With the upcoming production of bare: a pop opera rapidly approaching, we asked guest director Alex Higgin-Houser some questions about his work as a director on the show.
Based mostly in Chicago, Alex Higgin-Houser began his work in the theatre as an actor. Over the course of his high school and college years, he began to direct and write musical theatre, having now written or co-written four full length musicals, several operas, and a one act play. While in graduate school at Tisch School of the Arts in NYC, Higgin-Houser had his first of many experiences working with students. He says that this opened a lot of possibilities for him, as he discovered his love for teaching and working with undergraduate students. One of the main reasons he continued working with college students after this experience is because “I knew that I wanted to be in the position of doing some educational theatre into the next phase of my career [be]cause I just think it’s awesome. I think students can bring pieces alive in a way that is so exciting and fresh and with a new perspective. I love that.”
When asked about his work on bare, Higgin-Houser expressed a lot of excitement for the upcoming production. He says that although the play was written in 2000, which makes it “easy to dismiss bare just as a product of its time,” there are a lot of extremely relevant parts that the audience should be able to connect with. One thing that Higgin-Houser thinks is very special about bare is that “every single character has a moment with the audience to say ‘please see me’ and ‘please understand that I am struggling right now,’ and ‘I feel unseen.’ And by making people who feel unseen feel seen, I think that’s when this show is firing on all cylinders and I am really attracted to that.”
With its upbeat pop music and heart wrenching plotline, bare brings a lot to the table for the team to work with. Higgin-Houser explains that in addition to these challenges for the cast, they are working on creating many locations and environments all within the same proscenium world. “There are these moments of magic throughout the show that I personally think are going to be very rewarding.” With the show “moving from the literal to the abstract very quickly” and the set changing from a rave to a Catholic church instantaneously, Higgin-Houser says that “keeping the momentum alive is a challenge that I’ve been excited to take on, and the energy of the cast is what’s going to make that possible.”
To see Alex’s creative process come to life, grab your tickets for bare: a pop opera HERE! The show runs November 10-13 on the Alexander Stage.