Fringe Festivals bring the most outrageous and marginal theater into light. This year’s Maui Fringe Festival at Iao Theatre is the sixth so far on Maui, and will include three days of solo, musical, improv, self-produced, nationally acclaimed and otherwise unique dramatic arts. The Seabury Hall Dance Ensemble will also do a show, and Cocktails and Cabaret will perform burlesque.
One of those acts is the hit Oahu musical Money Talks: But What the Hell is it Saying? I recently got a chance to talk with performers Lucie Lynch and Marcia Zina Mager about their show and what money is actually saying to them.
MAUITIME: What three words best describe your show?
MARCIA ZINA MAGER: Provocative, honest, hilarious.
MT: Ok, so what’s the show about?
MZM: Money Talks is the true story of our lifelong struggles with money, self-worth and the challenging process of trying to write a Broadway musical. Audiences can expect to be surprised, moved, inspired and hopefully walk away pondering their own inherent worth.
MT: What inspired you to write this show?
MZM: Through wildly synchronistic events (which we touch on in our show), we met in Honolulu only to discover that we both had a chronic issue with self-worth and money. But instead of sinking into despair about it, we decided to channel our energy into writing a Broadway musical about money. We spent 18 months working on it–KaChing: A Supernatural Comedy About the Drama of Love and Money–and it was that challenging creative journey that gave birth to Money Talks.
MT: Did you always want to do theater?
LUCIE LYNCH: I have been singing and writing songs since I could walk! I studied musical theater in Hamburg, where I was born. I wrote my own one-woman musical, Gabriele’s Universe, which successfully toured all over Germany. I also starred in Carpe Diem, an independent feature film that debuted in New York City. I also perform all over Oahu solo and with my band, Lucie & the Perfect Wave. All in all, I’ve written hundreds of songs and released four CDs.
MZM: My background is as an author, journalist, poet and seminar leader. I founded the original “Write from the Heart” national seminar series in Manhattan in the 1980s. I have written 10 books–translated into eight languages–including an international bestseller. As a child, I loved making up songs and being on stage. When I turned 50, I met Academy Award-winning actor Alan Arkin in Honolulu and began studying improvisation with him. That experience launched my performing career. Since then, I’ve performed as a slam poet, had a guest starring role on Hawaii Five-0, wrote my own one-woman show and was invited to audition for America’s Got Talent. Now, at 61, I’m having the time of my life collaborating with the wildly talented Lucie Lynch on Money Talks.
MT: Your show was a hit at the Oahu Fringe Festival. What is performing on Oahu like?
MT: Your show was a hit at the Oahu Fringe Festival. What is performing on Oahu like?
MZM: We’ve performed Money Talks a dozen times on Oahu, to diverse audiences ranging from millionaires to the homeless, from educated theater-goers to church congregations to recovering Pacific Islander drug addicts to the entire women’s prison.
MT: Whoa, the women’s prison sounds like a tough crowd.
MZM: What’s wonderful about performing this show together is that it continues to invite us to be really present, both with the audience and each other. There always comes a moment when the boundaries disappear and we’re all experiencing it together. Also, we constantly improvise with ourselves, the audience and the musician. In many ways, the show is always brand-new.
MT: What would you like Maui Fringe Festival goers to remember about your show?
MZM: That something difficult, a taboo like money and self-worth, can be transformed through creativity. But also that the deeper truth is that money does not define us, never will, and that we are all richer beyond our imagination.
MT: How has money affected you as an artist?
MZM: Both of us have had great successes as artists–from international bestsellers to acclaimed one-woman shows–yet our bank accounts don’t seem to reflect that. For most of our lives, both of us have seen ourselves as “struggling artists.” And again it was that perspective that gave birth to both KaChing and Money Talks. Yet after writing and performing Money Talks so many times, and asking deeper questions about self-worth and success in front of an audience, we’ve ironically (or perfectly) come to realize that we’re overflowing with abundance and resources.
MT: What do you do when you’re not performing this show?
MT: What do you do when you’re not performing this show?
LL: I perform around Oahu solo and with my band, Lucie & The Perfect Wave. I’m a vocal coach and I teach “Sing Your Soul” workshops.
MZM: I’m wife as well as the proud mother of a 17-year-old successful entrepreneur. I also work with writers around the country as The Write Coach, and I’m an intuitive counselor.
MT: Which hat would you say comes easiest? Singing or writing?
MT: Which hat would you say comes easiest? Singing or writing?
MZM: That is how we complement each other wonderfully. Lucie is 38, tall, blonde and German. I am 61, short, gray-ish and Jewish! But we both love wearing all the hats! Singing is like breathing for Lucie, who has been singing her whole life and writing is second nature to me–I’ve been doing it since I was a child.
MT: If you could be in any Broadway show, which would it be?
MT: If you could be in any Broadway show, which would it be?
MZM: We want to sing and dance and star (at least for a few days) in the Broadway show that we’re still writing, KaChing. Our goal is to see it hit Broadway!
MT: Pretend you’re writing me a guide book of what to do on Maui–What are your top things to do?
MT: Pretend you’re writing me a guide book of what to do on Maui–What are your top things to do?
LL: I love to drive down the road to Hana to have a dip in the Lover’s Pool, then stop at Coconut Glenn’s ice cream shack.
MZM: I used to live on Lanai. For me, it’s a drive to visit Upcountry Maui, especially Kula and Makawao.
MT: What are you most proud of?
MT: What are you most proud of?
MZM: For both us, we’re really proud of our determination and courage, of never giving up on this show (and on KaChing), no matter how down or discouraged we get. And whenever someone in the audience is moved to tears, we know our show is making a difference. And that’s the best reward of all.
Maui’s sixth annual Fringe Festival runs at the Iao Theatre Jan. 22-24. Click here for more information.
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