Old English epic poem inspires student to secretly craft its musical

"Beowulf," the Old English epic poem has been in the news a surprising amount in recent years, in large part because of the success of Seamus Heaney's award-winning modern translation, published in 2000. This weekend, University audiences will be treated to another version of the classic tale, in the form of the Princeton University Players' first original musical in 15 years – "Beowulf: The Musical."

The creative team behind this production consists of Ariel Winter, a junior at Johns Hopkins University, who wrote the book and lyrics, composer Joshua Saltzman, a junior at Muhlenberg College and Jeffrey Greenstein '02, who is directing PUP's production. The trio, along with conductor Greg Weinstein '02, grew up together in Livingston, N.J. while Westminster Choir College student John Perkins, who orchestrated the musical, completes the group.

The creation of "Beowulf" began in September 1997, at the beginning of the friends' senior year in high school. It was then that Winter first picked up a copy of the poem, which he had "always wanted to read." "I didn't even get through the first page before I thought, 'This would make a great musical,' " he said.

Winter and Saltzman had been writing songs together since junior year, and often discussed working on a musical. They did not, however, anticipate starting such a massive project so early in their partnership. "We figured [musical theater] was something we would do later down the line, because we weren't ready for it," Winter said.

Winter's vision of a "Beowulf" musical overcame his lack of experience in writing musicals, and he started to work on the lyrics. He took out "about a shelf" of library books on "Beowulf," and wrote the first draft in secret. A few months later, he presented it to Saltzman.

Salzman, although he had never read "Beowulf," was as inspired by Winter's lyrics as Winter had been by the epic itself. And to cut a long story short, the two worked on their musical in private, finally telling friends and family about it near the end of their senior year.

Greenstein was one of the first people they told. So when during his sophomore year, he saw signs around campus inviting students to "Propose [a musical] to PUP," his thoughts naturally went to "Beowulf."

Although a shorter version of the musical had been presented at Muhlenberg during the spring of 1999, "Beowulf" has never been fully staged. Greenstein asked his friends if they would be interested in having him direct their project at Princeton, and once he got their clearance, put an immense amount of time and effort into his proposal.

"I tried to sound as excited about the project as possible, and be as open-minded as possible," Greenstein said. To that end, he was open to all suggestions about where and when the musical could be done. The PUP board eventually decided to stage the musical in a concert version in the Frist Theater.

PUP president Clifford Sofield '02 said the board was interested in developing a new musical, but that a full out production of "Beowulf" would have required a "Miss Saigon"-sized amount of technical work – something which PUP did not have the resources to provide. "We decided that rather than doing something half-baked, we would do it in concert, and that would be more impressive," said Sofield, who plays Beowulf.

When Greenstein, Winter and Saltzman heard that the musical was going to be done in concert, they were ecstatic, and decided that it would be ideal to have a fully orchestrated version of the score in order to match the scale of production. To this end, Perkins joined the creative team. The others are uniformly enthusiastic about his contributions, saying that their working relationship clicked from the beginning, and that they "would work with him again in a heartbeat."

Working closely with the singers has also helped "Beowulf" develop. Saltzman and Winter have been semi-regular visitors to campus since auditions took place, and now that it's crunch time, it is rare if at least one of them isn't on the Princeton campus each weekend. "In working with the cast as closely as I have been, it's been helpful to know their strengths, so you gear things towards them," Saltzman said. To this end, roles have been reworked to better suit the singers' voices, although Winter and Saltzman are careful to stress that all their writing decisions stem from what is best for the show thematically.

Get the best of the ‘Prince’ delivered straight to your inbox. Subscribe now »

"This is going to be the first time that I can sit as an audience member and hear my music," Saltzman said. "It's such a privilege at this level to hear an orchestra playing our music."

"It's not real to me," Winter added.

But tonight, tomorrow and Saturday in the Frist Theater, "Beowulf: The Musical" will become real not only to its creators, but to entire audiences. With the help of a full orchestra, a large cast of singers and projected supertitles providing the necessary scenic descriptions and stage directions, this epic tale of love, heroes and dragons will come to dramatic life on the Princeton campus.

The Princeton University Players present "Beowulf: The Musical," an original musical in concert tonight through Saturday at 8 p.m. and Saturday at 2 p.m. in the Frist Theater. Call (609) 258-1742 or stop by the Frist Ticket Office for reservations.