Crazytown

MY OTHER FAVORITE MUSICALS

By Rob Shapiro (musical theatre writer)

A friend of mine asked me for a recommendation for musicals to listen to, ones he probably hadn't listened to. I thought of the scores I love that don't always get mentioned - City of Angels, Parade, Violet and Floyd Collins.  I also thought about movie musicals too - Moulin Rouge! and Evening Primrose…

After compiling my list, I realized that there were a whole bunch of musicals I had forgotten about - the ones I watched as a kid.  I was fortunate to grow up during the Disney renaissance of Alan Menken/Howard Ashman movie musicals, but there were also others that had a great influence on me that are worth revisiting.  The ones we don't talk about as much - movie musicals like "The Aristocats", "Bedknobs and Broomsticks", "Snoopy, Come Home" and "Charlotte's Web".  And here's the thing I didn't realize until I started researching this blog: the songs for those four movies were written by the Sherman Brothers.

Enjoy this trip down memory lane!

BEHIND THE MADNESS: RYAN SCOTT OLIVER, VOL. 2

This week, we delve deeper into the brand of RSO and the heart of Ryan Scott Oliver.
By Michael Ruby (Writer) 

Last week’s post featured the start of my dialogue with the wonderful and wonderfully gifted Ryan Scott Oliver. (Read Volume 1 here). This week, the conclusion, and one of my favorite conversations to date, as Ryan speaks insightfully, inspiringly and a bit introspectively about the craft and business of writing musical theater. Plus, I post my favorite RSO track and give a shout out to its grotesquely hilarious lyric that makes me giggle like a goof whenever I hear it.

Do you write full-time, or do you have a “survival job?”
I am a writer. I have about thirteen jobs, and they’re all part time, but writing is [my primary source] of income.

One of those thirteen jobs is that you teach at Pace University.
Teaching at Pace is my favorite day of the week.

What’s your signature lesson? What do students come away from class learning most from you?
That you have to treat your acting career like a business. You have to have a vision of where you’re going, a mission to get you there, and a set of values for the journey. It’s about branding. 

I talk about this with clients all the time. Even more than a mission/vision/value statement, in a world where products are so commoditized you need a purpose.
Exactly. An actor that says, “I want to be on Broadway because I really like musicals and I’m going to audition a lot to get there” is a lot like a computer company being like, “We are going to make a lot of money because we like making computers and value our customers.” That’s not going to sell anything. It’s about what you do differently that is going to make you special.

The same thing applies to writers, especially when you’re trying to get a writing gig. I’ve talked with a couple people about writing spec material, but haven’t asked about their approach. I know you’ve done it, and done it successfully. What’s your take?
One of the lessons I’ve learned in the last year…

*RSO makes a parenthetical shape with his hands and shakes the backstory it contains like a magic 8-ball.*

A composer, like any artist, has to brand himself and sell his product. It’s got to be a product that no one else does, or which they do better than anyone else. I do darkness, musical intricacy, a sort of organized chaos really well, or better than anyone else.

                (Jay Armstrong Johnson sings "Leave Luanne" from 35MM)

This last year, because of this experience [I had], I realized that I wasn’t embracing the best parts of myself. I was offered a job and said yes without asking myself if I’ll have fun and if I'd write something really great. So…I didn't have fun and I didn't write something all that great. And a week after that process was over, I started the piece I'm writing now – which was my idea and very important to me, and I'm enjoying every second of it. It’s fulfilling in every way. It's me, and I hope it's something the world appreciates and embraces.

BEHIND THE MADNESS: RYAN SCOTT OLIVER, VOL. 1

Exploring all things craft and crazy/cool with the new mad geniuses of musical theater.
By Michael Ruby (Writer) 

At long last, I’ve met The Creator…of this blog. He is the one singular sensation who’s represented some of the best in new musical theater everywhere from New York to LA to Chicago to “The Donald’s” altered-reality reality television hit, The Apprentice. He’s Ryan Scott Oliver (AKA: RSO, FYI).

Among his impressive credits, RSO is a 2011 Lucille Lortel Award Nominee, a 2009 Jonathan Larson Grant recipient and wrote the music and lyrics for 35mm: A Musical Exhibition, Mrs. Sharp (2008 Richard Rodgers Award Winner, at Playwrights Horizons starring Jane Krakowski, dir. by Michael Greif), Darling (featured on the “Bound for Broadway” episode of NBC’s The Apprentice), the song cycle Out of My Head, Quit India (commissioned by UCLA), the music for Angus Oblong’s The Debbies, a commission for Disney Theatricals, The Frog Prince Continued (commissioned by Chicago’s Emerald City Theatre) and Jasper in Deadland (commissioned by the Pasadena Musical Theatre Program). Learn more about his amazing work and accolades here.

