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The Capeman
The Capeman is a musical play with music by Paul Simon and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 performances. A blend of doo-wop, gospel, and Latin music, it received Tony Award nominations for Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations and Best Scenic Design. Renoly Santiago received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical. Ednita Nazario won the Theater World Award for her performance.
In 2008, Simon and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra performed The Capeman at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with some of the original cast and other well-known artists. Simon also devoted a section of his two-night performances at the Beacon Theatre to The Capeman. The NY Public Theater presented a concert production of the musical in the Summer of 2010 at Central Park's Delacorte Theater, directed by Diane Paulus.
Paul Simon began working on The Capeman in 1988. The early development was aided by Simon's friend Carlos Ortiz, who helped Simon locate and translate source material. Simon and Ortiz met with people who had known Agron in prison, and visited Esmeralda Agron in Puerto Rico. In the first minutes of their meeting, Agron described a dream of her son entering heaven, which would become the song "Esmeralda's Dream." Ortiz also introduced Simon to several Latin musicians, and before long Simon had written "Born in Puerto Rico," one of the show's centerpiece songs.
Simon enlisted the help of Derek Walcott, a Nobel Prize-winning author and poet from the West Indies. Their working relationship was awkward at first: Simon had become unused to this type of creative collaboration, and Walcott initially disliked the show's main character. Simon insisted that the music be written first, with the lyrics set to the songs. Eventually the two completed the play, with music composed by Simon and lyrics "about 50–50 Simon-Walcott."
Simon assembled a band and spent almost five years and $1 million recording the songs. This was an unorthodox approach to constructing a Broadway show. Typically a show's writer delivers a script and score to a director, who assembles and creates the final production. Simon wanted to retain full artistic control over the show through its entire production. Simon soon encountered resistance for refusing to follow custom in the Broadway industry.
Simon was often cited as being disdainful of Broadway, and said in interviews that he hoped to reinvigorate what he saw as a stale musical form. Broadway music, he said, had "ended up in a weird cul de sac – probably because it was never energized by rock and roll." Theatre producer Rocco Landesman responded to Simon's statements: "The idea that you can at a strike rewrite an art form is a little presumptuous. I can't say the people in the theater community were rooting for Paul Simon after all the things he said about Broadway."
In 2011, Simon admitted that his inexperience had been a problem, saying:
It's not that easy to write for the theater for the first time...You really need a guide. For people coming out of popular music, writing songs that further the plot is different from writing whatever is on your mind. It's a different discipline.
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The Capeman
The Capeman is a musical play with music by Paul Simon and book and lyrics by Simon and Derek Walcott based on the life of convicted murderer Salvador Agrón. The play opened at the Marquis Theatre in 1998 to poor reviews and ran for 68 performances. A blend of doo-wop, gospel, and Latin music, it received Tony Award nominations for Best Original Score, Best Orchestrations and Best Scenic Design. Renoly Santiago received a Drama Desk nomination for Outstanding Featured Performer in a Musical. Ednita Nazario won the Theater World Award for her performance.
In 2008, Simon and the Spanish Harlem Orchestra performed The Capeman at the Brooklyn Academy of Music with some of the original cast and other well-known artists. Simon also devoted a section of his two-night performances at the Beacon Theatre to The Capeman. The NY Public Theater presented a concert production of the musical in the Summer of 2010 at Central Park's Delacorte Theater, directed by Diane Paulus.
Paul Simon began working on The Capeman in 1988. The early development was aided by Simon's friend Carlos Ortiz, who helped Simon locate and translate source material. Simon and Ortiz met with people who had known Agron in prison, and visited Esmeralda Agron in Puerto Rico. In the first minutes of their meeting, Agron described a dream of her son entering heaven, which would become the song "Esmeralda's Dream." Ortiz also introduced Simon to several Latin musicians, and before long Simon had written "Born in Puerto Rico," one of the show's centerpiece songs.
Simon enlisted the help of Derek Walcott, a Nobel Prize-winning author and poet from the West Indies. Their working relationship was awkward at first: Simon had become unused to this type of creative collaboration, and Walcott initially disliked the show's main character. Simon insisted that the music be written first, with the lyrics set to the songs. Eventually the two completed the play, with music composed by Simon and lyrics "about 50–50 Simon-Walcott."
Simon assembled a band and spent almost five years and $1 million recording the songs. This was an unorthodox approach to constructing a Broadway show. Typically a show's writer delivers a script and score to a director, who assembles and creates the final production. Simon wanted to retain full artistic control over the show through its entire production. Simon soon encountered resistance for refusing to follow custom in the Broadway industry.
Simon was often cited as being disdainful of Broadway, and said in interviews that he hoped to reinvigorate what he saw as a stale musical form. Broadway music, he said, had "ended up in a weird cul de sac – probably because it was never energized by rock and roll." Theatre producer Rocco Landesman responded to Simon's statements: "The idea that you can at a strike rewrite an art form is a little presumptuous. I can't say the people in the theater community were rooting for Paul Simon after all the things he said about Broadway."
In 2011, Simon admitted that his inexperience had been a problem, saying:
It's not that easy to write for the theater for the first time...You really need a guide. For people coming out of popular music, writing songs that further the plot is different from writing whatever is on your mind. It's a different discipline.