North Fork Community Theatre presents play by local musician

On Friday, August 8 at 7:30 p.m. and Sunday, August 10 at 2:30 p.m. North Fork Community Theatre in Mattituck will present a new feature called “Blue Light Club.” 

This one-of-a-kind live performance was created by musician-storyteller Jack Licitra. The cast features performances by Jack Licitra, Danny Kean, Rorie Kelly, Gianna Volpe and the Blue Hot Band. 

Described as a hybrid between a musical and a play by Mr. Licitra, the performance draws the audience into an imaginary venue where the music of New Orleans and Chicago is woven with the storied lives of the house band, who are being interviewed by a real-life DJ. 

“You’re introduced to the club, and you meet the characters and then you run into a little bit of the conflicts the characters have had in their lives,” said Mr. Licitra. “The piano player, Danny King, is blind, so he talks about his struggles and how music has helped him. The arc is really coming to the realization that the community of this club is really what brings people together and the experience that we’re all looking for through music and life.”

Though he has extensive experience as a performer, Mr. Licitra never thought to turn those anecdotes into a stage production until he was struck with inspiration in his sleep.

“I’d been a long-time blues and jazz musician, but I had a dream while I was sleeping one night that I should write a play,” said Mr. Licitra. “
So the concept of developing a play or a musical was intimidating, but then I got to the idea about the play taking place in a blues and jazz club and the DJ as a narrator. I know radio very well, and I know blues and jazz clubs well, so then it was familiar territory.”

Mr. Licitra wanted to tell a story about the experience of being a blues and jazz musician and the power of the community in blues and jazz clubs. It was important to chronicle a music career that, while not necessarily financially sustainable, satisfies something deeper. 

“It’s not like pop music, where you’re in it for the fortune and fame. You’re pursuing this art that, you know, you’re always sort of in smaller venues or offbeat venues, and it’s a niche kind of music,” said Mr. Licitra. “It’s this quixotical pursuit of trying to be great at something that’ll never make you rich and famous, but just doing it for the love and the coolness of the art.”