Prior to Light Opera Works's production of "C'est la vie" (which opened on our Second Stage on October 9), the show had a run at the Oxford Fringe Festival in England.  I asked the show's creator, Gregg Opelka, to give us some insight into that production.
 
Here are his comments:
 
"In the fall of last year I was contacted by my agent, who informed me that a fairly new British theater company had discovered my musical C’est la vie and was interested in producing it in the Oxford Fringe Festival in April of 2009. The troupe, High Maintenance Theater Company, a theater founded and run by women, focuses on plays about—you got it—women. My play was a natural choice for them. HMTC produced the show at the 'Oxfringe,' as it is called, this past April in four performances, which I had the pleasure of attending.
 
"The Oxfringe is held over a two-week period in various venues around this city known for its esteemed university. My play, produced under its original title 'La Vie Ennui,' was produced at the Old Firehouse Station Theater, a 150-seat venue which was created, as its name suggests, out of an old fire station. This is one of the coveted Fringe venues, since it is in the heart of the restaurant and theater section of the city and is an actual functioning theater with a thrust stage and lighting and sound equipment. In contrast, some of the other venues are more makeshift affairs—such as a large loft-like hall in a former library of Oxford University—with limited technical equipment.
 
"HMTC was drawn to my show for a number of reasons. First, as a play with only female characters, it fit their artistic mission perfectly. Secondly, the British love to poke fun at the French, and C’est la vie takes a light-hearted approach in its presentation of the two Parisian chanteuses who populate Chez Leplee, the fictitious nightclub where the story takes place.  And finally, the small size of the show, requiring only two actors and a pianist, made it a very producible show for a relatively new theater company. That said, HMTC added an accordionist on four or five of the musical numbers.
 
"Oddly, there were a handful of small lines that either had to be changed or dropped because of differences between American English and British English. One example is a reference at the top of the show to Chez Leplee being set in the 'off-off-off-off Montmartre district.' Since London doesn’t have an 'off-Broadway' equivalent (no 'off-West End'), the joke didn’t play and we simply cut the line.
 
"The actress playing the part of Fatiguee is an American who had married a Brit. During my week-long visit, I stayed with her and her husband. It gave us a chance to talk about the differences between the British and American theater systems as well as her adjusting to life in the U.K. in general. We also had time to squeeze in seeing a production of Oklahoma! at one of the nearby amateur theater groups. I could have sworn I heard an actor betray his British roots once or twice by pronouncing the name of the state as 'Oklahomer.'
 
"Prior to the Festival, the co-directors—two of the company members—and I corresponded by email about inevitable questions and decisions regarding the production. (We had to shorten the show somewhat for the Festival’s time restriction on entries.) Nevertheless, when I traveled to Oxford two days before the opening, I wasn’t really sure what to expect. Happily, everything came off without a hitch. The cast and production team had obviously poured all their talent, heart and enthusiasm into the production, which was very well-received by the audiences and persuaded HMTC to schedule a full production of the musical in 2010. I was very glad that in my case High Maintenance had lived up to its name."
 
Find out about Hot Deals for Light Opera Work's production of C'est la vie here!