John Burke’s colorful experiences led to “Red: A Crayon’s Musical”

When he was first approached about working on a musical adaptation of the acclaimed 2015 children’s book Red: A Crayon’s Story, Grammy-nominated Atlanta-based musician John Burke was intrigued. He had never worked on a project like this before and was excited about the new direction. Burke had no idea, however, that the project would take more than six years to bring to life. 

The world premiere of Red: A Crayon’s Musical runs this weekend, January 13-14, at Out Front Theatre Company. Based on Michael Hall’s book, a New York Times bestseller, the musical is directed by Mandy Mitchell and features a book by Ben Thorpe and music and lyrics by Burke. Its titular character is a Blue crayon who is having a time after being mislabeled as Red. All Red wants is just to fit in with others and be normal. 

Jacob Demlow, a former Atlanta theater artist who used to work at Out Front, knew Burke had done some composing for local theater productions and asked him to collaborate. At the time, Burke was not familiar with Hall’s book but read it soon after and was taken by its message.

Author Hall was dyslexic growing up, says Burke, and the story is very personal to him. “[Red] is having trouble expressing himself,” says Burke. “He is given this idea that he is broken somehow, but when he connects with a new friend, he realizes there is nothing wrong with him. He learns about his identity and how he expresses himself. This is put at the level of a children’s book. There could be a lot of takeaways for this, for LGBTQ audiences, for anyone struggling with who you are and who you are told to be. It’s relatable on so many levels.” 

After he agreed to work on the project, Burke began regular meetings with Thorpe. The two would meet and brainstorm frequently about where the music should be and what genres would be involved.  They submitted an early version of Red to the Atlanta Musical Theatre Festival in 2017 and were accepted, receiving a production the following year directed by Demlow. “It was great for us as creators to see the audience’s reaction and how the songs went over,” says Burke. 

After the festival, there was more extensive fine-tuning, including “trimming some fat,” which took time. The final show has 12 songs and a mixed bag of music, including tango, ballads and some ‘60s-era sounds. 

Burke has lived in Georgia all his life, including Smyrna and Atlanta, but now makes a home in Clarkesville in North Georgia. When he was a kid, his father exposed him to a lot of music. Burke would sing in the choir and music was a major part of the family’s life. Although he fantasized about moving into the field, he never thought about it seriously.  

When he was 15, Burke told his father he wanted to learn how to play piano. “Here are your scales, here are your chords, my dad said, and I took it from there,” the musician recalls. He joined a band, having no idea what he was doing, and learned a lot about improvising and music theory. Although he took some music lessons here and there, most of his knowledge came from “jamming with friends.” 

During college at Oglethorpe University, music was definitely on the side. After he finished school in 2011, Burke landed a corporate job as a translator for a health-insurance brokerage. Later, though, he decided to take a job as an accompanist with a church. That was 10 years ago and changed his life forever. Burke loved that he was able to challenge himself and move forward as an artist, composing and creating his own music and releasing more albums. (His first album, Synesthesia, was released in 2011). 

His first movie project was the 2013 independent film Juvenile Transgressions, and he later contributed piano music for the 2013 documentary Going Home and the 2015 film Shattered Reflections. Those experiences lead him to compose soundtracks for Synchronicity Theatre’s production of Katherine Applegate’s The One and Only Ivan in 2017 and three productions for Serenbe Playhouse – – 2015’s A Streetcar Named Desire, Macbeth and Robin Hood, both in 2017.  His work for those companies got him noticed in theater circles and led to the initial meeting with Demlow.   

Burke received a 2017 Grammy nomination for his solo piano album Orogen in the category of Best New Age Album. The nomination helped him with recognition and making more contacts in the industry.  “It validated me as a musician, and it’s been a great way to connect with other musicians. Being Grammy-nominated is an icebreaker and helps get the foot farther in the door.” 

Burke’s latest project was 2021’s Bright Eyes. 

The musician has been largely hands-off for the current production, save for some conversations with the music director regarding modifications working with the cast’s singers. “I haven’t seen any of the rehearsals and when I come see it will be fresh for me. We spent a lot of time working on this; I look forward to seeing it.”

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Jim Farmer covers theater and film for ArtsATL. A graduate of the University of Georgia, he has written about the arts for 30-plus years. Jim is the festival director of Out on Film, Atlanta’s LGBTQ film festival. He lives in Avondale Estates with his husband, Craig, and dog, Douglas.