Well, dear readers, listen, I know it is not easy to write a new musical. It is especially not easy to write a new wholly original musical. Therefore, I have respect for everyone who tries and gets his or her show produced. I see a lot of new musicals, in readings, workshops, and productions. And the one thing that stands out amongst them is the at times shocking lack of craft. It’s almost as if they think writing a new musical is coming up with the idea, writing a bunch of songs, creating a book on which to hang the songs, and that as long as they do all those necessary things that somehow they’ve written a musical. Unfortunately, that’s not quite how it works. There are little things like having a story people care about and relate to. Having characters that have some depth, a point, a point of view, wants, needs, goals, obstacles, humor, warmth, whatever. Having songs that illuminate character, move the plot forward, and serve some function other than simply being a song. And it is surprising how many writers write shows that have none of the above.
Each creative part of crafting a musical requires – craft. The book of a musical must be concise, easy to understand, and accommodate the songs and not repeat what the songs are doing. The score of a musical must have a purpose. Writing music is a craft. Writing lyrics is a craft. You can’t just throw any slop on a page and call it a lyric. There are two schools of thought about false rhymes – one school of thought is they are never to be done and are horrible and the other school of thought is that they’re fine and get the job done. I subscribe to the former not the latter. Every time I hear a false rhyme I am taken right out of the show. And when I’m bombarded with them, I simply tune out and never tune back in, no matter how pretty the music may be. I also find that when the creatives have failed in all of the categories above, they blame everyone but themselves. It’s the actors, it’s the director, it’s the choreographer, it’s someone not getting their “vision” across. However, actors must have something to act, directors must have something to direct, and smart creators listen to good actors and good directors – they listen, they learn, and they fix. I would include producers in the laundry list, but producers are frequently the trouble – there are no producers like the great producers of old. There are lists of producers, there are “lead” producers, and some producers are producers simply because they have the money or the ability to get the money. This does not make them artistic and this does not make them knowledgeable about musical theater in particular. Shows take on lives of their own, shows need breathing room and space and open minds to develop and become something. Birthing a new musical can be completely frustrating, unnerving, crazy making, and horrifying. But when you get it right, the feeling of accomplishment is something to be savored.
All that by way of saying that last night I saw a new musical entitled South Street. I know nothing of the history of the show – how many readings, workshops, or productions it’s had, if any. I only know what I saw on the stage and what I saw on the stage was some very talented people being hung out to dry. Within fifteen minutes this show entered my pantheon of the worst musicals I’ve ever seen. The story is confusing and not terribly interesting. Interestingly, it has several parallels to Happy Days, The Musical and that is not a good thing. It took me at least ten minutes to figure out that the main part of the show was a flashback – sorry, little swirly lighting things on the walls of the set don’t really make it clear. And what’s the POINT of the flashback? The characters are one-note cardboard cutouts – every single one of them, spouting unfunny clichéd lines. The show just lurches along until the next song begins. The composer/lyricist of the show was/is a pop songwriter. He knows his way around a good hook, having written one authentic classic pop song back in 1968, I think – Never My Love. But his lyrics give pedestrian a whole new meaning. The “rhymes” are nausea inducing – one awful false rhyme after another. The ballads all sound the same and there are a LOT of them. But mostly, we just don’t care – not about the story, not about the characters. Simple things like whose story is it, who are we supposed to be following, have no clear answer. There are too many characters who are too similar and there are too many actors who look too similar to other actors. Characters of no importance are given songs they don’t deserve. Motivations are silly and pointless, what few of them there are. And on it goes until it is mercifully over.
That didn’t stop the audience of friends and family from woo-hooing every number no matter how poor, it didn’t stop them from cheering and standing up at the end, and the problem with this, of course, is that the creatives and the producer see that and think, “They love it!” I suspect it will be a different story when real audiences begin showing up. I’m not trying to be mean, but having helped develop a few shows and having worked with a few obstinate collaborators, these folks really need to sit down with someone strong and listen to them. The word collaboration has a meaning – I understand there were many suggestions being offered to the producer of this show and she nixed all of them. The book writer was apparently let go four weeks ago – so who exactly is rewriting and helping to fix the problems? The producer? It’s a problem. The orchestrations of Don Sebesky tried hard to punch up the proceedings, but, in the end, there is nothing to punch up. Craft. That’s the ticket. Nothing like it. I hope the creators of this show take a long, hard look at what they have during the run and that they begin to do the work that’s necessary. There may well be a good musical buried somewhere, but it will take craft, diligence, and an open mind to find it.
Prior to that, I attended the Michelle Nicastro benefit event. It was a very nicely put together and occasionally moving two hours and I was happy I went. Guy Haines was a no-show, so I sang When You Wish Upon A Star in his absence. I spoke briefly about Michelle and how much fun we had doing her albums. Pals Adryan Russ, Jason Graae and Joan Ryan also performed, as well as some other good folks. It was short and sweet, the way we like ’em. I did do the four-mile jog, and after the show Barry Pearl, Donald Petrie and I went to a nearby Mexican restaurant for some food. Well, why don’t we all click on the Unseemly Button below because I must get some beauty sleep for there is much to do when I arise.
Today, I shall do the four-mile jog, do some errands and whatnot, including banking, and then I must get books, Blu and Rays, and photographs all packed up and shipped to my hotel in Chicago. I’m really bad about figuring out how many books and things to bring – I always end up bringing way too many, but the fear is that I will run out of stuff. But I can’t ship more than twenty books, and I should be so lucky as to sell half that number – which makes me think I should maybe only ship ten. But then what if I get lucky and lots of people want it? I was thinking of sending fifty Blu and Rays but that may be way too many – then again, it could be too few. It’s probably too many, frankly, so maybe I’ll cut back to thirty – there are thirty in a box. Photos are the easy part. Then I have some writing to do, and we’ll figure out which day this week we’re announcing officially the Nudie Musical Blu and CD. Matt Ashford is definitely doing the final episode of the web series, so I wrote his set-up scene and will finesse that today and send to him tomorrow, along with his song and sheet music. I’ll eat something light but amusing, and then I really have to get some ME time in so I can relax. I also think the editor will bring me the locked and mixed cuts for the three episodes, just for one last look before we finalize them and make the Quick Time files.
Tomorrow, I have lots o’ stuff to do during the day, and then we have a rehearsal with Alet and John in the evening. The rest of the week is very busy and I also have to book transportation to the airport for my Friday trip. We’ll also be shipping Thelma & Louise in the next day or two, or at least that’s the plan.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, do the four-mile jog, I must do banking, I must pack and ship books, Blu and Rays and photographs, I must write, I must eat, and I must relax. Today’s topic of discussion: What are your favorite songs from Disney movies and your favorite renditions of them? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall dream of craft.