1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:04,160 Speaker 1: I must say that I've always been really philosophical about 2 00:00:04,160 --> 00:00:08,400 Speaker 1: it because I remember my first review is so bad, 3 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:14,319 Speaker 1: and I'm really it was really wounding, and you know, 4 00:00:14,640 --> 00:00:16,520 Speaker 1: I was performing that show, so I had to go 5 00:00:16,600 --> 00:00:18,439 Speaker 1: out on stage, and in my head, I thought that 6 00:00:18,480 --> 00:00:22,119 Speaker 1: everybody had read that review and they were sort of 7 00:00:22,160 --> 00:00:24,520 Speaker 1: sitting there in judgment of me, and it was an awful 8 00:00:24,600 --> 00:00:26,920 Speaker 1: sort of place to be. And I had to get 9 00:00:26,960 --> 00:00:30,120 Speaker 1: to a point where I was like, you can't worry 10 00:00:30,160 --> 00:00:31,000 Speaker 1: about that stuff. 11 00:00:35,400 --> 00:00:37,760 Speaker 2: Welcome to How I Work, a show about the tactics 12 00:00:37,840 --> 00:00:40,120 Speaker 2: used by leading innovators to get so much out of 13 00:00:40,120 --> 00:00:43,239 Speaker 2: their day. I'm your host, doctor Amantha Imbat. I'm an 14 00:00:43,320 --> 00:00:47,199 Speaker 2: organizational psychologist, the CEO of Inventium, and I'm obsessed with 15 00:00:47,240 --> 00:00:51,199 Speaker 2: finding ways to optimize my workday. My guest today is 16 00:00:51,320 --> 00:00:55,080 Speaker 2: Eddie Perfect. Eddie is a singer, songwriter, an actor, a 17 00:00:55,120 --> 00:00:59,560 Speaker 2: comedian and currently has not just one but two shows 18 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:04,040 Speaker 2: on Badway, King Kong and Beetlejuice. Australian listeners might know 19 00:01:04,360 --> 00:01:08,399 Speaker 2: Eddie from playing Mick Holland in Offspring, and theater goers 20 00:01:08,480 --> 00:01:10,800 Speaker 2: might be familiar with some of Eddie's works, such as 21 00:01:10,840 --> 00:01:14,679 Speaker 2: Shane Warn the musical and vivid white. When Eddie and 22 00:01:14,720 --> 00:01:18,360 Speaker 2: I spoke, King Kong had literally just opened on Broadway 23 00:01:18,480 --> 00:01:22,160 Speaker 2: and he was knee deep in rewrites for Beetlejuice. This 24 00:01:22,319 --> 00:01:25,760 Speaker 2: interview really deep dives into what goes on behind the 25 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:29,840 Speaker 2: scenes in writing a Broadway musical, which for a musical 26 00:01:29,880 --> 00:01:34,320 Speaker 2: theater boffin such as myself, was absolutely delightful. And also 27 00:01:34,400 --> 00:01:37,200 Speaker 2: I should add that you might need to excuse some 28 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:39,600 Speaker 2: of the crackling sound in the background. Eddie was actually 29 00:01:39,600 --> 00:01:42,240 Speaker 2: sitting in Central Park, New York when we take this interview, 30 00:01:42,360 --> 00:01:43,920 Speaker 2: and as a result, there's a bit of crackle and 31 00:01:43,959 --> 00:01:48,280 Speaker 2: the occasional ambulance siren. And on that note, over to 32 00:01:48,400 --> 00:01:52,360 Speaker 2: Eddie to hear about how he works. Eddie, welcome to 33 00:01:52,400 --> 00:01:52,840 Speaker 2: the show. 34 00:01:53,840 --> 00:01:56,040 Speaker 3: Thank you. It's a pleasure to be on your show. 35 00:01:56,680 --> 00:01:59,920 Speaker 2: You're in New York right now and so far like 36 00:02:00,280 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 2: in the last little while, you've been working on not 37 00:02:02,200 --> 00:02:06,080 Speaker 2: one but two Broadway musicals can currently, which I must 38 00:02:06,120 --> 00:02:09,640 Speaker 2: say seems like at a madness. How did that happen? 39 00:02:10,680 --> 00:02:13,920 Speaker 1: Well, it happened by accident and not by design. About 40 00:02:13,960 --> 00:02:17,640 Speaker 1: three years ago I started coming to New York to 41 00:02:17,720 --> 00:02:19,800 Speaker 1: try and get on that great big writer list, in 42 00:02:19,840 --> 00:02:23,160 Speaker 1: the sky, which is sort of a weird job in 43 00:02:23,200 --> 00:02:25,919 Speaker 1: itself because there is it's an imaginary list, and nobody 44 00:02:26,000 --> 00:02:29,519 Speaker 1: knows who the hell I am. 45 00:02:28,440 --> 00:02:30,200 Speaker 3: So I wasn't quite sure how to do it. But 46 00:02:30,320 --> 00:02:31,399 Speaker 3: I heard. 47 00:02:32,639 --> 00:02:35,119 Speaker 1: Beatle Juice of Musical have been in development for three 48 00:02:35,200 --> 00:02:38,320 Speaker 1: years and they were knocking around with a script and 49 00:02:38,360 --> 00:02:44,959 Speaker 1: they had two book writers, and they were auditioning composer lyricists. 50 00:02:45,000 --> 00:02:49,440 Speaker 1: Often composer lyricist team so those two jobs are separated 51 00:02:49,480 --> 00:02:53,840 Speaker 1: into two different humans who collaborate together, which is sort 52 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:56,679 Speaker 1: of probably the most common way. But I write music 53 00:02:56,760 --> 00:03:00,280 Speaker 1: and lyrics sort of at the same time, well not 54 00:03:00,639 --> 00:03:03,040 Speaker 1: necessarily at the same time, but I do both those things, 55 00:03:04,000 --> 00:03:07,520 Speaker 1: and I collaborate with myself. So when I heard it 56 00:03:07,600 --> 00:03:11,400 Speaker 1: was going around and they didn't have a writer yet, 57 00:03:11,440 --> 00:03:13,480 Speaker 1: I asked if I could be involved in the pitch, 58 00:03:13,680 --> 00:03:16,760 Speaker 1: and over a few months, my agent here in New 59 00:03:16,840 --> 00:03:20,040 Speaker 1: York made inquiries and discovered that they had it out 60 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:23,160 Speaker 1: to some pretty heavy hitting Broadway teams. They weren't that 61 00:03:23,280 --> 00:03:27,160 Speaker 1: keen in extending the pitch to include an unknown Australian guy. 62 00:03:27,840 --> 00:03:29,400 Speaker 1: But I was in a meeting with my agent and 63 00:03:29,440 --> 00:03:30,640 Speaker 1: he's like, I think you just got to let this 64 00:03:30,680 --> 00:03:32,920 Speaker 1: one go and we'll find something else you can pitch on. 65 00:03:33,480 --> 00:03:36,080 Speaker 1: And I said, what if I wrote two songs for 66 00:03:36,160 --> 00:03:39,720 Speaker 1: them for free on spec and you know, if they 67 00:03:40,360 --> 00:03:42,120 Speaker 1: hate them, it's not going to cost them any time 68 00:03:42,240 --> 00:03:46,520 Speaker 1: or money. And my agent was pretty surprised that I 69 00:03:46,520 --> 00:03:49,400 Speaker 1: would even offer to do that. Most writers expect to 70 00:03:49,440 --> 00:03:53,080 Speaker 1: be put inside a pitch process and paid for writing 71 00:03:53,680 --> 00:03:59,000 Speaker 1: the pitch Dot songs that they send in. But I 72 00:03:59,040 --> 00:04:01,040 Speaker 1: was like, dude, I do anything at this point to 73 00:04:01,280 --> 00:04:02,760 Speaker 1: get on that list. And I thought the best it 74 00:04:02,760 --> 00:04:04,160 Speaker 1: would come from it would be I'd be able to 75 00:04:04,160 --> 00:04:08,480 Speaker 1: put up two songs to a brief under a Broadway 76 00:04:08,560 --> 00:04:12,240 Speaker 1: director's nose, and even if it didn't come off of 77 00:04:12,280 --> 00:04:14,320 Speaker 1: this project, that would be at least, you know, an 78 00:04:14,360 --> 00:04:16,440 Speaker 1: Iron and the Fire. But I also thought it had 79 00:04:16,440 --> 00:04:19,280 Speaker 1: the added benefit of being able to show my American agent, who. 80 00:04:19,200 --> 00:04:21,560 Speaker 3: Had just started working with, that I could write to 81 00:04:21,640 --> 00:04:22,520 Speaker 3: an American brief. 82 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:29,200 Speaker 1: And anyway, I wrote these two songs, one for the 83 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:31,760 Speaker 1: character of Beetlejuice and one for the character of Lydia, 84 00:04:31,920 --> 00:04:34,479 Speaker 1: and then I got another idea for an opening number 85 00:04:34,480 --> 00:04:39,920 Speaker 1: that I sent them as well. And a months went 86 00:04:39,920 --> 00:04:41,159 Speaker 1: by and I got a call out of the blue 87 00:04:41,200 --> 00:04:43,800 Speaker 1: saying I booked the gig, and that was crazy. That 88 00:04:43,920 --> 00:04:47,120 Speaker 1: was three years ago. So I flew to New York 89 00:04:47,160 --> 00:04:51,080 Speaker 1: to meet everyone. And the whole process of that of 90 00:04:51,160 --> 00:04:54,720 Speaker 1: writing Beetlejuice happened from my happened all over the place. 91 00:04:54,760 --> 00:04:57,000 Speaker 1: It happened in my I've got a studio at the 92 00:04:57,000 --> 00:05:00,760 Speaker 1: back of my house in East Brunswick, but I also 93 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:06,360 Speaker 1: rented a temporary studio in Collingwood that I wrote out 94 00:05:06,400 --> 00:05:09,720 Speaker 1: of for about four months. But I also wrote it 95 00:05:09,760 --> 00:05:11,919 Speaker 1: in dressing rooms at the Sydney Opera House when I 96 00:05:11,960 --> 00:05:14,279 Speaker 1: was performing up in Sydney for about four months. 97 00:05:14,279 --> 00:05:14,479 Speaker 3: And I. 98 00:05:16,560 --> 00:05:19,720 Speaker 1: Wrote in dressing rooms with the Adelaide Festival Center when 99 00:05:19,760 --> 00:05:22,159 Speaker 1: I was over there as one of the artists directors 100 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,800 Speaker 1: in the Adelaide Cabre Festival. I wrote in airports, you know, 101 00:05:25,880 --> 00:05:28,839 Speaker 1: I wrote in I wrote anywhere, really. I mean, my 102 00:05:28,880 --> 00:05:32,240 Speaker 1: setup is pretty small, so it's a keyboard and a 103 00:05:32,320 --> 00:05:34,599 Speaker 1: laptop and a microphone on a stand and I just 104 00:05:34,640 --> 00:05:38,440 Speaker 1: need a table really, so I could kind of write anywhere, 105 00:05:38,440 --> 00:05:42,480 Speaker 1: and I could fly anywhere with my mobile rig. And 106 00:05:44,480 --> 00:05:46,400 Speaker 1: I was writing for about eighteen months, and I was 107 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,760 Speaker 1: actually in New York doing what they call a lab, 108 00:05:51,200 --> 00:05:53,240 Speaker 1: which was I think about to the three weeks of 109 00:05:53,279 --> 00:05:57,039 Speaker 1: workshopping Beetlejuice, and I got a call from the head 110 00:05:57,080 --> 00:06:03,360 Speaker 1: of Global Creatures in Australian company that produced musicals, and 111 00:06:04,640 --> 00:06:07,440 Speaker 1: they asked if I'd like to come after New York 112 00:06:07,480 --> 00:06:09,919 Speaker 1: to London to sit in the room with some creatives 113 00:06:09,920 --> 00:06:12,960 Speaker 1: and see if we can come up with a and 114 00:06:13,000 --> 00:06:15,640 Speaker 1: come up with a I guess a pitch, an outline 115 00:06:15,720 --> 00:06:18,159 Speaker 1: for how we might want to do King Kong. But 116 00:06:18,200 --> 00:06:20,800 Speaker 1: I'd seen it in twenty thirteen and really liked it 117 00:06:20,839 --> 00:06:22,680 Speaker 1: and hadn't heard anything about it. I knew it was 118 00:06:23,480 --> 00:06:26,240 Speaker 1: I knew it was like vying for a Broadway theater 119 00:06:26,320 --> 00:06:29,279 Speaker 1: and wanted a Broadway season, but I hadn't heard about 120 00:06:29,320 --> 00:06:32,680 Speaker 1: what the process had been in the intervening years. But 121 00:06:32,800 --> 00:06:34,479 Speaker 1: evidently they had a couple of goes that it were 122 00:06:34,520 --> 00:06:37,800 Speaker 1: different creative teams and it hadn't worked, and they had 123 00:06:37,800 --> 00:06:40,159 Speaker 1: a theater booked and the puppet can only really fit 124 00:06:40,240 --> 00:06:44,160 Speaker 1: in two of the Broadway theaters here, and they had 125 00:06:44,160 --> 00:06:46,000 Speaker 1: a booking for the Broadway theater that they didn't want 126 00:06:46,040 --> 00:06:50,280 Speaker 1: to let go, but they needed to pitch a new 127 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:52,960 Speaker 1: version of the show to see if the theater would 128 00:06:52,960 --> 00:06:55,440 Speaker 1: go for it and keep their booking. So we spent 129 00:06:55,520 --> 00:06:59,680 Speaker 1: three days workshopping and outline for the show, and we 130 00:06:59,760 --> 00:07:04,920 Speaker 1: pitched back to the lead producer and they pitched it 131 00:07:04,920 --> 00:07:06,480 Speaker 1: back to the theater and everybody. 