By Gail Reynolds, Rock At Night Columnist
Sex, Drugs and Rock and Roll! How about two of the three? A cooler guy than I said, “two out of three ain’t bad,” and when one is in the throes of addiction, just two of the three is even preferable.
Drugs and alcohol seem inextricably intwined in the rock music scene, which is why Fix, a rock opera about rehab and recovery is so compelling. Lyricist Margaret Frank whose first husband was killed by a drunk driver, has had a mission to take the stigma and shame out of seeking recovery and recognized that a rock opera on the subject is the most likely vehicle to “make recovery look attractive.”
Frank and her musician/songwriter husband, Peter Moon, have put their hearts into developing such a project, Fix: What’s Your Monkey. Beginning with the first public performances of the then work-in -progress in September 2011, with one college performance and four public workshops, new songs were since added, and Second City writer Jessica Childs further developed the script. Under the direction of Nashville in Motion’s Jennifer Harwell, fifteen dancers, including principals, Brandon Sears and Carrie Gerow’s, execute stunningly expressive performances.
Brought to this new level, the full stage production of Fix will be performed at Nashville’s Vanderbilt University Ingram Hall. However, the project is still in serious need of backing. To help use the power of the arts to inspire action and a hopeful dialogue on living beyond addiction indiegogo support is still needed. This brilliant musical production deserves attention. Rather than describe it further, I encourage you to check out the links for excerpts from the rock opera.
Sometimes I think about prohibition and religion
Reefer Mad Superstition
Sugar, sex, cigarettes – everybody place your bets
Medication, Legislation we don’t need no education
Could this be the ruination of the fabric of creation
Aspirin, Vodka, Gin – Give the kid some Ritalin
God save the child in the name of modern medicine – but –
I NEED SOME ICE CREAM RIGHT NOW!”
I love music and I love to write, so Rock at Night is a perfect forum for me.I appreciate all genres from classical to country and am astounded by the number of extraordinarily talented but under-recognizedmusical artists. So my articles often feature such “well known unknown” musicians and composers.
Before email, I would include a record review along with my holiday greetings as an alternative to annual reports of personal achievements and acquisitions. Among these, I wrote of Leonard Cohen’s I’m Your Man in 1988 and Bruce Cockburn’s Nothing But A Burning Light in 1991, urging my friends and family to listen to these masterpieces.
Now I can continue to express my enthusiasm for various musical artists to a wider audience.
- Album Review: Craig Chee and Sarah Maisel’s ‘Christmas Island’ - December 19, 2019
- Free For All: community supported high quality music - September 29, 2019
- Album Review: John Prine’s ‘The Tree of Forgiveness’ - February 9, 2019
CORRECTION: Please note that Carrie Gerow was in the previous performance of FIX – but schedules preclude her being in the current production and her role has been assumed by choreographer Jennifer Harwell. Other principals in the current cast are Elaine Husted and Shabaz Ujima.