By Samara Caplan and Laura Gauthier. Laura and Samara spend their days as non-profit unicorns and fill every spare minute exploring the world of musical theatre as BFFs (that’s Broadway Friends Forever). Follow @bffs613 on Instagram and Facebook.
Months ago, we were at Broadway Nights Ottawa (BNO) when hostess extraordinaire Emma Iris told the audience that familiar face Noah Pacheco and friends were going to perform a song from a musical he had written. While the song was fantastic, we wanted to know more and follow the story of a locally written and brand-new production in the works. We got to sit down with writer and creator Noah Pacheco ahead of the upcoming workshops for SUPER and get a behind the scenes look.
APT613: What inspired you to write a musical? What has the process been like?
NP: I am a devout believer in the power of stories and music. I’m always writing something, whether it’s songs for an album, poetry into old notebooks, or D&D prep for a session. After jumping into the Ottawa musical theatre scene in the fall of 2022, writing a musical felt within the realm of my capabilities, and the desire to tell stories has always been there. SUPER started out as a joke among friends, playing video games at a party. It involved a couple of rhyming puns in a chorus that I never thought anyone would hear. That song would eventually become “Pipe Dreams,” our opening number. As a first-time writer, the process was a challenge in patience and self-discipline. It took more time and effort than most people I know would be willing to give, just to write a bad first draft. After many revisions, and finally beginning the rehearsal process, we’re just now getting a bit of that delicious payoff that will no doubt continue to flow.
The cast of SUPER. Photo: Maggie Paquette.
Tell us more about the story of SUPER and how it has been getting to the workshop stage?
SUPER follows the tale of two humble plumber brothers: Marius and Linguini. When King Howser kidnaps Princess Plum, the brothers join forces with Princess Maisy to rescue the princess.
After two gruelling years of writing, editing, and composing, finally getting to the workshop stage feels like running a marathon only to arrive at the start of the real race, which, by the way, is a triathlon. Switching creative head spaces from text on paper to delivery, intention, vocals, and bodies on stage has been a welcome new experience. A common phrase in rehearsals is “it’s-a-workshop!” The ability to make revisions through the rehearsal process has improved the script and score farther than we’d ever thought possible.
We heard you preview a great song at Broadway Nights Ottawa — tell us how that felt to debut your own song in front of a live audience?
I’m fortunate enough to have gathered a lot of on-stage experience in my life, such that performing live doesn’t scare me as much as it used to. This isn’t the first time I’ve performed original material on stage, either. But writing a musical and performing one of its songs to a sea of musical theatre kids, at BNO, no less, thoroughly spooked me. It was terrifying. And so worth it. It cemented our commitment: we’re going to put on an original musical. It’s going to happen. Who’s with us?
The cast of SUPER. Photo: Maggie Paquette.
You have a great cast and team behind the scenes. What has it been like seeing the show come to life?
Our SUPER team is incredible. Heavy hitters, the lot. And dedicated. Keep in mind, these folks are giving up a portion of their summer for this project. The moments that’ve brought me the greatest joy thus far have been those where I forget I am directing. I forget the lyrics or dialogue or what comes next or even who wrote the dang thing. I get front row seats to this brand new original musical that no one has heard or seen before, performed by its talented original cast. There won’t ever be another moment like this, so we’re cherishing each bit of it as much as we can.
How can folks follow the journey of SUPER and catch future iterations of the show? Can you give us a sneak peek of what comes next?
Our main goal for this workshop was threefold: to further develop the script and score, to work with and develop emerging artists and talents, and to promote the show and garner support for an eventual full-scale production. To that third point, we are actively seeking to collaborate with any of the countless theatre organizations across Ottawa to produce SUPER for its stage debut. There are tons of theatre companies here. Instead of thrusting “Yet Another Theatre Collective (YATC)” into the mix, we are looking for a company to work with us to produce SUPER in an upcoming season.
SUPER has a weekend of workshop productions from July 25 to 27, with tickets available to the public. You can also sign up on their website or follow them on Instagram to stay connected on when the next public performances are.
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