Vol. 18, No. 18Feb. 4, 1999

Wyeth, Pyle characters featured in 'Larger Than Life'

Performers in the new Joyce Hill Stoner musical to be performed at the
Delaware Art Museum are (from top)
Jim Reim, Tina Betz, David T. Wills and Nicole Norton.

To accompany the exhibition Wondrous Strange: Paintings by Howard Pyle, N. C. Wyeth, Andrew Wyeth, and Jamie Wyeth at the Delaware Art Museum through Feb. 21, Joyce Hill Stoner, art conservation, and James J. Weber, coproducer of Weber-Prianti, Three Little Bakers Dinner Theatre, have created a musical based on the life of N. C. Wyeth, the foremost book illustrator of the first half of the 20th century. Andrew Wyeth had been told that his father's illustrations were almost too powerful for their books-that they would "leap off the page."

The musical is based on a current N.C. Wyeth biography by David Michaelis that was recently featured on the front page of The New York Times Book Review section. Wyeth's published letters and the 1996 biography of Andrew Wyeth by Richard Meryman, also were used as background in creating the show.

In the musical, four characters from N. C.'s classic illustrated books-Treasure Island, Rip Van Winkle, The Last of the Mohicans and Westward Ho!- literally leap off the page to join Jim Norton, who plays Howard Pyle, to sing songs about aspects of N.C.'s life and his creative struggles.

The voice of N. C. Wyeth, played by Scott F. Mason, UD student centers, booms from the light booth as issues about fine art versus illustration, travel versus staying home in Chadds Ford, living for art or living for one's family and dedication to and escape from his mentor Pyle are presented.

Due to his conflicted personality, N. C. Wyeth has been called "two men fighting in a sack." The musical seeks to show that "dynamic tension is the mother of invention." The paintings/characters are played by Tina Betz, Nicole Norton, Jeff Reim and David T. Wills.

In August 1997, when Stoner interviewed Andrew Wyeth for the exhibition supplement A Closer Look, he encouraged her to write a theatrical piece about the friendship-rivalry between N.C. Wyeth and Howard Pyle.

At the June 1998 ribbon cutting for the new Wyeth Center in Rockland, Maine, Jamie Wyeth told Stoner about looking up at his grandfather's paintings and "catching fire," and how he hoped other young people would have the same experience when viewing the "Wondrous Strange" exhibition.

The last song of the musical is based on this concept; the actors encourage the audience to: "go ahead, before it's too late-write that poem, paint that picture-CREATE!"

The Delaware Art Museum collection originally began with a collection of Howard Pyle paintings. In Larger Than Life, a theatrical Pyle sings about his paintings from the podium in the Delaware Art Museum auditorium, expressing his powerful work ethic-inherited by the Wyeth family.

"Think you know your history? Go back and take more notes! You must learn the costumes and the buttons on the coats!" the character sings.

N. C. felt that perhaps he owed "too much" to his teacher Pyle, seemed to want to escape Pyle's world of illustration in order to succeed in fine art venues, but had Pyle's picture in his wallet when his car was hit by a train in 1945, causing his death and the death of his grandson and namesake.

Stoner has written 21 musicals, including the Off-Broadway show I'll Die If I Can't Live Forever, which was called "the best mini-musical in town" by The New York Times. She and Weber had three musical revues in New York cabarets in 1996-97. This is her third musical about an artist-previous works featured elements of the life of Charles Willson Peale and James McNeill Whistler.

Weber has been involved with the writing, performing, or directing of over 100 musical theatre works.

Stoner has written the book and lyrics and directs Larger Than Life; Weber has written the music, the arrangements, and accompanies the show. The historical costumes have been created by Martina Haw.

Performances are scheduled at 8 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 5; Saturday, Feb. 6; Wednesday, Feb.10; Friday, Feb. 19; Saturday, Feb. 20; and 2 p.m., Sunday, Feb. 21. All performances will be held in the auditorium of the Delaware Art Museum auditorium.

Tickets are $5 for students, $8 for senior citizens and $10 for all others.

Larger Than Life is a First Stage Production, partly funded by a grant from the Delaware Division of the Arts.

For information, call 831-8092.

-Beth Thomas
Photo by Duane Perry