132 00:07:06,160 --> 00:07:07,680 Speaker 3: Liked it and we went ahead with it. 133 00:07:07,760 --> 00:07:13,440 Speaker 1: So that started eighteen months after Beetlejuice, and then and 134 00:07:13,480 --> 00:07:17,880 Speaker 1: then everything that was in sort of in the writing 135 00:07:17,920 --> 00:07:21,400 Speaker 1: of them, you know, the development phases, and normally, you know, 136 00:07:21,440 --> 00:07:24,800 Speaker 1: you are you have to make them up within the 137 00:07:25,040 --> 00:07:28,200 Speaker 1: group of collaborators that you're working with. With Beetlejuice, it 138 00:07:28,240 --> 00:07:30,680 Speaker 1: was like, right, for three months, fly to New York, 139 00:07:31,160 --> 00:07:34,560 Speaker 1: spend a week with the writers, the book writers or 140 00:07:34,600 --> 00:07:38,360 Speaker 1: scriptwriters workshop the first act, go away, do the same 141 00:07:38,400 --> 00:07:42,040 Speaker 1: for the second act. But they would all happen staggered, 142 00:07:42,080 --> 00:07:44,400 Speaker 1: so you know, there would be a King Kong lab 143 00:07:45,600 --> 00:07:47,320 Speaker 1: and then there would be a Beetlejuice Lab would be 144 00:07:47,360 --> 00:07:51,160 Speaker 1: after it. They never overlapped and I could kind of switch, 145 00:07:51,240 --> 00:07:55,720 Speaker 1: you know, we switch between hats pretty successfully, not without 146 00:07:56,000 --> 00:08:01,040 Speaker 1: you know, huge amounts of stress and like kind of pressure. 147 00:08:00,640 --> 00:08:03,440 Speaker 1: But they seemed to be, you know, staying in their 148 00:08:03,440 --> 00:08:07,800 Speaker 1: own lanes. And then those parallel roads just smashed together 149 00:08:07,840 --> 00:08:11,520 Speaker 1: here in New York. We had it was unbelievable. Not 150 00:08:11,560 --> 00:08:14,160 Speaker 1: only was I rehearsing both shows at the one time 151 00:08:14,240 --> 00:08:16,160 Speaker 1: here in New York, they were both in the one 152 00:08:16,600 --> 00:08:22,000 Speaker 1: rehearsal venue, on different floors. And then Beatle Juice went 153 00:08:22,040 --> 00:08:24,440 Speaker 1: out of town to Washington, d C. And then from 154 00:08:24,440 --> 00:08:28,840 Speaker 1: that point on, I was tecking and previewing and rewriting 155 00:08:29,080 --> 00:08:31,640 Speaker 1: King Kong and New York and doing the same process 156 00:08:31,640 --> 00:08:34,320 Speaker 1: at the same time in DC, and just catching the 157 00:08:34,360 --> 00:08:38,320 Speaker 1: train between Washington, d C. And New York every sort 158 00:08:38,360 --> 00:08:40,640 Speaker 1: of two days. And then I'd be riding on trains 159 00:08:40,679 --> 00:08:43,199 Speaker 1: and riding in hotel rooms and writing in lobbies of 160 00:08:44,400 --> 00:08:47,880 Speaker 1: theaters and writing in you know, the men's bathrooms. 161 00:08:47,880 --> 00:08:48,280 Speaker 3: Sometimes. 162 00:08:48,320 --> 00:08:51,000 Speaker 1: It was crazy. So that then and then they all 163 00:08:51,120 --> 00:08:53,000 Speaker 1: sort of happened. And now now I'm in a position 164 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,480 Speaker 1: where King Kong is opened. It's frozen, which means that 165 00:08:55,640 --> 00:09:01,559 Speaker 1: no more creative changes happened, and it just ones at 166 00:09:01,559 --> 00:09:04,480 Speaker 1: the Broadway Theater and it's doing really well. I think 167 00:09:04,520 --> 00:09:08,240 Speaker 1: it's kind of it's grossing over a million bucks every week, 168 00:09:08,280 --> 00:09:11,520 Speaker 1: which is which is pretty pretty good, and it's building, 169 00:09:11,520 --> 00:09:16,000 Speaker 1: which is fantastic, and Beetlejuice is now in a stage 170 00:09:16,000 --> 00:09:21,640 Speaker 1: where we are doing huge, like kind of extensive rewrites 171 00:09:21,679 --> 00:09:24,400 Speaker 1: and retooling out of Washington, DC to get ready for 172 00:09:24,480 --> 00:09:27,040 Speaker 1: another lab in January here in New York. Then we 173 00:09:27,080 --> 00:09:30,480 Speaker 1: rehearse in February, and we go into the theater in March, 174 00:09:30,480 --> 00:09:32,720 Speaker 1: and we have our first preview March twenty eight, and 175 00:09:32,760 --> 00:09:37,080 Speaker 1: by April twenty fifth, the press night for Beetlejuice will 176 00:09:37,120 --> 00:09:39,920 Speaker 1: be open at the Winter Garden, which is diagoning across 177 00:09:39,920 --> 00:09:42,560 Speaker 1: from the Broadway Theater, which is bizarre, so you could 178 00:09:42,559 --> 00:09:44,480 Speaker 1: stand out the front of one and hit the other 179 00:09:44,520 --> 00:09:47,920 Speaker 1: one of the rock and then my work on both 180 00:09:47,920 --> 00:09:50,040 Speaker 1: those shows will be done, and hopefully they'll have long 181 00:09:51,040 --> 00:09:52,679 Speaker 1: so bloody better have long lines. 182 00:09:53,840 --> 00:09:54,680 Speaker 3: That's when a writer. 183 00:09:55,000 --> 00:09:56,960 Speaker 1: That's when a writers dan as a chance of you know, 184 00:09:57,160 --> 00:09:59,280 Speaker 1: earning an income is out of the back end of 185 00:09:59,679 --> 00:10:03,080 Speaker 1: a show in royalty terms. So then I'll have to 186 00:10:03,080 --> 00:10:04,040 Speaker 1: find another show to do. 187 00:10:05,800 --> 00:10:09,240 Speaker 2: Gosh, you won't know yourself come April. Goodness with that, 188 00:10:09,320 --> 00:10:12,440 Speaker 2: that's such a journey. I want to delve into how 189 00:10:12,480 --> 00:10:15,240 Speaker 2: you write a song, and you know, maybe one of 190 00:10:15,280 --> 00:10:17,160 Speaker 2: the songs that you wrote is kind of like your 191 00:10:17,520 --> 00:10:20,560 Speaker 2: audition pieces for Beetlejuice, perhaps I want to start at 192 00:10:20,600 --> 00:10:23,679 Speaker 2: the beginning, like where where does the song start for you? 193 00:10:23,920 --> 00:10:26,960 Speaker 2: I guess, particularly when you've got to like there was 194 00:10:27,040 --> 00:10:29,840 Speaker 2: kind of a brief it sounds like for Beetlejuice. 195 00:10:31,200 --> 00:10:35,319 Speaker 1: Yeah, so the brief was was pretty funny. So they 196 00:10:35,320 --> 00:10:38,440 Speaker 1: sent me the script and you know which, as I mentioned, 197 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,280 Speaker 1: had been like that had been in development for about 198 00:10:41,280 --> 00:10:45,200 Speaker 1: three years with two book writers, through very funny, smart 199 00:10:45,200 --> 00:10:48,720 Speaker 1: book writers by the names of Anthony King and Scott Brown. 200 00:10:49,040 --> 00:10:51,240 Speaker 1: They've known each other since so were fourteen years old. 201 00:10:51,760 --> 00:10:55,920 Speaker 1: They were heavily involved in founding the Upright Citizens Brigade, 202 00:10:55,920 --> 00:11:00,640 Speaker 1: which is which is a very influential improv organized here 203 00:11:00,679 --> 00:11:02,760 Speaker 1: in New York. So these guys that are a really 204 00:11:02,800 --> 00:11:08,200 Speaker 1: strong kind of connection and a strong relationship, and the 205 00:11:08,240 --> 00:11:11,360 Speaker 1: script as a result was incredibly funny and surprising and 206 00:11:11,480 --> 00:11:14,320 Speaker 1: dark and comic, not in you know, not in kind 207 00:11:14,360 --> 00:11:17,360 Speaker 1: of music theater comedy world where you know, jokes can 208 00:11:17,480 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: kind of have a different temperature and a little bit 209 00:11:19,440 --> 00:11:22,840 Speaker 1: more I guess wanting without being too pejoraty of like, 210 00:11:22,920 --> 00:11:25,800 Speaker 1: you know, slightly more tempered and broad. They wanted to 211 00:11:25,840 --> 00:11:28,680 Speaker 1: sit in that world of comedy, to be kind of 212 00:11:28,679 --> 00:11:31,199 Speaker 1: comedy literate, and as a result, the script was really 213 00:11:31,200 --> 00:11:34,120 Speaker 1: funny and really surprising, and it was basically, you know, 214 00:11:34,120 --> 00:11:37,520 Speaker 1: you would read a scene and then it would get 215 00:11:37,559 --> 00:11:39,600 Speaker 1: to where they imagined a song would be, and they'd 216 00:11:39,640 --> 00:11:42,160 Speaker 1: just be in parentheses, in parenthesis, a kind of a 217 00:11:42,240 --> 00:11:44,720 Speaker 1: bolded bit of text that was a brief, you know, 218 00:11:46,120 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: And they wanted me to write a song for Lydia 219 00:11:47,760 --> 00:11:49,559 Speaker 1: and a song for Beatle Juice to try and get 220 00:11:49,559 --> 00:11:53,120 Speaker 1: a sense of whether I could find a singing voice 221 00:11:53,120 --> 00:11:55,679 Speaker 1: for those characters, which is really important in an adaptation 222 00:11:55,840 --> 00:11:59,520 Speaker 1: of something that people already know and love, and they 223 00:11:59,520 --> 00:12:02,319 Speaker 1: need to make the leap from having seen those characters 224 00:12:02,360 --> 00:12:06,840 Speaker 1: on screen and then totally believing that they could sing, 225 00:12:06,920 --> 00:12:10,200 Speaker 1: that there was a language and a sound, a kind 226 00:12:10,240 --> 00:12:12,920 Speaker 1: of a sonic world that made sense for that character 227 00:12:12,960 --> 00:12:16,240 Speaker 1: that people would buy, you know, and not go, Jesus Christ, 228 00:12:16,240 --> 00:12:19,640 Speaker 1: why has this been made into a musical and totally destroyed? 229 00:12:19,679 --> 00:12:19,840 Speaker 3: You know. 230 00:12:20,640 --> 00:12:24,280 Speaker 1: So it's kind of a big responsibility, especially because you know, 231 00:12:24,320 --> 00:12:26,280 Speaker 1: you're sort of pitching to get the gig at the 232 00:12:26,320 --> 00:12:28,640 Speaker 1: same time as you're trying to solve one of the 233 00:12:28,640 --> 00:12:32,079 Speaker 1: biggest problems about the show of any adaptation, which is 234 00:12:32,120 --> 00:12:36,559 Speaker 1: how do these characters sing? So with Beetlejuice, for example, 235 00:12:38,000 --> 00:12:40,920 Speaker 1: the moment in the script way back when he turned up, 236 00:12:42,840 --> 00:12:44,559 Speaker 1: It was after the Maitlands. I don't know if you 237 00:12:44,600 --> 00:12:47,199 Speaker 1: remember the movie, but the Maitlands die and they go 238 00:12:47,280 --> 00:12:49,840 Speaker 1: home and they don't know they're dead, and they're just 239 00:12:49,880 --> 00:12:53,160 Speaker 1: sort of trying to work out why they're cold and why, 240 00:12:53,360 --> 00:12:58,040 Speaker 1: you know, Barbara's fingers are on fire and they realize 241 00:12:58,040 --> 00:13:00,720 Speaker 1: they're dead. And then in the script who turns up? 242 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:04,480 Speaker 1: And his opening number was very much a sales pitch 243 00:13:04,880 --> 00:13:08,440 Speaker 1: to try and convince Adam and Barbara Maitland to hire 244 00:13:08,559 --> 00:13:13,040 Speaker 1: him to be a bio exorcist to scare the Deetzers 245 00:13:13,080 --> 00:13:15,640 Speaker 1: who had bought their house and were moving in. And 246 00:13:16,520 --> 00:13:18,920 Speaker 1: so I guess in kind of song terms, you know, 247 00:13:19,920 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: music theater is not unlike law in a weird way. 248 00:13:22,600 --> 00:13:24,760 Speaker 1: When you go to talk about the function of a song, 249 00:13:25,040 --> 00:13:27,719 Speaker 1: there are usually a lot of other precedents from other 250 00:13:27,840 --> 00:13:32,400 Speaker 1: musicals that stand as examples of how a song can function. 251 00:13:32,679 --> 00:13:35,040 Speaker 1: So it doesn't mean your song's going to be anything 252 00:13:35,120 --> 00:13:38,240 Speaker 1: like that song, But in terms of functionality, it's sometimes 253 00:13:38,320 --> 00:13:40,319 Speaker 1: good to be able to draw references, and so immediately 254 00:13:40,400 --> 00:13:45,000 Speaker 1: I was like, okay, you know, a demon who has 255 00:13:45,080 --> 00:13:49,320 Speaker 1: no social niceties, doesn't know how to deal with people, 256 00:13:49,360 --> 00:13:53,320 Speaker 1: has been confined and cursed and banished to this house, 257 00:13:53,440 --> 00:13:56,560 Speaker 1: is invisible, is kind of impotent in all ways, but 258 00:13:56,600 --> 00:14:00,959 Speaker 1: also incredibly tactless and sleazy, is trying to use everything 259 00:14:00,960 --> 00:14:06,079 Speaker 1: at his disposable disposal to convince these incredibly conservative, button down, 260 00:14:06,640 --> 00:14:11,400 Speaker 1: uptight New England, the type this couple, that they should 261 00:14:11,440 --> 00:14:15,200 Speaker 1: employ him. So, you know, immediately I started thinking of 262 00:14:15,320 --> 00:14:18,680 Speaker 1: things like, you know, there's a very well known song 263 00:14:18,679 --> 00:14:21,840 Speaker 1: from Aladdin, the Genie sings friend like Me, where he's 264 00:14:21,840 --> 00:14:26,720 Speaker 1: first freed from the lamp, and that song is a 265 00:14:26,840 --> 00:14:29,080 Speaker 1: kind of a you know, a real turt to fource 266 00:14:29,160 --> 00:14:33,720 Speaker 1: for the character basically selling his services, you know, And 267 00:14:34,360 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: I was like, well, what would Beatlejuice's language be. And 268 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:40,280 Speaker 1: in the script, he has you know, multiple personalities, multiple 269 00:14:40,280 --> 00:14:43,440 Speaker 1: conversations and demons running through his body. He's like a 270 00:14:43,520 --> 00:14:47,160 Speaker 1: vessel for thousands and thousands of different personalities, and I 271 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,160 Speaker 1: thought it'd be great if musically they could all interact 272 00:14:50,160 --> 00:14:55,120 Speaker 1: with each other in the same song, and that meant 273 00:14:55,160 --> 00:14:58,560 Speaker 1: being able to, you know, turn on a dime from 274 00:14:58,720 --> 00:15:02,720 Speaker 1: one genre of music to another. It meant being able 275 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:06,400 Speaker 1: to kind of surprise the listener by not just having 276 00:15:06,480 --> 00:15:10,560 Speaker 1: a song start in say, you know, four full time 277 00:15:11,040 --> 00:15:13,920 Speaker 1: and then continue in four full time through the whole song. 278 00:15:14,280 --> 00:15:16,960 Speaker 1: And needed to be able to, you know, he had 279 00:15:16,960 --> 00:15:20,400 Speaker 1: about a subdivide rhythms, go into compound time, if you 280 00:15:20,440 --> 00:15:24,480 Speaker 1: needed to have irregular bar lengths, be able to switch 281 00:15:24,520 --> 00:15:26,720 Speaker 1: to new genres of music. But all of it in 282 00:15:26,760 --> 00:15:29,840 Speaker 1: the service of convincing this couple that he should be 283 00:15:29,840 --> 00:15:32,680 Speaker 1: employed by them to scare the people that have taken 284 00:15:32,720 --> 00:15:33,480 Speaker 1: over their house. 