After off-Broadway tryout, New York team revisits ‘Scotland, PA’ at Theater Latté Da

Have you ever heard someone say “The Scottish Play”?

The euphemism for “Macbeth” is used by theater professionals as a way of warding off bad omens. Some believe that saying the name of Shakespeare’s bloody tragedy out loud in a theater invites bad things into real life.

That superstition informs the naming of “Scotland, PA,” the musical adapted from Billy Morrissette’s film that’s getting its regional premiere Saturday under the aegis of Theater Latté Da at Minneapolis’ Ritz Theater.

“Scotland” resets “Macbeth” in small-town Pennsylvania, where Mac and Pat, a regular Joe and Jill who work at a burger joint, take desperate measures for their American dreams. The musical, by composer Adam Gwon and playwright Michael Mitnick, premiered at New York’s Roundabout Theatre in 2019. But the creative team was dissatisfied with the result.

“We were about 70% of where we wanted to be and some people, including me, liked that 70%,” said Mitnick. “Now we get to realize the rest of what the show needs.”

Mitnick, who wrote lyrics for “King Kong,” is part of a creative team studded with Broadway talent. Director, writer and actor Lonny Price, who was nominated for a Tony for penning the book of the musical “A Class Act,” co-directs with longtime partner Matt Cowart (“Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill” and “Sunset Boulevard”).

The choreographers are Lorin Latarro (“Waitress” and “The Who’s Tommy”) and Travis Waldschmidt (“Matilda the Musical” and “Hello, Dolly!”) while the show is music-directed by Joshua Zecher-Ross (“Be More Chill”).

All sat in a circle in the Ritz lobby before a recent rehearsal of “Scotland.” This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Q: You’ve already done an off-Broadway version in New York. Why take another bite of this apple?

Price: Frankly, the Roundabout was expecting “My Fair Lady” and in walked “Scotland PA.” The material is subversive. Initially, we wanted it to be more audience-friendly in a traditional way. Now we’ve leaned into the Scottish play’s violence, harshness and angularity.

Gwon: We also never had an opening number. We’ve also clarified a lot of the ending, and the tone is much clearer and consistent.

Q: What changes are you most excited to make?

Mitnick: Billy Morrissette made a lot of smart choices when he adapted the play. He didn’t just shift the tone but the type of story it is. “Scotland PA” as a film has to be somewhat believable. That helped to ground it. In a movie, you’re happy to watch characters get destroyed just because it’s entertaining. But we’re faced with a different kind of directive in a musical, where you need to be more on the side of the characters. So, if someone shows up and wants to take things from people, for it to be worth singing about, the character has to truly deserve whatever is coming to them.

Gwon: From the beginning, the tone was one of the most exciting things about the show, but also the most challenging. It’s this strange mashup of stoner comedy and Shakespearean tragedy [with three stoners instead of witches.] How do you smash those things together? We’ve figured out the vocabulary of how to marry those two worlds.

Q: When I first read about the musical, I thought the theatrical language would probably marry Shakespeare with “Sweeney Todd.”

Price: We say less “Sweeney Todd” and more “Little Shop [of Horrors].” “Sweeney” has its humorous moments but it’s not a laugh riot. Michael is a genius comic writer, and Adam’s songs are hilarious. So, we’ve leaned into the comedy of it, not making our points didactically anymore but through humor.

Q: What are the new elements?

Mitnick: We’ve removed three or four songs and added new songs, new scenes for a briefer, tighter ride.

Gwon: Pat’s first song is different. In the off-Broadway production her first song is much more of a ballad and we’re starting her off with a rock energy in this version to try to capture, from the original play, the spark, the anger and the passion and the feeling that comes from her disenfranchisement.

Price: The physical production here is also wildly different. In New York, it was a rather traditional, painterly set that was kind of romantic. This is a little more deconstructed rock and roll, much more “Spring Awakening” and “Rent.” It’s not trying to be a musical theater fantasy, but a rock show with a great story.

Q: Shakespeare’s characters were all in the court whereas these are everyday Americans under a certain pressure as they go for their dreams. How do you see Mac and Pat and the rest of these characters?

Price: Duncan in the Scottish play is a good guy and sheer ambition from the lady turns him into something else. But here he’s an [expletive.] Also, in Shakespeare, everybody is a part of the court. But here, some are not given a chance at the American dream, not allowed into the party. It fills people with a lot of anger to be disenfranchised. That’s the meta thing about America we put on it.

Q: How do you physicalize the tone in the character’s movements?

Latarro: The three stoners are omnipotent and magical. They move the world along. They know what is inevitable but yet keep it at bay. But this is not a big dance show by any stretch. The [choreography] is about [introducing] new ideas and keeping the story inside of the songs. A lot of our work is moving furniture around in an elegant way. I love when the characters put the pieces of the world together and break them apart.

Q: How is the sound different this time around?

Zecher-Ross: Something I’ve always loved about Adam’s music is that it underscores action and intention, and not emotion. It allows the audience to make informed decisions for themselves. This production is bringing in a ‘70s rock sound — think about the Rolling Stones, James Taylor, Fleetwood Mac. The original orchestration was for two pianos, guitar, bass and drums. But now we have two guitars, keyboards, bass and drums. By flipping that to an acoustic guitar and an electric guitar, we’re really tapping into that rock sound.

Q: Is it really a regional premiere or a new show?

Gwon: It feels like a brand-new incarnation to me. One thing that’s been fascinating to me working on the song rewrites is that so many of the rewrites are not necessarily a different story beat or character beat. There was something about the way I was approaching those beats in terms of emotional value or tone that wasn’t quite impacting the audience in New York.

Q: What’s been most surprising about spending a month or so working in Minnesota?

Price: New York was our out-of-town tryout. The talent pool here is excellent, not just the actors but also the designers. We’re doing it here with all of the resources we need and talent that’s exactly on par with New York, minus the famous New York attitude. We’re excited to premiere what we hope is the final version of “Scotland, PA.”

Where: Ritz Theater, 345 13th Av. NE., Mpls.

When: 7:30 p.m. Wed.- Sat., 2 p.m. Sun. Ends Oct. 20.

Tickets: $36-$81. 612-339-3003 or latteda.org.