Hollywood Outsider

By Aaron Lyon

Directed by Jeremy Votava

The Blue Room Theatre is proud to present the world premiere of local musician Aaron Lyon's first rock musical, Hollywood Outsider, September 12-28 as the third exciting installment of the Fall 2002 Season.

Lyon, who has been writing and recording music since he was 16 years old, found the inspiration to create his first rock musical, Hollywood Outsider, four years ago when he decided to try writing a song with lyrics that tell a story of a man reminiscing about his youth. That song, "Moving Away", marked the birth of Hollywood Outsider's main character, Sky. With the help of director Jeremy Votava's playwriting skills, Sky's story came into focus. Lyon became fascinated with the compelling details of Sky's sad and troubled life, "Strange as it may sound, it made me feel good to write the songs that told Sky's story. As it unfolded, his story spoke to me clearly and, although my own life has been easy compared to Sky's, I think with his character I've come to know more of what the blues is all about -taking pain and turning it...into something more, something greater than that pain."

Sky, played by Beau Hirshfield, begins his life in the quiet of the country. But the rural setting is anything but peaceful. Sky and his mother, played by Judi Souza, in an effort to escape Sky's abusive father, played by Slim Barkowska, run away to Hollywood. But the city where dreams come true does not welcome them with open arms. The rest of Sky's childhood is full of hardship and temptation. When Sky finally achieves success with his music career, he fights the worry that his success will be only short-lived and his talent might never overshadow the hardships of his life.

Hollywood Outsider tells the story of Sky's memories in nine songs, blending the lives of Sky, his mother, father, stepfather, played by Quentin Colgan, psychiatrist, also played by Slim Barkowska, and Valerie, Sky's wife, played by Michelle Smith. The music is rooted in 60's rock n' roll but also includes influences of funk, blues, jazz, country, and folk music. The cast and crew have all donated their time to bring Hollywood Outsider to life and to give the audience a first-hand experience of multimedia rock theatre. Each song has been carefully crafted to move the audience from the quietest acoustic guitar and voice experience to total stomping arena rock. The entire performance is sure to make toes tap and heads bob; Hollywood Outsider is a wild ride for the audience that blurs the lines between reality, psychoanalysis and performance, all driven by the rhythm of the live music and strong voices of the entire cast.

In short, Lyon exclaims, "Hollywood Outsider is sure to please any crowd, we are so excited to perform this show for the first time ever, right here in Chico. Hollywood Outsider has been my dream for the past four years and it is finally being realized thanks to the talented performers of the Chico community and the support of the Blue Room Theatre, we're ready to rock the house!"

Hollywood Outsider will be performed at the Blue Room Theatre September 12-28 every Thursday through Saturday. There will be one Sunday evening performance on September 22. All shows will be at 7:30. Tickets are $10 general, $8 students and seniors on Friday and Saturdays; on Thursdays all seats are $5. For more information or to reserve tickets, please call the box office at 895-3749 or purchase tickets online.