Local musical ‘Lemonade!’ returns to Lebanon stage after decade-long hiatus

After 10 years and some revision, locally-created musical Lemonade! has returned to the stage at Lebanon Community Theatre (LCT).

In the show, two small-town twins become embroiled in controversy as their lemonade stand comes under fire from a major lemonade producer housed in the town. The kids and their father, a recently fired employee of that company, need to navigate a growing media circus descending on their family.

LCT’s run of the show includes four more shows Thursday through Sunday of this week.

Dave Breidenstine, Sean Eisenhauer, and John Fischer — the creative minds that co-wrote the show — sat down for a question and answer session after Sunday’s matinee.

The trio had already worked together on a three-act Star Wars musical, but wanted to come together to create something original (and less likely to lead to a legal battle). When Breidenstine pitched the concept of kids being sued by the world’s largest lemonade company, the three men began work on the show.

With primarily Breidenstine writing music, Fischer writing lyrics, and Eisenhauer writing the book, the three were soon able to put together a draft. Laughing, Breidenstine described the first draft of the show as “terrible,” though snippets of it would remain as the show went through revisions.

By 2012, the trio had a first act they were happy with, and performed for a test audience before beginning work on Act 2.

Eisenhauer said the three sought to provide fulfilling resolutions to the conflict and dynamics established in the first act, though they did scrap an alternate ending for the show.

In 2015, the full show was performed at LCT for the first time for one weekend only, totaling a whopping three hours for both acts. All three creators were directly involved, including at a directorial level.

And, for a time, the creators put the show aside. But when their lives were put on pause due to the 2020 COVID-19 pandemic, the trio took the opportunity to refine the show into what it is today.

Most of the changes, Breidenstine explained, came down to cutting down around 30 minutes of runtime from long scenes and songs. This version of the show also had less direct involvement from creators; while Breidenstine offered feedback, he did not direct.

Director Rick Graybill, who also took part in the panel, said he had been impressed with the show from first reading the script. He also thanked creators for letting LCT perform the show royalty-free.

“I truly believe this stands up with other shows I’ve directed in terms of the quality of the material,” said Graybill. “I would love to see them take this further because I know that it is right up there with some of the other things that make their way to Broadway.

“The songs are just so well written; there are these beautiful melody lines and the gorgeous harmonies, and the clever lyrics and the fact that there’s so many different genres of music represented in the show.”

He had not seen the 2015 production, but used this fact to his advantage by directing based on the show’s book and his own vision moreso than attempting to recreate the original. He thanked Breidenstine for being permissive of creative liberties taken with the production.

In addition to Graybill’s directorial touch and the passionate performance by local actors who put themselves into their roles, others have influenced the show in less direct ways.

Posters hung throughout the theater depicting Yellow Harvest Lemonade Co. were created by Amy Shirk, who designed them to resemble classic ads from the 1950s.

The cover for the show’s program was created by Keith Heck, designed largely based on the actors in this production.

In addition to lovingly designed sets, many props were created just for the show, including book covers to fictional books referenced throughout the production.

Jonathan Shoff, a college peer of Breidenstine’s, put together orchestrations for the show — which is performed alongside live piano, clarinet, trumpet, bass, and drums — and creators specifically shouted out the show’s original dummer Trevor Kiscadden for his influence on songs.

Looking forward, Fischer said they are looking into next steps for the show, including officially registering it and opening it up to be performed by other theaters.

However, “if this is where it stops, it is still very fulfilling for all of us,” said Breidenstine.

When asked by a cast member whether they would consider making an official Spotify recording for the show’s soundtrack, Breidenstine asked if the cast would help with that. The answer was a resounding “yes” from cast members gathered at the back of the theater, and creators agreed to get to work on it.

As of now, the three have no concrete plans to begin work on another show, but they said they are open to it if a good enough concept comes along.

Those interested in seeing the show can purchase tickets at LCT’s website, and those with questions can email the show’s creators at lemonadethemusical@gmail.com.