‘Spurned: A Wild West Tale of Love, Revenge, and Assless Chaps’ Preview: This Is Not Your Father’s Western

Olivia F. Data ’26, the writer and director of “Spurned: A Wild West Tale of Love, Revenge and Assless Chaps,” started thinking of writing a musical in the fall of her freshman year. When looking through a document of poetry that she had kept since middle school, she came across a few lines that struck a chord.

“I was scrolling through it, and there was one part that could be the start of something, and it ended up being one of the songs in this,” Data said in an interview with The Crimson.

“Spurned” is a romp through the Wild West. In the story, two nuns, Estie (Claire Jiang ’28) and Sister Margaret (Tahraji N.L. Milsap ’27), seek revenge and adventure outside of their convent, teaming up with an outlaw to track down Estie’s fiance and find out the truth about his disappearance.

Data wrote the book and lyrics, while her blockmate and friend, Preston C. Bushnell ’26, is the lead composer and assistant music director for the show. Bushnell and Data know what it’s like to work on a production together — they met in the First Year Arts Program when they were freshmen, writing songs like “Mouse Dreams” and “Oh Fuck, We’re Lost in Space.”

“After we did ‘Oh Fuck, We’re Lost in Space,’ he turns to me and goes, ‘You know, I’ve never actually sung on stage before,” Data said. “I’ve always admired that about Preston. He’s always willing to take creative risks, which you can tell, because he took this on.”

Because “Spurned” is an original student production, the cast had the opportunity to imagine their characters alongside the creative team, which gave the team a greater sense of ownership and attachment.

“We had a character workshop, which was my first rehearsal ever,” said Jiang, who plays Estie. “And [Data] was like, ‘It’s my show, but also, it’s all of your shows now, all the actors’s and crew members’s and cast’s shows.’ Because it becomes your own thing.”

For Cruz G. Allison ’28, who plays Cutthroat Kit, a sense of adventure and play resonates throughout the rehearsals as he learns new skills, from stage combat to a Southern drawl.

“I’ve never really done [stage combat] before,” Allison said. “And the way that it was approached by the staff is super comfortable, but also super fun, because a lot of the stuff that we're doing is kind of zany at times.”

“Spurned” was also Bushnell’s first time composing an original musical, which he described as “a lot of fun.” He started writing the songs in his sophomore fall and worked on them throughout the summer this year.

“It's been really fun writing music for the show because it has such a clear aesthetic goal,” Bushnell said, who cited Brandi Carlile and Scott Joplin as influences.

The cowboy Western has become part of America’s national mythology, and in this retelling, Data hopes to put her own spin on some of the narrative beats in the familiar genre.

“It has a lot of tropes, but I want to explore how you can make those tropes fun and country and not have the butt of the joke always be women,” said Data.

Bushnell, her partner-in-crime, agrees.

“The takeaway that I hope people have is that they see a little bit more from the Western narrative than they might have seen before,” he said. “I think it’s a very homogenous aesthetic and genre as it exists right now. And I think ‘Spurned’ makes it a little broader and pushes those boundaries.”

Data, who works for the Harvard College Women’s Center, is also interested in how “Spurned” can help tell “stories of female agency.”

“Part of it is this exploration of what revenge and power and autonomy mean to someone who is not normatively able to express that,” Data said. “Estie is this young woman who's reeling from heartbreak and was raised very sheltered, and we wanted to talk about how we can keep this character — who is overall optimistic — kind and gentle, but also can't be stepped on.”

But even as it tackles these themes, “Spurned” is determined not to take itself too seriously.

“I would not go as far as to say that this is an activist production,” Data said with a laugh. “Because it's a comedy musical about assless chaps.”

Instead, what “Spurned” wants, first and foremost, is for its audience members to have a good time.

“It has a lot of soul and work and time put into it, but it also doesn't take itself too seriously,” Jiang said.

Allison echoes her sentiment.

“The assless chaps are real; I am the one who wears them,” Allison said. “It’s fun, it’s a very approachable show. Even people who aren’t musical theater people could come and watch it.”

“Spurned: A Wild West Tale of Love, Revenge and Assless Chaps” runs at the Agassiz Theatre from Oct. 24 to Oct. 27.

—Staff writer Angelina X. Ng can be reached at angelina.ng@thecrimson.com. Follow her on X @angelinaxng.