News and Views from Musical Theatre International

Hey all you teachers, directors and producers - Spring Musicals are right around the corner!  Share the highs and lows of your rehearsal process by writing three (3) blog entries about your experiences backstage on MTI ShowSpace.

Rehearsals are the place for creative experimentation, problem solving, and bonding experiences for everyone involved.   This is your chance to preserve and share those moments. Let the blogs begin!

Instructions:
•    Write three (3) blog entries about your rehearsal experience: we suggest one at the beginning, middle, and end of the rehearsal period.

•    Include hilarious anecdotes, satisfying breakthroughs, tips, tricks, success stories and more.

•    Tag each Blog entry with: Backstage Blog Contest

Prizes:
Three Grand Prizes will be awarded. Each Grand Prize winner will receive a Free Standard Rental Certificate* and an MTI ShowSpace t-shirt.

*Standard Rental up to $1,000 value.  Certificate may not be applied to additional rental, early rental, royalty fees, security deposit, additional resources, etc. Original certificate must be submitted with contract and all other applicable fees. No photocopies accepted. Not to be used in conjunction with other promotions or discounts.  Offer valid through March 3, 2011.

Click here to get started on MTI ShowSpace.

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On the surface, it seems easy to dislike J.P. Finch, the main character of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING. His main goal is to become rich and successful by doing as little work as possible.  He tricks fellow employees out of promotions.  He shamelessly flatters people he thinks could be of use to him. And, time and time again, he ignores sweet Rosemary’s attempts to get him to notice her.  Despite all this, we as audience members find ourselves rooting for Finch, delighting in every machination.  How do the writers - composer/lyricist Frank Loesser and bookwriters Abe Burrows, Jack Weinstock, and Willie Gilbert - get us solidly on Finch’s side?  Simply by enabling us to identify with Finch, and by assuring us that Finch’s slacker menality does not make him a bad guy.

Identifying with Finch makes the audience invested in him; we want him to succeed because we can see ourselves in him.  One way the writers establish this connection is by having Finch be the only character to break the fourth wall.  Periodically, particularly at a moment where Finch successfully decieves someone, Finch turns to the audience and smiles.  The stage directions describe this smile as “communications between Finch and the audience…The smile is a gentle, Mona Lisa smile…when he does it, Finch should turn his head quickly to the audience and give them the smile directly.  The staging of the other characters on stage should be arranged that they are not even aware that Finch is smiling to the audience.”  These smiles are special bonding moments between Finch and the audience; something reserved only for us that the other characters aren’t privy to.  Finch, by smiling at these key moments, let us in on his secret, treating us as a friend (or even partner-in-crime), and assuring us that he would never try to decieve us.

Finch’s humble beginnings and simple desires also allow the audience identify with Finch.  At the start of the musical, Finch is a window washer, which he finds unfullfilling.  There are bound to be more than a few audience members at any given performance who are similary dissatisfied with their jobs, and, like Finch, long for a way out.  Finch’s dream is as straightforward as it could be - to get rich quick - and that dream has been an integral part of the American psyche.  From 19th and early 20th immigrants hearing tales of American streets paved with gold to the vast amount of people who buy lottery tickets to the popularity of shows like AMERICAN IDOL, Americans have always dreamed of reaping huge rewards for very little work.  Consequently, most audience members know that if they found a book called HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, they would use it just like Finch does.

Robert Morse as Finch leads the cast in "The Brotherhood of Man" in the original production of HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING

But Finch’s connection to the audience would be ineffective if he were an unpleasant, power-hungry person.  Nobody wants to spend two hours watching someone they don’t like step all over people on his way to the top.  Fortunately, the writers of HOW TO SUCCEED WITHOUT REALLY TRYING recognize this challenge and meet it admirably.  Finch is never outright mean.  The closest he gets to meanness is with Bud, whose job he takes. But Bud actually is the unpleasant, power-hungry person Finch easily could have been; he only works at the company because his uncle is the boss, and he exploits this fact at every opportunity.  Bud not only does very little work, but he shoves it in everyone’s face.  Because Bud is a genuinely mean person who gets away with being unnecessarily nasty to his coworkers, Finch’s tricks on Bud in some way serve as long overdue punishment.  Moreover, nothing Finch does to Bud - or to anyone else - comes close to what Bud does to Finch: namely, try to get him fired.

