Tag Archives: Geoffrey Gee

Our Band

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Our fabulous cast is supported by a trio of excellent musicians who lift us up to new heights! As I write these words, they are rehearsing in the next room — making magic.

With one week until showtime, we are thrilled to introduce music director and composer Geoffrey Gee on keyboard, Kai LaMothe (@kailamothe) playing bass, and Sam McVicker on drums.

Geoffrey Gee is a pianist, composer, sound designer, and graduate of Berklee College of Music. In 2015, he made his solo piano debut at Carnegie Hall in Weill Recital Hall. Gee was the music director and accompanist for LaMothe’s musical Happy If Happy When, and engineered and co-produced the cast album, for which he also played piano, bass, and synth parts. Gee is the lead in five CDs, including, I’ll Be There With You (2009). He composes music for theater productions, dance companies, filmmakers, and orchestras, including a 2020 commission for a piano concerto, written for the Sage City Symphony in Bennington, Vermont. He has played his original piano music across the U.S. and in 18 countries around the world. As a sound designer, Gee created the virtual instrument Plectrum, and serves as a consultant for several of the top electronic keyboard companies. www.geoffreygee.com

Kai LaMothe is entering his junior year at the Long Trail School in Dorset, Vermont, where he will be pursuing a full diploma in the International Baccalaureate Program, including a Higher Level course in music. Kai began his musical training on drums, playing in numerous bands and concerts, as well as on the cast album of the original musical Happy If Happy When. Guitar is now his primary instrument. When not making music, Kai is playing soccer or helping out on his family’s farm.

Sam McVicker is a Senior at Bard College studying Architecture and Philosophy. He’s been drumming on and off since high school, where he had Geoffrey as his music instructor. He is currently working on his senior thesis — a critique of cybernetic systems’ fragility and epistemic pessimism — when he’s not busy rock-climbing, skateboarding, or reading sci-fi.

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Nietzsche! In Broadway World

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Check out our announcement!

The LINK

Hebron residents Kimerer LaMothe and Geoffrey Gee will present a developmental reading of their brand new musical – Nietzsche! – on the MainStage of the Fort Salem Theater in Salem, NY, August 21 at 7 PM.

Nietzsche! The Musical traces the tangled, passionate relationships that shaped the life and legacy of one of the most influential philosophers in the western world: Friedrich Nietzsche (1844-1900). While many people are familiar with the name “Nietzsche,” few know about the two women who helped make him who he was: Lou Salomé, the woman he wanted as his wife, and his sister Elisabeth, who married an anti-Semitic Christian activist and moved to Paraguay to found a colony for the pure German race.

Nietzsche’s love for both of these women brought him face to face with challenges that threatened to destroy him. Yet time and again, he reached for a way to love life – all of it. His story of struggle and affirmation carries relevance for our time.

In writing Nietzsche!, Kimerer LaMothe, PhD (book, lyrics, melodies) draws on over thirty years of research into Nietzsche’s life and work. She is a dancer, philosopher, and award-winning author of six books, two musicals, and over 100 blog posts for Psychology Today. Her second book, Nietzsche’s Dancers (Palgrave Macmillan, 2006), offers the only comprehensive analysis of dance imagery in Nietzsche’s writing. As LaMothe confirms, “The more I learn about Nietzsche, the more convinced I am that the best way to communicate the primary thrust of his life-affirming philosophy is through music and dance.”

Pianist and composer Geoffrey Gee, LaMothe’s longtime collaborator, has written an expressive, engaging score for this musical, featuring a range of styles from pop and rock to classical jazz. As Gee states, “Kimerer’s melodies and lyrics are inspiring, funny, poignant, and chock-full of meaning. My role is to build a musical world in which they can communicate directly into the hearts of the audience.”

In describing their collaboration, LaMothe explains: “It’s like magic. Geoffrey takes the melodies I sing into my iPhone and fleshes them out through his own musical sensibility, until it’s not clear where my work ends and his begins. Every song becomes a third thing – ours.”

The cast sparkles with talented performers from near and far, led by Jordan LaMothe as Nietzsche, Erin Kennedy as Lou Salomé, and Hannah Gruendemann as Elisabeth; and including Fort Salem Theater veteran Sue Caputo, and local artists Chris Giannitti, Michael Gallagher, and Dan Slavin.

Nietzsche! also features live musical accompaniment. Gee will lead a trio, with Sam McVicker from Dorset, VT on drums, Kai LaMothe on bass and guitar, and Gee on keyboards.

LaMothe affirms that this musical is for everyone: “If you know nothing about Nietzsche, his story will move you. If you know a little about Nietzsche, you’ll come away with a new perspective. If you know a lot about Nietzsche, please engage us in a long conversation about his work and its relevance for our time. Whoever you are, our hope is that you leave the show with a sense of what we find at the heart of his philosophy: a resounding love for life.

The reading will be performed one night only, and will be directed by Kyra Gee. A Question & Answer with the cast and creative team will follow immediately after the performance.

Tickets are free. Reservations are required. Unvaccinated audience members will be asked to wear masks.

For tickets: 518-854-9200. www.fortsalem.com