Montclair is known as a place that draws an artistic crowd, but it’s also nurtured quite a few artists who grew up here.
Tommy Crawford is one example. A 2005 graduate of Montclair High, where he was the president of the School of Visual and Performing Arts, Crawford is making a name for himself in the New York theatre scene.
After graduating in theatre studies at Yale in 2009, where he was the recipient of the Metcalfe Prize for his work on his senior project an essay, Crawford went on to become a member of the resident acting ensemble, The Bats, at the off-off Broadway Flea Theater. He’s also performed in productions and workshops with The Ensemble Studio Theater/Youngblood, NY Fringe, Ars Nova, New York Theatre Workshop, The Lark and others.
But his biggest project to date happens on June 23 when the first play he co-created and directed the music for opens Off Broadway. Sea Wife is a concert play, which is, as the phrase implies, a mixture of a concert and a play, in which actors are also band members who play music on stage.
“The music exists alongside the action to intensify or offer different perspectives, and we jump in and out during the play,” explained Crawford, who plays guitar and accordion as well as sings. “We’re trying to get away from the more traditional tropes of music and musical theater.”
The other cast members are a group of actors and musicians that Crawford has played with for years. Together they are The Lobbyists, named after the gigs they had playing music in theater lobbies before the shows began.
“For a lot of us, this is the biggest production we’ve done and on a larger scale,” he said, adding, “This will be first premiere of show we’re doing as a band.”
Sea Wife, which was written by Seth Moore and is directed by Liz Carlson, is described as a “haunted cautionary tale that envelopes its audience in joyous pleasures, wrenching horrors, unbearable heartache, and the most glorious of nautical adventures.”
In keeping with the nautical theme, the play is being performed the Melville Gallery at the South Street Seaport, in partnership with the Naked Angels theater company.
Crawford says the play was “heavily inspired” by Moby Dick, so the venue was perfect.
“It used to be an old storehouse from the early 19th century for nautical goods and ships,” he said. “We wanted it to be untraditional; we’re always on the hunt for space we can transform.”
Crawford has spent the last several years living in New York, but doesn’t forget the sway Montclair had on him growing up — particularly the high school arts program, which he said was “a huge catalyzing factor” in his pursuing the theater.
“I had great drama teachers and they were very influential,” he said. “My dad was also a high school drama teacher, so I’ve always had some kind of connection to the stage.”
To read more about Sea Wife and to purchase tickets for a performance (it runs from June 23 through July 19), visit https://seawife.org. Discounted prices are available through Sunday, May 31.