The Risk We Take in Z The Masked Musical of Zorro

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THE RISK WE’RE TAKING

The reason we are spending 3 months in workshops for “Z” is, we are trying to do for Zorro, what Zeferelli did for “Romeo & Juliet”. Our Zorro is a young man, 19-20 years old. Throughout history we have thrown our beardless youths into the fray of battle as cannon fodder, making old men out of them in the trenches of World War I, the beaches of Normandy in World War II, and the jungles of Viet Nam. It was no different back in the days of old California,--Zorro would have been viewed as a full grown man.

I also didn’t want to have the effeminate fop routine as the character angle. I think it’s over used and offensive. I wanted our young hero to don a fake mustache, lower his voice, and use his wit to create an older appearing character,---which is why no one suspects that Diego is Zorro. His family heritage, and training from his maternal Grandfather (whose family were the royal swordmasters of Spain for generations), and the reckless energy of youth, will allow him to outwit the villains. We want his lady love to be his first great passion, not to have him be an experienced, older man who has tasted and trifled with many a court beauty, and barmaid. This is what we will seek to create and refine in the workshop period. The actor who will play the role of Diego/Zorro (Tyler Miller), knows that if this doesn’t work well, we will recast, and return to the safer, standard interpretation. He is risking 3 months of his time, and undergoing a tremendous amount of intensive training in many specialized areas. The backstage story of this is like a horse race. We are all betting on Tyler to win,---but you never know.

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Tyler Miller