Well, dear readers, it is late and I must write these here notes in a hurry so I can get a semblance of a good night’s beauty sleep. So, let me just say once again that writing musicals is HARD. One of the hardest theatrical forms of them all. As Larry Gelbart once said – if Hitler is alive I hope he’s out of town with a new musical. I think it was Larry Gelbart. Everyone thinks they can do it, but few succeed. Every year, there are uncountable readings of new musicals, long aborning musicals that continue to have readings and somehow never really address their problems, workshops and productions. So why is the form so elusive? There seem to be “rules” that are posited by both the ASCAP and BMI workshops, although there doesn’t seem to be a bible like the Robert McKee/Syd Field books for screenwriters. And yes, certainly there are rules but before there were rules writers were MAKING the rules up as they went along. In other words, with Oklahoma, Rodgers and Hammerstein changed the rules and then each of their subsequent shows played by them, along with most shows back then. Then with other shows the rules changed again and again and again. I don’t especially like rules but they are good to know and some make sense. They’ll tell you the second song in a show should be the “I want” song, where your leading character tells the audience what it is they want. That works sometimes (Stephen Schwartz being a huge proponent of that rule – so you get The Wizard and I and Corner of the Sky – classic “I want” songs), but if it were an absolute then how do you explain the “I want” song that first occurs in Carousel, sung not by its leading lady, but by the actress playing Carrie. And what exactly is the “I want” song from South Pacific? Then they’ll tell you that the opening number should set the tone of the show and tell the audience what they’re in for, and the example always cited is Comedy Tonight (I would also say that It’s a Typical Day is also a perfect opening number). But then you have South Pacific, in which the true opening number is Dites Moi. Go know. But the one thing a musical must be is MUSICAL, with the songs illuminating character and plot, always moving us somewhere new or moving the plot forward. Yes, there are exceptions to even that – performance songs like Bushel and a Peck would be an example, but even that you’re seeing one of your leading ladies do what she does for a living. The book has to be in service of the score and the score has to be in service of the book – but that’s surprisingly hard to get right. Gypsy is a wonderful example of book and score working in perfect harmony. One thing you never want in a musical is for the scene and the song to be saying exactly the same thing. But enough rambling.
All that by way of saying that last night I saw a new musical called The Ghost of Gershwin. This is the show’s first production. Our very own Doug Haverty, who is a very good writer, was brought in to basically do a new book. I’m not going to go into detail because it’s the first attempt at doing it, but while there are pleasing moments some of it falls prey to exactly what I’ve talked about in that excruciatingly long opening paragraph, which, if it were a musical, would be pruned down considerably to allow for a song. So, my biggest problems whenever I see a new musical usually rest mostly with the opening number. When I’ve done the Disney/ASCAP panels, that is usually what I dwell on. Stephen Schwartz once said to me that when he was writing the opening number of Wicked he could hear me talking in his head. So, for me anyway, the opening number of this new show not only doesn’t set up the evening and the show we’re about to see, it actually sets up a different kind of show. Right now, it’s more a play with songs rather than a real musical. There’s one charming number in the first act that shows you what this could be if everything worked as well as that. I will also say that the director did no one any favors. But props to anyone who has the sand to actually write something and then get it produced. It ain’t easy.
Another problem is the leading character is set up as one thing but that’s not actually what he does in this show. And the music, which is all pastiche-sounding, just doesn’t quite do what it thinks its doing. The lyrics are a bigger problem for me occasionally, but then lyrics are my bugaboo – I’m a stickler for well-written and crafted lyrics and am especially a stickler that they do their job in terms of character and plot. But when the rhymes offend the ear, it’s very hard for me to get past that – and right in an early number we get “omen” and “no man” – sorry, no matter how you want them to, they do not rhyme and are sloppy. And so easy to fix. And even though I don’t like Musical Theatre 101 cliches, there need to be at least some meaningful stakes in a musical and there really aren’t here. There’s nothing terrible about it, but if it wants to be a real musical, then the creators are going to have to do some rethinking and I’m sure they will – I know they get comments (and hopefully not just the pat on the backs, which are nice but not helpful in understanding why something is not landing like you want it to), and I’m sure they’re taking note of them. For reasons that I will never understand, they are actually not allowed to put in or even make any changes during the run, thanks to Equity’s policy on Waiver theater. That is just nonsense and completely stupid – that’s why you try out a new musical – to see what works and doesn’t and to rewrite and put new stuff in. But don’t get me started on Equity because my comments may not be equitable. Having written a few musicals, let me tell you I really know how hard they are. Some of mine succeed and more don’t, for the reasons outlined above.
After the show, Doug and I went to the Coral Café – we were joined by some mutual friends and we had fun eating like pigs. Doug asked what I thought and I gave him a few notes, but mostly we stuffed our gaping, hungry maws.
Prior to that, I got up at ten-thirty after eight hours of sleep. I had several long telephonic conversations and this and that and also that and this, then had to mosey on over to Mo’s for a lunch meeting with pal Marshall Harvey. We had a very nice time, talked about when Outside the Box could go back into production and other stuff. The helper got all the CDs shipped, so that was good. I came home and prepped the new release announcement. I got permission from the studio to go ahead and announce even though the packaging won’t be approved until mid next week. I chose a couple more songs – still about five to go and for those I really have to listen to some CDs. With all the off-Broadway stuff I’ve recorded, I’m not actually going to do much from them. I’m doing a couple of newer things but mostly stuff from the 60s and 70s. I’m happy to say that we will be doing a Skip Kennon song. I also had a long conversation with an attorney and another with another attorney and the letter is now ready for sending. I was going to send it today, but I think Monday morning will be better, just so it doesn’t get missed. It’s going to about five people. It’s the only letter they’ll be getting from me – if I get the simple things I want then the matter will be closed. If I don’t, then the next letter comes from an attorney and we’ll go from there.
Today, I shall finish choosing songs and then gather the music and get it to our singers. Then I’m going to Ruth’s Chris for an amusing dinner.
Tomorrow I relax and then we have our Annual Tony Awards Bash right here at haineshisway.com. Next week is busy with lots of stuff to do and Sandy is coming in and we’ll be rehearsing for her Gershwin show. Monday we announce our new title. Tuesday night I’m having a dinner meeting of some importance.
Well, dear readers, I must take the day, I must do the things I do, I must, for example, finish choosing songs, hopefully pick up some packages, gather music and eat an amusing dinner. Today’s topic of discussion: What musicals, for you, have the best integration of book and score? Let’s have loads of lovely postings, shall we, whilst I hit the road to dreamland where I shall ruminate, oh, yes, where I shall ruminate on how hard it is to write a musical.