Additionally, the presence of Rosemary does a lot to vouch for Finch’s personality.  It’s unlikely that Rosemary would pine for Finch as much as she does throughout the show if Finch were a bad person.  Finch’s realization that he’s in love with Rosemary goes to his good character, as well.  Instead of finding her annoying or ignoring her in his quest to climb the corporate ladder, Finch forms a genuine connection with this woman.  When it seems as though his plan is crumbling around him, Finch tries to convince Rosemary to leave him for her own sake.  “Rosemary, you can’t be the wife of a window washer,” he insists.  “That’s no life for a woman, sitting at home while I’m up there, never knowing if I’ve landed safely…”  This honest concern for Rosemary, while humourous, reveals Finch’s real emotion for her - emotion he probably wouldn’t feel if he were a cold, selfish opportunist.

Robert Morse and Bonnie Scott are the original Finch and Rosemary

HOW TO SUCCEED WITHOUT REALLY TRYING has a main character that doesn’t seem easy for audiences to love.  But because the audience relates to Finch and because it’s clear that Finch is fundamentally a good person, audiences spend the show hoping that Finch will, as the title promises, succeed without really trying.

To license HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, visit its MTI show page. Discuss this article and view production photos on HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING’s MTI ShowSpace page.

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Do you want to be the first to know when MTI releases a new title?  Need insights and analysis on shows, songs and authors from MTI’s editorial staff?  The MTI Marquee Monthly Newsletter is a great resource to help you navigate the issues important to your organization.  Best of all, it’s completely FREE.

Signing up for the MTI Marquee Newsletter lets you learn about new show acquisitions, Fast-Track updates and new titles available for licensing.  You can also keep up with the latest happenings on MTI ShowSpace - from new videos, special offers, contests and more.  Here’s the link to add yourself to our mailing list - and feel free to forward it along to your colleagues and friends:

Sign Up for The MTI Marquee Here!

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A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, an intimate, chamber musical by longtime collaboratators Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Terrence McNally (RAGTIME), addresses a number of universal issues.  Friendship, the transformative power of art, and being honest about one’s self are themes that mark the story of lonely bus conductor Alfie Byrne.  But the show - whose three writers are all of Irish descent - is ultimately about something intensely Irish: loyalty.  For the Irish, overwhelming loyalty to country, family, and religion is a way of life, and this resolve has been a part of the Irish pysche since the English first took control over the country.  This loyalty - one unflinching in the face of hardship - is seen throughout A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE.

The clearest case of loyalty in A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE is Lily’s loyalty to her brother, Alfie.  Commiting herself to protecting him as a child, Lily does not shirk from her self-imposed duty, even though it’s caused her to put her life on hold:

“I think of the times
We was both of us kids.
It was me who would stand up for you.
I’d beat anybody who’d
Pick on my brother.
I’d pummel ‘em purple and blue!
But here I am now, looking after you still!
The girls say I’m out of my head,
And pity a woman
The burden of life
With a brother who’s never been wed.”

Faith Prince and Roger Rees are Lily and Alfie in the original production of A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE at Lincoln Center

Despite numberous proposals from the butcher, Mr. Carney, Lily refuses to abandon Alfie.  Even though there’s no reason to think Alfie couldn’t function perfectly well by himself - he, not Lily, regularly cooks their meals, for example - Lily will not begin her own life until Alfie’s is settled, which in her mind means a wife. Lily doesn’t even leave Alfie when she realizes the reason he never married is because he’s gay.  “Why did you never tell me?” she demands.  “You must have known I’d love you/All the same.”  Lily’s anger at Alfie’s revelation doesn’t come from who he is, but from Lily’s misguided sacrifice.

