[NoHo Arts District, CA] – A NoHo Arts theatre interview with Ryan Elliot Wilson, writer of Harbor City Tonight! heading to Hollywood Fringe Festival 2025.
“You just sit back and relax, because Cindy’s going to be your guide in Harbor City Tonight! She and her friends and enemies will sing you through what it takes to survive the night in a place where informers lurk after nightly executions in the square… of a town… in a show… that just won’t stop as long as the audience, folks just like you, keep dreaming it into existence.”
That’s quite the promo! This is definitely one of the shows I am most looking forward to fitting into my Hollywood Fringe schedule…and it’s a folk musical, so how can I resist!?
Putting a musical together for Fringe is a huge undertaking, and these are all original songs for this wildly inventive story of our nightmarish possible future. I don’t know about you, but I am permanently projecting various dystopian collapses lately and wondering what I need to do to prepare, other than stash some water, tins, batteries, and pick my favorite towel.
This particular storyline embraces chaos and follows the paths of several disparate characters as they navigate their precipitous existence in Harbor City. Sounds just perfect for our present world, doesn’t it?
I had to find out how this all came into being though, so I asked the writer Ryan Elliot Wilson more about Harbor City Tonight!
Hi Ryan! How did you come up with the concept for Harbor City Tonight!?
I was listening to a song I’d heard at least a hundred times, and somehow on that 101st listen or whatever, the first few lines in the first verse projected an entire world into my mind–a police state where characters are aware and unaware that they’re characters in a show. And of course, they need to sing to get through it (or out of it).
This feels like a protest piece. There’s a great tradition of protest songs in the US. Is this why you chose to make it a folk musical?
Yes! I’m a folk music nerd. Movies like Robert Altman’s Nashville, the Coen Bros’ Inside Llewyn Davis, those cast a spell over me the same way Dylan, Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, Richie Havens and all those magical people do. A lot of these songs, people can listen to a few times and play for themselves, which makes it radical in that it gives them near-immediate agency to express what they need to express. I wanted to create something that would be challenging and funny, and that you could sing after the show ends.
How did you assemble your cast and team?
It all started with Caitlin Zambito, our–no overstatement here–genius director. I was a huge fan of Caitlin’s acting in shows like The Wolves, The Thin Place (The Echo Theatre) and H*tler’s Tasters (Rogue Machine). Just her presence on stage gave me full confidence she could be at the helm and steer the ship. (Ahem) I was right.
Every producer, writer and director has their own unique process. What was your process for Harbor City Tonight!?
Caitlin and I were ambitious in our process. We set out to create the best rehearsal atmosphere actors had experienced since their childhood. Trust. Fun. Play. Songs. Sharing. Our cast picked up the vibe and ran with it from there. Jackie Hansen, playing our protagonist Cindy, Brian Graves, playing the antagonist Commish, and Spencer Paez, playing Cass, a ball of energy, were there from the beginning and set the tone for the rest of our amazing cast, Azizah Rowen, Melissa Alce, and Joey Stromberg.
Purposeful theatre is a powerful resource for us all. What was your purpose for Harbor City Tonight! and what were your goals for this?
The purpose is simple, really–people gathering together to experience art is powerful in and of itself. If our show has something that sticks for the audience, a song, a gesture, a line, an idea, then it lives on in them and contributes to more creative energy, more sharing, more gathering. We cannot allow ourselves to become isolated just because the people in power are hostile to anything or anyone who is kind, gentle, creative, and beautiful. I say that as someone who sometimes falls into a kind of dark cave myself. We need to combine our voices, over and over, in whatever form feels right.
Why Hollywood Fringe for this new play?
The spirit of Fringe is perfect for this show–folk songs, a sense of intimacy with the audience, accessible prices for tickets ($10!). It’s for the people, by the people.
If you had the chance to begin again, would you do anything differently?
If the question is, have I made mistakes? Then the answer is yes! But no, every move, good and not so good, has taught me something important.
Any advice for other burgeoning writer/producers?
Don’t wait. Find a way to put your best writing, the writing that feels urgent, into the hands of people you admire and believe in. Good things can happen.
Please tell us anything else you think we should know about Harbor City Tonight!
I challenge the audience to find some fun music/pop culture easter eggs in the show!
Thank you, Ryan!
Tickets:
https://www.hollywoodfringe.org/projects/11582?embed=false&performance_id=26352&tab=performance
Use code: ENERGY for discount tickets.
When:
Sunday, June 8 @ 3 p.m.
Saturday, June 14 @ 11 a.m.
Thursday, June 19 @ 8:30 p.m.
Saturday, June 21 @ 2 p.m.
Wednesday, June 25 @ 8:30 p.m.
Where:
The Broadwater Black Box
6322 Santa Monica Blvd, Los Angeles, CA 90038
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