FCCJ - The Campus Voice - MAXWELL article
© FCCJ - Campus Voice
Just what the world needs -- another rock musical. Or so cynical media fans might think.
Still, one has to give credit to composer Joe Popp for having the sense to try other avenues to
musical glory than the traditional rock star route.
Popp is no fool; he's been around the block more than a few times. At 36, Popp is well aware that rock stardom is
probably not in the cards.
"The rock star routes are pretty crowded," he said. "As long as I get to be creative, I'm happy."
Popp feels that, as a medium, the rock musical allows more breadth of expression than a three-minute
pop song. Plus, he said, it's an honor to have serious listeners paying attention to the work instead of
"drinking beer and trying to pick up girls" - as patrons at rock shows and in nightclubs might be doing.
Popp's new musical, MAXWELL, a semi-autobiographical fable about a kid who tries to save the world through his
ingenious inventions, is already making a splash in Tampa and in New York. The show is now appearing at the Tampa
Bay Performing Arts Center, performed by the Jobsite theatre company, directed by R.M. Lawrence. It is also playing in New York City at the Galapagos Art Space in Brooklyn.
MAXWELl contains 15 or 16 songs including incidental music, Popp said, in genres ranging from cowpunk to show tunes.
Besides performing in rock bands, Popp's earlier works include composing music for Whirligig, and Why the
Y in Ybor?, both Obie-winning plays by Mac Wellman, along with a musical adaptation of Shakespeare's Macbeth.
Popp, a New Jersey native who moved to Jacksonville with his family at age 12, went to Wolfson High.
He attended FCCJ at South, Kent and Downtown campuses from 1984 through 1987.
Popp took over as South Campus student activities president from Ron Burman in 1986
[Burman is now VP of A&R at Roadrunner Records - see story in Campus Voice, Dec. 4].
While living in Jacksonville, Popp formed the all-original band Ant Farm before relocating to Tampa to join
dogs on ice.
While in Tampa, Popp managed to make himself a fixture on the local music scene.
He has since moved to New York City, where he manages a recording studio.
Popp also worked as a theater technician while at FCCJ's South Campus. Popp put this experience to good use.
He said that writing a musical "gives me more control over the whole presentation: the dialog, the lighting,
and all of the other staging elements."
Popp says his tactic of retreating from the rock star stampede in favor of writing musicals has worked well for him.
"I don't know of too many musicians doing it [writing musicals]," he said.
Popp said that the show's future is looking bright and that he has been contacted by producers wanting to
stage the show in Orlando and in Manhattan.
"The best part is you don't have to go on the road - and you still get paid," he said.
Former student debuts rock musical
BY MICHAEL FITZGERALD
published February 15, 2002