Review Fix Exclusive: Dan Furman Talks ‘Impossible But True’

Review Fix chats with Composer Dan Furman who discusses his reworked first musical, Impossible But True, in preparation for its revival in April – first in Brooklyn then across the river in Manhattan.

About ‘Impossible But True’:

Impossible But True (IBT) follows Washington Irving’s immortal character of Rip Van Winkle. It follows Rip–an idle storyteller and dreamer–as he goes off to fight in the Revolutionary War and then cannot find his way home. Premiering at the 2011 Midtown International Theatre Festival, IBT – now written in an immersive style and presented environmentally in a tavern, will make its initial return at Franklin 820 (820 Franklin Ave in Brooklyn) on four Mondays: April 30, May 7, May 14, May 21 at 7:00 p.m.

For further info: [email protected].

Review Fix: What was the inspiration for this project?

Dan Furman: In a way, Washington Irving’s “Rip Van Winkle” is a story about time travel.  Rip falls asleep and wakes up 20 years in the future.  When I realized that the 20 years Rip slept through included the years of the American Revolutionary War, a lot of possibilities opened up. We have characters in Act I who believe that a revolution could never be possible and then we see the town 20 years later celebrating their victory as a fact.  That’s where the title “Impossible But True” comes from.

Review Fix:

Review Fix: What’s your creative process like?

Furman: I get obsessed.  Apparently, I am not very good company when this happens.  I get a lot of work done on the subway.  People tend to be in their own world there anyway.

Review Fix: What makes this different or special?

Furman: This is an immersive show.  You can drink and eat while the show happens around you.  When characters are in a scene, they may be sitting in the seat next to you.  And, as it happens, much of the IBT show actually takes place in a bar.

Review Fix: What did you learn about yourself through this process?

Furman: This was my first show.  It began as a collaboration with a wonderful lyricist and book writer, Mary-Liz McNamara.  But at a certain point, she had to withdraw from the project.

So I learned I could write a musical—book, lyrics and all.

Review Fix: What are your ultimate goals for this production and for the future?

Furman: I hope to take this show in its immersive format to bars all around the country…and the world!

Maybe I’ll start with New York first, though.

Review Fix: What do you think your audiences will enjoy the most?

Furman: I’m never sure what an audience will enjoy most.  I love the characters in this show—I could hang out with them in the bar…maybe even write another show with them.  Many people have told me they like the songs.

Review Fix: What’s next?

Furman: I have two other shows I’m working on:  “Ybor City” with book writer Anita Gonzalez and “The Proust Virus,” for which I wrote music, book and lyrics and I’m currently developing with director/choreographer Christopher Noffke.

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About Patrick Hickey Jr. 14230 Articles
Patrick Hickey Jr. is a full-time Assistant Professor of Communication & Performing Arts and Director of the Journalism program at Kingsborough Community College and is the chairman of the City University of New York Journalism Council. He is the Founder and Editor-In-Chief of ReviewFix.com. He's also a former News Editor at NBC Local Integrated Media and National Video Games Writer at Examiner.com where his work was mentioned in National Ad campaigns by Disney, Nintendo and EA Sports. Hickey was also the Editor-In-Chief of two College Newspapers before he received his BA in Journalism from Brooklyn College. Hickey's work has been published in The New York Daily News, The New York Times, Complex, The Hockey Writers, Yahoo!, Broadway World, Examiner, NYSportScene Magazine, ProHockeyNews.com, GothamBaseball.com, The Syracuse Post-Standard, Scout.com and the official sites of the Brooklyn Aces and New York Islanders. His first book, The Minds Behind the Games: Interviews With Cult And Classic Video Game Developers was released in April 2018 and is chock full of interviews with legendary developers. His second book in the series, The Minds Behind Adventures Games, was released in December 2019. His third book, The Minds Behind Sports Games, was released in September 2020. His fourth book, The Minds Behind Shooter Games, was released in March 2021. The Minds Behind Sega Genesis Games and The Minds Behind PlayStation Games were released in 2022 and The Minds Behind PlayStation 2 was published in January 2023. Hickey is also a contracted comic book writer, currently penning his original series, "Condrey," as well as "The Job," "Brooklyn Bleeds" "Dem Gulls" and "KROOM" for Legacy Comix, where he serves as founder, owner and Editor-in-Chief. Hickey Jr. is also a voice actor, having starred in the 2018 indie hit and 2019 Switch, PS4 and Xbox One release, The Padre (also serving as English language Story Editor), from Shotgun With Glitters. The sequel, The Padre: One Shell Straight to Hell was released in February 2021- Hickey also served as a Story Editor and Lead Voiceover performer. He has also done narration and trailers for several other titles including The Kaiju Offensive, Relentless Rex and Roniu’s Tale. Hickey is also the lead voiceover performer on Mega Cat Studios’ upcoming title WrestleQuest, responsible for nearly 90 characters in the game, as well as Skybound's Renfield: Bring Your Own Blood, where he voices both Dracula and Renfield, as well as several other characters. He also stars in Ziggurat Interactive’s World Championship Boxing Manager 2, where he performs the VO of nearly every male character in the game. He also worked on the Atari VCS’s BPM Boy.

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