{"id":2794,"date":"2026-02-25T15:08:16","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:08:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/?p=2794"},"modified":"2026-02-25T15:08:16","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T15:08:16","slug":"indigo-girl-emily-saliers-steps-into-musical-theater","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/?p=2794","title":{"rendered":"Indigo Girl Emily Saliers Steps Into Musical Theater"},"content":{"rendered":"

On a frosty January afternoon at New York City\u2019s Ripley-Grier Studios, Emily Saliers, Beth Malone and Starstruck\u2019s director-choreographer Lorin Lotarro are together, deep in rehearsal\u2014deeper still, in conversation\u2014about something entirely new to Saliers.See more…<\/p>\n

Rather than fresh material from the Indigo Girls\u2014the liltingly melodic, socio-conscious folk duo she and Amy Ray formed in 1985\u2014Saliers is bracing to make her debut in musical theater as the composer of Starstruck.<\/p>\n

Starstruck\u2014a Cyrano de Bergerac-like tale of 17th century romance with a modern LGBTQ+ twist\u2014premieres not in NYC but at New Hope, Pennsylvania\u2019s legendary Bucks County Playhouse beginning February 28. It stars Tony nominee Beth Malone (Fun Home), who also co-wrote the script, and Broadway vets Krysta Rodriguez (Smash) and Sam Gravitte (Wicked).<\/p>\n

Saliers starts the conversation on Starstruck with the notions of instant camaraderie and gut instinct when it came to meeting Malone through mutual acquaintances during the pandemic, then swiftly becoming this new show\u2019s songwriter.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy friend said Beth wanted to ask me about writing music for her script, so no sooner than we met, Beth starts telling me about this script she\u2019s loosely based on the Cyrano tale,\u201d says Saliers. \u201cBut, before she even really asked me, I said, \u2018Yes. Yes, I do.\u201d I had no idea what I would be in for. I had never written for musical theater before, but suddenly I was all in.\u201d
\n

\"\"
Bucks County Playhouse
STARSTRUCK
Book by
BETH MALONE
MARY ANN STRATTON
Music and Lyrics by
EMILY SALIERS
Directed and Choreographed by
LORIN LATARRO<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/p>\n

Malone, an actress and vocalist with Broadway credits including 2006\u2019s Johnny Cash jukebox musical Ring of Fire, revivals of classics such as Annie Get Your Gun, and the ruminative Fun Home, not to mention film appearances such as 2025\u2019s Oscar-nominated Song Sung Blue, had a hopeful eye towards collaboration with the Indigo Girl. <\/p>\n

\u201cI was a first-time book-writer\u2014I had no business even asking Emily\u2014but it was the pandemic, we\u2019re all just sitting around, and it really was just a \u2018Why not?\u2019\u201d Malone says with a laugh. \u201cAnd for Emily, it was definitely more of a \u2018Why not?\u2019 than it was \u2018Yes, I want to spend the next seven years with you in a tiny room hashing out the minutiae of your first-ever script.\u2019 Look, I asked for a pie-in-the-sky impossible dream shot, and she said \u2018OK.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Truth be told, the bravura behind just saying \u201cyes\u201d\u2014the call of every daring theater improviser\u2014and putting herself out there when she didn\u2019t have a clue of theater\u2019s necessities is exactly what appealed to Saliers about working on Starstruck in the first place. <\/p>\n

\u201cJust saying yes\u201d is what pushed Saliers to compose her first score for the indie short film One Weekend a Month in 2004, and provoked her to make a solo album, 2017\u2019s Murmuration Nation, which welcomed guest vocalists Jonatha Brooke, Jennifer Nettles, and Lucy Wainwright Roche as if Saliers was casting a musical. <\/p>\n

For an artist whose music is renowned for bucolic melodies and gripping romanticism, Saliers is, in reality, hotly fueled by risk of the unknown.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bucks County Playhouse
STARSTRUCK
Book by
BETH MALONE
MARY ANN STRATTON
Music and Lyrics by
EMILY SALIERS
Directed and Choreographed by
LORIN LATARRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

s her work apart from the still-thriving Indigo Girls an issue of want or need? Both or neither?<\/p>\n

