Julia Yob and directing partner Ian Mockerman’s production about food service foibles boasts a three-night run at Wealthy Theatre. Seeds of the musical can be traced to a local songwriters’ alliance.
TIP$ Creative Duo: Ian Mockerman and Julia Yob
By Tricia Woolfenden
LocalSpins.com
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As a singer-songwriter, Julia Yob understands the nuances of using music to tell a story.
Her latest – and arguably biggest – project pushes her craft to a different level: a full-length theater musical comedy.
“TIP$,” a two-hour production, features 14 complete numbers spanning a variety of genres, including tango. The musical, created by Yob and her writing/production/directing partner Ian Mockerman, boasts an eight-member cast.
It’s a send-up of life in the service industry complete with “Minimum Wage Melodies” and the revelation that “in food service, everybody smokes.” The three-day run at Wealthy Theatre that begins Friday features a cast and crew of West Michigan artists, actors and musicians. It’s billed as a show “suitable for any crowd that doesn’t mind foul language and some inappropriate behavior.”
Yob, 25, is a West Michigan native who met Mockerman nearly 10 years ago when the two were students at Allendale High School.
Musically inclined, Yob attended Carthage College in Wisconsin, where she started writing songs in earnest. Since returning to the region, Yob has become active in the local scene, performing with a jazz trio, singing at weddings and joining the Grand Rapids Songwriters Alliance (GRSA).
KUDOS TO AN ‘AMAZING’ AND ‘INSPIRING’ SONGWRITERS GROUP
“They’re absolutely amazing,” Yob said of the group, founded in 2004 as a grass-roots way to nurture and support local musicians who write their own music. “It’s really inspiring.”
The TIP$ cast
Yob said her songwriting style has evolved significantly since becoming aligned with the GRSA, which has met for years at the Schuler Books & Music on Alpine Avenue NW. The group’s monthly themes — such as asking members to write a song based on Halloween or to create a parody or to “do something new with recording” — often have a knack for forcing musicians to step outside the comfort zone.
The musicians also have a way of identifying an individual member’s habits, and encouraging experimentation and breaking free from routine. For instance, Yob said she had a tendency “to write a lot of ‘you’re not the one for me'” songs. Her special assignment from the group: “Write a happy song.”
YOB ALSO HAS RELEASED A 12-SONG ALBUM
Yob brought music from “TIP$” to GRSA members to get feedback on what worked and what didn’t, a process that was tremendously helpful. “It’s great for a critique,” she said.
Tim Perry, one of the founders of GRSA, said the group is proud of Yob’s “kinda left-of-center songwriting thing” that she delivers in “TIP$.”
Julia Yob
Incidentally, the GRSA itself is in something of a transitionary period. The group recently lost its long-time meeting place at Schuler Books because the store is preparing to close its doors for good. GRSA currently is in the process of securing a new regular meeting place.
In fall 2013, Yob also released “Kissing Frogs,” a 12-song folk-pop album of “story-style singing” with a loose theme of love and individual songs written to capture a specific mood or atmosphere. “I like songs that present a moment in time,” she reasoned.
With everything that has gone into production of “TIP$” (the co-writers spend roughly 26 to 30 hours each week working on the show), Yob has had little time to devote to promoting or playing out in support of that CD.
And with a schedule that is packed with writing, performing and working a full-time job, Yob may have to scramble to carve out the hours to do so in the next few months. In the meantime, the album is available on CDBaby.com and locally.
Details and tickets for “TIP$ the Musical” are available online at the Grand Rapids Community Media Center website. The musical debuted in late January at the Lake Effect Fringe Festival at Dog Story Theater in Grand Rapids.
Email John Sinkevics at jsinkevics@gmail.com.
Copyright 2014, Spins on Music
