Tonight we open the Portland Stage production of The Snow Queen, the “beloved tale of devotion, bravery, and the triumph of love.”  Read more about the production here.

In this retelling of Hans Christian Andersen’s famous fairy tale, young “Gerda’s best friend Kai is bewitched and imprisoned by the mysterious Snow Queen, the young girl embarks on a journey to the land of winter to save him.” Though it’s not a musical, per se, it is loaded with songs, many of which are sung by our young cast members off-stage.

Other than the short songs with lyrics by Emily Dickenson,  the score is 100% solo piano, which is a departure for me: all the film and television work I do involves many layers, and a grander sonic palette.  This has provided me with a fistful of challenges, as when we did the show two years ago, I improvised my way into the score through the rehearsal process.  While I did much the same thing this time around, I approached it much more compositionally, carefully treating all the themes in an effort to create music that supports the story as elegantly as possible.

If you’re in the Portland area, you have between now and December 22 to catch it!