285 00:15:33,920 --> 00:15:37,720 Speaker 3: And so I quickly kind of ran. 286 00:15:37,600 --> 00:15:40,240 Speaker 1: Into issues because it's very easy to start a song 287 00:15:40,280 --> 00:15:41,760 Speaker 1: and then go, okay, well here we are. 288 00:15:41,760 --> 00:15:42,760 Speaker 3: We're in, We're in. 289 00:15:42,880 --> 00:15:46,400 Speaker 1: Kind of like the original brief was, we want kind 290 00:15:46,440 --> 00:15:52,560 Speaker 1: of dark carnival, a sort of demented circus music with 291 00:15:52,640 --> 00:15:55,440 Speaker 1: a bit of Oingo, a bit of Danny Elfman esque 292 00:15:55,480 --> 00:15:56,920 Speaker 1: Oingo Boingo. 293 00:15:57,080 --> 00:16:00,520 Speaker 3: And I was like, Oingo Boingo, what the fuck is right? 294 00:16:00,760 --> 00:16:04,080 Speaker 1: And if I just googled Oino Boingo, I would have 295 00:16:04,080 --> 00:16:06,240 Speaker 1: found out that oo Borno was the name of Danny 296 00:16:06,240 --> 00:16:08,080 Speaker 1: Elfan's band like way back in the day. 297 00:16:08,120 --> 00:16:09,360 Speaker 3: But I didn't. 298 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:11,480 Speaker 1: I was like, oh, bo I think I know it. 299 00:16:11,520 --> 00:16:13,360 Speaker 1: There's I think I know what they meant. You know, 300 00:16:13,360 --> 00:16:15,480 Speaker 1: I had no idea, and so I'm like trying to 301 00:16:15,560 --> 00:16:17,960 Speaker 1: write Oingo boingo like you know, like which is for 302 00:16:18,080 --> 00:16:22,720 Speaker 1: me is like kind of spongy, bouncy, carnivalle circusy, you know, 303 00:16:24,200 --> 00:16:27,600 Speaker 1: Tom Waiteze sort of that kind of music. That's the 304 00:16:27,680 --> 00:16:30,360 Speaker 1: sort of music I had in my had in my head. 305 00:16:31,880 --> 00:16:34,280 Speaker 1: So even though I got the brief completely wrong, I 306 00:16:34,280 --> 00:16:38,120 Speaker 1: was actually quite useful. And you know, I you know, 307 00:16:38,160 --> 00:16:40,160 Speaker 1: I wrote wrote the opening. It was a kind of 308 00:16:40,200 --> 00:16:43,640 Speaker 1: sca and then he sang like a little ink and 309 00:16:43,640 --> 00:16:45,280 Speaker 1: then he had a little banjo came out and he 310 00:16:45,360 --> 00:16:48,000 Speaker 1: sang a bit of music that sounded like, you know, folksy, 311 00:16:48,080 --> 00:16:51,160 Speaker 1: like the Rainbow Connection, and then he would sing death 312 00:16:51,240 --> 00:16:55,600 Speaker 1: metal and then back to folksy, and then swing jazz, 313 00:16:56,080 --> 00:16:58,040 Speaker 1: and then maybe something that was sort of like classical. 314 00:16:58,080 --> 00:17:00,680 Speaker 1: So it was always like WHOA, we're we're going. But 315 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:03,000 Speaker 1: in terms of creating a song, you know, you can 316 00:17:03,040 --> 00:17:05,399 Speaker 1: add a genre at a genre at a genre, and 317 00:17:05,440 --> 00:17:08,480 Speaker 1: by the end of it you have a completely incohesive song. 318 00:17:08,560 --> 00:17:12,399 Speaker 1: That has no sort of spine to it. It's just sprawling. 319 00:17:13,119 --> 00:17:16,160 Speaker 1: So I was trying to wrangle all of these styles 320 00:17:16,200 --> 00:17:18,720 Speaker 1: into the one house, and that was proving to me 321 00:17:18,800 --> 00:17:22,000 Speaker 1: really difficult. I ring my manager, who is very musical 322 00:17:22,400 --> 00:17:25,200 Speaker 1: musically literate, and I was like, who else does this? 323 00:17:26,119 --> 00:17:28,720 Speaker 1: And he was like, what about mister Bungle? And I 324 00:17:28,760 --> 00:17:30,880 Speaker 1: was like, yes, I hadn't listened to mister Bungle since 325 00:17:30,920 --> 00:17:32,879 Speaker 1: I was in high school. So I went back and 326 00:17:32,920 --> 00:17:34,720 Speaker 1: listened to some of that and that was a really 327 00:17:35,440 --> 00:17:40,080 Speaker 1: that was a really great reference point as well. And 328 00:17:40,119 --> 00:17:43,640 Speaker 1: it was basically just I don't know how long, maybe 329 00:17:43,680 --> 00:17:47,080 Speaker 1: like three weeks, which is a long time to write 330 00:17:47,119 --> 00:17:47,440 Speaker 1: a song. 331 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:49,439 Speaker 3: Three weeks of constant. 332 00:17:50,720 --> 00:17:54,600 Speaker 1: Writing all day in my studio, bouncing down what I'd 333 00:17:54,600 --> 00:17:59,760 Speaker 1: written into an MP three, emailing it to myself, and 334 00:17:59,800 --> 00:18:01,520 Speaker 1: then I would put it, you know, I would email 335 00:18:01,560 --> 00:18:03,480 Speaker 1: to myself and then I would put my headphones into 336 00:18:03,520 --> 00:18:05,840 Speaker 1: my phone and I would walk around the streets of 337 00:18:06,320 --> 00:18:09,160 Speaker 1: East Brunswick listening to it, trying to be about as 338 00:18:09,200 --> 00:18:13,440 Speaker 1: objective about the music as I could. You know, when 339 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:16,400 Speaker 1: did it feel like it flagged in energy? When did 340 00:18:16,400 --> 00:18:20,000 Speaker 1: it feel like it lost its lost its main argument? 341 00:18:20,880 --> 00:18:23,440 Speaker 1: Did it feel like a whole song? Is that section 342 00:18:23,560 --> 00:18:24,840 Speaker 1: long enough? Is it too long? 343 00:18:26,119 --> 00:18:26,760 Speaker 3: All that kind of. 344 00:18:26,680 --> 00:18:30,520 Speaker 1: Stuff, and then going back and doing the changes and 345 00:18:30,560 --> 00:18:32,919 Speaker 1: working on them like that, and that was that was 346 00:18:32,960 --> 00:18:35,760 Speaker 1: one of those Some songs come quick in one sort 347 00:18:35,760 --> 00:18:38,840 Speaker 1: of session, and some songs are really like you're just 348 00:18:38,880 --> 00:18:42,520 Speaker 1: building it brick by brick and Bill Juce's song for 349 00:18:42,560 --> 00:18:44,800 Speaker 1: that pitch was a real brick by brick song. 350 00:18:44,840 --> 00:18:48,679 Speaker 3: But the Lydia song was much Yeah, it was. It 351 00:18:48,760 --> 00:18:49,520 Speaker 3: was very different. 352 00:18:49,560 --> 00:18:52,600 Speaker 1: It was like, Okay, well, she's you know, obviously strange 353 00:18:52,600 --> 00:18:56,359 Speaker 1: and unusual. She's you know, dark and gothic, she's macarbs, 354 00:18:56,400 --> 00:18:59,600 Speaker 1: she's focused on you know, the death, on death in 355 00:18:59,640 --> 00:19:03,160 Speaker 1: the after life. She's kind of a morbid, angsty teenager. 356 00:19:03,240 --> 00:19:05,520 Speaker 1: And it just made sense to me that, you know, 357 00:19:05,560 --> 00:19:08,600 Speaker 1: the kind of song that she would sing, and the 358 00:19:09,160 --> 00:19:11,920 Speaker 1: brief of that song was, you know, her opening number, 359 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:15,920 Speaker 1: which is really about being stuck in this kind of lame, 360 00:19:16,000 --> 00:19:19,240 Speaker 1: white picket fence suburban house with a father who refuses 361 00:19:19,280 --> 00:19:21,159 Speaker 1: to talk about the death of the recent death of 362 00:19:21,160 --> 00:19:25,199 Speaker 1: her mother. She's alone, she's disconnected. She just wants to 363 00:19:25,240 --> 00:19:27,639 Speaker 1: get out of that place. She wants to reconnect with 364 00:19:28,960 --> 00:19:32,560 Speaker 1: the feeling of being with her mother who totally accepted, 365 00:19:32,680 --> 00:19:36,880 Speaker 1: understood and celebrated her strangeness and her unusualness, and she's 366 00:19:36,920 --> 00:19:39,280 Speaker 1: a total fish out of water where she is. And 367 00:19:39,320 --> 00:19:41,439 Speaker 1: I was like, well, that sounds like a girl in 368 00:19:41,480 --> 00:19:44,920 Speaker 1: her bedroom with a Fender guitar plugged into a little amp, 369 00:19:45,320 --> 00:19:50,800 Speaker 1: indie rock, kind of angsty teen sort of rock song, 370 00:19:50,920 --> 00:19:52,400 Speaker 1: I guess, alternative rock song. 371 00:19:52,680 --> 00:19:54,200 Speaker 3: So that was sort of a little easy to write 372 00:19:54,200 --> 00:19:55,840 Speaker 3: because you know, you get out your guitar and to 373 00:19:55,920 --> 00:19:58,680 Speaker 3: start to play, you know. So yeah, that was a 374 00:19:58,720 --> 00:19:59,680 Speaker 3: process for the two songs. 375 00:19:59,960 --> 00:20:03,680 Speaker 1: Y different, but but you know, like kind of important. 376 00:20:03,800 --> 00:20:05,639 Speaker 3: And that's really weird because that's the pitch. 377 00:20:06,080 --> 00:20:07,720 Speaker 1: You know, that's the before you even got the job, 378 00:20:08,119 --> 00:20:10,760 Speaker 1: you're solving like one of the biggest issues of the 379 00:20:10,920 --> 00:20:12,160 Speaker 1: of the show, you know. 380 00:20:12,880 --> 00:20:15,480 Speaker 2: Fascinating process. I want to delve into the Beatlejuice song 381 00:20:15,720 --> 00:20:18,040 Speaker 2: a bit more like the way you describe it. It 382 00:20:18,119 --> 00:20:22,520 Speaker 2: sounds kind of part creative but part analytical. Is is 383 00:20:22,760 --> 00:20:24,720 Speaker 2: that sort of fair to say in terms of the 384 00:20:24,720 --> 00:20:25,760 Speaker 2: writing process. 385 00:20:26,119 --> 00:20:28,600 Speaker 3: Yeah, so it's a few jobs in one like. 386 00:20:31,000 --> 00:20:31,040 Speaker 2: This. 387 00:20:31,280 --> 00:20:38,360 Speaker 1: There's obviously the lyrics influence music and music influence lyrics, 388 00:20:38,440 --> 00:20:44,439 Speaker 1: you know, because before you even get started, there are 389 00:20:44,440 --> 00:20:46,680 Speaker 1: two things I kind of want to think about. One 390 00:20:46,720 --> 00:20:50,240 Speaker 1: of them is how do I want an audience to feel? 391 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: And what's the temperature of this song? As we're kind 392 00:20:53,000 --> 00:20:55,639 Speaker 1: of being an actor also comes in handy, like where 393 00:20:55,960 --> 00:20:59,119 Speaker 1: what is the frequency that this character is sort of like, 394 00:20:59,480 --> 00:21:03,280 Speaker 1: I don't know, vibrating on at this point in the show. 395 00:21:03,800 --> 00:21:06,680 Speaker 1: And you really have to kind of harness that sense 396 00:21:06,720 --> 00:21:08,959 Speaker 1: of feeling and then and then find the music that 397 00:21:09,000 --> 00:21:11,760 Speaker 1: expresses exactly that sentiment. 398 00:21:11,840 --> 00:21:12,240 Speaker 3: You can't. 399 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:15,760 Speaker 1: Sometimes you can work against that, but normally you're like, 400 00:21:15,800 --> 00:21:17,640 Speaker 1: you need to. The music needs to reflect that kind 401 00:21:17,720 --> 00:21:20,360 Speaker 1: of state of mind. And before I can write anything, 402 00:21:20,560 --> 00:21:24,520 Speaker 1: before you know, I can start, you know, playing with 403 00:21:24,680 --> 00:21:29,080 Speaker 1: I don't know a chord progression or or or a 404 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:34,280 Speaker 1: rhythmic feel or a mood or a tone. 405 00:21:34,520 --> 00:21:36,320 Speaker 3: You need to know what the idea is. You know, 406 00:21:36,359 --> 00:21:37,480 Speaker 3: what is the idea? 407 00:21:37,560 --> 00:21:40,080 Speaker 1: And for me, like if I can write the title 408 00:21:40,119 --> 00:21:43,879 Speaker 1: of a song it has the idea in it, then 409 00:21:43,920 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: I feel like, you know, without being too glib, about 410 00:21:46,720 --> 00:21:49,639 Speaker 1: eighty percent of the song is done, so you know 411 00:21:49,680 --> 00:21:54,879 Speaker 1: the song. So for example, Beatlejuice of songs called the 412 00:21:54,920 --> 00:22:00,439 Speaker 1: whole being dead thing and. 413 00:21:59,160 --> 00:21:59,920 Speaker 3: The point of that. 414 00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:01,880 Speaker 1: You know, when I landed on that, I was like, okay, well, 415 00:22:02,040 --> 00:22:06,679 Speaker 1: this is all about going you're dead, but don't worry. 