\u201cInteresting question,\u201d enthuses Saliers. \u201cIt\u2019s all desire. Writing for the musical theater is a brand-new avenue for the creative process for me, and I love being able to have, and do, those sorts of things. And while so much of my writing for the Indigo Girls may sound autobiographical, it really is just me plucking random things from other peoples\u2019 stories, or going into my imagination and finding something fresh. Especially on many of my sadder, slower songs. If they were all about me, I would surely be, like, this really miserable person with a (forever) broken heart.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saliers says empathy compels her to write inside and outside of Indigo Girls, and enables her to inhabit the moon over the misbegotten. <\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m interested in human beings,\u201d she says quietly. \u201cWhat drives them, what pushes them into relationships, what pulls them out of those relationships.\u201d<\/p>\n

And, in the case of Starstruck, what would make one woman write love letters to another as a favor to another hopeful suitor before falling in love herself.<\/p>\n

\"\"
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – APRIL 25: Amy Ray and Emily Saliers of Indigo Girls perform during The Fox Theatre Presents Revival Hosted By Kevn Kinney at The Fox Theatre on April 25, 2024, in Atlanta, Georgia. (Photo by R. Diamond\/Getty Images)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

\u201cI hate the word \u2018frontier\u2019 because of its historical connotations, but writing songs and lyrics for musical theater is a new frontier for me,\u201d Saliers says. \u201cThere\u2019s such a difference between writing songs that set a scene as opposed to those designed, steadily, to move the action of a story along.\u201d<\/p>\n

A fan of the musical theater work of Stephen Sondheim, Saliers had to resist the inclination to write what she sings\u2014loudly\u2014as \u201ctheaaaaatah saawwwngs,\u201d for Starstruck. As she does with Amy Ray in Indigo Girls, Saliers focuses her writing on constant reinvention, \u201cnever doing the same twice, and seeking new ways to use metaphor, analogy, and fresh poetic language without sentimentality\u2026 I\u2019m really trying to shed that sentimentality that may have been there in the past. I\u2019m just looking to hone my craft.\u201d<\/p>\n

Saliers states that this \u201cfrontier\u201d was occasionally rocky terrain as she, Malone, and co-script writer Mary Ann Stratton struggled over the authors\u2019 desire to use existing Indigo Girls songs for Starstruck.<\/p>\n

\u201cI really wanted to move forward and write exclusively new music,\u201d says Saliers. \u201cEven Lorin (Latarro, Starstruck\u2019s director-choreographer) had to calm me down by showing me that there was both space for, and need for, some older music of mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

Latarro, the Broadway director who steered the pair towards the historic Bucks County Playhouse\u2014home to countless premieres with legacy actors such as Robert Redford, Dick Van Dyke, and John Lithgow\u2014adds that, at present, \u201cStarstruck is a nice mix of newer music and classic Indigo Girls tracks such as \u201cGalileo.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs long as it was over that 50% mark, more new music than old so that it doesn\u2019t come off like a jukebox musical, I\u2019m happy,\u201d says Saliers. \u201cSo, to answer your question, my work on Starstruck was born of desire, and now I can\u2019t get enough. Which is great, especially since my 13-year-old daughter is a theater actor and singer (with recent Broadway credits in Frozen and Fiddler on the Roof), so now it\u2019s all in the family.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bucks County Playhouse
STARSTRUCK
Book by
BETH MALONE
MARY ANN STRATTON
Music and Lyrics by
EMILY SALIERS
Directed and Choreographed by
LORIN LATARRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Returning to the subject of the Starstruck and its Cyrano de Bergerac-influenced storyline, Malone reminds us that the 17th century man of letters\u2019 beloved tale has been a jumping-off point for several hit rom-coms, including Steve Martin\u2019s Roxanne and Tom Hanks\u2019 You\u2019ve Got Mail.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe structure of writing letters under the guise of someone else in which to express one\u2019s feelings is a classic trope,\u201d says author Malone. \u201cWriting a love letter that speaks from one\u2019s true heart while hiding behind this device\u2014then the discovery that it\u2019s not this one but that one writing the letters, and that that one is not this man, but rather this woman writing the letters\u2014that\u2019s what\u2019s intriguing. So is having the letter writer herself not realizing that she\u2019s fallen in love until she\u2019s fallen deep. Add all of that together, and Starstruck lives in this wonderful land of discovery on all fronts.\u201d<\/p>\n

