagonist was very much a villain, and his motivation wasn't always clear," she said. "Figuring out why he does what he does made the story feel more honest and more relatable."
The rewrites also expanded the mythology of the musical's fantasy world, as the creative team explored the rules and magic of a society populated by brass-playing Sasquatches.
"We had to keep asking ourselves what makes this world special and different from ours," Blackmore said. "It was an opportunity to create something brand new and magical."
Public readings of Brassquatch will be presented Monday, July 27, and Monday, August 3, at 7:30 p.m. at the Hangar Theatre in Ithaca. For tickets and more information, visit hangartheatre.org.