I met Ryan after we each had long days “at the office.” Ryan came from rehearsal for a reading of his Jasper In Deadland at The York Theatre; less interestingly, I came from…the office. I joined him at one of his favorite Upper East Side haunts, The District. We exchanged greetings and quickly decided we needed drinks, whiskey for him and my favorite Lagunitas IPA for me.

We shared (abridged) life stories, talked about our awesome dogs and our even-more-awesome partners/wives and enjoyed other such getting-to-know-you chitchat over burgers and drinks. On a few occasions, Ryan caught me off-guard – like when he asked me if I thought I was a good father, or when he made me embarrassingly blush by observing that, though I’m in my thirties, I still have the “glow of a 17-year-old.” I knew our conversation was going to be most excellent, thoughtful and intriguing – it did not disappoint!

When you’re writing your best stuff, what’s your technique? Is there a particular approach to how it comes about?
I think a good writer writes to the need of the piece. When I'm writing a piece and I do a song list or song chart to get the structure – everything from time signatures to feel, character, range – I also have a sense of this other element which I don't think other people talk about very much which is what I think every musical needs: “hit songs.” I think there are always two or three songs that just always stand out when you leave the theater. And then there are there other songs that are more intricate and interesting. These other songs, I call them “plot songs,” I don't feel the need to make them as catchy. They are there to support a moment that maybe isn't most attractive to the audience.

Does your approach differ for “hit songs” versus “plot songs?” Or doesn’t it?
When I start a “hit” of a show, it's got to be a really important song for an important moment – the “Defying Gravity” or “A Little Priest.” And I work on that song until I feel it is as good as that moment needed it be. Another song, a plot song, will usually come much faster because I only need to honor the character. [I’m not asking] will this be a hummable tune? I don't need to worry about that. But that doesn’t make the song any less important overall. The mix [of song types] is what makes things stand out. [In Into The Woods], you need a “Your Fault,” which is so dissonant and wordy, to find the release that is “Last Midnight.” You need “Epiphany” [in Sweeney Todd] before “A Little Priest.” A score can’t be all audition songs or “YouTube songs.”

BEHIND THE MADNESS: JONATHAN REID GEALT, VOL. 1

Exploring all things craft and crazy/cool with the new mad geniuses of musical theater.
By Michael Ruby (Writer) 

Two years ago, songs Rob Rokicki and I wrote were featured in the first of an awesome and now ongoing cabaret series called People You May Know. People You May Know combines the songs of three featured writers, along with the familiar songs and composers that have been influential to their work. In the inaugural show, one writer was Rob, another was Adam Gwon (my Ethan Frome collaborator and the subject of my two recent posts available here and here). The third was the incredible composer, lyricist and performer Jonathan Reid Gealt.

Small world that it is, Jonathan was involved in one of our Frome readings a few years prior. So, he was indeed a person I may have known. And after the concert, I wanted to know even more about the fantastic writer whose moving songs captured my imagination that night – and have captured the hearts of nearly a million total viewers on YouTube! So, I reached out to him when I began this blog series.

Jonathan’s music has been sung all over the world, including: New York, Philadelphia, Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, London, Manila, Japan, Australia, and Canada. His widely popular album “Thirteen Stories Down” (available on Sh-k-Boom/Ghostlight Records) features the talents of several Broadway heavyweights. And Jonathan is currently composing the music for the highly anticipated Dust and Shadow, based on the novel Dust and Shadow: An Account of the Ripper Killings by Dr. John H. Watson by Lyndsay Faye. After playing Starbucks bingo, bouncing from one location to the next to find each other among the four beaneries all located within the same city block, Jonathan and I claimed a corner to ourselves to thaw from the sub-zero temperatures outside and talk shop.

IN GUETTEL WE TRUST

I think Adam Guettel could be the next big thing. Here's why.
By Michael Kras (Actor/Director/Playwright)

Do you know this man?

If you're a fan of musical theatre, I suspect you do. But Adam Guettel is still surprisingly 'under the radar' in the theatrical world, and this is for a variety of different reasons. He's only written three shows, and just one of those three shows has appeared on a Broadway stage. If you're not familiar with his work, I'm here to tell you exactly why you should be.

