NEW YORK—As the curtain falls in East Harlem’s Poet’s Den Theater, and the new musical Soldier’s Song completes its last rehearsal, director Angelica Torn, composer Jim Cohen, and Joanne Lee Drexler Cohen, who wrote the book, applaud and embrace the performers.
Produced by Raphael Benavides Productions, this musical tells a touching love story. Jose (J.W. Cortes), an up-and-coming singer and songwriter, meets beautiful Erica (Christiana Little) and falls in love.
But Jose goes off to Iraq with Erica promising that she will wait for him. Unfortunately, while Jose is on a mission in Iraq, he is caught by al-Qaida, and no one knows if he is alive or dead. Erica, pregnant with Jose’s child, learns that Jose is missing—so she marries the wealthy boy next door.
Unexpectedly, Jose returns home and devastated by the news of Erica’s marriage begins his singing career, which takes off. Eventually Erica divorces her husband, and Jose and Erica start a new life.
Soldier’s Song has 15 songs and is accompanied by piano and guitar. Composer Jim Cohen and writer Joanne Lee Drexler Cohen are a loving couple who have devoted a year to the project.
Cohen initially told his wife he couldn’t do the project, but he had to concede his wife was right: “She was right in that it was possible to do and do it successfully. I was right that it was much more work than either of us ever dreamed. And then we were terribly lucky to get Angelica Torn … [to] come on and be our director.”
Cortes seems born for the role. He is Puerto Rican and served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq, participating in dangerous, life-threatening missions. Moreover, he always dreamed of being a singer and performer. Like Jose, he prayed to God to let him return home alive. Since Cortes’s return to the United States, he works at night to support his family, and during the day he performs and works on making films.
Understandably, Cortes is thrilled to be working on Soldier’s Song. With Angelica Torn directing and the Cohens so open to suggestions, Cortes thinks it’s “a big plus for us. … That’s the biggest thing we’ve got going for us,” he said. Cortes believes that the artistic team acts like an army supporting the actors onstage. For him, it doesn’t take a village, “it takes an army.”
The charming singer and actress Christiana Little plays Erica. She says that this project is an old-fashioned musical and love story. Because it is an all-new production, and everyone is working in rehearsals to make it better through constant revision, the challenge is to learn and remember all the different changes. But, because of this, the final product “will be the very best possible version. … It will be battle-tested.”
Angelica Torn is an American director and actress. Her last production was Lucky Days in 2010. Torn has performed in dozens of films. Most recently she was nominated for her second Helen Hayes Award (Best Actress 2010) for her critically praised portrayal of Ivy Weston in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning August: Osage County on the Broadway National Tour. Angelica Torn also acted in the movie The Sixth Sense.
Torn is the only child of actor Rip Torn and Oscar-winning actress Geraldine Page.
Soldier’s Song
Poet’s Den Theater
309 East 108th Street
Tickets: 212-352-3101 or www.soldierssongmusical.com
Closes: Aug. 28
Produced by Raphael Benavides Productions, this musical tells a touching love story. Jose (J.W. Cortes), an up-and-coming singer and songwriter, meets beautiful Erica (Christiana Little) and falls in love.
But Jose goes off to Iraq with Erica promising that she will wait for him. Unfortunately, while Jose is on a mission in Iraq, he is caught by al-Qaida, and no one knows if he is alive or dead. Erica, pregnant with Jose’s child, learns that Jose is missing—so she marries the wealthy boy next door.
Unexpectedly, Jose returns home and devastated by the news of Erica’s marriage begins his singing career, which takes off. Eventually Erica divorces her husband, and Jose and Erica start a new life.
Soldier’s Song has 15 songs and is accompanied by piano and guitar. Composer Jim Cohen and writer Joanne Lee Drexler Cohen are a loving couple who have devoted a year to the project.
Cohen initially told his wife he couldn’t do the project, but he had to concede his wife was right: “She was right in that it was possible to do and do it successfully. I was right that it was much more work than either of us ever dreamed. And then we were terribly lucky to get Angelica Torn … [to] come on and be our director.”
Cortes seems born for the role. He is Puerto Rican and served as a U.S. Marine in Iraq, participating in dangerous, life-threatening missions. Moreover, he always dreamed of being a singer and performer. Like Jose, he prayed to God to let him return home alive. Since Cortes’s return to the United States, he works at night to support his family, and during the day he performs and works on making films.
Understandably, Cortes is thrilled to be working on Soldier’s Song. With Angelica Torn directing and the Cohens so open to suggestions, Cortes thinks it’s “a big plus for us. … That’s the biggest thing we’ve got going for us,” he said. Cortes believes that the artistic team acts like an army supporting the actors onstage. For him, it doesn’t take a village, “it takes an army.”
The charming singer and actress Christiana Little plays Erica. She says that this project is an old-fashioned musical and love story. Because it is an all-new production, and everyone is working in rehearsals to make it better through constant revision, the challenge is to learn and remember all the different changes. But, because of this, the final product “will be the very best possible version. … It will be battle-tested.”
Angelica Torn is an American director and actress. Her last production was Lucky Days in 2010. Torn has performed in dozens of films. Most recently she was nominated for her second Helen Hayes Award (Best Actress 2010) for her critically praised portrayal of Ivy Weston in the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award winning August: Osage County on the Broadway National Tour. Angelica Torn also acted in the movie The Sixth Sense.
Torn is the only child of actor Rip Torn and Oscar-winning actress Geraldine Page.
Soldier’s Song
Poet’s Den Theater
309 East 108th Street
Tickets: 212-352-3101 or www.soldierssongmusical.com
Closes: Aug. 28