Lily also demostrates loyalty towards Mr. Carney, and vice versa.  While it’s unclear how long their unfulfilled love affair has gone on, it’s apparent that Mr. Carney and Lily have planned to be married for years, perhaps decades.  Lily repeatedly promises to marry him once Alfie marries, and Mr. Carney has never given up to pursue someone more available. This dedication towards each other is fairly remarkable, particularly since it seems that Alfie has never been remotely close to dating a girl, let alone marrying one.

Two other characters display loyalty towards people beyond their reach.  James Michael O’Shea - generally known as “Baldy” - is one of the actors in Alfie’s amateur theatre troupe.  While his wife had died some years before, Baldy visits her grave regularly and is still very much in love with her.  “Now, I’ll be buttoning a shirt,” he tells Alfie,

“Or in the middle of a shave,
Or especially puttin’ flowers
On the headstone of her grave
And I’ll think:
I’ve had a fine, contented life,
Having had my Mary for a wife…
And the only thing
I still can’t help but crave
Well, it’s the cuddles
My Mary gave.”

Baldy is admittedly lonely (”A man needs a partner.  A helpmate.  That’s why God made man and woman”), but shows no desire to even consider finding someone else.  Mary was that partner, that helpmate, and with her gone, that part of his life is over.

Robbie too can’t completely be with the woman he loves - but in his case, it’s because the woman in question is married.  Adultery isn’t that shocking in 2010 America, but in 1960s Ireland, it was scandalous, if only because much of its population was Catholic.  Robbie, knowing full well that his transgression must tarnish Alfie’s opinion of him, rushes to defend himself.  “Are you gon’to judge me, Alf?” he challenges his friend.

“Tell me I’m a sorry sight?
Are you gon’to say that
Confession will set me right?…
No one’s going to tell me
What’s proper to do-…
Poems won’t teach you
What life’s about,
Or how it feels
Lovin’ someone who can’t
Walk down the street with you!

This is my life.  This is who I love.”

Mrs. Patrick, the woman in question, does not seem to take Robbie’s feelings for her as seriously.  When Robbie says he’s “glad someone knows…It shouldn’t be like this.  I love her and I want to marry her,” she brushes it off, insisting that “He’ll meet someone his own age and forget all about me.”  As someone who is breaking her loyalty to her husband, Mrs. Patrick doesn’t put any faith in Robbie’s professed loyalty to her.  Whether or not she’s right, what matters now is that Robbie believes he loves her, and is not about to apologize for the affair or end it because somebody now knows.

Finally, Alfie learns by the end of the piece to be loyal to himself.  After his secret is out and it looks as though his friends have turned against him, Alfie does not try to deny who he is or plan to leave Dublin behind.  Instead, he vows to embrace life - as who he is, on his own terms:

“You thought you knew a bit of life
You had no clue.
You took a step, the world came crashing
Down on you.
And what you feared the most of all happened,
Well, now you’ve come to…
Welcome to the world…
For life is clearly something
That I can’t rehearse
It’s dangerous and beautiful
And free as verse,
And rather than avoid it,
It’s high time I stood in its way…”

Without friends, without theatre, without his privacy, and without the man he loves, Alfie doesn’t give up.  He knows who he is and has experienced the cruelty the world sometimes doles out to people like him, but he still can’t be anything other than himself.

Alfie’s loyalty to who he really is does not go unrewarded.  At the end of the show, he finds himself surrounded by his friends - including Lily - and everyone is ready to find a new theatrical home for his troupe after church officials banned them from the parish hall.  “Life goes on and so must we artists,” points out out of Alfie’s actors.  And with his friends’ faith in him - and his faith in himself - Alfie certainly will.