416 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:09,399 Speaker 1: I'm going to be the conduit between You'm going to 417 00:22:09,440 --> 00:22:11,879 Speaker 1: be the person that eases you into the afterlife, and 418 00:22:11,920 --> 00:22:13,800 Speaker 1: I'm going to sell you the after life is kind 419 00:22:13,840 --> 00:22:16,080 Speaker 1: of great place and a place that you know that 420 00:22:16,320 --> 00:22:18,800 Speaker 1: requires me to navigate it. You know, don't worry. I 421 00:22:18,880 --> 00:22:21,119 Speaker 1: got this, I got you. I'll be your guide to 422 00:22:21,160 --> 00:22:25,520 Speaker 1: the other side kind of vibe. And so once that 423 00:22:25,680 --> 00:22:28,439 Speaker 1: idea is there, you go, okay, well that's my hook, 424 00:22:28,800 --> 00:22:30,879 Speaker 1: that's my chorus. The title of the song is going 425 00:22:30,920 --> 00:22:32,040 Speaker 1: to be kind of a hook, and you get to 426 00:22:32,040 --> 00:22:33,439 Speaker 1: decide where you put that. You can put that at 427 00:22:33,440 --> 00:22:36,560 Speaker 1: the end of a verse phrase, or you can save 428 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:38,800 Speaker 1: it for a chorus and you can start a chorus 429 00:22:38,800 --> 00:22:41,640 Speaker 1: with that, or you can end a chorus with that 430 00:22:41,680 --> 00:22:44,399 Speaker 1: particular lyricals. And it should always be tied to a 431 00:22:44,440 --> 00:22:49,159 Speaker 1: really strong melodic idea, because you want those things that 432 00:22:49,200 --> 00:22:52,119 Speaker 1: are going to really you know, the reason it's called 433 00:22:52,160 --> 00:22:55,879 Speaker 1: a hook is because it sticks into the listener. You 434 00:22:55,920 --> 00:22:59,159 Speaker 1: want to tie the main central argument and thought of 435 00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:01,440 Speaker 1: that if you want to the trunk of the tree 436 00:23:01,880 --> 00:23:04,920 Speaker 1: to like a killer malady, so that those two things 437 00:23:04,920 --> 00:23:09,440 Speaker 1: in tandem really stick inside the listener's brain, and then 438 00:23:09,480 --> 00:23:11,040 Speaker 1: everything that comes around. 439 00:23:10,680 --> 00:23:12,520 Speaker 3: It, the versus the bridge section. 440 00:23:12,960 --> 00:23:15,400 Speaker 1: They're all like kind of branches that come off that tree, 441 00:23:15,440 --> 00:23:18,439 Speaker 1: but they all support and come back to that central 442 00:23:18,480 --> 00:23:21,320 Speaker 1: hook the whole time, so that you never feel an 443 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: audience is never like where are we in this song? 444 00:23:23,359 --> 00:23:26,000 Speaker 3: Like what is being said? You know, a. 445 00:23:26,000 --> 00:23:28,760 Speaker 1: Bridge is a place where you can drift laterally a 446 00:23:28,800 --> 00:23:30,800 Speaker 1: little bit and go We're going to go over here 447 00:23:30,840 --> 00:23:31,960 Speaker 1: a little bit, or I'm going to give you a 448 00:23:31,960 --> 00:23:34,879 Speaker 1: bit of backstory, or or the character's going to lament 449 00:23:35,000 --> 00:23:38,800 Speaker 1: something they lost, or or they're going to speculate and 450 00:23:38,840 --> 00:23:41,080 Speaker 1: what might come or whatever. And then and then it 451 00:23:41,240 --> 00:23:44,119 Speaker 1: sucks back into the main part of the song and 452 00:23:44,160 --> 00:23:45,960 Speaker 1: you're away again, normally with like a kind of a 453 00:23:46,000 --> 00:23:48,200 Speaker 1: lift that might be a key change or something like that. 454 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,240 Speaker 1: That's sort of in crude terms, every song differs, but 455 00:23:51,840 --> 00:23:53,879 Speaker 1: they're sort of the building blocks that you've got to 456 00:23:54,480 --> 00:23:56,480 Speaker 1: play with in constructing that. And all of it is 457 00:23:56,480 --> 00:24:01,080 Speaker 1: about servicing the idea, So it's part like it's a 458 00:24:01,119 --> 00:24:06,440 Speaker 1: part musical creativity. It's part lyrical creativity, and then once 459 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:09,760 Speaker 1: you've got sections, it becomes design. So you go, okay, 460 00:24:09,800 --> 00:24:14,080 Speaker 1: well I want another verse here. How am I going 461 00:24:14,119 --> 00:24:20,560 Speaker 1: to advance the argument lyrically and also be able to, 462 00:24:22,960 --> 00:24:25,080 Speaker 1: you know, also be able to provide something new, So 463 00:24:25,080 --> 00:24:27,280 Speaker 1: we're not just hearing the same necessarily, the same music 464 00:24:27,320 --> 00:24:29,760 Speaker 1: might have the same chord progression, but you can change that. 465 00:24:29,840 --> 00:24:33,240 Speaker 3: Maybe the scansion of the lyrics comes faster. 466 00:24:33,400 --> 00:24:38,120 Speaker 1: Now all those things that are really about then going okay, well, 467 00:24:38,119 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: I've got this section, and now I have to write 468 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,480 Speaker 1: a new lyric that's going to fit this section. So 469 00:24:43,520 --> 00:24:46,840 Speaker 1: it's kind of a weird collaboration. It all swirls around, 470 00:24:48,680 --> 00:24:51,439 Speaker 1: you know, and inside the one brain. Whereas if I 471 00:24:51,480 --> 00:24:55,240 Speaker 1: had a writing partner, we would separate those jobs out 472 00:24:55,440 --> 00:24:57,479 Speaker 1: and there would be a back and forth between us. 473 00:24:57,480 --> 00:25:00,760 Speaker 1: But I kind of have to do all of that myself, 474 00:25:01,119 --> 00:25:04,240 Speaker 1: and it's a little you know, sometimes those two things 475 00:25:04,280 --> 00:25:07,159 Speaker 1: work together really well. Sometimes they don't, and then you 476 00:25:07,240 --> 00:25:10,320 Speaker 1: have to find a way to break the pattern and go, okay, well, 477 00:25:11,400 --> 00:25:13,119 Speaker 1: I'm not going to be able to write this lyric 478 00:25:13,160 --> 00:25:15,560 Speaker 1: at the piano. I need to take my book and 479 00:25:15,600 --> 00:25:17,639 Speaker 1: I need to go and sit in a park and 480 00:25:17,680 --> 00:25:20,600 Speaker 1: I need to write the lyric there, or I need 481 00:25:20,640 --> 00:25:22,960 Speaker 1: to think about the music away from an instrument, where 482 00:25:22,960 --> 00:25:26,440 Speaker 1: I've got all of my patterns and my habits and 483 00:25:26,440 --> 00:25:30,280 Speaker 1: my history and you know, the things that make music 484 00:25:30,320 --> 00:25:32,800 Speaker 1: sound really lame. I'm kind of tethered to that because 485 00:25:32,840 --> 00:25:36,199 Speaker 1: of my skill or my lack of skill on the piano. 486 00:25:36,240 --> 00:25:39,200 Speaker 1: You know, everyone's limited by their own ability, But musically, 487 00:25:39,480 --> 00:25:42,359 Speaker 1: I can be much more creative sometimes when I'm nowhere 488 00:25:42,400 --> 00:25:44,520 Speaker 1: near an instrument, and then you know, you can be 489 00:25:44,560 --> 00:25:48,720 Speaker 1: away writing lyrics. Sometimes it's singing melodic ideas into the 490 00:25:48,800 --> 00:25:51,719 Speaker 1: voice memo of your phone and then going home and 491 00:25:51,760 --> 00:25:55,280 Speaker 1: trying to capture that. It's all sorts of things. It's 492 00:25:55,320 --> 00:25:57,119 Speaker 1: kind of a crazy dance. 493 00:25:58,400 --> 00:26:01,560 Speaker 2: It sounds like it. And I'm I'm curious with coming 494 00:26:01,640 --> 00:26:03,840 Speaker 2: up with the title. You said, that's that's the very 495 00:26:03,880 --> 00:26:07,360 Speaker 2: first and possibly the most important job. Like what does 496 00:26:07,400 --> 00:26:10,640 Speaker 2: that look like for you? Is that like days of 497 00:26:10,760 --> 00:26:13,520 Speaker 2: jotting down all sorts of ideas. Does it come in 498 00:26:13,520 --> 00:26:16,480 Speaker 2: as spark of inspiration? Like how did it happen for 499 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:18,920 Speaker 2: the Beatlejuice song? So I love that title. That's that's 500 00:26:18,920 --> 00:26:19,399 Speaker 2: so cool. 501 00:26:19,880 --> 00:26:22,160 Speaker 1: I can't remember where the whole being dead thing came from. 502 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:24,400 Speaker 1: I think it might be a I think it might 503 00:26:24,440 --> 00:26:26,800 Speaker 1: even be a line from the film. 504 00:26:26,800 --> 00:26:29,840 Speaker 3: It was certainly, it was certainly in the script. 505 00:26:29,880 --> 00:26:31,440 Speaker 1: At one point you said, you know, I'm here to 506 00:26:31,480 --> 00:26:32,919 Speaker 1: help you with the whole being dead thing, and I 507 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:35,560 Speaker 1: was like, Oh, the whole being dead thing. That's that's great. 508 00:26:35,760 --> 00:26:39,960 Speaker 1: That's a great title for a song. So that was 509 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:45,439 Speaker 1: kind of the clue there. But with Lydia's song in 510 00:26:45,480 --> 00:26:48,560 Speaker 1: the original script, she had a magic She had a 511 00:26:48,600 --> 00:26:52,560 Speaker 1: magic eight ball that she called dead Mum, and she 512 00:26:52,600 --> 00:26:54,160 Speaker 1: would talk to it as if it was a mother, 513 00:26:54,240 --> 00:26:56,360 Speaker 1: but in a kind of a rye and ironic way, 514 00:26:56,400 --> 00:26:59,160 Speaker 1: And most of that was about kind of trolling her father, 515 00:26:59,200 --> 00:27:02,920 Speaker 1: who refused to talk about the death of his wife. 516 00:27:03,000 --> 00:27:06,439 Speaker 1: So she sort of was dragging the memory and the 517 00:27:06,480 --> 00:27:11,399 Speaker 1: presence of her mother into their life constantly, really just 518 00:27:11,400 --> 00:27:13,399 Speaker 1: to try and provoke a reaction out of her father 519 00:27:13,480 --> 00:27:16,679 Speaker 1: to get him to talk about it. And it existed 520 00:27:16,720 --> 00:27:18,960 Speaker 1: as a physical object, so she would sort of sing 521 00:27:19,000 --> 00:27:24,000 Speaker 1: to this magic eight ball and I love just like 522 00:27:24,040 --> 00:27:27,639 Speaker 1: the you know, dead mom as a title is great, 523 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:32,040 Speaker 1: and you know, being able to start a song that's like. 524 00:27:32,080 --> 00:27:36,080 Speaker 3: Dead Mom, Dead Mom. I know you're probably busy and 525 00:27:36,119 --> 00:27:38,159 Speaker 3: every shake just makes you dizzy. You know. 526 00:27:38,400 --> 00:27:40,920 Speaker 1: That kind of singing to the eight ball stuff kind 527 00:27:40,920 --> 00:27:43,520 Speaker 1: of came quite easily, and it was a kind of 528 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:46,040 Speaker 1: a mantra. She would sort of every verse sort of 529 00:27:46,080 --> 00:27:48,520 Speaker 1: begame with dead mom, and it repeated dead mom over 530 00:27:48,560 --> 00:27:52,880 Speaker 1: and over again, and that was sort of like kind 531 00:27:52,920 --> 00:27:56,520 Speaker 1: of you know, finding I do like a kind of 532 00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,560 Speaker 1: a sardonic way through the teen angst, where she like, 533 00:28:00,600 --> 00:28:03,800 Speaker 1: she knows that what she's doing is totally morbid and weird, 534 00:28:03,880 --> 00:28:07,320 Speaker 1: and she knows it's kind of futile and pointless that 535 00:28:07,359 --> 00:28:09,720 Speaker 1: her mother doesn't exist inside a magic eight ball, or 536 00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:13,440 Speaker 1: she doesn't exists as a disembodied sort of spirit floating around. 537 00:28:13,800 --> 00:28:17,000 Speaker 1: But she does have a sense that, even though she 538 00:28:17,280 --> 00:28:20,320 Speaker 1: knows she's playing this kind of game with herself, that 539 00:28:20,400 --> 00:28:23,440 Speaker 1: she really does need this externalized version of a mother 540 00:28:23,520 --> 00:28:24,040 Speaker 1: to talk to. 541 00:28:24,760 --> 00:28:27,320 Speaker 2: And when you're writing a song, how do you know 542 00:28:27,440 --> 00:28:28,720 Speaker 2: when it's finished? 543 00:28:29,560 --> 00:28:32,080 Speaker 1: Yeah, So that's really it's really complicated, and it's always 544 00:28:32,320 --> 00:28:35,560 Speaker 1: it's always changing, And I mean every time you hit 545 00:28:35,680 --> 00:28:37,520 Speaker 1: send on an email to send off a demo or 546 00:28:37,560 --> 00:28:38,000 Speaker 1: to send. 547 00:28:37,880 --> 00:28:38,400 Speaker 3: Off a script. 