Does Anybody Need Some Light Tonight?

Does anybody need some light tonight?

This line appears many times in STRIKING 12, BoHo’s un-holiday-musical, un-spectacular as Hans Christian Anderson’s “Little Match Girl” tries to sell matches on New Years Eve.  For me, STRIKING 12 is not about holiday spirit or Christmas miracles.  It’s about a guy realizing he isn't better off alone.  It’s about a group of people interacting onstage to make something together.  The relationships and interactions you’ll see in STRIKING 12 are real, which has been my favorite part of the process.  I have so much real fun with the other members of the cast that it just feels like I’m hanging out with friends, jamming through some songs, and we just so happen to have a great story to tell. 

Lara and Diana, our director and music director, have created this vibe from the beginning.  Our rehearsals have been as much about getting to know each other and finding new ways to play off of each other as they’ve been about cleaning the details of the show.  One leads to the other anyway, right? 

This show is as much a rock concert as it is a musical.  My continually developing relationships with the rest of the cast are as important to the cleanliness of the music and clarity of the message as anything.

So, does anybody need some light tonight?  To me this means another person, an interaction, a real relationship.  That’s what the players of STRIKING 12 are looking for, and that’s something that we find in each other over the course of each run-through.  We find it through our characters, our music, and ourselves.  

I can’t wait until we get to find it with an audience as well.  

Now the real question: do you need some light tonight?  Allow us.

-- Jed Feder is a Chicago based percussionist, actor, and composer.  He makes his BoHo debut with STRIKING 12.