Alfie and his bus passengers in London's Union Theatre's A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE

To license A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE, visit its MTI show page. Discuss this article and view photos of the original off-Broadway production on its MTI ShowSpace page. Click here to read about a recent production of A MAN OF NO IMPORTANCE in London.

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Since the original Broadway production opened in 1998, RAGTIME has given audiences an epic view of New York at the turn of the 20^th century. Characters from three groups - the white upper class, the newly arrived immigrants, and the community of African-Americans in Harlem - intermix throughout Lynn Ahrens, Stephen Flaherty, and Terrance McNally’s adaptation of E.L. Doctorow’s sprawling novel.  Through the connections they’ve made with each other, the characters redefine what it means to American - and what it means to be a family.

There’s one group that doesn’t quite fit with the three main groups RAGTIME addresses:  the Irish.  As recent immigrants, the Irish characters in RAGTIME haven’t fully assimilated or achieved the status kind of status that the WASP family RAGTIME centers on has.  As a result, the Irish in RAGTIME use what power they do have to maintain their status.

In RAGTIME, the Irish mainly hold positions of service.  Mother’s maid, Kathleen; Will Conklin and his volunteer firefighters; the police; they all make up a class below the wealthy WASPs, but above Tateh and his fellow immigrants.  While the Irish are never directly addressed as a cohesive group, it’s clear that there is some kind of unity amongst them.  When Coalhouse threatens to find a policeman after the firefighters refuse to let him pass their fire station, they laugh as their chief, Will Conklin, tells Coalhouse to send the police chief his regards.  Will Conklin is confident that the police will refuse to help, presumably due to their shared ethnic background and the friendship between the two forces.

The Irish firefighters - and the police who stand by as the firefighters destroy Coalhouse’s car - are the only characters who display overt racism towards Coalhouse.  Since they do not appear to have fully assimilated, given their accents and how they appear to uniformly be in the same social class, the Irish have the most at stake from African-Americans gaining more rights and moving up socially.  Their shocking destruction of Coalhouse’s car is their way of venting their frustration, as well as attempting to keep Coalhouse from threatening their social position.  The sight of someone who is supposed to be below them socially driving a car with an “impudent, cocky, king of the road smirk” must have seemed like a personal attack on their status, inciting them to a horrible act of violence.

When Coalhouse seeks revenge on Will, he turns to the authorities for help, pleading for protection.  The Irish used to be in the same position as Coalhouse, he insists, only they had to “get used to it.”  This statement, more than anything else in the show, demonstrates how tenuous Will views his social status.  Eventually, of course, both the Irish and African-Americans are able to break out of their roles in society - without hindering each other.

The three main groups of RAGTIME--from playbill.com

To license RAGTIME, check out its MTI show page. To view photos of the original production and see a video interview of Stephen Flaherty, visit RAGTIME’s page on MTI ShowSpace.

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Sign Up for Fast-Track Notification for a Show That’s Truly Scrumptious

Original Author: Ian Fleming
Book: Jeremy Sams
Music / Lyrics: The Sherman Brothers
Genre: Family comedy
Cast Size: Large, flexible, ensemble
Dancing Requirement:There’s a fair amount of dancing, but it’s very traditional musical theatre/soft shoe style that doesn’t require trained dancers at all.  If you do have trained dancers, however, you can easily showcase them.
Ideally Suited for: Community theatres, schools

Everyone’s fine four-fendered friend may soon swoop into a theatre near you! A family musical filled with adventure, kidnapping, and intrigue, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG is now available for Fast-Track Notification. By signing up for this service, you’ll be among the first to know when the title is available for licensing - we’ll send you an email as soon as this title is released!

Dirk Lumbard and Scott Cote. Photo by Ian Ibbetson - CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG National Tour

Based on the beloved 1968 film, CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG has an incredibly catchy, upbeat score that audiences will inevitably find themselves singing as they leave the theatre.  The joyful melodies are easy enough to learn, speeding up the rehearsal process, and its many ensemble roles enable everyone to have their moment in the spotlight.  Along those lines, the show’s large, flexible cast size makes it ideal for high schools and community theatres, particularly since there are roles for children.

