Clock Ticking on Flyleaf's First Fundraiser

The clock is ticking until the Flyleaf Theater Company's first fundraiser.

At 8 p.m. Friday, Tick, Tick ... Boom!" goes off at Berlin's 1870 Town Hall.

Tickets for the dinner are no longer available. However, tickets for the show are $18, and are available at the door, or online. The performances are at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday at the 1870 Town Hall, 12 Woodward Ave., Berlin.

The proceeds will support Flyleaf's "Impacting the Community Through Thoughtful Theater" campaign, which will support the ensemble troupe's Educational Workshop Series, Staged Reading Series, and its productions, according to the group's website.

Flyleaf is based in Westborough and Berlin. Northborough resident Jonathan Eldridge is among its founders.

"Regarding our productions, they are selected to provide dramatic experiences that are rarely seen on the stage. Such productions often focus around contemporary social issues such as identity, mental health, and society as well as reinterpreting the classics," Eldridge said Wednesday.

"We balance our season to ensure that these performances and discussion engage rather than distance our audience. 

"Our goals is to produce theater that inspires the audience, students, actors, and production staffs to imagine, analyze, question, and discuss the messages and meanings of the scripts and our interpretations.  We don't have a particular goal for the particular amount we want to raise - we are just so fortunate to have so many generous people come out and support us.  We really appreciate it." 

This interview was conducted by e-mail.

Northborough Patch
What drew the company to "Tick, Tick ... Boom!"

Jonathan Eldridge
Part of Flyleaf's mission is to expose our audiences to productions (musicals and straight plays) that are not done often. They aren't done for a number of reasons: the cast is too small, the subject matter may be a bit too "edgy", the show doesn't provide for enough ticket income, etc. 

"Tick, Tick... Boom!" is a show that Jess Andra, Ken Orben, and I have wanted to tackle for a long time because it is an upbeat, three-person rock opera with great music written by Jonathan Larson.  "Tick, Tick... Boom!" is a show that fits Flyleaf really well at this point in time.

Northborough Patch
This seems to be Flyleaf's most elaborate endeavor: dinner, as well as theater. Why do this now? And what are some of the challenges you've faced in putting this together?

Jonathan Eldridge
We wanted to try something different at Flyleaf for this show. 

We look forward to doing a fundraiser production each year in the future and are excited about providing a full dinner-theater experience for our audiences. 

Several restaurants have been great in providing food and other means of assistance. 

As a fundraiser, we want to be able to provide a full experience on top of a quality show that some people may be familiar with but many others, not so much.  There are always a number of challenges when producing a show even without the extra logistics of creating an event with dinner and a silent auction.  I've been lucky to have reaped the benefits of so many generous people from business and other neighboring theatre companies. 

There are always going to be a few sleepless nights leading up to a show, but it always works out and I won't sleep until I know Flyleaf is going to put on the best production it possibly can.  The best part is, we are announcing our Third Season this weekend as well as promoting the final production of Season Two, Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night."

Northborough Patch
You mentioned you're returning to the stage with this show. What prompted your break? Why come back now? And, what aspects, if any, do you need to work on still?

Jonathan Eldridge
This will be my return to the stage in exactly two years, when I played Georg Novak in Woodland Theatre's production of "She Loves Me" in Sherborn. 

I've been doing so much music directing around central and eastern MA with other companies and at work with the Weston Public Schools, plus the fact that I got married this summer, the time has not been there to get on stage.  I'm looking forward to it. 

"Tick, Tick... Boom!" is a show that has always interested me and so we figured, for our fundraiser production, that we would precast this show and chip away at it together as a small team.  Everything is ready to go, I think.  Just a few more lines I need to learn!