548 00:28:38,400 --> 00:28:41,720 Speaker 1: It's always excruciating because it's not finished and it is 549 00:28:41,760 --> 00:28:43,479 Speaker 1: going to change, and I think, you just go, this 550 00:28:43,520 --> 00:28:45,600 Speaker 1: is the this is a you know, I'm happy with 551 00:28:45,680 --> 00:28:51,480 Speaker 1: where this is sitting right now, and it's good enough 552 00:28:51,520 --> 00:28:55,680 Speaker 1: to put in the pile. And I probably used to 553 00:28:55,680 --> 00:28:59,400 Speaker 1: be a little bit more like perfect it's done, like Bravo, 554 00:29:00,640 --> 00:29:02,400 Speaker 1: And now I'm like, well, this is where it's at. 555 00:29:02,640 --> 00:29:05,040 Speaker 1: This is where it's at now. It's always like you know, 556 00:29:05,080 --> 00:29:07,280 Speaker 1: you never, you never, kind of you always handing in 557 00:29:07,280 --> 00:29:07,880 Speaker 1: with some men. 558 00:29:08,400 --> 00:29:09,280 Speaker 3: There's there's more. 559 00:29:10,440 --> 00:29:13,520 Speaker 2: Yeah, yeah. And when when you talk about your your 560 00:29:13,600 --> 00:29:17,800 Speaker 2: process for writing those songs, it sounds like changing locations 561 00:29:17,920 --> 00:29:20,760 Speaker 2: or maybe just the flexibility to write from different locations 562 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:24,160 Speaker 2: is a key part of your process. I'm curious how 563 00:29:24,240 --> 00:29:26,120 Speaker 2: how does that work in practice? Like you do you 564 00:29:26,520 --> 00:29:30,560 Speaker 2: deliberately change locations to change your state or do you 565 00:29:30,720 --> 00:29:34,360 Speaker 2: change locations because it's just trying to write around the 566 00:29:34,400 --> 00:29:35,880 Speaker 2: logistics of your life. 567 00:29:36,640 --> 00:29:39,560 Speaker 1: Sometimes it's both, and then you know, one kind of 568 00:29:39,600 --> 00:29:41,760 Speaker 1: influences the other. So I know that if I get 569 00:29:41,760 --> 00:29:45,400 Speaker 1: out of the house, you know, I can go like 570 00:29:45,520 --> 00:29:48,320 Speaker 1: I'm in Central Park right now and I'm actually staring 571 00:29:48,360 --> 00:29:53,200 Speaker 1: at an eagle was quite amazing, beautiful big horn. Wow, Yeah, 572 00:29:53,320 --> 00:29:55,800 Speaker 1: just landed on a branch right next to me. So 573 00:29:56,000 --> 00:29:58,400 Speaker 1: that's nothing to do with my process. It's just what something. 574 00:29:58,560 --> 00:30:02,200 Speaker 1: But yeah, you like I sometimes if I need to 575 00:30:02,200 --> 00:30:04,520 Speaker 1: just rewrite lyrics and I don't need to be sitting 576 00:30:04,560 --> 00:30:07,560 Speaker 1: at a table or at a at a in my 577 00:30:07,640 --> 00:30:10,720 Speaker 1: house where there's not really anything to look at and 578 00:30:10,760 --> 00:30:14,880 Speaker 1: where you know, there's a fucking fridge that's you know, 579 00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:16,840 Speaker 1: in years, like I might eat something, or I might 580 00:30:16,880 --> 00:30:18,640 Speaker 1: make a cup of coffee or whatever. Like getting out 581 00:30:18,680 --> 00:30:22,680 Speaker 1: of the house and going to the path to write, 582 00:30:22,680 --> 00:30:24,720 Speaker 1: which I do quite a lot, is great because I 583 00:30:24,720 --> 00:30:27,560 Speaker 1: can just sit down at a bench with my with 584 00:30:27,680 --> 00:30:30,120 Speaker 1: my book and there's nothing nothing to do except write. 585 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:34,520 Speaker 1: So that's that's about focus, I think for me, And 586 00:30:34,560 --> 00:30:36,320 Speaker 1: I go, okay, well, I know I'm writing words, so 587 00:30:36,360 --> 00:30:38,040 Speaker 1: I don't need to be near a piano right now, 588 00:30:39,680 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: and then I'll take that work back to the keyboard 589 00:30:41,920 --> 00:30:45,040 Speaker 1: and then I'll make the track with that with that work, 590 00:30:45,080 --> 00:30:46,680 Speaker 1: and that seems to be better. Like ifen I'm writing 591 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,320 Speaker 1: script stuff sometimes, like when I've been writing plays, I 592 00:30:50,400 --> 00:30:52,680 Speaker 1: often write in cafes, which is weird because there's a 593 00:30:52,680 --> 00:30:53,360 Speaker 1: lot going. 594 00:30:53,160 --> 00:30:55,800 Speaker 3: On, a lot of people going around, moving around you. 595 00:30:55,880 --> 00:30:59,239 Speaker 1: But there's something that makes me really you know, like 596 00:30:59,640 --> 00:31:01,960 Speaker 1: you know, you have to buy a coffee and drink 597 00:31:02,040 --> 00:31:04,800 Speaker 1: it incredibly slowly or find it, you know, the shitt'st 598 00:31:04,800 --> 00:31:07,720 Speaker 1: cafe where no one goes in there and they don't 599 00:31:07,760 --> 00:31:11,440 Speaker 1: mind you taking up a table, but you're there to work. 600 00:31:11,600 --> 00:31:13,320 Speaker 1: You know, you're not. There's nothing else to do. You're 601 00:31:13,320 --> 00:31:14,840 Speaker 1: not going to sit there and muck around. 602 00:31:14,840 --> 00:31:15,000 Speaker 3: You know. 603 00:31:15,040 --> 00:31:18,520 Speaker 1: There's a focus about being in a cafe and writing 604 00:31:18,520 --> 00:31:23,360 Speaker 1: that's really useful to me. And then there it's just 605 00:31:23,400 --> 00:31:26,240 Speaker 1: the grind of sitting at a keyboard and writing it, 606 00:31:26,240 --> 00:31:28,280 Speaker 1: which is its own sort of space as well. And 607 00:31:28,400 --> 00:31:32,040 Speaker 1: so I kind of try and you know, move between 608 00:31:32,040 --> 00:31:35,680 Speaker 1: those sort of three worlds constantly, depending on what I've 609 00:31:35,680 --> 00:31:37,400 Speaker 1: got to do. Like sometimes I'll write, you know, a 610 00:31:37,440 --> 00:31:39,160 Speaker 1: whole bunch of music and I go, okay, great, I've 611 00:31:39,160 --> 00:31:41,840 Speaker 1: got a verse, I've got a chorus. But now I 612 00:31:41,920 --> 00:31:43,800 Speaker 1: need to write, you know, verse two. I need to 613 00:31:43,800 --> 00:31:46,280 Speaker 1: write a bridge. I need to write you know, a 614 00:31:46,320 --> 00:31:49,440 Speaker 1: final chorus. I'm going to go to the park and 615 00:31:49,440 --> 00:31:53,080 Speaker 1: I'm going to write that there, you know, and it's 616 00:31:53,120 --> 00:31:55,400 Speaker 1: also it's kind of a weird thing. Some problems can't 617 00:31:55,440 --> 00:31:59,240 Speaker 1: just be tackled by sitting directly and looking at them, 618 00:31:59,280 --> 00:32:01,240 Speaker 1: you know. You sometimes you need to just walk some 619 00:32:01,320 --> 00:32:03,400 Speaker 1: as you need to walk around well, I mean, I 620 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:10,880 Speaker 1: need to walk around and like almost like reset my 621 00:32:11,040 --> 00:32:14,719 Speaker 1: brain and look at the problem in a different way, 622 00:32:14,880 --> 00:32:18,720 Speaker 1: sometimes not look at the problem. It takes a little 623 00:32:18,720 --> 00:32:21,800 Speaker 1: bit of a discipline in that, because you can wander 624 00:32:21,840 --> 00:32:24,120 Speaker 1: off and get distracted from the process of hand and 625 00:32:24,240 --> 00:32:27,720 Speaker 1: the task at hand completely. But I generally find that 626 00:32:27,840 --> 00:32:30,520 Speaker 1: I live with it in my head. You know, whenever 627 00:32:30,560 --> 00:32:33,040 Speaker 1: you see those kind of TV ads and they're always 628 00:32:33,040 --> 00:32:35,240 Speaker 1: banging on about how you can have like four hundred 629 00:32:35,280 --> 00:32:38,400 Speaker 1: devices and you just get one device and you flick 630 00:32:38,440 --> 00:32:40,959 Speaker 1: your hand and then your file ends up on your 631 00:32:41,000 --> 00:32:43,040 Speaker 1: laptop and now it's on your phone, and then it's 632 00:32:43,080 --> 00:32:45,680 Speaker 1: on your iPad, and you know, it's a little bit 633 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,040 Speaker 1: like that, you know, handing it over into different worlds 634 00:32:49,080 --> 00:32:52,440 Speaker 1: continuously and walking around like that. Sometimes it's just good 635 00:32:52,440 --> 00:32:57,120 Speaker 1: to walk around listening to the song on repeat in 636 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:01,200 Speaker 1: my ears having recorded it it, because then you start 637 00:33:01,200 --> 00:33:03,480 Speaker 1: that's about as objective as a songwriter can get about 638 00:33:03,480 --> 00:33:06,200 Speaker 1: their own work. You go, well, this Brian doesn't line up, 639 00:33:06,360 --> 00:33:10,320 Speaker 1: or this argument isn't clear anymore, all those sorts of things. 640 00:33:10,360 --> 00:33:16,320 Speaker 1: So it's it's sort of a bizarre combination of location 641 00:33:17,000 --> 00:33:19,320 Speaker 1: focus and then what I. 642 00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,720 Speaker 3: Would call the lateral drift. 643 00:33:22,200 --> 00:33:24,360 Speaker 1: Where you know you need, you know, you need to 644 00:33:24,440 --> 00:33:28,640 Speaker 1: just kind of let it swirl around, move around with it, 645 00:33:29,000 --> 00:33:31,480 Speaker 1: find a new way in, and then come back and 646 00:33:31,520 --> 00:33:32,480 Speaker 1: focus on it again. 647 00:33:33,520 --> 00:33:37,000 Speaker 2: I heard you say in an interview that you should 648 00:33:37,000 --> 00:33:40,520 Speaker 2: compete with yourself and not others, and it reminded me 649 00:33:40,600 --> 00:33:42,360 Speaker 2: of that quote, and I think it goes something like 650 00:33:42,440 --> 00:33:46,840 Speaker 2: comparison is the death of joy. And I feel like 651 00:33:46,880 --> 00:33:50,600 Speaker 2: that's really interesting, and particularly in in you know, such 652 00:33:50,600 --> 00:33:53,360 Speaker 2: a creative field that you work in, I imagine there's ample 653 00:33:53,400 --> 00:33:56,480 Speaker 2: opportunities to compare yourself with others. I was curious as 654 00:33:56,560 --> 00:33:59,440 Speaker 2: to what led you to that insight and how do 655 00:33:59,480 --> 00:34:02,000 Speaker 2: you actually apply it, because I imagine that would be 656 00:34:02,160 --> 00:34:03,000 Speaker 2: very hard to apply. 657 00:34:04,000 --> 00:34:07,480 Speaker 1: One of the most obvious ones is just an attitude, 658 00:34:07,520 --> 00:34:11,200 Speaker 1: one like rather than rather than going and seeing a 659 00:34:11,239 --> 00:34:14,120 Speaker 1: piece of theater and getting all. 660 00:34:14,040 --> 00:34:16,319 Speaker 3: Depressed by it. 661 00:34:15,600 --> 00:34:18,759 Speaker 1: And competitive and going you know, well, you know I 662 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:20,520 Speaker 1: could never do that or I would have done that 663 00:34:20,600 --> 00:34:24,880 Speaker 1: much better. A big part of it for me is 664 00:34:25,000 --> 00:34:30,640 Speaker 1: about celebrating other people's work and being inspired by other 665 00:34:30,680 --> 00:34:34,040 Speaker 1: people's work and not letting it get you down, because 666 00:34:34,080 --> 00:34:36,200 Speaker 1: you know, a lot of the time, the stuff that 667 00:34:36,239 --> 00:34:40,120 Speaker 1: I really like, I just know I couldn't write. 668 00:34:40,280 --> 00:34:41,319 Speaker 3: I don't write like that. 669 00:34:42,080 --> 00:34:46,840 Speaker 1: And so, you know, there's a lot of past what 670 00:34:47,280 --> 00:34:49,640 Speaker 1: they call pastich music theater, which is where you write 671 00:34:49,719 --> 00:34:52,560 Speaker 1: in the style of somebody else. Normally, as for King Kong, 672 00:34:52,640 --> 00:34:59,160 Speaker 1: for example, all the songs were contemporary in style. But 673 00:34:59,200 --> 00:35:04,080 Speaker 1: then there are a couple of moments where on stage 674 00:35:03,560 --> 00:35:07,040 Speaker 1: the scene would require a whole bunch of actors to 675 00:35:07,080 --> 00:35:11,200 Speaker 1: be singing a nineteen thirties style Broadway song in like 676 00:35:11,239 --> 00:35:14,080 Speaker 1: a rehearsal or something like that, or an audition, and 677 00:35:14,160 --> 00:35:15,920 Speaker 1: so in that point, you know you're going, Okay, well, 678 00:35:15,920 --> 00:35:17,839 Speaker 1: I need to write something that sounds you know, I'm 679 00:35:17,840 --> 00:35:20,640 Speaker 1: going to listen to a whole bunch of Broadway musicals 680 00:35:20,640 --> 00:35:23,640 Speaker 1: from nineteen thirties, and I'm going to do my own 681 00:35:23,760 --> 00:35:26,200 Speaker 1: version of that music because it needs to sound like 682 00:35:26,280 --> 00:35:29,120 Speaker 1: that world. I think it's good to have your own 683 00:35:29,360 --> 00:35:33,799 Speaker 1: voice and to find your own own voice, and even 684 00:35:33,800 --> 00:35:37,200 Speaker 1: though I like, for example, a composer like Janine Tazori, 685 00:35:37,239 --> 00:35:42,280 Speaker 1: who wrote, amongst other things, she wrote violets. She wrote 686 00:35:43,320 --> 00:35:45,720 Speaker 1: fun Home, which won a Tony Award here on Broadway 687 00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:46,359 Speaker 1: a couple of years ago. 688 00:35:46,360 --> 00:35:47,440 Speaker 3: It's an incredible piece. 