Musical Cabaret Woven of Songs of Composer’s Life
Acting student Alex Wyse’s musical cabaret, Home Again, was performed at CFA in February.
Alex Wyse (CFA’09) studies acting, but his most recent stage debut was of a different kind. The theater arts major composed and directed his first musical cabaret, which was performed by friends at the College of Fine Arts on February 10 and 11.
Titled Home Again, the cabaret is a compilation of songs representing various aspects of the composer’s life. “Each song is a different character I’ve created,” says Wyse, “and what I hope people get is some sort of innate emotional response.” Four of his friends, accompanied by Wyse on piano, performed his music and lyrics in front of a large crowd
Wyse began composing about two years ago, when he wrote a song for a friend with a beautiful voice. Composing music has become an important extracurricular activity. “I so badly want to move people through theater — through my acting, through my playwriting, through the music that I write,” he says.
His style is contemporary, he says, with inspiration from Broadway legends like Stephen Sondheim and Jason Robert Brown. Although many songs in Home Again are based on his own experiences, some reflect the thoughts of close friends. He wrote “Carry On,” after asking a friend what he wanted to express.
Wyse says that having people come and enjoy the performance is the most rewarding part of the process. “I worked so hard to have a voice and the fact that anybody would sit down and listen to that is the greatest gift, the greatest compliment, they could give,” he says.
Brittany Jasnoff can be reached at bjasnoff@bu.edu.