Young at Heart

Beacon lyricist specializes in musicals for kids
Growing up in rural North Carolina, Melvin Tunstall III lived behind a church. "My father was a deacon, but everyone thought he was the pastor," he recalls. "He cut a path between the woods and our house."
Evidenced by Tunstall's singing style and his collaborative score for the musical Stuntboy: In the Meantime, now on tour, gospel music seeped into his psyche.
Things are picking up for the Beacon writer, composer, lyricist and performer. Earlier this year, he traveled to North Carolina to direct a Raleigh Theatre Arts Center production of The Music of Sam Cooke, who began with gospel and ended with soul.
"The call for that gig came out of nowhere," Tunstall says. "As I started to dive into the show, it's such a history lesson. That was one of my favorite theatrical experiences."

For Tunstall, the past is attractive. He is working on a musical score based on the 2022 children's book Yellow Dog Blues about a boy who, while searching for his lost dog, learns about the influence of Mississippi Delta blues musicians on the electrified Chicago scene in the 1940s and 1950s.
Tunstall's niche is uplifting works for young people. Polkadots: The Cool Kids Musical ran for three weeks this year at a theater in Bloomington, Indiana, and Senior Class premiered at the Olney Theatre Center in Maryland.
TheaterWorksUSA produced his hour-long musical adaptation of Stuntboy, based on a graphic novel for children written by Jason Reynolds and illustrated by Raul the Third, which is now on a national tour.
Like the Sam Cooke opportunity, Tunstall received an unsolicited call to write for a five-person Stuntboy cast. His musical partner, Greg Dean Borowski, sent over songs and Tunstall, who wrote the book and lyrics, added his touches and recorded demos for the cast to study.

Though Tunstall's high school musical, Senior Class, tackles issues of race and class, Stuntboy is wholesome and features supportive, affirming messages.
The protagonist, Portico Reeves, is an 8-year-old trying to overcome anxiety surrounding his parents' impending divorce. The production features plenty of movement onstage, along with colorful sets and costumes.
Church-style harmonies bookend the opening song, which introduces Portico's female best friend and his bullying nemesis. Driven by keyboards, the tunes are poppy and upbeat. Though there are spoken interludes, most of the story is conveyed in the lyrics.
After premiering at Bronxville High School in Westchester County, the production will travel to Austin, Texas, for performances on Nov. 5 and 6.
Tunstall moved to New York City after college but returned to North Carolina following 9/11. Friends pulled him north again, and he joined the cast of the Toronto production of Rock of Ages in 2010 and the original Broadway production of Beautiful: The Carole King Musical, hanging around for six years.
He became acquainted with theater folks living in Beacon, found a beneficial living arrangement and moved to the city two years ago. "It reminds me of Blowing Rock, North Carolina," he says.
Although jobs seem to find him, he continues to hustle. "This is a tough business," he says. "You have to be five years ahead of the game, but I'm married to my career. I'm just thinking, 'Let's get as much theater into the world as possible.' "