Click here to see a video montage of the CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG national tour!

Show Inspiration
Surprisingly, this simple, heartfelt show has its roots in the world of suave super-spy, James Bond. Bond’s creator, Ian Fleming wanted to write a story that his young son Casper could enjoy. Taking inspiration from a series of racing cars that Count Louis Zborowski had built in the early 1920s, Fleming wrote a Bond-like novel that was centered around children - as well as on a flying car with a mind of its own.

Camille Mancuso, Steve Wilson, Kelly McCormick and Zachary Carter Sayle. Photo by Ian Ibbetson - CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG National Tour

Fun Facts
• Chitty and James Bond have more in common than just sharing Ian Fleming as their author. The film of Chitty was produced by Albert R. (Cubby) Broccoli as were all of the first seventeen Bond films. Desmond Llewelyn who played Q in the Bond films until his death in 2000 played the scrap dealer Coggins and Gert Frobe was the villain Goldfinger as well as Baron Bomburst. Also every Bond film features a car with some extra special built in gadgetry to help 007 in his quest.
• There is a Trivial Pursuit game card which asks ‘Which British spy novelist wrote the children’s story Chitty Chitty Bang Bang?’
• The film screenplay was written by prolific children’s author Roald Dahl and the film’s director Ken Hughes.
• The song “Chitty Chitty Bang Bang” was nominated for an Oscar in 1968.
• The Sherman Brothers also wrote the songs for Disney’s Mary Poppins and The Jungle Book as well as countless other films including The Slipper and the Rose.
• Dick Van Dyke, who stars in the film is also connected to the Sherman Brothers in another way, having introduced the Oscar-winning “Chim Chim Cheree”.
• Chitty Chitty Bang Bang was originally published as separate adventures in three separate volumes over 1964 and 1965. It was not published in a single volume in England until 1971.
• Some of Rowland Emett’s strange and wonderful inventions for the film are housed and on display at the Mid-America Science Museum.
• Locations used in the film include Ibstone Windmill, Buckinghamshire and Neuschwanstein Castle near Munich. This castle was built by King Ludwig Konig of Bavaria as a temple to Wagner based on designs by Christian Janck which were in turn inspired by Angelo Il Quaglio’s stage sets for the 1867 production of Lohengrin.
• The films cast included many British comedy favourites in supporting roles including Benny Hill as the toymaker, Barbara Windsor, Arthur Mullard, Bernard Spear, Stanley Unwin, Davy Kaye, Max Bacon, Kenneth Waller and Max Wall.
• Empire magazine recently rated the film’s child catcher scenes among the 100 most frightening ever filmed.

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This is the eighth in a series looking at the work of Stephen Sondheim.

“Putting it together,” states the James Lapine/Stephen Sondheim musical, SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE, “that’s what counts.”  And it does, for 19^th century neo-impressionist painter George Seurat and his great-grandson George-although through very different ways, due to their positions in society.  Seurat’s art keeps him on the outside of mainstream society and the artistic community, whereas George has to be engaged in both.

Artists Are So–

The first act of SUNDAY IN THE PARK WITH GEORGE looks at the role of the artist in 1884 France. Seurat has firmly established himself as being apart from society; he rarely speaks to anyone other than his lover and model, Dot.  As Seurat sketches the people relaxing on an island in the Seine, it becomes apparent to his subjects that Seurat is even outside their class system.  He has enough money to devote all his time to painting instead of a job with a reliable income, yet a boatman sees him as an ally.  ”Sunday hypocrites, that’s what they are,” the boatman declares to Seurat, referring to the people around them.  “Muttering and murmuring about this one and that one.  I’ll take my old dog for company any day.”  Because Seurat does not engage with those in higher social classes, the boatman feels those people see them as “loonies,” explaining that he and Seurat “tell them the truth.”  At the same time, the boatman considers artists to be “high and mighty,” and becomes defensive when he notices Seurat sketching him:

“Who the hell you think you’re drawing?
Me?
You don’t know me.
Go on drawing.
Since you’re drawing only what you want to see,
Anyway…
Draw your own conclusion,
All you artists do.
I see what is true.”