689 00:35:47,880 --> 00:35:51,479 Speaker 1: You know, her process is very integrated, where you can't 690 00:35:51,520 --> 00:35:58,880 Speaker 1: even begin to really understand where where the song begins 691 00:35:58,920 --> 00:36:01,879 Speaker 1: and the and ends, and the scene starts and ends, 692 00:36:01,880 --> 00:36:05,200 Speaker 1: and often you know there's music fully integrated inside the 693 00:36:05,239 --> 00:36:08,400 Speaker 1: scene and song comes in and out of it. Whereas 694 00:36:08,440 --> 00:36:10,759 Speaker 1: I tend to start a song and even though you 695 00:36:10,800 --> 00:36:13,080 Speaker 1: can have inside it what you know you might call 696 00:36:13,160 --> 00:36:15,680 Speaker 1: book over, which is like basically, you know, the song 697 00:36:15,800 --> 00:36:17,719 Speaker 1: is happening, but now there's going to be a bit 698 00:36:17,760 --> 00:36:19,759 Speaker 1: of music, and the characters are going to do a scene, 699 00:36:19,760 --> 00:36:20,920 Speaker 1: but then we're going to come back into the song. 700 00:36:20,960 --> 00:36:22,719 Speaker 3: There, that's all. That's all fine. 701 00:36:22,719 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: But I tend to think of things like songs, even 702 00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:28,240 Speaker 1: if they're really long. You know that that I'm always 703 00:36:28,280 --> 00:36:31,719 Speaker 1: creating and kind of a song structure is a big 704 00:36:31,760 --> 00:36:35,799 Speaker 1: part of how I how I write. So I guess, like, 705 00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:40,120 Speaker 1: you know, you can't use other people's rules to influence. 706 00:36:40,719 --> 00:36:42,200 Speaker 3: You can't be anybody else. 707 00:36:42,440 --> 00:36:45,200 Speaker 1: Really well, I can't really be anybody else apart from myself, 708 00:36:45,480 --> 00:36:48,759 Speaker 1: but what I can be is influenced and inspired by 709 00:36:49,000 --> 00:36:52,200 Speaker 1: the way people have solved other writers have solved problem. 710 00:36:52,040 --> 00:36:54,400 Speaker 3: That you know. That's that's a creative approach to it. 711 00:36:54,600 --> 00:36:56,839 Speaker 1: But the other one is more just like life, you know, 712 00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:00,719 Speaker 1: Like one thing about this art form is incredibly heartbreaking. 713 00:37:01,680 --> 00:37:05,799 Speaker 1: Things that are really great can sometimes fail miserably or 714 00:37:05,960 --> 00:37:10,000 Speaker 1: be or people just don't like them, or they don't 715 00:37:10,000 --> 00:37:13,439 Speaker 1: find an audience, or the idea is not a doesn't 716 00:37:13,520 --> 00:37:16,319 Speaker 1: arrive at the right time. And sometimes things that are 717 00:37:16,360 --> 00:37:21,359 Speaker 1: really fucking ordinary get lavish with praise because it's what 718 00:37:21,400 --> 00:37:25,600 Speaker 1: people want to hear at that particular time, or because 719 00:37:27,480 --> 00:37:31,080 Speaker 1: you know, because it's a reaction to the times that 720 00:37:31,120 --> 00:37:33,759 Speaker 1: we live in, you know, like that's you know, the 721 00:37:34,000 --> 00:37:37,080 Speaker 1: for example, a musical like Hamilton is very it was 722 00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:40,280 Speaker 1: not only a genius piece of art, but it arrived 723 00:37:40,719 --> 00:37:44,600 Speaker 1: under Obama's administration. It's very much got that inside at 724 00:37:44,600 --> 00:37:47,520 Speaker 1: the DNA. It was the right idea at the right time. 725 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:51,160 Speaker 1: Whereas now, you know, we're in a very different climate. 726 00:37:52,600 --> 00:37:57,040 Speaker 1: People are looking at theater in all sorts of different ways, 727 00:37:57,040 --> 00:38:00,200 Speaker 1: and the ideas that resonate are often stories about the 728 00:38:00,280 --> 00:38:06,239 Speaker 1: individual who learns to to accept themselves and create an 729 00:38:06,360 --> 00:38:10,480 Speaker 1: environment where other people accept themselves and accept others in 730 00:38:10,520 --> 00:38:13,440 Speaker 1: a non judgmental way. That's a really massive theme, that 731 00:38:13,640 --> 00:38:17,120 Speaker 1: just be you theme, you know, the the don't judge 732 00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:20,000 Speaker 1: other don't judge other people, accept other people, that we 733 00:38:20,040 --> 00:38:24,040 Speaker 1: can all live in this great kind of ecosystem of 734 00:38:24,120 --> 00:38:28,239 Speaker 1: different personalities, different sexuality, different races. It's kind of a 735 00:38:28,280 --> 00:38:33,720 Speaker 1: homogeneous like kind of utopia. That's a very big theme. 736 00:38:33,800 --> 00:38:38,600 Speaker 1: That's the theme that runs through Kinky Boots for examples. 737 00:38:38,640 --> 00:38:40,680 Speaker 1: It runs through the prom which is on Broadway at 738 00:38:40,680 --> 00:38:44,239 Speaker 1: the moment. You know, dear of enhancing is similar to 739 00:38:44,280 --> 00:38:47,160 Speaker 1: that the outsider who struggles to find acceptance but then 740 00:38:47,680 --> 00:38:51,120 Speaker 1: but then does you know? That's really strong theme in 741 00:38:51,200 --> 00:38:53,200 Speaker 1: music theater a lot of the time that they're the 742 00:38:53,239 --> 00:38:56,400 Speaker 1: shows that sort of seemed to succeed, and so a 743 00:38:56,480 --> 00:38:58,800 Speaker 1: lot of the time it's really difficult to compare your 744 00:38:59,160 --> 00:39:03,400 Speaker 1: success with other people's success. And at some point, you know, 745 00:39:03,440 --> 00:39:05,680 Speaker 1: this industry and this world is going to hand your 746 00:39:05,680 --> 00:39:09,920 Speaker 1: ass to you no matter what you do, and you 747 00:39:10,040 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: just have to kind of. 748 00:39:13,080 --> 00:39:13,520 Speaker 3: Accept it. 749 00:39:13,600 --> 00:39:15,319 Speaker 1: Learn what you can learn and move onto the next thing. 750 00:39:15,360 --> 00:39:19,080 Speaker 1: Doesn't mean that it's not incredibly like distressing and painful 751 00:39:19,120 --> 00:39:21,840 Speaker 1: when it happens. But my main thing is, you know, 752 00:39:22,880 --> 00:39:28,600 Speaker 1: my ambition extends to obviously trying to create something as 753 00:39:28,840 --> 00:39:32,560 Speaker 1: new and distinctly me as I can possibly put on stage, 754 00:39:32,560 --> 00:39:34,319 Speaker 1: and that includes, you know, the way I'd look at 755 00:39:34,320 --> 00:39:36,840 Speaker 1: the world, but also my sense of humor, but also 756 00:39:36,960 --> 00:39:39,759 Speaker 1: how I what I think about music and how I 757 00:39:39,880 --> 00:39:41,840 Speaker 1: like to play with musical form. You know, that's a 758 00:39:41,840 --> 00:39:44,439 Speaker 1: big part of how I want to express myself through 759 00:39:44,440 --> 00:39:48,920 Speaker 1: my writing. And I obviously you know, have ambitions that 760 00:39:48,960 --> 00:39:50,840 Speaker 1: I'll do really well. It would be really great to 761 00:39:50,840 --> 00:39:53,080 Speaker 1: be able to make some money and afford to live 762 00:39:53,080 --> 00:39:56,640 Speaker 1: in this ridiculous expensive city and pay the bills and 763 00:39:56,680 --> 00:39:59,120 Speaker 1: do all sorts of things making money out of my 764 00:40:00,000 --> 00:40:02,680 Speaker 1: but really what I want, what I want more than anything, 765 00:40:02,680 --> 00:40:04,120 Speaker 1: is to be able to stay, is to be able 766 00:40:04,120 --> 00:40:06,520 Speaker 1: to have the next job, to be you know, to 767 00:40:06,560 --> 00:40:09,560 Speaker 1: be able to write the next thing, and that's you know, 768 00:40:09,600 --> 00:40:10,560 Speaker 1: that's not guaranteed. 769 00:40:11,120 --> 00:40:11,319 Speaker 3: You know. 770 00:40:12,560 --> 00:40:16,680 Speaker 2: Yeah, I want to talk about reviews because I feel 771 00:40:16,719 --> 00:40:19,840 Speaker 2: like for those that are not working in a in 772 00:40:19,880 --> 00:40:23,480 Speaker 2: a creative field where a review basically consists of a 773 00:40:23,520 --> 00:40:26,040 Speaker 2: one on one conversation with your boss in terms of 774 00:40:26,080 --> 00:40:29,160 Speaker 2: expressing positive or negative feedback, Like the world that you're in, 775 00:40:29,640 --> 00:40:33,840 Speaker 2: it's so public, like someone gets to talk about your work, 776 00:40:33,920 --> 00:40:36,200 Speaker 2: whether they like it or they don't, to the rest 777 00:40:36,239 --> 00:40:37,960 Speaker 2: of the world, which is kind of I feel like 778 00:40:38,200 --> 00:40:40,400 Speaker 2: a little bit crazy to comprehend for those that are 779 00:40:40,400 --> 00:40:42,360 Speaker 2: not in that world. And I want to know, like 780 00:40:42,920 --> 00:40:47,960 Speaker 2: your approach to dealing with reviews that aren't that positive, 781 00:40:48,040 --> 00:40:52,560 Speaker 2: like you someone that reads reviews, and how like, how 782 00:40:52,640 --> 00:40:56,680 Speaker 2: do you emotionally kind of cope with with bad reviews. 783 00:40:57,719 --> 00:41:00,640 Speaker 3: Well, I've had a lot of practice. 784 00:41:00,760 --> 00:41:06,839 Speaker 1: Unfortunately, I am you know, I'm still here. I'm still here, 785 00:41:06,880 --> 00:41:09,759 Speaker 1: and I'm and like I feel like my you know, 786 00:41:09,840 --> 00:41:13,200 Speaker 1: each each opportunity has been kind of getting bigger and 787 00:41:15,400 --> 00:41:18,239 Speaker 1: at least in terms of kind of the scale of things, 788 00:41:18,280 --> 00:41:22,840 Speaker 1: you know, Like I've gone from you know, writing a 789 00:41:22,280 --> 00:41:26,560 Speaker 1: cab a cabaret for my that I wrote myself out 790 00:41:26,600 --> 00:41:30,880 Speaker 1: of drama school that I think probably costs two and 791 00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:34,680 Speaker 1: a half thousand dollars all up to put on stage, 792 00:41:35,440 --> 00:41:37,719 Speaker 1: to now of my own money, which was a lot 793 00:41:37,719 --> 00:41:43,600 Speaker 1: at the time, and to now progressing to the point 794 00:41:43,640 --> 00:41:48,800 Speaker 1: where King Kong is a thirty five million dollar production. 795 00:41:49,440 --> 00:41:54,440 Speaker 1: Beetlejuice is a twenty two million dollar production. Like kind 796 00:41:54,480 --> 00:42:00,000 Speaker 1: of staggering amounts of money that you know that probably 797 00:42:00,239 --> 00:42:02,040 Speaker 1: bear thinking about too much because it just seems like 798 00:42:02,080 --> 00:42:07,040 Speaker 1: an extraordinary amount of money to spend. But presumably, well, obviously, 799 00:42:07,480 --> 00:42:09,680 Speaker 1: if you have a success, that money is returned to 800 00:42:09,719 --> 00:42:12,759 Speaker 1: you many times over, and it's worth the investment. But 801 00:42:13,080 --> 00:42:15,520 Speaker 1: it's risky because nine out of ten Broadway shows failed 802 00:42:15,560 --> 00:42:18,759 Speaker 1: to recoup their capital investment, so the statistics are kind 803 00:42:18,760 --> 00:42:21,640 Speaker 1: of against you. But I'm still writing, you know, like 804 00:42:22,200 --> 00:42:26,000 Speaker 1: bigger and bigger and better things, despite the fact that 805 00:42:26,120 --> 00:42:27,440 Speaker 1: I can't remember the last time I. 806 00:42:27,480 --> 00:42:28,240 Speaker 3: Got a good review. 807 00:42:28,320 --> 00:42:33,520 Speaker 1: Like I it's like, and I think some particularly uncharitable 808 00:42:33,560 --> 00:42:35,759 Speaker 1: person wrote to me on Twitter and was like, why 809 00:42:35,800 --> 00:42:41,640 Speaker 1: do you keep getting jobs when nobody likes your nobody 810 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:45,360 Speaker 1: likes your writing? And I was like, that's a really 811 00:42:45,400 --> 00:42:49,480 Speaker 1: good that's a really good question. I mean, obviously, obviously 812 00:42:49,560 --> 00:42:52,120 Speaker 1: the people that employ me aren't idiot. I would hope 813 00:42:52,120 --> 00:42:55,960 Speaker 1: they're not idiots, and I don't think that there are 814 00:42:56,000 --> 00:42:58,960 Speaker 1: any kind of accidents. But I tend to write stuff 815 00:42:58,960 --> 00:43:05,120 Speaker 1: that's polar as people and you know, like everything from 816 00:43:05,239 --> 00:43:08,040 Speaker 1: the plays that I've written, to the comedy shows that 817 00:43:07,719 --> 00:43:12,120 Speaker 1: I've written through to you know, Shane warn the musical 818 00:43:12,160 --> 00:43:14,920 Speaker 1: for example. You know, it's split people down the middle. 819 00:43:15,120 --> 00:43:21,400 Speaker 1: You know, people loved it, some people hated it a 820 00:43:21,440 --> 00:43:25,240 Speaker 1: lot of the time. You know, with a new idea 821 00:43:25,320 --> 00:43:28,640 Speaker 1: that it's particularly kind of audacious and bold, people sort 822 00:43:28,640 --> 00:43:33,839 Speaker 1: of hate it. But then eventually people can kind of 823 00:43:33,880 --> 00:43:37,160 Speaker 1: like acclimate to the idea and it becomes a little 824 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:40,040 Speaker 1: more palatable. And I don't sort of set out to 825 00:43:40,120 --> 00:43:42,080 Speaker 1: kind of ruffle any feathers, but it's just this fact 826 00:43:42,120 --> 00:43:44,560 Speaker 1: of my career. If I look back, I've kind of 827 00:43:44,560 --> 00:43:48,239 Speaker 1: gotten mixed reviews, and so it's very no one wants 828 00:43:48,320 --> 00:43:50,560 Speaker 1: to get a no one wants. 829 00:43:50,400 --> 00:43:51,360 Speaker 3: To get a bad review. 