Johnny Marr's Guitar

When Vic, lead singer of the Manchester Knights, inherits a famous guitar from Merlin, a pawn shop owner turned music manager, he rises from obscurity to glory along with his band to become the Kings of England. But when a new manager takes the band to America, the pressures of success threaten his relationships. The comedy examines fame and obsession with a dose of Arthurian magic, English slang, and rock history.

Obsession with British music has been a lifelong project. I'd been toying around with the idea of hooking the King Arthur legend over the story of the Beatles for about a year when I started the playwrights program at Juilliard. When I met the actor Alex Sharp, I realized I had to write the play — he was exactly who I'd been hearing in my head. In hindsight, it's also clearly the way I dealt with getting into Juilliard, meeting with agents and Hollywood execs for the first time. Somewhat prophetically, this play about a young man who finds himself thrust into fame came true when Alex was cast in The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Nighttime on Broadway a year later. I cherish this play for all the fun we had creating it, especially all the furniture and props we destroyed. It was glorious.

Characters

4 women, 5 men

Setting

Manchester, London, and Los Angeles. The present.

History

September 2013 - Workshop Production at the Juilliard School, directed by Sam Buntrock

Photos from the 2013 production at the Juilliard School

Director: Sam Buntrock

Cast: Alex Sharp, Marcus Crawford Guy, Alex Breaux, Colin Bates, Kate McGonigle, Jessica Savage, Brittany Vicars, Kailey Bray, and Noah Averbach-Katz

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