Once the boatman realizes that the honesty in Seurat’s art isn’t limited to wealthy members of society, he stops seeing Seurat as a compatriot, seeing him instead as an observer operating independent of class-and, consequently, as a threat.

The other people enjoying their Sunday on the island also have difficultly cleanly classifying Seurat.  It’s clear, however, that he’s not like everyone else.  “They say that George has another woman,” a girl gossips.

“They say that George only lives with tramps…
They say he prowls through the streets
In his top hat after midnight…
And stands there staring up at the lamps…
Artists are so crazy…”
[click to continue…]

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You don’t want to miss this brand new MTI ShowSpace video!  Actor Andrew Keenan-Bolger takes us behind the scenes to check out the GREEN ROOM used by the cast of the Mary Poppins National Tour.  Lots of dancing, makeup and…well, you’ll just have to see for yourself.

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Recently, MTI’s Ken Kleiber sat down to chat with composer Jason Robert Brown in his home studio in Los Angeles. Jason discussed his work, his characters, and how he got started, and we’re bringing it straight to you. We are thrilled to announce that there are SEVEN new videos now available on MTI ShowSpace for your viewing pleasure.

Click here to check out the interviews with Jason Robert Brown!

In addition, don’t forget that you can see Jason performing his work live next week at Birdland here in New York City. For more information and to get your tickets, visit here.

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Many of Frank Loesser’s male characters experience an inexplicable urge to keep moving from place to place, without any obligations tying them down.  From the gamblers and their floating craps game in GUYS & DOLLS to Joe’s beautiful ode to wandering in THE MOST HAPPY FELLA to Finch’s avoidance of Rosemary’s domestic intentions as he leaps up the corporate ladder in HOW TO SUCCEED IN BUSINESS WITHOUT REALLY TRYING, Loesser’s men don’t have settling down in their nature.

There’s no better example of this than in GREENWILLOW.  Loesser and bookwriter/screenwriter Lesser Samuels (best known for his Oscar nominated films NO WAY OUT and ACE IN THE HOLE) created a personal, delicate look at small town life - and the effects unwanted wanderlust can have.

Unlike his counterparts from other Loesser shows, Gideon Briggs hopes to defy the yearning to travel that has plagued his family for generations.  As long as anyone can remember, every eldest male Briggs has suffered from an overwhelming urge to constantly be on the move, even if it means abandoning his family for months at a time.  Gideon’s father being an eldest Briggs son, Gideon has grown up with this phenomenon and has seen firsthand how the hardship of being left behind.  Gideon, as an eldest son himself, vows to end the curse by never getting married; no family means nobody to hurt when he inevitably leaves town, and it guarantees no sons.

This alone is a departure from the usual Loesser model; usually, Loesser’s wanderers fully embrace their lifestyle.  But not only does GREENWILLOW provide an exception in Gideon, but the show also shows the ramifications of wandering in a way that the other shows don’t.  Loesser’s other shows with wanderers contain female characters who want those men to settle down, but those shows emphasize the freedom of wandering more than the pain of the women left at home.

The quietly sorrowful “Walking Away Whistling” does that perfectly.  Dorrie, Gideon’s girlfriend, resolves to keep Gideon out of her heart.  If he’s only going to leave her after they marry, then why bother caring about him at all?  When Dorrie realizes this, her song makes Gideon’s departure seem all too inevitable:

“I could lay him a table to plenty
I could spread him a bed of down
But a wandering man is a wandering man
And he’d never rest easy in town.”

