Speaker 1: Bloomberg Audio Studios, Podcasts, radio News. We are going to
Speaker 1: Broadway kind of, We're like a few blocks from Broadway. Yes,
Speaker 1: all right, Emily Grafeo has got it. We are speaking
Speaker 1: with the Tony Tony Award nominated director and choreographer Tim Jackson,
Speaker 1: who's nominated for Best Director for Two Strangers Carry a
Speaker 1: Case Across a Cake Across New York. Tim directs better
Speaker 1: than I Can read. And also with us is Chris
Speaker 1: Rouser from the Bloomberg Pursuits team, where he's Editor at Large.
Speaker 1: The romantic comedy follows a brit who lands in New
Speaker 1: York for his a strange father's wedding. He's picked up
Speaker 1: by Robin, the sister of the bride. They have an
Speaker 1: adventure through New York City. Tim, did I get it right?
Speaker 1: Did I summarize it?
Speaker 2: Yeah? That's perfect And you haven't given too much away.
Speaker 2: So that's exciting.
Speaker 1: Okay, good good.
Speaker 2: Well.
Speaker 1: First of all, congratulations on the nomination. That's really really cool.
Speaker 1: The award's coming up this Sunday. Just talk to us
Speaker 1: a little bit about your approach in creating a musical
Speaker 1: that has such wide appeal.
Speaker 2: Well, from the second I got the script, I sort
Speaker 2: of knew it could have wide apprial appeal because the
Speaker 2: characters are so relatable. What's brilliant about the two of
Speaker 2: them is Doogle and Robin are seemingly quite ordinary people
Speaker 2: who are leading quite conventional lives and then they're thrown
Speaker 2: into this orbit with each other and then have this
Speaker 2: wild forty eight hours in New York together. So, I mean,
Speaker 2: the show is a love letter to New York, and
Speaker 2: so my focus always was to make sure that they
Speaker 2: were having the most playful and fun and exciting adventure
Speaker 2: through the city that they could. And with the two
Speaker 2: actors that we have, that's been very easy because they're
Speaker 2: so funny and so brilliant, and yeah, they bring a
Speaker 2: lot of joy. Let's put it away.
Speaker 3: So the show is a love letter to New York,
Speaker 3: but it's not from New York. It started in Ipswich
Speaker 3: in Northampton. Can you tell us story of how you
Speaker 3: came to be a part of this show and word originated?
Speaker 2: Yeah, So I was brought on board in twenty eighteen
Speaker 2: as a dramatague. So I was brought on to help
Speaker 2: develop the writing and to work with the two brilliant
Speaker 2: writers Kit Bucking and Jim Barn to sort of finesse
Speaker 2: it and give it some shape, and then after about
Speaker 2: three workshops, we were doing a sort of presentation and
Speaker 2: their producers said, we feel like maybe you are the
Speaker 2: right person to direct it. So at that point I
Speaker 2: was brought on to do these regional productions and then
Speaker 2: it's been on an epic journey. So we did it
Speaker 2: in these two theaters that you've mentioned, and then we
Speaker 2: brought it to off West End to a theater called
Speaker 2: the Kilm Theater, and that's where Sam Tutty, who's now
Speaker 2: on Broadway joined our process. And then we took it
Speaker 2: to the West End, and then we took it to
Speaker 2: Art in Boston where we did more rewrites on it,
Speaker 2: and we gained our Broadway leading lady Christianni Pitts, who
Speaker 2: joined us there and we did lots of rewrites then,
Speaker 2: and especially having an American woman play the role of Robin,
Speaker 2: who is an American character, sort of opened up some
Speaker 2: doors for us. And then yeah, final few bits of tweaks,
Speaker 2: and then we were on Broadway.
Speaker 3: So no one is a New Yorker, No one is.
Speaker 2: A New Yorker. We have all the way through sort
Speaker 2: of made sure that we involve as many Americans in
Speaker 2: the creation of it as possible. My husband is American,
Speaker 2: which is helpful, and yeah, we've sort of made sure
Speaker 2: one of our producers is American, and so we've sort
Speaker 2: of been doing as much homework as we possibly could.
Speaker 2: But a lot of the show is sort of seeing
Speaker 2: New York through the perspective of an outsider. And so
Speaker 2: what's actually been really lovely about the response to the
Speaker 2: show is quite a lot of people have said, who
Speaker 2: are native new Yorkers have been like, oh, this show
Speaker 2: has made me sort of refall in love with New
Speaker 2: York again, because you sort of get to see it
Speaker 2: through those fresh eyes and feel the excitement of what
Speaker 2: it's like to arrive into the city for the first
Speaker 2: time and see all the secrets and treasures that are
Speaker 2: sort of hidden.
