EVERYBODY’S Working on a Musical!

Everybody’s working on working on a musical. You too? See, I told you. :) 

It wasn’t my plan. I didn’t hear that calling. But then God said “ha!”

My Dad used to play cast albums — Flower Drum Song, Funny Girl — on his victrola over Sunday morning pancakes. It was a weekly ritual. Although on my own I was listening to the Beatles and the Monkees, Todd Rundgren and Carly Simon, the exquisiteness of songs like Rogers and Hammerstein’s “Love Look Away” was not lost on me. They were seeping in. Like the syrup on my pancakes. 

Life pulled me in the direction of pop songwriting and my career as a has been good to me. But I’m not in the room any more with Adeles and Harrys and I’ve been pivoting so hard lately I’m dizzy. So, yeah … there was space for something new. 

About a year ago Lucy, an advocacy colleague for whom I have affection, asked me to read a script she had written. Oh no! 😩. She needed help with the songs 😩.  The manila envelope lay untouched on my desk for months 😩. I don’t do musical theatre 😩. Plus EVERYBODY’S WORKING ON A MUSICAL. (Hey, how about a musical about everybody working on a musical?)

She kept nudging me softly. Until I read the damn thing. 

And…I couldn’t stop laughing. 

But I needed perspective from someone who has some experience in the field. So, I asked my husband Adam to read it. (He’s a composer and was a producer on Head Over Heals which had a decent run on Broadway.) It took me 3 months to get him to open the envelope (about the same amount of time it takes me to get him to change the timer on the porch lights). He couldn’t stop laughing either. I heard him from the next room. 

We asked Lucy to play us some of the songs she’d started. Clever ideas but it sounded like they were written on a toy piano or an iPhone APP. She confirmed they were. 😳 And that’s why she needed us.

But did I want to do this with Adam and did he want to do it with me? We … how shall I say — we bicker in the studio. I want ideas to materialize as soon as I think them where Adam is more measured and methodical. That said over the years we’ve learned to respect each others instincts. And pace. He speeds up. I slow down. Besides, we’d have Lucy to referee.

So we tried.

Two songs blasted forth effortlessly … like they were waiting for us to open a door.

Then we wrote 20 more. 

Producer Christine Russell once told me that a musical must answer the question “why.” As in … is there a reason it needs to exist or are you just writing a musical to write a musical? That Answer Is No. This feels totally raison d’etre. It has a purpose.

But it’s gonna take minute. When all the stars align a pop song (created in a 2-hour session) can land itself on a Spotify playlist within weeks. It can be years however, before a musical comes to fruition. Gulp. That reminds me of a conversation I had many years ago with Evan Lamberg (who was interning at Jobete Publishing at the time - he is now President of Universal Music). We were celebrating my first song being commercially released. Billboard had highlighted “Carry Your Heart” as the one to watch on the album. This means I’m going to have a big fat hit, I thought. “Not so fast,” Evan cautioned. He knew a writer who waited 10 years after his first release to be bestowed with a hit single. “10 Years?” I snorted incredulously. “You’ve GOT to be kidding. I don’t have that kind of time.” But “Carry Your Heart” was never released as a single. And it was 10 years later that I had my first U.S hit. So, I’m well versed in the long game. Steady as she goes. 

Shit … Matthew Wilder has been working on a musical for 30 years. God bless him. (It better be good!)

I’ve been reluctant about sharing what I’m up to because … EVERYBODY’S WORKING ON A MUSICAL! But I’ve learned you have to put stuff out there. You have to tell the Universe what you want. What your intentions are. 

Same when I was working on Confessions of a Serial Songwriter. Didn’t want to tell anyone. What if I never finished it? What if it never got published? And then much to my delight it was nominated for a spoken word GRAMMY. 

Now, I’m not saying that every endeavor is going to fly just because you let the Universe in on your secret. It may not. BUT YOU STILL HAVE TO PUT IT OUT THERE. 

I haven’t been quite this inspired and productive in a while. Illusive lyrics are coming to me in my dreams. I’m waking up before the sun to get back to it. Adam too. So, thank you Lucy. And Daddy. (And Kimberly & Jill who co-wrote the book.)

A word about Broadway as a goal: that’s like saying you write songs because you want a GRAMMY. No, we write songs because we can’t help it — because we have no choice. My hope is that our musical finds a stage (or 2 or 3) that embraces it and that it makes people really happy. There are so many places a musical can live. Broadway is gravy.

So there it is. 

Cat out of bag. 

What’s it about? One step at a time. This was a big enough share for now. I promise to keep you (and the Universe) posted. 

Now tell me about yours. 😁

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