We recently connected with John Cecil and have shared our conversation below.

John, appreciate you joining us today. Can you talk to us about a project that’s meant a lot to you?

We’ve been touring with our historical musical comedies to towns all over the state of Texas. It’s meaningful because we’re helping to stimulate local tourism in smaller downtown areas, meeting people from all walks of life, and connecting in a different, more personal way than we do when we perform in Austin.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

My name is John Cecil, and I work with an Austin-based group, Texas Comedies, that creates original musical comedies based on fascinating parts of Texas culture and history. www.texascomedies.com

In 2008, I returned to Texas after living and making theatre in New York, Bucharest, Romania, and Prague, Czech Republic. In each locale, I was compelled to create locally relevant art (in NY, I satirized local real estate with a show, Co-op, and in Prague, we set work in the Czech Republic). This site-based impulse continued when I founded Texas Comedies. Our first history-based production, Cabeza de Vaca, was developed from the first-person narrative of a Spanish explorer shipwrecked near present-day Galveston,Texas. Later productions centered on class and racial struggles (Prohibition), crime and economics (True Story of Bonnie & Clyde, Murders & Moontowers), and the birth of the oil industry (Boomtown).

The Texas Comedies touring odyssey began with a surprise invitation. Our show Boomtown, based on the founding of the Panhandle town of Borger, Texas, attracted the interest of that city. Their historical commission invited us to perform Boomtown as part of their centennial celebration. We crowded the cast, dancers, and musicians into two vans for the nine-hour trip to reach Borger. After a two-hour window for tech and setup, we performed to a rowdy and appreciative 700-person audience: students, retirees, history buffs, and a large amount of the general public. The show was the centerpiece of their celebration, as it brought an irreverent version of their own “origin story” to the stage.

Since that evening, Texas Comedies has developed, toured and “localized” shows all over Texas, emphasizing the cultural, racial, and economic clashes beneath the clichés (for example, our show Prohibition is not about speakeasies; it is about Methodists, Mexican- and German-Americans and the Temperance movement). Still, Texas Histories provides entertainment as well as education, and the humor and live music help to keep audiences engaged.

Going forward, we hope to expand our reach into areas of Texas that do not currently have active live entertainment or choices of downtown cultural events, and certainly not theater that probes and explores their own local history and culture. With this grant, we hope to make this type of event affordable by an expanding number of previously underserved communities.

Have you ever had to pivot?

I’m in the middle of a pivot, from running my own e-learning business and doing a theater company “on the side,” to the opposite. Two years ago we (Texas Comedies) became non-profit, and can now accept donations and grants, which helps us tour, pay performer stipends, etc.

Managing the non-profit, with its demanding bookkeeping and operations, is really more and more a full-time job.

On top of that, creating new material takes about an hour a day, all year long. All of our shows – Prohibition, Boomtown, Murders & Moontowers) are original, scripted musical comedies.

So the pivot is devoting more energy to the most rewarding work, while maintaining enough income to keep it all rolling.

Are there any resources you wish you knew about earlier in your creative journey?

Where to start?

Small thing:
I rely now on paid dramaturgy/feedback for musical scripts. This is extremely useful – not only making the shows tighter, clearer, etc., but also it is financially sound. The money spent on the consultation saves time/money in the development of a script.

Big thing:
I wish I had started thinking “bigger” sooner. At some point, it is easier to scale up, and try to do more bookings, work with more performers, etc.

Contact Info:

• Website: www.texascomedies.com
• Instagram: www.instagram.com/texascomedies
• Facebook: www.facebook.com/texascomedies

Image Credits
Photos by Greg Risley