Speaker 3: Tim how did you approach, you know, doing homework, learning
Speaker 3: about kind of the essence of New York to fulfill
Speaker 3: this director role.
Speaker 2: Well, I'd been very lucky that two years ago I
Speaker 2: choreographed a musical on Broadway called Merrily Roll Along that
Speaker 2: it did okay, right, yeah, all right, yeah, and so
Speaker 2: I'd got to be around that for the duration of
Speaker 2: the show and then I stayed in New York for
Speaker 2: another six months after that, and so I really I
Speaker 2: got sort of time to fully immerse myself and I
Speaker 2: went to the different locations where the show was taking place.
Speaker 2: Because because of this other show, the Two Strangers had
Speaker 2: been in development since twenty eighteen, I already knew I
Speaker 2: was doing it. I didn't necessarily think we'd get to Broadway,
Speaker 2: but at the time, I was like, well, I'm here,
Speaker 2: so I should make sure I've been to Flatbush, I've
Speaker 2: walked the roots, I've walked the roots around Chinatown. I've
Speaker 2: sort of experienced it as much as possible to try
Speaker 2: and make sure things were authentic, and took lots and
Speaker 2: lots of pictures to share with the writing team and
Speaker 2: the designers, etc.
Speaker 3: So New York is notoriously tough, and that's partly what
Speaker 3: the show is about. But Broadway is notoriously tough, especially
Speaker 3: for a new musical. And you guys went from the
Speaker 3: West End to the US pretty quickly. My understanding is
Speaker 3: you had a pretty strictly limited run in the West End.
Speaker 3: Why come so quickly to the US when it is
Speaker 3: so dicey for new musicals.
Speaker 2: Yeah, Well, I'm glad that we did, and well done
Speaker 2: to our producers for making it happen, because it is brave.
Speaker 2: I think we had recorded an album in the UK
Speaker 2: that had really caught fire and lots of people were
Speaker 2: streaming it in America, and we were able to see
Speaker 2: that there was an appetite in New York. And we've
Speaker 2: since then recorded another album with the Broadway cast and
Speaker 2: that's going bananas as well, So I think we knew
Speaker 2: that there was an appetite and the song, the opening
Speaker 2: song of the show New York, had gone viral and
Speaker 2: we were getting a lot of love from America and
Speaker 2: people saying please bring over, please bring it over. So
Speaker 2: I think there it certainly is a risk for our producers,
Speaker 2: but one that seems to be paying off so far,
Speaker 2: because I think a lot of shows opened just before
Speaker 2: the Tony's, but ours was open well well if before
Speaker 2: the end of last year, so we've sort of we've
Speaker 2: been doing pretty pretty good business, I think. And the
Speaker 2: nicest thing is that you can feel that there's a buzz,
Speaker 2: there's a build in a buzz. I feel like people
Speaker 2: are talking about the show more and more, which we're
Speaker 2: obviously thrilled about because we started off this show in
Speaker 2: tiny studio theaters which seat thirty people, and now we're
Speaker 2: at the Long Acre. So it's an exciting evolution for
Speaker 2: the piece.
Speaker 1: We're speaking with Tim Jackson, the Tony Award nominated director
Speaker 1: and choreographer of Two Strangers Carry a Cake across New York. Tim.
Speaker 1: The North American tour will start in fall of twenty
Speaker 1: twenty seven, and I'm wondering about a couple of things
Speaker 1: with regard to going from doing this in London to
Speaker 1: then doing this on Broadway and then taking it across
Speaker 1: North America on tour. Does the experience Is the experience
Speaker 1: different or will it be different than somebody seeing it
Speaker 1: on Broadway?
Speaker 2: I can't tell until we get there, I suppose. I mean,
Speaker 2: my intention is to make it as good as it
Speaker 2: can possibly be, and I wouldn't want it to be
Speaker 2: any lesser than watching a show on Broadway. I think
Speaker 2: there's something about seeing a show come into your local
Speaker 2: theater that's really exciting because you sort of watch that
Speaker 2: space transform as another little gema rives into it. So
Speaker 2: I think that's exciting. I think we'll still be aiming
Speaker 2: for like the most stella casting and the elements will
Speaker 2: be the same, so you'll be seeing the best version
Speaker 2: of the show that we can have going around the country.
Speaker 2: So yeah, that's certainly the we're so excited about the
Speaker 2: tour because we want to connect with as many people
Speaker 2: as possible, and we feel like it's a very relatable
Speaker 2: show for all of America. It's not just for it's
Speaker 2: not aimed at Broadway audiences. It's aimed at every person.
