Summer Rental: Captain Filthy Fred
By Pilvax Productions and the Panorama World Club (New England Chapter)
Directed by Timea Zsedely
Written by Marika Barnett, Istvan Ver and Alan Wurman
What if the Titanic hadn’t sunk but floated outside of space and time filled with diverse people singing tunes to the waves of life?
Come and find out.
“Captain Filthy Fred” by Marika Barnett, Istvan Ver and Alan Wurman is an outlandish American-Hungarian musical that will make its debut in New York City. Pilvax Productions presents this delightful piece with an international cast.
The script is loosely based on the Hungarian novel “Dirty Fred, the Captain” by P. Howard (AKA Jenő Rejtő). Jenő Rejtő was a Hungarian-Jewish writer who knew no bounds between genres. He was well-known and much loved throughout Europe as a novelist, author, playwright, and newspaper editor. Rejtő also wrote cabaret farces, operettas and parodies. His most famous works were his “Dirty Fred” series and his foreign legion books. The musical “Captain Filthy Fred” takes Rejtő’s best-selling pulp fiction novel “Dirty Fred, the Captain” and combines it with episodes from Rejtő’s real life, incorporating a tragic backstory in a lighthearted and fast-paced musical.
“Captain Filthy Fred” combines the genuineness of Rejtő’s writing, a trip on a 1920’s ocean liner and the harsh reality of 1940’s Europe with the fantasy of the Happycurion Islands, where love and intrigue blossom. It will surely provide ample entertainment with its humorous situations, dialogues, and love stories mixed with chilling historical facts. The musical revolves around colorful characters from different social backgrounds, ethnicities and creeds.
The story begins with Rejtő (Christopher Kardos), the author of the original novel, sitting in a cafe in Budapest, Hungary in 1941. He’s scribbling on paper napkins trying to escape the reality of the outside world and he thinks up a story that would take his mind off his troubles. His only companion is Mariska (Noemi Sarog), the waitress at the cafe, who impresses him enough with her charm that he uses her likeness to create a character in this epic musical journey, which suddenly appears on the other end of the stage. Sailors sing songs during their last night in Alexandria, Egypt before shipping out to sea next morning. As all good sailors do, they drink and eventually get into trouble. There’s a commander, a prince, a queen, a quartermaster, a captain, charming ladies, and of course, Filthy Fred, who can’t find his knife…
“Captain Filthy Fred,” a new musical about crime, deceit, and a little bit of romance.
Actors: Christopher Kardos, Noémi Sárog, Michael Fry, Devra Aviva Seidel, Sarah Grace Sanders, Casey Landman, Emma Toth Kronberg, Ken W. Rush, Ryan Breen, Andrea Galata, Kieron Anthony, Daniel Ganze, Piroska Rácz, Viktória Kovács, James David Dirck, Csaba Gerner, David Ilku, Xander Steel, Yarin Brosh
Both librettists, Marika Barnett and Istvan Ver, are long time members of the Playwrights’ Platform in Boston. Marika, who is also a creative photographer, has written two full-length plays and several ten-minute plays. Two of her short plays won first prize at the Playwrights’ Platform annual festival. Istvan is an internationally renowned member of the acoustical engineering community.
Composer Alan Wurman was the recipient of the Grand Prize for best song in the MTV sponsored group “Ourstage” in the US as well as in the UK, both times with his band “Sofia”. Alan’s music is arranged by Victor Kong, right hand man to Jerome Leroy, who has orchestrated many movies including The Hunger Games and The Housemaid.
This original piece of European-American theatre is brought to you by Pilvax Productions (Zsolt Pozsgai’s “Liselotte in May”, the world premiere of “Californian Dream”, a contemporary play written by Edina Taller, the Hungarian musical version of “The Jungle Book”, and “Winter Under the Table” by Roland Topor). “Captain Filthy Fred” promises to entertain a wide array of theatre-goers.
Music by award-winning composer Alan Wurman and arranged by Victor Kong.
Set design by Zsofia Opra-Szabo
Costume design by Agota Hodi, who has designed costumes for all Pilvax Productions and has been a standout member since its inception.