The Director's Cut: Inside the New Musical Process

Wendy C. Goldberg, director of Rutka, is no stranger to developing and directing new work. She has become a sought-after collaborator among playwrights and actors alike. In this interview, she shares her history with Rutka and the importance of this story.

What excites you about this story? Why is it important to be told to a contemporary audience?
Rutka is inspired by the real-life notebook of Rutka Laskier. Working and creating from such important source material gives the project a great deal of import and emotional resonance. I have been deeply inspired by the idea that Rutka's friends are trying to create their own world under such horrible circumstances, and they are also trying to fight back and keep a sense of hope. That message remains essential during times of crisis. The enormity of loss that the Holocaust wrought is a story we do need to return to, so we never forget, and we never repeat.

You've been with this musical for a while. How did you first come on board the project?
I have been involved with Rutka since the summer of 2022. It's been on a fast track since that moment. We had a concert of the music at the New York Performing Arts Library at Lincoln Center in January 2023 and have had smaller development moments on the piece since then. This production at the Playhouse has come quickly in the typical development of a new musical.

Rutka is a musical "on the path to Broadway." Can you talk about what this means?
From where has the project come and what are the next steps after this production? Rutka came originally from the minds of our two producers based in NYC who secured the rights to the original notebook, David Schwartz and Amy Langer. They have been the driving force behind the musical for many years and are enhancing the production. On the path to Broadway means that producers and investors already have given financial support to the work, and the pathway for this show has been carved out with the hopes it lands on the Broadway stage soon. Likely we will start here in Cincinnati and have subsequent productions prior to taking the show into New York. It's the old-fashioned notion of the "out of town tryout" made famous in old movies and plays, like Light Up the Sky. Most important shows start outside of Broadway to begin and take time to develop and mature with multiple stops/cities along the way. I am personally thrilled we are here first as I have had such a long association with the Playhouse and think highly of the staff and audience.

How is working on a new musical different from working on an established piece?
New musicals created entirely from the creative team's imagination (as opposed to a new musical with established/existing music) is the most difficult process, but perhaps the most rewarding, that exists in the theatre. It's a large team coming together to attempt to tell a story that needs to have equal storytelling weight with all the elements — book, music, lyrics, choreography — and all the typical pieces of a theatre production — sets, costumes, lights, sound, projection — working together toward a magical alchemy. When we perform, we are still working and discovering, and those discoveries will impact the future of the piece. It's still very much in development and that's both profoundly thrilling and challenging all at the same time.

Lana Schwartz (Rutka) in rehearsal

What are some of the challenges and considerations in staging such a heavy subject in the format of an indie-rock musical?
It's important to keep in mind all of this is based on actual real people who lived and therefore we are respectful of that. The contemporary framing of the play was inspired by the indie nature of the score; we will be able to give the overall story a fresh perspective and allow the story to be told to a new audience.

How do you see this musical fitting into the broader conversations about the Holocaust?
There were many young diarists from that time, and I think we really only know of one, Anne Frank. Rarely are we focused on what happened for young people in this time, and this is another narrative that sheds lights on this group who died right as they were becoming young adults.

The main characters in Rutka are teenagers. Can you discuss the casting process and the qualities you were looking for in the actors? Do you cast actual teenagers?
The actors who play teenagers are between eighteen and their early twenties. For this piece we needed actors who have a bit more training than just teens may have, and since we are out of town from where they live, we needed people who didn't need a parental guardian. I was seeking people with voice, movement and acting training as well as even some production experience.

How do you see Rutka fitting into your overall body of work as a director and new play advocate?
It feels like the appropriate time for me to take on a large original musical, and I enjoy every aspect of building something new on this scale. I think it's the culmination, in many ways, of a lot of different new work experiences and working with people like Jeremy and Jocelyn [the composers] who do not have a theatre background is exactly the type of work I enjoy developing and advocating for overall.

What do you hope audiences will take away from this production?
I hope they learn about another important voice from the Holocaust and are reminded of how we are all the same despite any of our differences. That we should be better to each other overall and fight and resist when needed.

Header Photo: Wendy C. Goldberg