The Maltz Jupiter Theatre’s artistic director, Andrew Kato, has had some major successes in his five years in the job, assembling impressive talent — onstage and off — for such well-received existing musicals as The Boy Friend, Barnum and Anything Goes.
But what he really wants to become known for is directing and producing new work.
“When I started here as artistic director, it was clear that the mission needed to be broad-based theater,” says Kato, who grew up in Jupiter and used to wait tables at the Burt Reynolds Dinner Theatre, on the site of what turned into the Maltz. “My dream has been to have a regional theater that is introducing new work. But there was a bit of an unknown whether people wanted this.”
To test the waters, Kato created a program in 2008 of concert performances of new musicals in development. “And to our joy, people responded. I think people got excited by what producing new work meant for our community.”
One of those musicals, Academy, with music, lyrics and script by Kato’s childhood friend John Mercurio, now returns to the Maltz for its world premiere, opening Thursday evening.
The show, about a Faustian wager at a boy’s prep school, where two seniors make a casual bet on whether they can influence an unsuspecting freshman to break a few school rules in order to succeed.
Kato, who makes his mainstage subscription series directing debut at the Maltz with Academy, came up with the idea for the musical at, of all things, an a cappella workshop in New Jersey.
“I saw a group of boys perform Michael Jackson’s ‘Thriller,’ ” he recalls. “What I was struck by was the camaraderie and the energy that they brought to it, as well as the a cappella sound. I remember telling John about it, saying, ‘I think there’s a prep school musical here somewhere.’ And this was way before ‘Spring Awakening.’ There is such great material in a coming-of-age story of boys of privilege, and even just all those universal things that go along with the high school years.”
It was easy to persuade Mercurio of the idea, for he could relate it to his days at Jupiter’s upscale private Benjamin School. “There was tremendous pressure there,” he remembers. “There were only 40 people in my graduating class. You knew everybody and what grades they got. Everyone knew your business. You felt this competition.
“I feel like everyone identifies, regardless of where you went, with those years and the pressure of trying to accomplish and to move on to higher education.”
The show was so well-received in concert two years ago that Mercurio submitted Academy to the New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF), an influential annual event that helped spawn such musicals as Altar Boyz and Next to Normal. Of the hundreds of shows submitted, Academy became one of only 13 accepted for presentation.
There it not only received a very encouraging review from The New York Times, but festival awards for the show’s writing and ensemble performance. Most startling of all, it won the Daegu International Musical Festival Production Award, which included an all-expenses-paid trip to South Korea for the cast and creative team to present Academy over there.
Mercurio concedes that he had some doubt about how the show would be received in Korea. “Certainly a little bit, but it did feel at its core, the questions of achievement and academic excellence, things that an Asian culture could relate to,” he says. “The idea of competition and needing to be the best at something.” And Academy emerged from that festival named the best musical of 24 in competition.
Kato acknowledges that those awards have definitely helped persuade his board of directors to take a risk on a full production of Academy. Ticket buyers are still wary of an unknown show, but regardless of the box office totals, Kato already feels like a winner. “What it has done for the Maltz Jupiter Theatre, getting the name out not only nationally, but internationally, is a sense of tremendous pride, not only for the board, but even more so for the staff. Everyone’s excited.”
Ahead for the show is a production at the Aurora Theatre, just outside of Atlanta, arranged after that company saw Academy at NYMF. Beyond that, Mercurio is trying to be realistic about his expectations. “To me, success means having the opportunity to continue doing my work. In the last two years, that’s beginning to happen and it feels pretty great,” he says. “Having a Broadway hit is just not a realistic thing anymore, just because of the economics involved.”
Still, the good news keeps coming for Academy. The production here has received a National Endowment for the Arts grant of $34,000 — roughly one-tenth of the budget — a first for the Maltz.
And Kato is keeping his fingers crossed about more opportunities to do what he loves. “I think if things go well for ‘Academy,’ we can certainly look forward to more new work here. This has been such a good experience that I’d like to see that happen again,” he beams. “We are on a good trajectory right now and I’d like to see that continue.”
ACADEMY, Maltz Jupiter Theatre, 1001 E. Indiantown Road, Jupiter; Dec. 9-19. Tickets: $43-$60. Call: (561) 575-2223.