By Jennifer Mustoe

Interview with Spencer Williams, who co-wrote the Book, Music, and Lyrics for For Tonight–A Musical, opening in Houston on February 15, 2019.

Though it took six years, Williams, along with Shenelle Salcido (Book, Music, Lyrics, Orchestrations) and Whitney Rhodes (Book) will see their collaborative effort, For Tonight–A Musical, finally performed onstage, a full production on Friday at the Queensbury Theatre in Houston, TX. Williams said all three are so excited, to see this finally come to fruition, and also to see each other. Though they’ve actively worked on this project, one of the big challenges is they all lived in different areas of the country, apart from one another. “The script literally was on a Google Doc,” said Williams. He said it was a struggle to not have that energy to work together in one room, to be able to play off one another.

However, For Tonight–A Musical, has gone through many festivals, rewrites, staged readings, (see its journey here) and the result is a beautiful musical based on Williams’ great great-grandfather’s journal of meeting his bride in Trelawnynd in northern Wales. This is a love story of a Welsh man who marries a Romani woman, and takes place in the mid-1800s. And in fact, Welsh and Romani are spoken in the show, and Romani and Welsh tunes and instruments are used, especially violins. The tempo and beat is combined with an Indie Rock score that will attract old and young alike.

Several of the themes presented in For Tonight–A Musical are what it means to be home. He is from a home in Wales, she is from a Romani caravan, where they never have a home in one place for long. Another theme or motif is the Welsh tradition of choral music–the Welsh choir. Relevant themes of racism and prejudice  are discussed in this musical. Finally, they wanted this to be a sibling piece.

When I asked Williams what he had wanted to happen with this show. He told me his dreams for For Tonight–A Musical.

• They wanted to be able to present it in NYC– and they did–twice.
• They wanted to present it at a college, and they did–at Michigan State.
• They wanted it to play in the UK and they did.
• They wanted to see it onstage for a world premiere, and this happens on Friday.
• He would like to see the show in the round.
• The ultimate dream would be to take it to London and would love to hear it with Welsh and Romani performers.

Click here to hear the music for this show.

Front Row Reviewers will be at the Saturday matinee show and the review will be up soon after.

The Queensbury Theater presents For Tonight–A Musical, by Spencer Williams, Shanelle Salcido, and Whitney Rhodes
The Queensbury Theatre, 12777 Queensbury Ln, Houston, TX 77024
Feb 14- March 3, 2019
Contact: 713-467-4497