Stephen White: How did you start work on Streetcar?
Tobin Stokes: My first meeting with John Alleyne was a 6-hour marathon of listening to jazz, studying his previous work on DVD, talking about the play, about dance and movement, about John Murrell's adaptation, and about the setting, the style, costumes, and designs for the ballet. It was quite exhausting. Luckily I was already familiar with the play, as I had recently composed music for Chemainus Theatre's production. This meeting was also technically my job interview, so in the back of my mind, I was thinking boy, I sure hope I get this job because I've already started it.
SW: What music did you listen to?
TS: I knew from the start that I wanted to build my own sound, pulling ideas from various established styles of jazz. I started by visiting a friend of mine, who has a living room full of jazz records. Over a few hours we narrowed down the direction I had in my head to about a dozen old records. I was looking to define the older end of the spectrum and knew I needed some true New Orleans stuff, some big band influences, and some ideas from just prior to the bebop era. The newer end of the spectrum, I already knew, would come from the modern, free jazz that you can hear right here in jazz clubs on the west coast. This was the kind of stuff I was listening to a few years back when I was playing the clubs and restaurants in Victoria and Vancouver.
SW: What ideas formed the genesis of the score?
TS: The score was really directed by John Murrell's script - the ballet adaptation. But John Alleyne insisted I should be free to go beyond it, and to reach as deep and as far as I could, musically speaking, to find the heart, the journey of the characters - especially Blanche. As I studied the script and continued a regular dialogue with John Alleyne, the music continued to be more and more free - I began a process of deconstruction in the score, following Blanche as she breaks down throughout the script. I wrote themes and relied on them and varied them and then slowly I twisted and destroyed them.
Logistically speaking, I wrote for jazz sextet, plus an extra percussionist. I wanted an occasional African American influence of congas or Latin rhythms, and I also wanted a classical edge occasionally - timpani, bass drum, and glockenspiel - slightly beyond traditional jazz instrumentation. I used percussive elements to really push Stanley 's aggression, and I needed to go beyond a basic jazz drum set to colour some scenes with more of a basic, raw energy.
SW: How much time did you spend in the studio with the dancers?
TS: I came to the studio as much as possible - on day trips to Vancouver , to see their reaction to my work, and to bring home new ideas inspired by what I took in. And previous to that for the final rehearsals and first performances of Carmina Burana to get a sense of the process, the production team, and the sound and feel of the Queen Elizabeth Theatre .
SW: What was the most interesting/unexpected experience you gained working with dancers? How did they influence the work?
TS: I was immediately taken with the severity and immediacy of John's choreography when witnessed up close and live. I already knew (from studying DVDs of past performances) what the dancers could do, but to see it live right in the rehearsal studio, is jaw dropping. I realized the power of a single note or a simple phrase, and observed that although jazz can be based on improvisation, sometimes it is the dancers performing the solos and the melodies. I'd come back home and rewrite, and the music would come easier, and began to make more and more sense.
SW: So much of jazz is improvisation, so how did you deal with soloing?
TS: John and I were discussing this from the start. It would be an insult to hire some of Vancouver 's finest jazz players and then tell them exactly what notes to play for an entire evening. Jazz is so much an art of instantaneous contribution and it was imperative not to lose this spontaneity. So I kept a consistent structure in each piece, and the dancers learned to concentrate on the beat and the count more than some of the melodic bits and changing textures. They were advised that many things could change once the band arrived, yet they were reassured that the overall structure and tempos of the music would never change. So in the score, I planned areas for each of the players to improvise, and included a few key notes to launch them or to bring them back from improvising.
SW: A conductor was brought in to work with the band. What influence did he have on shaping the work?
TS: Ballet BC hired David Lamarche, who had recently conducted Carmina Burana. I was impressed by David's insights into the score and had already observed his calm manner and consistent tempos watching Carmina in its final stages. It was interesting to watch the Streetcar ensemble gel, because it is not normal for a handful of jazzers to have a conductor at all. I knew there would be no big issues letting go of my music and handing it to David. I had been sending samples to him in New York as the work progressed, and to the dancers and musicians as well, so everyone was familiar with the score before it all came together. We were all working from computer mock-ups of the music that I was preparing and emailing as each section was written. So David and I had already had a dialogue going for weeks about specifics in the score. It was a treat to watch him learn and then shape the music and lead the ensemble. He is very intuitive, as are - of course - the musicians.
SW: How did you make the recording?
TS: We went into a studio and spent an entire day recording the score. The musicians are pros, and played the score fantastic, despite the different location, and microphones and equipment everywhere. Again, David was so consistent, despite having no dancers there. I know we've been able to capture some fantastic playing and inspired solos. I've been working with a friend of mine over the past three months on editing and mixing the score to prepare it for this tour and future tours.
SW: Were you satisfied by the final results of the performances?
TS: Yes, more than satisfied - delighted. And exhausted! And even after all the rehearsals and performances I had watched, I was still riveted on closing night, witnessing the dancers in their roles, working with the music, pushing themselves so far into John's stage of shapes and colours and intertwining gestures that digs so deep into Tennessee William's world. And there I was in the audience with a big grin on my face - I was the luckiest man on the planet.
