Adam LaPorte, music theater and composition senior, has been composing for almost half of his life.
LaPorte, the creator of the upcoming OCU Stripped musical “June by the Sea,” has had an interest in composing ever since he was in elementary school.
“I don’t know if anyone remembers, but ‘American Idol’ used to have a song writing competition where they would accept submissions to write the big finale song that the winner sings. In fourth or fifth grade I thought, ‘I’m going to win that,’” LaPorte said. “So that didn’t happen, but that was the first time I remember writing songs.”
After having his interest sparked by “American Idol,” LaPorte moved on to composing musicals.
“Around high school, I was focused on completing a musical, and there were many false starts, but finally it was completed my senior year of high school,” he said. “It’s been something I wanted to do since I realized that Stephen Sondheim wrote ‘West Side Story’ and ‘Into the Woods,’ and I asked myself, ‘A human is capable of that?’ I wanted to be that human.”
LaPorte said he admires the work of Stephen Sondheim and Jeanine Tesori. LaPorte said he also enjoys the work of many comedians. LaPorte, being the composer, lyricist and book writer of “June by the Sea,” said writing the music and the text are both equally important to him.
“I think it is a constant problem-solving game of finding the best way to communicate a story to the audience,” he said. “It’s a lot easier to leave the book behind if you’re not careful. It’s important to make sure the book is getting as much polish as the music.”
Before writing “June by the Sea,” LaPorte wrote “Baseball Play” during his sophomore year.
“I was in honors LAS, and we read a book called ‘Miko Kings,’ which is a fictional account of a Native American baseball team. I stopped taking notes on the book at some point, and I was just writing things that were interesting about baseball and America: about how the goal of baseball is not to progress, but to come back home. I asked myself if that is what we do in a lot of middle America suburbs, where the system is a closed circuit and kids replace their parents,” he said.
Now with opening night of “June by the Sea” being a few days away, LaPorte said his inspiration for the new work came from his previous one.
“I remember being in Wimberly after school, and I was playing through ‘Baseball Play’ songs. I thought that they were fine; they’re very functional and catchy, but there’s nothing that you could just sit down and play and get wrapped up in something gorgeous and luscious,” he said. “When I look at musical theater right now, indulgent melodic music is a gap that I see that isn’t being produced.”
LaPorte said his new musical was inspired by the idea that musical theater can be timeless, as well as wanting to flip theatrical tropes on their head.
“I wanted to do something that was kind of set outside of time. ‘June’ really came from looking at old styles of musical theater and thinking about how to bring them into 2020, but not by making them all just sound like pop music,” he said.
LaPorte said his opportunities at OCU have allowed him to express his creativity.
“I think the chance to be able to write and produce these materials has been so invaluable, and I don’t want to be the last one to reap those benefits. I am not exceptional in any way, but if I can do anything, it’s try to legitimize who is coming up beneath me,” he said.
Dr. Edward Knight, director of music composition, said Laporte is his first student in his 23 years of teaching to graduate with a double major in music theater and composition.
“He’s brilliant,” Knight said. “He’s extremely talented as a writer, singer, actor, and composer.”
“June by the Sea” will perform at 8 p.m. this Friday and Saturday in Petree Recital Hall in Kirkpatrick Fine Arts Center. Admission is free for all students.
Melissa Campbell, graphic designer, is the co-director of “June by the Sea.” Campbell was not involved in the writing or editing of this piece.
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