Donald Rupe wanted to create a testament to friendship. And so the Orlando playwright-director wrote a 55-minute show about his tight-knit group of friends, about gay lives, about the Pulse nightclub shooting of 2016, about Orlando itself.
“From Here,” as the musical was named, became a buzzed-about hit at the 2019 Orlando Fringe Festival, with theatergoers praising its heart.
Now expanded into a full-length production, “From Here” returns to the stage Feb. 21 at Orlando’s CFCArts Theatre, where Rupe is artistic director — and he hopes to take the show on the road to other cities.
“I don’t want this to be a ‘musical about Pulse,’ because that’s not what it is,” Rupe said before a recent rehearsal. But the tragedy at the Orlando gay nightclub, in which a gunman’s rampage left 49 dead, looms large over the show — because the nightclub was woven into the fabric of the lives of Rupe’s social circle.
He felt he owed it to his friends — and to Pulse’s victims and survivors — to write as honestly as he could.
“I don’t see enough theater that depicts gay people in a realistic way, in a respectful way,” said Rupe, whose musical “Flying Lessons” was selected for the 2019 New York Musical Festival.
Although the characters in “From Here” are inspired by his own circle of friends, none of them is a literal representation of a real-life person, said Rupe, who wrote the show’s story, music and lyrics. Rather, they are amalgamations.
“I can hear lines that come from the way I talk,” said actor Blake Aburn, who stars in the show and is a longtime friend of Rupe’s.
While on a car trip together, Rupe wondered aloud if Pulse should be part of the story.
“I said, ‘Absolutely,'” Aburn recalled. “‘If you want to talk about our friends, you have to bring this up.'”
The Pulse massacre led to multiple artistic responses. On the theater front, local playwright-director David Lee wrote “O-Town: Voices from Orlando,” a series of monologues using the actual words of those affected by the tragedy. New York-based Missing Bolts Productions and NoPassport Theatre Alliance curated “After Orlando,” a collection of plays written in response to the shooting.
Referencing Pulse in his work raised additional challenges for Rupe.
“I didn’t want to be disrespectful or steal anyone else’s story, so I struggled with the idea of ‘Is this my story to tell?'” he said. “I think it is because it’s from my perspective.”
One Orlando Alliance, a coalition of nonprofits that offer support services to the LGBT community, is partnering with CFCArts Theatre during the show’s run. At Sunday performances, representatives will have information tables and there will be opportunities to talk with the cast and creative team after the production.
Rupe expects that some audience members might feel emotionally overwhelmed. But he stresses that because the focus is on friendship — and because the musical’s characters talk about Pulse before the shooting, there are plenty of references to joyful, fun-filled times.
“The first act is almost a comedy,” he said.
And if the inevitable tragedy hits the characters — and the audience — hard, that’s deliberate, Rupe said.
“That’s how it felt to us, like a slap in the face,” he said.
While performing the Fringe version of the show, Aburn experienced the audience’s emotional response.
“It was interesting being onstage when it happened,” he said. “You would hear gasps. You would hear sobbing.”
He had to keep his own emotions in check, too.
“There were certain lines in the show where I had to disconnect because it’s too close to home,” said Aburn, who lived down the street from Pulse.
Nearly all of the original Fringe cast will return for the production; actress Sarah-Lee Dobbs will step into the pivotal part of Aburn’s mother, with whom he has a difficult relationship.
Another change: The show’s music, including new songs, has been re-orchestrated by Jason Bailey for a six-piece band, with an assist from theater musical director Jami-Leigh Bartschi.
Expanding the show has made it more universal, Rupe said, because the longer running time has enabled him to more fully flesh out the supporting characters that bring to life the ups and downs of romance, the bonds of friendship, the parental difficulties.
“What I love about this new version is how it talks about Orlando before and after Pulse,” Aburn said. “When I tell people about the show, I always say it is a musical about Orlando.”
“It’s a roller coaster for sure,” Rupe said. “But I don’t think that it’s depressing. It’s hopeful. It’s the kind of catharsis we need.”
‘From Here’
Where: CFCArts Theatre, 250 SW Ivanhoe Blvd. in Orlando
When: Feb. 21-March 15
Tickets: $15-$25
Info: 407-937-1800, Ext. 710
Find me on Twitter @matt_on_arts or email me at mpalm@orlandosentinel.com. Want more theater and arts news and reviews? Go to orlandosentinel.com/arts.
This article was first published at OrlandoSentinel.com/arts
