By Dan Domsic
Calling back to the times of big band swing music and tough film noir detectives, Fishers resident Ashton Wolf co-created “Club Morocco,” a musical signed earlier this spring for a publishing deal in the U.S. and Canada.
Wolf and co-creators John Huffman and Barbara F. Cullen, wrote the show in 1999, and it was produced by the Derby Dinner Playhouse in Louisville, KY. “Club Morocco” would take a back seat to the trio’s other individual projects.
“We basically wrote it because we love that music so much,” Wolf said. “Even though it dates way back – way before our time. We heard it as young kids a little bit from our parents.
He said the trio dusted the show off about three years ago and went through the National Dinner Theater Alliance’s pitch and presentation process, and not long after, started receiving phone calls from producers.
The co-creators licensed the show on their own seven times. After some of the show’s success, Summerwind Productions’, a theatrical rights publishing company, attention was drawn, which will now license “Club Morocco” to theaters in United States and Canada, according to Wolf.
Summerwind is known for “My Way: A Musical Tribute to Frank Sinatra,” which recently played with the Actors Theatre of Indiana.
He wrote the arrangement for the show, which features a nine-piece horn band.
Wolf describes the show as a “gum-shoe” noir that takes place while some of the music is actually being played in the Club Morocco. It’s also audience interactive.
Wolf was torn when asked what his favorite number from the show was. His two choices are an arrangement of Cole Porter’s “Under My Skin” that is close to Frank Sinatra’s rendition, as well as Big Bad Voodoo Daddy’s “Mambo Swing.”
“It’s a show for all ages,” he said.
For more on “Club Morocco” and Wolf, visit www.clubmoroccothemusical.com and www.ashtonwolf.com.