Speaker 2: I'm really passionate about making theater for anyone and everyone.
Speaker 3: It's also a small show, which makes it easier for
Speaker 3: it to transfer around the US. For at the Tony's,
Speaker 3: you're up against some huge shows that were capitalized for
Speaker 3: three four times as much as you guys meant to
Speaker 3: put the show together. How does it feel to be
Speaker 3: kind of like the small but mighty contender in that space?
Speaker 2: It feels lovely. You know. What's nice is that I
Speaker 2: think all the shows in the categories are quite individual
Speaker 2: and quite discreet from each other, and therefore we just
Speaker 2: have to get on and do our own thing. I
Speaker 2: think it's nicely you've described it as small as smaller mighty,
Speaker 2: because I think that is how we feel about it.
Speaker 2: It has two characters in it, but unanimously. It feels
Speaker 2: like when people leave, they were like, oh my gosh,
Speaker 2: it's so much bigger than I thought it was going
Speaker 2: to be, and there's a feeling of scale and epicness.
Speaker 2: I think Suture Gilmour, who's our set designer, who's also
Speaker 2: nominated for a Tony Award, has done the most beautiful
Speaker 2: job at creating a space that's sort of ever evolving
Speaker 2: and we're on a double turntable, so it's always moving,
Speaker 2: and especially towards the end of the show, it gets
Speaker 2: the visuals become bigger and bigger as we go through,
Speaker 2: which so I think the nice thing is we feel
Speaker 2: like we're delivering in terms of scale and a sense
Speaker 2: of bigness I suppose, and people come out the other
Speaker 2: end of the show and are like, oh, I sort
Speaker 2: of forgot it was only two people, and I sort
Speaker 2: of felt like I had connected with everyone in the room.
Speaker 2: So I think the sort of connectivity between strangers is
Speaker 2: something that sort of bleeds into the auditorium and sort
Speaker 2: of lifts the piece. And yeah, and it means that
Speaker 2: you can't really compare any of our shows in the
Speaker 2: different category and in the different in their best musical
Speaker 2: category I think they are. They're really different, and I
Speaker 2: think they're all brilliant and yeah, so we just have
Speaker 2: to get on with it and just make sure that
Speaker 2: what we're doing at the long Acre is the best
Speaker 2: that we can make happen.
Speaker 3: So two people on stage eight Tony nominations. This is
Speaker 3: your first time directing on Broadway. Yes, yes, and your
Speaker 3: first time directing on Broadway. You are nominated for a Tony.
Speaker 3: How does that feel?
Speaker 2: It feels wild. It feels absolute wild. It feels so exciting,
Speaker 2: and I do you know, I was so nervous on
Speaker 2: the day of the nominations, but not for me. I
Speaker 2: just really wanted it for Kitting Gym, the writers, and
Speaker 2: I really wanted it for Sam and Christiani and everything
Speaker 2: else that came along is a blessing. And I'm very
Speaker 2: happy for Suture and Lux Pyramid, who's our orchestrator, because
Speaker 2: I think he's done an amazing job. But I just
Speaker 2: I was just rooting for them, and so when that
Speaker 2: news came through, it was so exciting. And then the
Speaker 2: fact that I got a nomination to I was surprised
Speaker 2: and delighted. And I'm actually in rehearsals for another show
Speaker 2: at the moment, I'm doing this musical something Rotten in
Speaker 2: the UK, and I had to go back into rehearsals
Speaker 2: after finding out and sort of pretend that nothing had happened.
Speaker 2: But my brain was slightly elsewhere that afternoon. But yeah,
Speaker 2: I feel really proud and chuffed. And I watched the
Speaker 2: Tony Awards from the UK on YouTube as I was
Speaker 2: growing up, and I was always very admiring of it,
Speaker 2: but I didn't really think I would necessarily be part
Speaker 2: of that nominated gang. So I am, yeah, I'm chuffed
Speaker 2: to bits.
Speaker 1: Well, we are chuffed that you joined us here on
Speaker 1: Bloomberg Business Daily, So thank you so much for doing that,
Speaker 1: and congratulations on the musical and on the nominations too,
Speaker 1: Tim Jackson, Tony Award nominated Director in Choreography of Two
Speaker 1: Strangers Carry a Cake across New York in our own
Speaker 1: Award winning Chris Rouser from the Bloomberg Pursueds team. He
Speaker 1: is a theater officionado and he I'm always grateful when
Speaker 1: you join us on the program, Chris, so thank you
Speaker 1: for coming today.