By:Arlene Hinkemeyer and Nicole Falco
"Infertility: The Musical That's Hard to Conceive" was one of nearly 200 offerings, including about 30 musicals, accepted for inclusion in the New York International Fringe Festival, which is taking place at various venues in the city through Aug. 29. A review of "Infertility" appeared in the Arts section of The New York Times on Aug. 19. The Times called the show "lyrical, poignant and often hilarious."
The musical revue was written and composed by Chris Neuner. His wife, Amy, Valley Stream Central High School's choral director, is the show's musical director, and Anna Frangos, a 2004 Central High graduate and performing arts student, is the show's sound operator. Frangos, who is beginning her first semester at SUNY Purchase, has already accumulated significant theater experience. Besides working with the Neuners on numerous school productions, Frangos recently completed an internship with American Ballet Theater and worked for two years as a wardrobe mistress at the Bank Street Theater in Manhattan.
Chris Neuner dedicated "Infertility" to his wife and their twins, Garrick and Olivia, born - after six years of their parents' efforts to conceive - in March 2003. Mindful that truth is often stranger than fiction, the Neuners, Brooklyn residents, hatched the idea of a musical revue as they traveled back and forth to Cornell Medical Center for their first cycle of in-vitro fertilization. Rather than hide what they were doing, the couple decided to be open about it - and poke some fun at it.
"Maybe this would make a great musical," Neuner recalled thinking. "Because you couldn't make up something stranger than this."
After talking with friends, the couple, originally from Wisconsin, learned that having a baby the old-fashioned way wasn't always easy for others, either. Neuner used his and his wife's experience and the experiences of those they spoke with to write the 90-minute show.
As if their own experience wasn't reason enough to write the musical, there was also coincidence. The Neuners might never have tried the in-vitro method had they not attended a taping of "The Montel Williams Show." The couple went to the show when Amy's sister visited for a weekend. They happened to sit next to a fertility doctor - the show's guest expert - who specialized in in-vitro fertilization. Amy learned that the medical insurance offered by the high school district covered the cost of the procedure, and the specialist they met that afternoon was one of the insurance plan's approved doctors.
The revue's story follows five New Yorkers, including a couple loosely based on the Neuners, as they try to have babies in "unnatural ways," and the doctor who tries to help them. Besides the heterosexual couple, the characters include a lesbian couple looking for the perfect sperm donor and a 40-something career woman who's single but looking to adopt. The musical numbers include "Adoption Interrogation," "I've Got Sperm In My Pocket And I'm Talking To Eileen" and "Finding a Father," and feature lyrics such as, "He sends me to a room/with a wink and a prayer/with a clear plastic cup/to a comfortable chair."
The Fringe Festival marks the show's second run. "Infertility" was first produced in February 2003 - when Amy was eight months pregnant. It was performed at Don't Tell Mamma's, a Manhattan cabaret club. The Neuners hope that interest generated at the Fringe Festival will lead to an open-ended run in an Off-Broadway venue. Chris said he would even consider producing the musical himself, if necessary.
"Infertility" has a five-performance run at the Michael Schimmel Center for the Arts at Pace University, 3 Spruce St. in Manhattan. It opened Aug. 17, and the second performance was Tuesday night. The remaining shows are Thursday at 3 p.m., Friday at 5 p.m. and Saturday at 3:15 p.m. Directing the six-member cast is Dan Foster, co-founder of the Hudson Stage Company. Tickets are $15, and can be purchased on the Fringe Festival Web site, www.fringenyc.org, or by calling (212) 279-4488.
One of Neuner's earlier compositions, "Seven," about the seven African principles of Kwanzaa, was performed with vocals and drums by Central, Memorial, North and South high school students in the district's Festival Chorus March 12. Neuner, a teacher at Manhattan's Institute of Audio Research, has also written and composed a more serious musical, "Any Color You Like," about the life of Henry Ford.
Amy, who is currently on child-care leave, has taught in the high school district since the fall of 2000.