Allow me to make a bold statement: I like Adam Guettel more than Stephen Sondheim. Now, before you come after me with pitchforks and torches, notice I didn't say that Guettel is BETTER than Sondheim. But I like Guettel more. In fact, he's my all-time favourite composer. Here are just a few reasons why.

BEHIND THE MADNESS: ADAM GWON, VOL. 2

More risotto balls and revelatory insights with the extraordinary writer of Ordinary Days. 
By Michael Ruby (Writer)

When last we blogged, I was sharing highlights from my conversation and West Bank Café snacking session with the incredible Mr. Adam Gwon. (You can read Volume 1 here.) Here is the conclusion, featuring some optimistic observations about the state of musical theater and pure proof that anything is truly possible.

You’ve talked about how visiting The Met helped to inspire you when working on Ordinary Days. Where else do you find inspiration?
When I was writing Ordinary Days, I was in the midst of a Dramatists’ Guild Fellowship. One of the mentors they brought in said that, whenever she gets stuck, she goes to The Met for inspiration to get unstuck. She also wears a hoop skirt so that no one gets too close to her.

Do you wear a hoop skirt?
No, I do not wear a hoop skirt. But I do still go.

Where else do you turn for inspiration?
I read a lot and love reading books. Old books. New books. Red books. Blue books. Writing is also a good form of therapy, so a lot of ideas come from self-reflection.

*Adam belly laughs. His laughter says a lot but reveals nothing.*

 Sometimes there’s a question in life I don’t have the answer to – and I wonder, can I answer it by writing a song about it? 

Do you have specific people who are muses, or who that you love to write for?
I feel like I have a lot of muses. I have a lot of awesome friends who are also amazing talents who I can write for and know they’ll be amazing. Two of the many people who are friends and who are amazing are Kate Wetherhead and Alex Wyse. Both are incredibly funny, dynamic performers – and really inspiring people. Even when I’m not working with them, watching them do their thing makes me want to do what I’m doing better.

                      (Kate Wetherhead singing "Calm" from Ordinary Days)

I also had the incredible honor of Audra McDonald singing “I’ll Be Here” in her concert tour last year. Hearing her sing that song and meeting her…it was maybe the most exciting moment in my career, seeing her sing my song at Carnegie Hall.

ANOTHER DAY, ANOTHER MUSICAL

The story of one man's iPod and the 125 cast recordings on it. And why you should be as crazy as him.
By Michael Kras (Actor/Playwright/Director/Broadway-Fanboy)

Show of hands: Who listens to at least one musical cast recording a day? Keep 'em up.

If you didn't hilariously raise your hand in front of your computer screen, you are one of two things:

A) Not insane.

B) Missing out.

Let's look at my own iPod for a second. I have just under 200 albums on there, total. Of those 200 albums, 125 of them are cast recordings. Maybe I have a problem. I admit I don't like much of today's "normal music." I don't pump myself up in the morning to Maneater by Nelly Furtado (that song's still popular... right?), I get dressed and cleaned up to Spring Awakening.

It's safe to say I kind of love musicals. And if you're reading this blog right now, I think it's safe to say you do too. This is why I present a challenge to you: Listen to one cast recording a day. Why, you ask? Well, I'm glad you asked that question.

#MUSICAL: MUSIC AND THE MUSICAL (PART 1)

What’s the role of music in a piece, and how might a writer fulfill, revolutionize or totally fuck it up when creating his musical? 
By RSO

What Makes a Musical a Musical?

Musical theatre, traditionally, mixes spoken text (dialogue) and sung text (songs).  (For a moment we’ll put aside the frequent third partner, movement and dance, to explore only text.)  Based on this, ostensibly, musical theatre’s closest cousins are the play, a dramatic piece of predominately spoken text; and the opera, a dramatic piece of predominately sung text. 

From the play to the musical, it seems that narratively speaking, dialogue is regularly replaced by sung text, or songs.  Likewise, from opera to musical, music suddenly gives out and dialogue — a scene — takes over.

(A composer which has made some headway in the field, hateful of at least one bookwriter she was forced with, referred to the bookwriter’s work as “the chat,” which is perhaps indicative of the boiled blood this relationship can cause.)

The decision for how much and when music takes over or gives way seems to define most pieces as musicals, or else:

·      “straight” plays, (Death of a Salesman, A Streetcar Names Desire) – entirely spoken

·      plays with music, (Peter and the Starcatcher, Master Class) – mostly spoken, with some songs

·      operettas, (Pirates of Penzance, The Merry Widow) – mostly sung, with some dialogue

·      operas, (La Boheme, Carmen) – entirely sung

with musicals residing comfortably in the center – song and speech in almost equal part.

