Ever since the great Swing Era trumpeter Bunny Berigan drank himself to death at age 33, the enduring mystery has been, "Why?
CAST
Renee Beaumont is ...
... Donna Berigan
Susan Brickell is ...
... Mayme Berigan
Paul Keegan is ...
... Bunny Berigan
Noah Kleinberg is...
... Bix Benderback (inspired by Bix Beiderbecke)
David Nash is ...
... Tommy Dorsey
is ...
... Lee Wilson (inspired by Lee Wiley)
ABOUT THE PLAY
Bunny Berigan had it made. A virtuoso trumpet player, handsome and successful, he became a national sensation with his 1937 hit, "I Can’t Get Started."
Five years later, he was dead.
The official cause of death, at age 33, was cirrhosis of the liver – in other words, too much whiskey.
Ever since, the jazz world has been haunted by the mystery of how this brilliant artist, in the prime of life, could have self-destructed so quickly and completely.
During his research, Keegan was struck by what an enigma the musician was, even to his biographers. “There’s endless detail about the exterior of Bunny’s life – bands, recording dates, marriage - but almost nothing about his inner life,” he says. “So it was exciting to venture beneath the surface and fill up the empty vessel by imagining his ambitions and disappointments, his joys and fears – and then follow the resulting behavior to its denouement."
Though not a musical, I Can’t Get Started is saturated with music, from the swinging sounds of a live jazz band to a story line that dramatizes the power of music to shape our understanding of the world. Productions at nightclubs around New York City re-create the atmosphere of the Onyx Club, a popular 1930s speakeasy on 52nd Street, giving audiences a thrillingly immersive experience.
Most of the top-notch actors in this production – including Keegan’s co-director, Noah Kleinberg – study at the venerable HB Studio in Manhattan, where the play was developed under the tutelage of the late playwrights Donna DeMatteo and William Packard and the distinguished acting teacher Michael Beckett.
"We've been so fortunate to work with Michael and this group of talented actors through HB's professional-level program," says Kleinberg. "It's been fascinating to watch the play develop over time."
During the project’s long gestation, Keegan kept his eye on his ultimate goal. “I want to bring people to that magical place that only live theater and music can take us,” he says. “And while this version of Bunny Berigan is pure invention, I hope the play will help give his music — and spirit — a second life.”
Photo: Rehearsal at HB Studio with Renee Beaumont as Donna Berigan, co-director Kleinberg, and Keegan as Bunny Berigan.