Leah Hamilton | staff writer

Many musicals revolve around themes of family, history or identity. But in the upcoming play “Slice Something Slice”, the common narratives take a turn by putting an emphasis on one beloved food: pizza.

The story takes place in an alternate world called “Pizza” where a council of elders must help lead a young graduate, named Slice, on a journey to find the perfect piece of pizza and unite the world.

In the quest for the perfect pizza, Slice travels through different parts of the world, sampling pies from a variety of different communities. At the end of his journey, society reunites through Slice’s discovery of a new pizza.

“I want audiences to think about pizza in a different manner. There is a depth and a lot of variables to pizza,” said director Dan Tallarico.

Tallarico has been writing about pizza for the last fifteen years through his website, Pizza Walk With Me, which features a newsletter and a guidebook about pizza.

“Slice Something Slice” first came together when Tallarico wanted to pursue a new creative outlet. He bought a notebook and dove into the story building a world and designing characters.

“I had no business ever writing a musical despite previously loving shows that I’ve seen in the area,” he said. “It started coming out organically, starting off with a church setting and eventually filling up all the lines.”

As a pizza connoisseur, he believes there is always a conversation happening about the dish .

“Everyone has opinions on pizza and it’s this sort of universal topic that we wanted to put into motion,” Tallarico said.

When the script was finished, the next step was to create the music of “Something Slice Something” to fully encapsulate the story of Slice and the world of “Pizza.”

Chad McMurtrie, the music producer, was immediately interested in the project because the odd nature of the show provided a perfect way to be adventurous with the music.

The musical style of the show is defined by rock and roll performed by a band with vocals, guitar, bass and drums. Rooted in McMurtrie’s previous background in the genre, he experimented with all sorts of sounds and styles to capture the essence of the musical.

“I approached each song as its own little universe,” he said. “It’s really rewarding to come in with a very rough sketch of a song idea and have the band hang their ideas on the bones of what I’ve presented.”

McMurtrie emphasized the importance of taking every step seriously despite the absurdity of the plot.

“It’s important to me that the songs aren’t a joke. It’s a delicate balance,” he said.

The production of the show was a one-of-a-kind experience for Christa Cardone, a producer for “Slice Something Slice”.

“Everyone who hit the stage took the characters in a direction we couldn’t have predicted,” she said.

The goal was to create a polished finish for all elements of the show, from the music to the actors. While doing this she allowed herself to have fun with the process and see what would come of it.

“I have truly never laughed so hard in my life as when Dan did this show the first time,” she said.

Through all its creativity, “Slice Something Slice” plays on the larger meaning of connection and community, which is set to linger on the minds of the audience.

Tallarico was inspired to write this production because of the deterioration of society by social media he has seen in recent years.

“Social media has become so vapid with promoting such competitive and fake content,” he said.

He wanted to recreate the type of media he interacted with at a young age and force people to truly engage with new content. The show strives to convey the negatives of crafting a fake image online.

“I wanted to capitalize on this idea that there is a really perfect pizza out there,” Tallarico said. “It’s meant to be a criticism of the pursuit of perfection in a really absurd way.”

Tallarico wants to leave audiences reflecting on their own creative directions and what they can produce with their talents.

“When collaborating with good people, you can make weird things happen. Just do things in the world you have no reason to do,” Tallarico said

“Slice Something Slice” will premiere Oct. 29 at BrilloBox, located in Bloomfield, from 6 to 10 p.m. Tickets and more information can be found on events.ticketleap.com

Leah Hamilton can be reached at hamiltonl4@duq.edu