TALLAHASSEE, Fla. (WCTV) – The show must go on. A Tallahassee theater group is lifting the curtain on its first production since its beloved artistic director died in a car crash five months ago.
New Stage Theatreworks invited WCTV to a dress rehearsal days before the debut of “Jagged Little Pill,” the Broadway musical featuring the songs of Alanis Morissette.
Getting the rights to the show was a coup for the group, and all thanks to former Artistic Director Krystof Kage.
“That’s Krystof. He poured his heart and soul into this,” remembers Cristina Sorensen, who plays the leading role of MJ in the musical.
Those who worked with him say Kage liked to tell challenging stories that confronted difficult topics.
Actor Grantham Durham said “Jagged Little Pill” is right up that alley.
“It has so many of those humorous moments, but it’s those conversations that you don’t think you should have, but you know you need to and you know you want to,” Durham said. “And those are the conversations that Kristoff would always love to have.”
Kage was known for his signature laugh and for always finding a way to get the best out of his actors.
“Always saying what was kind of difficult to say, but he said it because he wants you to improve on things,” actor Amanda Holton remembers.
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“He pushed me to do something different,” Grady Jefferson said. “He was like, yeah, that’s not you. Be you.”
When the first tune starts to play Friday night, it’ll mark a significant milestone in a journey that’s been filled with processing grief.
New Stage board member Kelly Elliott was friends with Kage for 20-plus years.
“That is a void that probably can’t ever be filled,” she said. “The shock of losing Krystof…will reverberate for a very long time.”
For Sorenson, drama therapy is an incredible healer.
“It’s so cathartic. It really is. It’s therapeutic in a lot of ways,” she said. “To know that this is the last show that he wanted for us to do, that’s huge. How lucky are we that we get to like live out this vision.”
While Kage is gone, his legacy under the lights lives on. His friends say he left behind a safe space that carries on his mission to mentor and to inspire.
“The torch is being passed to all of us,” Sorensen said. “It’s really significant for me that I, I feel really proud and honored that like I get to kind of serve that role in a little bit here, like to help to mentor and like guide them.”
“Jagged Little Pill” runs from July 10- July 19 at Theatre Tallahassee, located at 1861 Thomasville Road.
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