830 00:43:53,200 --> 00:43:59,880 Speaker 1: Also, technically, reviews aren't really any of my business. And 831 00:44:01,360 --> 00:44:05,600 Speaker 1: what really matters is what an audience thinks, because I mean, 832 00:44:05,600 --> 00:44:07,480 Speaker 1: if you had to make a choice as a person 833 00:44:07,520 --> 00:44:11,799 Speaker 1: that makes a living out of art, you know, do 834 00:44:11,880 --> 00:44:14,040 Speaker 1: you want to have good reviews but have nobody come 835 00:44:14,080 --> 00:44:16,640 Speaker 1: and see your shows and make no money out of it, 836 00:44:16,800 --> 00:44:20,080 Speaker 1: or would you like to have bad reviews and sell 837 00:44:20,120 --> 00:44:22,799 Speaker 1: your shows and have audiences love it? And be able 838 00:44:22,840 --> 00:44:26,040 Speaker 1: to continue making a living. And much as it's great 839 00:44:26,080 --> 00:44:29,400 Speaker 1: to be critically affirmed, it's much better to actually have 840 00:44:29,440 --> 00:44:33,520 Speaker 1: an audience. And sometimes you don't have to choose between 841 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:35,279 Speaker 1: those things. Sometimes you get an audience and you get 842 00:44:35,280 --> 00:44:39,960 Speaker 1: a great critical response. So it's kind of a complicated thing, 843 00:44:39,960 --> 00:44:41,839 Speaker 1: and I think every artist kind of comes to their 844 00:44:41,840 --> 00:44:46,000 Speaker 1: own peace or whatever with it. But I must say 845 00:44:46,000 --> 00:44:50,120 Speaker 1: that I've always been really philosophical about it because I 846 00:44:50,120 --> 00:44:55,120 Speaker 1: remember my first review is so bad, and I really 847 00:44:55,600 --> 00:45:01,040 Speaker 1: it was really wounding, and you know, performing that show, 848 00:45:01,080 --> 00:45:02,799 Speaker 1: so I had to go out on stage and in 849 00:45:02,800 --> 00:45:05,000 Speaker 1: my head, I thought that everybody had read that review 850 00:45:05,239 --> 00:45:08,840 Speaker 1: and they were sort of sitting there in judgment of me, 851 00:45:08,880 --> 00:45:11,560 Speaker 1: and it was awful sort of place to be. And 852 00:45:11,600 --> 00:45:13,360 Speaker 1: I had to get to a point where I was like, 853 00:45:14,520 --> 00:45:17,000 Speaker 1: you can't worry about that stuff. I mean, now I 854 00:45:17,040 --> 00:45:20,799 Speaker 1: can read reviews of them, and there's certainly been like 855 00:45:21,120 --> 00:45:27,680 Speaker 1: King Kong and like severely negative critical feedback, but he's 856 00:45:27,719 --> 00:45:28,920 Speaker 1: working with audiences. 857 00:45:30,280 --> 00:45:33,320 Speaker 3: Beatlejuice offended half the. 858 00:45:32,600 --> 00:45:35,120 Speaker 1: Critics in DC and the other half really loved it 859 00:45:35,920 --> 00:45:38,600 Speaker 1: and open over the course of the season, we started 860 00:45:38,600 --> 00:45:42,280 Speaker 1: to see the kind of audience that we we were retracting, 861 00:45:42,320 --> 00:45:46,960 Speaker 1: and they were like really interesting, kooky audience, kind of 862 00:45:47,000 --> 00:45:50,359 Speaker 1: cultish audiences, people coming back multiple times, people who had 863 00:45:50,440 --> 00:45:54,640 Speaker 1: learnt the songs and would shout out lines and sing songs. 864 00:45:54,680 --> 00:45:55,319 Speaker 3: I'm like, I. 865 00:45:55,280 --> 00:45:59,560 Speaker 1: Couldn't believe it was crazy, you know. And so there 866 00:45:59,560 --> 00:46:01,440 Speaker 1: are like a lots it's different sort of levels of 867 00:46:01,760 --> 00:46:04,080 Speaker 1: reality you have to deal with, but one thing that 868 00:46:04,200 --> 00:46:07,440 Speaker 1: is really you know, I was even talking about this 869 00:46:07,520 --> 00:46:10,399 Speaker 1: last night. I had a drink with Alex Timbers, who's 870 00:46:10,440 --> 00:46:15,960 Speaker 1: the director of Beele Juice, and we're talking about reviewers, 871 00:46:16,200 --> 00:46:18,960 Speaker 1: and he. 872 00:46:18,560 --> 00:46:19,640 Speaker 3: Reminded me of that. 873 00:46:21,160 --> 00:46:23,839 Speaker 1: There's a great Teddy Roosevelt quote. I don't know if 874 00:46:23,880 --> 00:46:28,680 Speaker 1: you know it. It's the one about one about the 875 00:46:28,719 --> 00:46:31,840 Speaker 1: man that's in the arena with you know, I should 876 00:46:31,840 --> 00:46:33,960 Speaker 1: dig it out and actually quote it because I'm going 877 00:46:34,040 --> 00:46:38,279 Speaker 1: to paraphrase it terribly and everyone will hate me. But 878 00:46:38,280 --> 00:46:40,399 Speaker 1: but you know, like there is something that people who 879 00:46:40,440 --> 00:46:43,160 Speaker 1: make things know, which is that it is really hard 880 00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:45,080 Speaker 1: to make stuff. It is really hard to offer it 881 00:46:45,200 --> 00:46:48,239 Speaker 1: up for judgment. It is hard to get things right. 882 00:46:48,840 --> 00:46:52,279 Speaker 1: We don't always get things right, but everybody works very 883 00:46:52,480 --> 00:46:56,920 Speaker 1: very hard to put their best foot forward. Creatively. And 884 00:46:56,920 --> 00:47:01,960 Speaker 1: what happens when you get criticized sometimes is it can 885 00:47:02,040 --> 00:47:06,440 Speaker 1: feel like the critical response comes from a kind of 886 00:47:06,800 --> 00:47:11,359 Speaker 1: a really sort of some of it that comes from 887 00:47:11,440 --> 00:47:14,799 Speaker 1: quite a heartless, thoughtless place. And that is the hard 888 00:47:14,800 --> 00:47:15,359 Speaker 1: stuff to do. 889 00:47:16,040 --> 00:47:18,000 Speaker 3: To take. Someone that has a has. 890 00:47:17,880 --> 00:47:27,160 Speaker 1: A a smart, critical, considered approach to your work but 891 00:47:27,400 --> 00:47:31,000 Speaker 1: fucking hates it is much easier to take than somebody 892 00:47:31,440 --> 00:47:34,040 Speaker 1: that is like, what what the fuck with these people? 893 00:47:34,080 --> 00:47:35,080 Speaker 1: Thinking they're idiots? 894 00:47:35,160 --> 00:47:35,680 Speaker 3: You know what I mean? 895 00:47:35,840 --> 00:47:39,280 Speaker 1: And then they don't They don't actually review the show 896 00:47:39,360 --> 00:47:42,400 Speaker 1: because nobody sets out to make something bad. Everybody puts 897 00:47:42,680 --> 00:47:49,520 Speaker 1: multiple years for mostly very little remuneration into their work. 898 00:47:49,600 --> 00:47:52,759 Speaker 1: And by the time, you know, critic danes to put 899 00:47:52,800 --> 00:47:55,239 Speaker 1: his or her ass in a seat for what two 900 00:47:55,320 --> 00:47:58,600 Speaker 1: and a half hours within deval and then go home 901 00:47:58,680 --> 00:48:03,080 Speaker 1: and spends be generous maybe an hour writing a review. 902 00:48:04,200 --> 00:48:06,200 Speaker 1: It's very a little part of their life, very small 903 00:48:06,239 --> 00:48:08,600 Speaker 1: part of their life when you consider the amount of 904 00:48:08,600 --> 00:48:10,319 Speaker 1: times gone into it. But I think if you don't 905 00:48:10,360 --> 00:48:13,040 Speaker 1: make stuff, you don't know. And we were saying that 906 00:48:13,080 --> 00:48:15,200 Speaker 1: we think the critics should all have to make something. 907 00:48:15,680 --> 00:48:18,120 Speaker 1: Every one of them should make something and offer it up, 908 00:48:18,560 --> 00:48:22,080 Speaker 1: whether it's writing a book or because I've never you know, 909 00:48:22,120 --> 00:48:24,520 Speaker 1: and this is not you know, there's a great maximums 910 00:48:24,520 --> 00:48:28,840 Speaker 1: there's never you know, never pick a fight with someone 911 00:48:28,840 --> 00:48:31,160 Speaker 1: who buys ink by the barrel, and that's a you 912 00:48:31,200 --> 00:48:32,720 Speaker 1: cannot win against critics. 913 00:48:32,760 --> 00:48:33,120 Speaker 3: You can't. 914 00:48:33,640 --> 00:48:37,440 Speaker 1: You know, like some writers get really incensed about a 915 00:48:37,480 --> 00:48:39,600 Speaker 1: bad review and they write the paper and this is 916 00:48:39,640 --> 00:48:42,080 Speaker 1: disgraceful and you know, this person's an idiots and they 917 00:48:42,080 --> 00:48:43,600 Speaker 1: don't know what the hell they're talking about. But you 918 00:48:43,600 --> 00:48:47,440 Speaker 1: cannot win that, and it makes you look bad. You really, really, 919 00:48:47,680 --> 00:48:49,120 Speaker 1: I really think you just have to go this is 920 00:48:49,120 --> 00:48:51,520 Speaker 1: none of my business, this review. They're gonna write what 921 00:48:51,560 --> 00:48:53,200 Speaker 1: they want, and you've got to get on with the 922 00:48:53,280 --> 00:48:56,439 Speaker 1: with the with the with the job at hand, which 923 00:48:56,480 --> 00:48:57,520 Speaker 1: is just making stuff. 924 00:48:57,960 --> 00:49:00,000 Speaker 3: But at the same time it is and it is. 925 00:49:00,120 --> 00:49:04,520 Speaker 1: Incredibly frustrating when you know that there's a sort of 926 00:49:04,560 --> 00:49:06,880 Speaker 1: a lacker, there's a snark and a lack of respect 927 00:49:07,480 --> 00:49:10,520 Speaker 1: for makers. And I have infinite respect for anyone that 928 00:49:10,560 --> 00:49:12,759 Speaker 1: makes anything and offersite up for judgment. It might not 929 00:49:12,840 --> 00:49:15,319 Speaker 1: be my cup of tea, but I think if I'm 930 00:49:15,360 --> 00:49:19,400 Speaker 1: being paid to analyze it in a critical way, then 931 00:49:19,480 --> 00:49:21,160 Speaker 1: you bet your ass. I think that I would have 932 00:49:21,239 --> 00:49:24,240 Speaker 1: to do my homework. What else has this person written? 933 00:49:24,280 --> 00:49:26,759 Speaker 1: What are they writing about? What are they trying to say? 934 00:49:27,760 --> 00:49:30,319 Speaker 1: Why does it work? Why does it not work? You know, 935 00:49:30,520 --> 00:49:32,600 Speaker 1: inside the context of who we are today and the 936 00:49:32,600 --> 00:49:34,320 Speaker 1: world that we live. And I think that every piece 937 00:49:34,640 --> 00:49:39,360 Speaker 1: that you're paid to go and watch deserves that much respect. 938 00:49:39,440 --> 00:49:43,480 Speaker 1: And unfortunately that doesn't. That doesn't always happen. Sometimes it does, 939 00:49:43,520 --> 00:49:46,719 Speaker 1: and a great reviewer is always great, someone that understands 940 00:49:46,719 --> 00:49:48,960 Speaker 1: your work. But the best of times, it's like it's 941 00:49:49,000 --> 00:49:51,279 Speaker 1: just something you have to fucking deal with. And it's like, 942 00:49:51,320 --> 00:49:53,799 Speaker 1: if it goes your way, then good. You pull out 943 00:49:53,800 --> 00:49:55,879 Speaker 1: a quote, you put it on the post, you try 944 00:49:55,920 --> 00:49:58,520 Speaker 1: to sell it. If it doesn't go your way, you 945 00:49:58,560 --> 00:50:01,600 Speaker 1: ignore it and you move. It's a tool that either 946 00:50:01,640 --> 00:50:03,440 Speaker 1: works for you or doesn't work for you. But you 947 00:50:03,480 --> 00:50:05,440 Speaker 1: can't write for reviewers. 948 00:50:05,200 --> 00:50:10,640 Speaker 2: That's great, great advice. You mentioned Twitter a little bit 949 00:50:11,320 --> 00:50:14,160 Speaker 2: earlier ago, and I'm curious about your relationship with social 950 00:50:14,200 --> 00:50:18,040 Speaker 2: media and like how how you kind of spend your 951 00:50:18,080 --> 00:50:20,960 Speaker 2: time there? And I guess then don't spend your time 952 00:50:21,040 --> 00:50:23,879 Speaker 2: like getting engaged in you know, what some would call 953 00:50:23,920 --> 00:50:28,279 Speaker 2: sort of digital distractions particularly when you're in the creative process, Like, 954 00:50:28,320 --> 00:50:30,399 Speaker 2: what does that look like for you? Are you sort 955 00:50:30,400 --> 00:50:32,800 Speaker 2: of sort of dipping in and out of social media? 956 00:50:32,920 --> 00:50:35,600 Speaker 2: Do you try to avoid it for large periods of 957 00:50:35,600 --> 00:50:38,000 Speaker 2: time when you're doing creative work? What does that look like. 958 00:50:40,000 --> 00:50:41,320 Speaker 3: Here? I mean, I don't. 959 00:50:42,000 --> 00:50:44,560 Speaker 1: I don't I spend a huge amount of time on 960 00:50:44,760 --> 00:50:46,960 Speaker 1: social media, but it is a really great tool to 961 00:50:47,040 --> 00:50:49,400 Speaker 1: be connected with what people are doing in the world. 962 00:50:49,440 --> 00:50:53,800 Speaker 1: So I kind of across you know, what what musicals 963 00:50:53,800 --> 00:50:57,640 Speaker 1: are being made, what theater is being made, what films 964 00:50:57,680 --> 00:51:01,040 Speaker 1: are being made, what my friend who are creators or 965 00:51:01,080 --> 00:51:05,600 Speaker 1: actors are doing? You know, that's sort of to be 966 00:51:05,680 --> 00:51:08,840 Speaker 1: part of a community of you know, a global community 967 00:51:08,880 --> 00:51:12,640 Speaker 1: of people who are making theater is really important. And 968 00:51:12,680 --> 00:51:16,920 Speaker 1: it's also important because anyone that writes theater is writing 969 00:51:17,040 --> 00:51:20,239 Speaker 1: for human beings that live inside the world, and you 970 00:51:20,320 --> 00:51:21,680 Speaker 1: need to know what that world is. 971 00:51:21,719 --> 00:51:23,600 Speaker 3: You need to be part of that world. 