Spirit of Woody Guthrie back at TheaterWorks Hartford with songs of hope and freedom in ‘Woody Sez’
The restless spirit of Woody Guthrie has a way of rising up again every few years to fire up a new throng of activists, artists and adventurers with his songs of hope, freedom, change and compassion.
One of the ways he returns is as the subject of the popular biographical revue “Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie,” which TheaterWorks Hartford is bringing back for 16 performances (plus three “hootenannies”) July 13-28. The three-week run is a special summer offering that is not part of TheaterWorks’ regular season. The show was a hit at TheaterWorks in 2014 with some of the same performers.
Guthrie’s heyday as a songwriter was in the 1930s, when he voiced the fears, hopes and nervous laughter of millions during the uncertain years of the Great Depression. His songs are about wandering the countryside, acclimating to major cities, fighting Fascism, praising the best parts (and criticizing the worst aspects) of American life and struggling through life with a smile if possible.
Years after his time as a popular live performer and occasional radio star, Guthrie became a heavy influence on the folk revival movement of the 1960s, with Bob Dylan among his most fervent disciples.
There was another, more recent resurgence of interest in Guthrie. In recent decades, to keep his spirit alive, Guthrie’s estate has gifted some exceptional modern folk, indie and Americana acts with some of the songwriter’s original lyrics that had never been set to music and invited them to complete the songs. The results range from the two “Mermaid Avenue” albums by Billy Bragg and Wilco in the 1990s to The Klezmatics’ “Wonder Wheel” (which explored Jewish themes in Guthrie’s songwriting) and two recent albums by Dropkick Murphys, “This Machine Still Kills Fascists” and “Okemah Rising.”
Dropkick Murphys’ most famous Guthrie collaboration is “I’m Shipping Up to Boston,” which has become an anthem for numerous New England sports teams and has been covered by everyone from the Boston Pops orchestra to the Wiggles.
The songs Guthie was known for in his own time are what you hear in “Woody Sez.” Among the more than 30 songs in the show are such American folk standards as “This Land is Your Land,” “Bound for Glory,” “The Ballad of Tom Joad” (inspired by John Steinbeck’s Great Depression-themed novel “The Grapes of Wrath”), “So Long, It’s Been Good to Know Ya,” the children’s song “Riding in My Car,” the talking blues songs “Talkin’ New York City” and “Talkin’ Dust Bowl Blues.” There are also a few covers, like Jimmie Rogers’ “Muleskinner Blues” and the political anthem “The Internationale.”
The dozens of songs in the show are only the tip of the iceberg for Guthrie fans. “He wrote a ton of music, many hundreds of songs,” said Sam Sherwood, who is playing Guthrie at TheaterWorks. “He was constantly creating.”
The production of “Woody Sez” this month still bears a lot of the show’s original pedigree. This run may star a different performer (Sherwood) in the central role of Guthrie, but the one who has owned the role for the past 25 years or so, David Lutken, will be on hand for the first week of performances as the show’s music director. Nick Corley, one of the performers who originally co-devised the show, is directing it, as he did at TheaterWorks a decade ago. Another co-deviser and founding cast member, Helen J. Russell, is still performing in it. David Finch and Helen Loomis, the other cast members in Hartford besides Sherwood and Russell, each have considerable experience with the show, including a celebrated revival at New York’s Irish Repertory Theatre in 2017.
So is the TheaterWorks production a new production? A revival? A remount? Part of a tour?
“Somewhere in between,” Sherwood said. Everyone in the cast was involved in that popular months-long New York run of the show eight years ago, though they haven’t worked together since then. “It’s a somewhat limited group of people who’ve done it a whole bunch of times. This cast evolved over the run at Irish Rep. We all have full careers doing other stuff, but this is such a striking show we keep coming back to do it.”
Sherwood was Lutken’s understudy in New York, going on around a dozen times. Now he will star in an entire three-week run.
“David has wanted for some time to get other people playing Woody,” Sherwood said.
“Woody Sez” has played many other theaters in Connecticut besides TheaterWorks, including the Ivoryton Playhouse and Westport Country Playhouse. Both Lutken and Sherwood have been seen in Connecticut in other shows. Lutken is known for playing another historical figure from the 1930s, Will Rogers in the musical “Will Rogers Follies.” He understudied Keith Carradine in the role on Broadway and has played it numerous times at regional theaters around the country, including at the Goodspeed Opera House in 2018. Lutken has also had a long relationship with the Ivoryton Playhouse, where he’s done “The Porch on Windy Hill,” the Johnny Cash tribute “Ring of Fire,” “The Road: My Life With John Denver” as well as “Woody Sez.”
Lutken introduced Sherwood to the Ivoryton Playhouse, and the actor has now done half a dozen shows there, including “Stand By Your Man,” “Once,” “Ring of Fire,” “Million Dollar Quartet Christmas” and “Godspell.” Shortly after “Woody Sez” ends its run at TheaterWorks, Sherwood will head to Ivoryton to play the romantic lead role in the Jimmy Buffett musical “Escape to Margaritaville.”
The show is essentially the same as it was when it was first created, Sherwood said. Credited as “devised by David M. Lutken with Nick Corley and Darcie Deaville, Helen Jean Russell and Andy Teirstein,” “Woody Sez” had its world premiere in 2007 at the Edinburgh Festival in Scotland. Its U.S. debut was in 2009 in Guthrie’s home state of Oklahoma. The show made its way to TheaterWorks five years later.
Sherwood said one of his favorite numbers in the show is “Pastures of Plenty,” not just because he loves the songs but because it marks a turning point for the Guthrie character in the show: “Woody is finding his voice as a singer/songwriter and as an advocate for the downtrodden.”
The song begins:
It’s a mighty hard row that my poor hands have hoed
My poor feet have traveled a hot dusty road
Out of your Dust Bowl and Westward we rolled
And your deserts were hot and your mountains were cold
Sherwood comes to the Guthrie role naturally. “I started playing guitar in high school and right away I was drawn to Woody Guthrie and Leadbelly,” he said. “The songs may seem simple in a way, but the messages are very powerful. In college I got even more into it.”
When Sherwood first met Lutken he blurted out “Oh, you’re the Woody Guthrie guy!” Years later, Lutken recalled Sherwood’s interest and asked him to join the “Woody Sez” company.
Lutken may be transitioning out of the lead role, but one other “Woody Sez” tradition is being maintained: the open-to-the-public musical jam sessions, or “hootenannies,” that are held during every run of the show. “They’re a big part of it,” Sherwood said, feeling that the musical spirit of Guthrie demands such open jam sessions. TheaterWorks is offering three “Hootenanny Sundays” featuring the cast and whoever wants to play along, following the performances on July 14, 21 and 28.
“Woody Sez: The Life and Music of Woody Guthrie” runs July 13-28 at TheaterWorks, 233 Pearl St., Hartford. Performances are Tuesdays through Thursdays at 7:30 p.m., Fridays at 8 p.m., Saturdays at 2:30 and 8 p.m. and Sundays at 2:30 p.m. $35-$50. twhartford.org.