When Amanda Murphy began recruiting actors for her new musical, four play, currently in the midst of a four-week run at StudioBe in Chicago, she wasn’t planning on being on stage herself.
A musician first and actress second, Murphy, a four-year resident of Brookfield, was busy finishing up the musical score and planned on playing piano at the shows when they finally hit the stage. And there was a practical aspect.
“It’s harder to find a piano player,” said Murphy, 33.
But as auditions went along in February, it became clear that the character of Polly was meant for her.
“There are aspects of her like me, there are things about her point of view that I relate to,” said Murphy. “But originally I didn’t want to play her. But now it feels good to be doing it.”
The play opened May 26 and will staged again on June 2, 9 and 16 at 8 p.m. at StudioBe, 3110 N. Sheffield in Chicago. (Tickets are $10 and available at www.brownpapertickets.com or by calling 800-838-3006.)
Written in collaboration with Jamie Campbell, who is directing the show, four play grew out of what was to have been a sketch comedy show. Both Campbell and Murphy were in a class at Second City in Chicago and the two formulated the rough idea for the show, which was initially to include six character sketches.
“There were four characters we really liked, and after about a month or two, the sketches started making a story,” Murphy said.
With a background in musical theater (she trained for two years at the American Musical and Dramatic Academy in New York), she penned a song for a scene set in a cellphone store.
“I sang it to Jamie and he loved it,” Murphy said. “What began as a sketch show turned into a one-act musical.”
The show features four actors – in addition to Murphy, there’s Rich Baker, Ted Sima and Heather Bodie. The musical tracks the lives of four 30-something Chicagoans as they come to terms with adulthood and the choices they’ve made which have impacted their lives. Pretty serious stuff, though Murphy promises that there are plenty of laughs in the show.
“What I love is that it’s about authentic relationships, and it’s definitely funny,” Murphy said. “It’s a very universal story and the characters are very relatable. It’s fun to watch them at peak highs and lows and watch them move through that.”
Murphy and her husband, Noah Gartner, moved to Brookfield from Chicago four years ago. Originally from Nova Scotia, Canada, Murphy met Gartner when the two were doing summer stock in upstate New York.
Gartner, in addition to working his day job as a computer software quality assurance manager, is an opera singer who last month appeared in a production of Mozart’s Cosi fan tutti in Naperville and Chicago.
The couple lived in Jersey City, N.J., and worked in New York City – Gartner on the 92nd floor in Building 1 of the World Trade Center and Murphy at 7 World Trade Center. On Sept. 11, 2001 both arrived at work to find that an airplane had flown into Gartner’s office. They made it to the lobby of their buildings, but were quickly evacuated north. They ended up in Chicago when Gartner’s company transferred him here after the attack.
Brand new to the theater community in Chicago, Murphy began working with improv groups to get her feet wet.
“I’ve always had singing jobs, but not acting,” Murphy said. “I really couldn’t stand not doing it anymore, and I’ve always loved improv, so I though it was a good place to start.”
Murphy, who has an 8-year-old son and 4-year-old daughter, keeps plenty busy these days. In addition to the new play, she appears in non-equity theater productions, does musical direction for improv groups and sings soprano in the choir at St. James Episcopal Cathedral in Chicago.