The members of PigPen Theater Co. get asked a certain question a lot: How did they come up with their name?
They have a number of different stories about its origin, but Curtis Gillen says this one is true:
Seven freshman guys arrived at Carnegie Mellon School of Drama in 2007 and found out about a student-produced arts festival. Despite being short on time, the group decided to put a show together anyway.
“We didn’t have a name or anything so literally the submission was due in like five minutes," Gillen says. "We were all standing around sort of scratching our heads.”
Matt Nuernberger is another member of the group. That day, he was wearing a shirt that had the word “pigpen” written on it. Someone then made the suggestion, and the name has stuck ever since.
Throughout their years at Carnegie Mellon, the group evolved from a bunch of guys wanting to act in Hollywood or on Broadway, to a collaborative group that wants nothing more that to create their own shows and more. They honed their craft both on and off campus.
Nuernberger says after they experienced the satisfaction of creating original productions, they never wanted to do anything else.
“It’s like yeah, whatever it takes to keep this going,” says Nuernberger. “Don’t give up the ship.”
After college, the group moved from Pittsburgh to New York, and started to perform their original, off-Broadway shows.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgQh9sAqpxA
PigPen Theater’s shows aren’t musicals, but they do perform original folk music to drive the narrative. Ben Ferguson says while they weren’t great music makers in the early days, they were great music appreciators.
“We had someone come speak to us when we were in school, and one of the pieces of advice they had given us was that music was the fastest way to the bloodstream,” Ferguson says.
In New York, demand for their music grew so much that after shows, audience members began coming up to them, asking where they could buy their music. Soon they even began doing music gigs around town, eventually landed some agents, and decided, “Hey, let’s be a band, too!”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Sl_0CSXC6lA
While admitting there are a lot of difficulties in transitioning between theater and band, Matt Nuernberger says writing and performing shows isn’t that different from writing and performing music.
“Acknowledging that similarity helped us, I think, have the confidence to be like, ‘Yes, we are a band too,'” he says. “You know, we play these songs in our shows and they affect people in one way, and now we’re going to take away the play and build up the songs and have a similar but entirely different effect.”
Just doing it is the driving force behind Pigpen Theater Co. They say artists tend to pigeonhole themselves and while it may feel more comfortable, it can limit opportunities.
“I think one of the ... things we all took from school was the idea to make your own work,” says Curtis Gillen. “Because, never expect that job to be out there when you finally hit the real world— that is not going to just be there for you unless you make it happen.”
These days, the seven guys from PigPen Theater Co. are working on some upcoming plays and are even planning on writing a book in the near future. Currently the group is on tour for their second music album, “Whole Sun.”
They’re stopping in Traverse City on Friday night, for a performance at the City Opera House.
Check out these videos to get more acquainted with PigPen Theater Co.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RffzIxb_Fdw
https://www.youtube.com/watch?t=227&v=04YWdtHrtIE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A8g1ZGdjHGk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Fj-FDQb1ZTk
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9V9zvv6HZKQ
