'Piano Tales' serves up music, stories and snacks with out-of-the-box OKC debut

With the audience around him watching avidly, Heloha Tate's hand hovered over the small trunk.

After a few hushed moments of consideration, the Oklahoma City 8-year-old drew a slender golden object from the box slung around James Harrison Monaco's neck.

"'The Tale of the Old Key' has been chosen," Monaco announced grandly, as the crowd in Oklahoma Contemporary Arts Center's Te Ata Theater murmured in growing anticipation.

By the time Monaco placed the key between a battered red cigarette package and a small crimson feather, he and his longtime friend Jerome Ellis were grinning in obvious pleasure.

"Wow, we've never done this before," Monaco said, gazing at the trio of objects he had ceremoniously placed atop Ellis' piano. "I'm loving the energy here."

"I know," Ellis replied with a smile.

Threads of desire, joy and gratitude, cleverly spun by the skilled musical storytellers, soon connected the three objects selected for the April 1 early showtime of "Piano Tales" by James & JJJJJerome. Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre presented the New York City duo's OKC debut March 31-April 2 at Oklahoma Contemporary.

The second show on OKC Rep's spring 2022 "Reboot Season" — and the second programmed by the award-winning regional theater's new artistic director, Kelly Kerwin — "Piano Tales" proved another delight for local theatergoers eager to savor something out of the box.

Literally.

Intriguing concept brought to life with exceptional showmanship

With "Piano Tales," James & JJJJJerome set an intriguing table for their robust improvisational storytelling skills, which are liberally seasoned with music, snacks and audience participation. With several richly colored rugs overlapping on the floor around the piano, the space was particularly inviting, with a vibe so relaxed that it didn't seem at all strange when Ellis slipped off his shoes so he could command the piano keys with his socked feet.

"We have a repertoire of ... about 40 possible tales, and we know the rough outlines to each of those stories. It's a combination of tales that are historical or from 'One Thousand and One Nights,' from different cultures from all over the world or originals that we've made up," Monaco explained.

"We pick for each night nine possible tales that the audience can choose from, and the audience then chooses three. And they choose these by choosing physical objects."

With delicious fanfare, Monaco selects three people from the audience at the beginning of every show and presents each of them with his small trunk containing the nine objects. Each object somehow plays a vital part in one of the stories.

In selecting the objects, the audience members determine which three stories the duo will tell at the performance.

"In whatever order they choose those three stories, we tell them," Monaco said. "So, every show is different."

As promising as the concept sounds, my "Piano Tales" experience turned out more well-done than I imagined because of the duo's exceptional showmanship and ability to connect with each other and the audience.

'Audience of desire seekers' treated to captivating tales

Treated to a light, tasty appetizer of fresh berries and assorted cheeses, the audience for the 7 p.m. April 1 show was introduced to each of the nine objects in the trunk with Monaco's teasing descriptions and Ellis' enticing piano interludes.

It was no surprise that the first story selected was "The Tale of the Chinese Cigarettes," which Monaco had described with the irresistible warning, "That one is wild. If you choose it, that's on you." Still, the pick prompted him to label the attendees "an audience of desire seekers."

The show's first tale lived up to its billing. Accompanied by Ellis' adroitly improvised soundtrack, Monaco clearly savored spinning the sprawling real-life epic of royal-turned-drug lord Olive Yang, who commanded an army, endured torturous imprisonment and ultimately brokered peace in British colonial Burma (Myanmar). Monaco wound up the twisty tale by recommending that the audience look up Yang's 2017 New York Times obituary, which is indeed quite the read.

Before moving on to the next story, James & JJJJJerome sat side by side on a steamer trunk and chatted with the audience, asking philosophical questions of some ticketholders and pondering their answers, with Monaco ultimately vowing to delve into "the joy of getting what you didn't order."

Stories and snacks prove well matched

Young Heloha's choice, "The Tale of the Old Key," about a miserable nun who develops an unlikely friendship with a lonely monk, brought tears to my eyes. It was followed by a yummy snack — a Swiss, avocado and alfalfa wrap prepared by Bo Taylor Catering. (Each night of the OKC run featured the food artistry of a different local caterer.)

While the ticketholders snacked, Monaco slipped upstairs so he could deliver the performance's third and final selection — "The Tale of the Feather," which the troubadour said was a personal favorite — from the theater's balcony. It turned out to be a fitting perch to tell the story of a young theologian whose dream of flying is thwarted by a false angel, driving him to seek happiness not in the air but in the sea.

"To help us reflect and process," JJJJJerome — whose stage name is a tribute to his stutter — capped the final tale with a lovely piano performance before smoothly sending the audience off with a final treat: a miniature chocolate parfait.

Even with dessert, "Piano Tales" proved so satisfying that I'm already hungry for an encore.

COMING NEXT: 'OF A MIND: OKC'

Oklahoma City Repertory Theatre Artistic Director Kelly Kerwin and New York playwright Emily Zemba are collaborating with Irish artist collective Listen and Breathe to create "Of a Mind: Oklahoma City," described as "a guided audio experience designed especially for Oklahoma City’s increasingly vibrant urban core." The innovative project will incorporate original music by Kevin McNamara with movement direction by OKC choreographer Hui Cha Poos.

Performances are planned April 30-May 29. For tickets and information, go to www.okcrep.org.

This article originally appeared on Oklahoman: New York duo's 'Piano Tales' serves up out-of-the-box OKC debut