For an added measure of discovery and eco-conscious sustainability, Malone set the musical comedic action of Starstruck in a dark-sky preserve\u2014a designated area where its residents agrees to reduce external lights to better appreciate the naturally dark night sky and reduce light pollution.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat way they can have a great view of the stars and the Milky Way,\u201d says Malone, of a shimmering night skies\u2019 romanticism. Add in lead characters such as an astronomer, a bar owner, and a podcaster chasing a story on astro-tourism, whose NPR affiliation the writers ultimately wrote out of the script,, and the comedic drama of Starstruck is complete.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Bucks County Playhouse
STARSTRUCK
Book by
BETH MALONE
MARY ANN STRATTON
Music and Lyrics by
EMILY SALIERS
Directed and Choreographed by
LORIN LATARRO<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

We\u2019re not sure that the subject matter that we\u2019re doing in the podcast is under NPR\u2019s umbrella, so we cut it, actually,\u201d says Malone. \u201cWe just didn\u2019t feel like dealing with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

When I ask if the NPR script trimming has anything to do with the current presidential administration\u2019s bad feeling toward the National Public Radio broadcasting network, Malone assures me otherwise. \u201cWe already had the national parks in there, and the fact that there are no more park rangers to speak of, so it\u2019s just another\u2026. rewrite.\u201d<\/p>\n

As previews commence in New Hope on the weekend of February 20, everyone at Starstruck central is focused on making every facet of their musical shine as brightly as the stars in a staged night sky.<\/p>\n

Of the process of writing for star seekers, barkeeps, and podcasters, Saliers laughs and says, \u201cSo many more of my songs for this show have been cut than have been used. First, they work, then they don\u2019t work, anymore. Again, it\u2019s a learning curve. And I do fight for the songs I believe in. But, you really do learn, fast, to focus your craft for the task at hand.\u201d <\/p>\n

When the subject comes up of what new track Saliers wrote first for Starstruck, she play-act indignance and says, \u201cI don\u2019t remember, but I\u2019m sure it doesn\u2019t exist still. It had something to do with our lead\u2019s grandmother, a star mapper and EPA activist who tied herself to a thresher.\u201d <\/p>\n

Saliers sounds mostly assured that one of her new songs, Starstruck\u2019s showstopper, \u201cWhat Lies Between,\u201d is indeed still part of the production. \u201cIt is a love song, and it is about mystery. What is there. What isn\u2019t there. In the end, it is a culmination of what happens with the characters and what they\u2019ve been through, together.\u201d <\/p>\n

Director Latarro, whose Broadway credits include Pete Townshend\u2019s Tommy and Sara Bareilles\u2019 Waitress, quickly adds an observation as to the work of name-brand songwriters.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou work with rock and pop stars and they\u2019re used to having their songs appreciated with platinum albums, or they get a Grammy,\u201d says the director. \u201cAnd then, all of a sudden, they\u2019re writing for musical theater, their songs are getting cut, and it\u2019s like whoa! what? It\u2019s got to be jarring, but that\u2019s how it works\u2014scenes get added, scenes get cut\u2014whole characters and storylines disappear. If a scene changes, the song has to accommodate that.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen Amy and I prepare to go in to record an album, we don\u2019t have a bunch of extra songs under our belt,\u201d notes Saliers. \u201cShe might have six. I might have six. And there\u2019s the whole album. Starstruck is a very different process, one where I had to write 20, then maybe 13 get used. Or six.\u201dTo this, and all that is Starstruck\u2014and all that isn\u2019t\u2014Beth Malone looks over at Emily Saliers and brightly adds, \u201cI guess you\u2019ll have that many more songs for that next Indigo Girls album.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On a frosty January afternoon at New York City\u2019s Ripley-Grier Studios, Emily Saliers, Beth Malone and Starstruck\u2019s director-choreographer Lorin Lotarro are together, deep in rehearsal\u2014deeper still, in conversation\u2014about something entirely new to Saliers.See more… Rather than fresh material from the Indigo Girls\u2014the liltingly melodic, socio-conscious folk duo she and Amy Ray formed in 1985\u2014Saliers is […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2796,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2794","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2794"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2800,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2794\/revisions\/2800"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/2796"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2794"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2794"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/dailypulse1.xyz\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2794"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}