972 00:51:23,640 --> 00:51:28,200 Speaker 1: And social media is a really quick shorthand way of 973 00:51:28,239 --> 00:51:30,200 Speaker 1: having access to what's going on in the world and 974 00:51:30,200 --> 00:51:34,319 Speaker 1: whether that's you know, I think I would say that 975 00:51:34,400 --> 00:51:39,840 Speaker 1: it looks probably one hundred percent of my news reading 976 00:51:40,000 --> 00:51:45,480 Speaker 1: articles and things is from following following media publications all 977 00:51:45,520 --> 00:51:48,280 Speaker 1: over the world. You know, that's that's where that stuff 978 00:51:48,320 --> 00:51:50,520 Speaker 1: comes from, you know, like knowing about what books are 979 00:51:50,520 --> 00:51:52,200 Speaker 1: being written, or what also is being written, or what 980 00:51:52,239 --> 00:51:56,000 Speaker 1: people are talking about, you know, or following people who 981 00:51:56,040 --> 00:52:01,040 Speaker 1: are opinion leaders, you know, like you know, like if 982 00:52:01,040 --> 00:52:04,279 Speaker 1: you don't know, it's important to know what the attitudes 983 00:52:04,320 --> 00:52:12,239 Speaker 1: are towards you know, ethnicity, or sexuality, or gender or 984 00:52:12,360 --> 00:52:17,920 Speaker 1: gender fluidity or or you know, any you know, what 985 00:52:18,200 --> 00:52:20,359 Speaker 1: the trans community are saying at the moment. Like all 986 00:52:20,360 --> 00:52:22,319 Speaker 1: that stuff is really important because if you don't know 987 00:52:23,920 --> 00:52:26,240 Speaker 1: what is happening in the world, and you become tone 988 00:52:26,280 --> 00:52:28,360 Speaker 1: deaf and you just end up stepping on a million 989 00:52:28,440 --> 00:52:29,040 Speaker 1: land lines. 990 00:52:29,080 --> 00:52:31,799 Speaker 3: You know, I'm not particularly interested in being. 991 00:52:33,520 --> 00:52:38,880 Speaker 1: You know, quote unquote woke, and sometimes you know, I 992 00:52:39,360 --> 00:52:43,839 Speaker 1: read concepts that I wrestle with immediately, but I try 993 00:52:43,880 --> 00:52:46,440 Speaker 1: to be kind of as open minded as possible, and 994 00:52:46,760 --> 00:52:48,880 Speaker 1: I think that, you know, social. 995 00:52:48,520 --> 00:52:49,520 Speaker 3: Media is a part. 996 00:52:49,840 --> 00:52:51,360 Speaker 1: It's not all of it, but it's a part of 997 00:52:51,400 --> 00:52:56,520 Speaker 1: the conversation you have with the world. And when you 998 00:52:56,560 --> 00:52:59,120 Speaker 1: write a show, you're also doing what social media does, 999 00:52:59,120 --> 00:53:01,279 Speaker 1: which you are having a compasion about the world in 1000 00:53:01,320 --> 00:53:03,520 Speaker 1: which you live. So I think it's I think it's 1001 00:53:03,600 --> 00:53:06,600 Speaker 1: kind of important. I used to probably try to express 1002 00:53:06,600 --> 00:53:09,520 Speaker 1: myself more on social media and I and just through 1003 00:53:10,000 --> 00:53:12,200 Speaker 1: I mean, Twitter is a bit of a fucking cesspool, 1004 00:53:12,280 --> 00:53:16,319 Speaker 1: you know, like everyone's angry on Twitter, and humor is 1005 00:53:16,320 --> 00:53:20,280 Speaker 1: difficult and things can kind of blow up, and everyone 1006 00:53:20,440 --> 00:53:23,200 Speaker 1: likes to you know, like, yeah, it's like a it's 1007 00:53:23,200 --> 00:53:26,600 Speaker 1: a torrid place. And then you go over to to 1008 00:53:26,760 --> 00:53:29,759 Speaker 1: Instagram and it's all like, you know, puppies and lattes 1009 00:53:29,800 --> 00:53:35,080 Speaker 1: and people photographing their breakfast and pictures of flowers and culture. 1010 00:53:35,120 --> 00:53:39,920 Speaker 1: You can cultivate and curate your own experience there doesn't 1011 00:53:39,960 --> 00:53:42,560 Speaker 1: have to be negative. One of the biggest things my 1012 00:53:42,680 --> 00:53:44,680 Speaker 1: wife and I discovered was that you don't have to 1013 00:53:44,800 --> 00:53:48,919 Speaker 1: follow people that piss you off, you know, like Ricky 1014 00:53:49,000 --> 00:53:52,320 Speaker 1: Gervaise seems like an arrogant dick. Stop following Ricky Gervais. 1015 00:53:52,440 --> 00:53:54,840 Speaker 3: You know, you don't have to. You don't have to 1016 00:53:54,920 --> 00:53:55,680 Speaker 3: engage with that. 1017 00:53:55,719 --> 00:53:59,279 Speaker 1: You know. I like birds, so my Twitter, my Instagram 1018 00:53:59,320 --> 00:54:02,240 Speaker 1: feed like birds. 1019 00:54:03,000 --> 00:54:03,480 Speaker 3: Unlike that. 1020 00:54:03,800 --> 00:54:07,680 Speaker 1: My wife watches videos of people riding horses. She likes horses, 1021 00:54:07,719 --> 00:54:10,200 Speaker 1: you know, so it's kind of like that's you know, 1022 00:54:10,280 --> 00:54:12,800 Speaker 1: I don't see it as a positive or a negative force. 1023 00:54:12,840 --> 00:54:15,560 Speaker 1: It's just like humanity and a massive dump and you've 1024 00:54:15,600 --> 00:54:17,680 Speaker 1: got to try and choose the way through it. 1025 00:54:17,719 --> 00:54:19,200 Speaker 3: But it also is great for ideas. 1026 00:54:19,400 --> 00:54:21,360 Speaker 1: Ideas can come from anywhere, and I think you have 1027 00:54:21,440 --> 00:54:23,680 Speaker 1: to kind of be open to them. 1028 00:54:23,880 --> 00:54:24,160 Speaker 3: Yeah. 1029 00:54:24,520 --> 00:54:26,920 Speaker 2: I like that. It's kind of in a world that 1030 00:54:27,000 --> 00:54:30,040 Speaker 2: I feel is quite negative towards social media. It's it's 1031 00:54:30,120 --> 00:54:34,640 Speaker 2: quite nice actually hearing you know what positive parts that 1032 00:54:35,040 --> 00:54:38,600 Speaker 2: can be taken from what's going on there. Now we 1033 00:54:38,920 --> 00:54:42,600 Speaker 2: are pretty much out of time, Eddie's. So my final 1034 00:54:42,680 --> 00:54:45,799 Speaker 2: question is if people want to learn more about what 1035 00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:48,960 Speaker 2: you're up to and see things that you are doing, 1036 00:54:49,960 --> 00:54:52,759 Speaker 2: where can they seek you out if they are in 1037 00:54:52,800 --> 00:54:54,319 Speaker 2: New York or if they are not in New York. 1038 00:54:56,280 --> 00:55:01,839 Speaker 1: Well, I am like perennially hopeless that running a website. 1039 00:55:01,960 --> 00:55:02,920 Speaker 3: I just I tried. 1040 00:55:03,000 --> 00:55:05,440 Speaker 1: I've tried about seventy different times, but I just can't 1041 00:55:05,560 --> 00:55:10,440 Speaker 1: get behind it. But I don't I don't know, like 1042 00:55:10,560 --> 00:55:13,719 Speaker 1: I I I'm not sure. 1043 00:55:14,640 --> 00:55:16,319 Speaker 3: If you're in New York, you can come and see 1044 00:55:16,600 --> 00:55:21,760 Speaker 3: King Kong. If you're if you're in New York next March, 1045 00:55:21,800 --> 00:55:26,080 Speaker 3: you can come and see beetlejuice. Apart from that, you know, 1046 00:55:26,440 --> 00:55:28,600 Speaker 3: I don't know, I don't I don't really know what 1047 00:55:28,760 --> 00:55:29,480 Speaker 3: I don't really know what. 1048 00:55:29,440 --> 00:55:31,920 Speaker 1: Else is going on. And I'm and I'm very not good. 1049 00:55:31,920 --> 00:55:34,520 Speaker 1: I'm not very good at like, you know, curating it 1050 00:55:34,640 --> 00:55:37,680 Speaker 1: only ones. But you know, there's like various weird little 1051 00:55:37,680 --> 00:55:40,680 Speaker 1: things on YouTube of all the projects I've done over 1052 00:55:40,719 --> 00:55:41,760 Speaker 1: the last little while. 1053 00:55:41,840 --> 00:55:45,120 Speaker 3: But you know, I certainly haven't made it easy for anyone. 1054 00:55:44,800 --> 00:55:47,400 Speaker 1: To go to one, you know, a one stop shop 1055 00:55:47,440 --> 00:55:50,640 Speaker 1: and and you know, like immerse themselves in all things 1056 00:55:50,800 --> 00:55:54,560 Speaker 1: Eddie Perfect because I think, probably without sounding callous, I 1057 00:55:54,560 --> 00:55:56,200 Speaker 1: probably don't really care care. 1058 00:55:56,080 --> 00:56:02,719 Speaker 3: That much, you know, like I've got like, yeah, I've 1059 00:56:02,760 --> 00:56:04,200 Speaker 3: always been really shit at. 1060 00:56:04,080 --> 00:56:07,040 Speaker 1: That stuff, you know, like I don't have everything organized 1061 00:56:07,040 --> 00:56:11,040 Speaker 1: in one place, and I don't know. I oscillate between 1062 00:56:11,080 --> 00:56:13,879 Speaker 1: going Jesus that you get your act together and get 1063 00:56:14,040 --> 00:56:16,400 Speaker 1: you know, and get organized, and just going you know what, 1064 00:56:16,520 --> 00:56:17,640 Speaker 1: I'm I'm good. 1065 00:56:18,160 --> 00:56:21,160 Speaker 2: Well, that's awesome that that's probably the most unusual answer 1066 00:56:21,160 --> 00:56:23,920 Speaker 2: I've had to that question. But that is a lightful. 1067 00:56:25,000 --> 00:56:27,720 Speaker 1: I can't help you, I can't I can't help I'm sorry. 1068 00:56:27,800 --> 00:56:29,000 Speaker 3: I live on the. 1069 00:56:29,040 --> 00:56:31,200 Speaker 1: Upper West Side of New York, just like I mean literally, 1070 00:56:31,239 --> 00:56:33,359 Speaker 1: anyone that writes to me on social media, and I'm 1071 00:56:33,360 --> 00:56:36,400 Speaker 1: on like Twitter and Facebook and Instagram and the my 1072 00:56:36,600 --> 00:56:39,239 Speaker 1: sort of three things. Anyone that writes to me I 1073 00:56:39,239 --> 00:56:41,720 Speaker 1: write I write back to I'm like, I'm. 1074 00:56:41,520 --> 00:56:42,520 Speaker 3: Pretty, I'm pretty. 1075 00:56:42,560 --> 00:56:44,960 Speaker 1: I'm pretty good at responding to most things, unless they're 1076 00:56:45,000 --> 00:56:47,239 Speaker 1: kind of like there's a whiff of crazy in the 1077 00:56:47,280 --> 00:56:49,800 Speaker 1: fold back, you know, where you're like, oh, it's best, 1078 00:56:49,840 --> 00:56:53,400 Speaker 1: it's best not to engage here. But most of the time, yeah, 1079 00:56:53,560 --> 00:56:58,239 Speaker 1: I'm like, I answer people's questions and yeah, I'm I'm 1080 00:56:58,680 --> 00:57:01,920 Speaker 1: less and less interested in so of self self promoting them. 1081 00:57:01,920 --> 00:57:03,840 Speaker 1: And then things like this, you know, like these I 1082 00:57:04,000 --> 00:57:04,879 Speaker 1: enjoy doing these things. 1083 00:57:04,880 --> 00:57:05,480 Speaker 3: I don't get. 1084 00:57:05,840 --> 00:57:09,880 Speaker 1: Asked very often to do to be on podcasts and stuff, 1085 00:57:09,880 --> 00:57:12,200 Speaker 1: but I enjoy it because I very rarely get to 1086 00:57:12,320 --> 00:57:15,200 Speaker 1: kind of say out loud what it is I do 1087 00:57:15,360 --> 00:57:18,160 Speaker 1: or how I think about going about work. And it's 1088 00:57:18,200 --> 00:57:20,520 Speaker 1: great that you do this because I think it's it's 1089 00:57:21,280 --> 00:57:23,680 Speaker 1: it's really useful for people who are thinking of doing it. 1090 00:57:24,960 --> 00:57:26,880 Speaker 1: I never thought it was kind of possible to do 1091 00:57:27,120 --> 00:57:31,200 Speaker 1: what I'm doing. I sort of fells backwards into it 1092 00:57:31,240 --> 00:57:33,480 Speaker 1: and we often, you know, one of the negatives of 1093 00:57:33,520 --> 00:57:34,080 Speaker 1: social media. 1094 00:57:34,200 --> 00:57:35,080 Speaker 3: The people that you know. 1095 00:57:35,080 --> 00:57:38,160 Speaker 1: Are great at curating their life and putting it on displays. 1096 00:57:38,200 --> 00:57:41,400 Speaker 1: It can sometimes create a false positive that everything is 1097 00:57:41,440 --> 00:57:45,040 Speaker 1: just the end result of the shiny, finished end product, 1098 00:57:45,080 --> 00:57:48,000 Speaker 1: when the reality is that it's an ongoing kind of 1099 00:57:48,120 --> 00:57:51,560 Speaker 1: creative mess. And that's what's good about these podcasts is 1100 00:57:51,720 --> 00:57:54,480 Speaker 1: you get to hear everybody's issues that they deal with, 1101 00:57:54,520 --> 00:57:57,200 Speaker 1: how and how they sold them, and then hopefully take 1102 00:57:57,200 --> 00:57:58,840 Speaker 1: the things that work for you and ignore the things 1103 00:57:58,840 --> 00:57:59,240 Speaker 1: that don't. 1104 00:58:00,120 --> 00:58:04,120 Speaker 2: Absolutely it kind of demystifies the whole process. Well, look, Eddie, 1105 00:58:04,160 --> 00:58:08,080 Speaker 2: I've so loved hearing about your process. It's absolutely fascinating 1106 00:58:08,800 --> 00:58:10,920 Speaker 2: and thank you so much for coming on the show. 1107 00:58:11,760 --> 00:58:12,640 Speaker 3: Absolute pleasure. 1108 00:58:13,760 --> 00:58:16,600 Speaker 2: Hello there, thank you so much for listening, and I 1109 00:58:16,640 --> 00:58:19,439 Speaker 2: hope you enjoyed my interview with Eddie and learning about 1110 00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:22,120 Speaker 2: what goes on behind the scenes of a Broadway musical. 1111 00:58:23,560 --> 00:58:25,880 Speaker 2: This is the end of the show, and as I 1112 00:58:26,040 --> 00:58:30,040 Speaker 2: always request, if you like today's show, please leave a 1113 00:58:30,080 --> 00:58:33,120 Speaker 2: review in iTunes or wherever you listen to your podcasts. 1114 00:58:33,280 --> 00:58:35,760 Speaker 2: And if you're not already a subscriber, then you might 1115 00:58:35,800 --> 00:58:38,360 Speaker 2: want to hit the subscribe button. And you will get 1116 00:58:38,400 --> 00:58:42,800 Speaker 2: alerted when new episodes drop, which happens to be every 1117 00:58:42,840 --> 00:58:46,000 Speaker 2: single week. So thanks for listening and I'll see you 1118 00:58:46,040 --> 00:58:46,520 Speaker 2: next time.