When you consider the operetta versus pop-opera (dramatic pieces which are sung-thru like the opera but musically abandon it, such as Les Miserables, Miss Saigon, Chess, etc.) versus “true” musical theatre, the decision (according to the audience which the producers of the piece target) is simply style of music.  Nearly sung-through works with musical leanings to the contemporary (pop, rock, etc.) are nearly always musicals, and those leaning back to the music of the early 20^th century and before tend to live as operetta.

It’s interesting to note that Sweeney Todd and A Little Night Music are frequently performed by opera companies but are, by all accounts, musicals (and not operas or operettas) for the extended dialogue scenes.  Some argue the voices required (“operatic” voices — big, exact, and trained ones, and “musical theatre” voices — smaller, less virtuosic and less trained) or that the extension of chromaticism in the piece (The Light in the Piazza, for example) may determine it, but in the end, the first decisive vote goes to the author – what have they written?  And of course, the last decisive vote goes to the producer with whom the writer has agreed to work: to whom (what sort of theatre or company) will the producer sell this piece and what will they hock it as?

Countless essays have been written on this topic and speculate on dozens of other rationales for defining musical theatre but we proceed nonetheless with the intention of creating a musical theatre piece which has all kinds of shitty baggage associated with it.

Labeling Music Within the Musical Score

Within the roughly 150 — 300 pages of a musical’s piano-vocal score, music might be categorized as follows.

SONGS are musical material structured to be continuous and with little or no interruption from spoken text. Often these moments contain one or only a few dramatic actions, with little or no change, or else a "turn."

JUDITH CLURMAN TALKS PRESIDENTS, COMPOSERS, & BIG BIRD

With the release of her latest choral album, CELEBRATING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT, Judith Clurman proves why she is the premiere choral conductor in New York City. I sat down with Judith to discuss the album, a superb tribute to United States presidents by her appropriately named ensemble; ESSENTIAL VOICES USA.

by David Davila (playwright / song-writer)

With presidential fever running rampant across America, Judith Clurman could not have picked a better time to release her latest choral album with Essential Voices USA. CELEBRATING THE AMERICAN SPIRIT (Sono Luminus DSL-92162) is a collection of classic and newly commissioned works celebrating America.

The centerpiece of the album, SING OUT MR. PRESIDENT, is a cycle that is based on quotes by sixteen of our presidents, from Washington to Obama, set to music by some of America’s most important composers like Milton Babbitt, Robert Beaser, Jason Robert Brown, Jake Heggie, Andrew Lippa, Nico Muhly, Georgia Stitt, and Zazhary Wadsworth, among others.

The recording is illuminated by the gorgeous voices of Broadway stars Kelli O'Hara and Ron Raines, who join the chorus in works by Leonard Bernstein, Irving Berlin, and Larry Hochman. 

Other composers featured include Pulizer Prize winner Jennifer Higdon, David Ludwig, Stephen Paulus. Marc Shaiman, and the father-daughter team of Laurie and Larry Hochman.  An added bonus is a new setting of lyrics, written for the recording, by Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick, to music by Tony award winning orchestrator Larry Hochman.

(Watch a preview of Judith Clurman and friends recording the album.)

Judith took time to sit down with me during Hurricane Sandy to discuss this stellar album, the future of choral music, and of course - Big Bird. Here's what she had to say:

HE SAID, SHE SANG

Sometimes a little "singer switcheroo" is just what the doctor ordered.
by Amanda Louise Miller, grad student 

“You guys get all the best songs!”

Substitute the word “guys” with the gender, ethnicity, sexual orientation, or age of your choice in the sentence above, and it becomes a sentiment I think every performer has whined about at some point or another.  The grass is always greener, blah blah blah, and so it stands to reason that outside-the-box song choices are fairly common - if novel - choices for performers.

Sometimes, these singer-switcheroos are done for comedic effect.

(Everybody ought to have Balki as a maid.)

Sometimes, they’re done to raise awareness in support of a worthy cause.

(Broadway Backwards 7)

But the kind of gender/race/age swapping that I’m the most interested in is the kind that happens for psychological reasons, rather than political or even comedic ones.  What I find most fascinating is when a performer takes a song definitely NOT written for their “type,” tweaks a little, and claims it (however controversially) as their own.