Like Rosemary’s “Happy to Keep His Dinner Warm” from HOW TO SUCCEED, “Walking Away Whistling” expresses the woman’s desire for domestic life.  Only, Rosemary’s song is her dream, and Dorrie’s song is the grim reality she fears is true.

Gideon’s love for Dorrie overpowers his family’s curse, ending the pattern of abandonment once and for all - and avoiding the heartbreak wandering can cause.

To license GREENWILLOW, visit its MTI show page. Discuss GREENWILLOW on its MTI ShowSpace page.

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Jim Caruso’s Cast Party is once again proud to present composer JASON ROBERT BROWN in concert for four nights on Sunday, March 14 at 7pm and Tuesday through Thursday at 7pm. These concerts are part of the long-running Broadway at Birdland concert series, which highlights performers and composers from the Great White Way on the stage of the historic music room.

Pianist, singer and Tony Award-winning composer JASON ROBERT BROWN will be featuring brand new material in addition to songs from his shows, including THE LAST FIVE YEARS, SONGS FOR A NEW WORLD, PARADE, and 13, as well as his solo album “Wearing Someone Else’s Clothes.”  This is a very rare up-close-and-personal evening with JRB - no band, no hype, just one guy at a piano sharing his art and his music.

Who:           JASON ROBERT BROWN
When:           Sunday, March 14 at 7pm and Tuesday - Thursday, March 16 - 18 at 7pm
Where:         Birdland, 315 West 44 Street, NYC
Phone:       212-581-3080
Website:     www.BirdlandJazz.com
Cover:           $30, $40 and $10 food/drink minimum

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If you’re not a fan of Music Theatre International on Facebook, there’s no better time to check out our Facebook page.  MTI Facebook fans get links to the latest MTI Marquee articles on their newsfeed, as well as a feature unique to our Facebook page: the Show of the Day.  Every morning, a clue goes out on our Twitter feed so our followers can guess what they think the Show of the Day might be.  Clues range from a song lyric to  interesting trivia about the show to identities of the creative team and a description of its subject matter.  A few hours later, the show itself is posted on our Facebook page, along with some information about the show and why it was chosen for that day in particular.  The Show of the Day is a fun way to become familiar with the over 300 shows in our catalog!

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It’s time for the latest installment of the webseries KEENAN BLOGGER, presented by MTI ShowSpace. In this wily episode, Andrew Keenan-Bolger takes you backstage of MARY POPPINS the National Tour, and learns that every actor has a process.

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This article is part of a series looking at musical theatre in movies and on television.

The hospital show that’s not a hospital show, SCRUBS seems a natural choice for a musical episode. The first eight seasons of the show are almost entirely seen from J.D.’s point of view, as the medical intern played by Zach Braff transitions to resident and full attending physician. J.D.’s fantasy sequences provide an off-kilter, somewhat surreal foundation for the show’s tone and establish a greater suspension of disbelief than what typical sitcoms require.

Unexpectedly, the musical episode (”My Musical”) isn’t told from J.D.’s perspective, but from a patient’s. Patti Miller, played by AVENUE Q’s Tony nominated Stephanie D’Abruzzo, suffers from a brain aneurysm that causes her to hallucinate that everyone around her is singing. While this solves the problem of creating musical numbers that rise organically from the story, it means the audience’s grounding point is a character they’ve never met before. Fortunately, D’Abruzzo is given enough to act - and witnesses enough of the other characters’ personal storylines - for this to be more of an advantage. Particularly since the episode occurs in the show’s sixth season, slightly removing the audience from characters they’ve grown to love helps keep the show fresh.

With this concept, the structure of the episode is brilliantly done. Each musical number references a musical genre or a Broadway-style number in some way, but without falling into obvious parody. The humor in the episode - and, despite its many funny moments, the episode is actually fairly serious - doesn’t stem from the fact that the characters are singing, but from the characters themselves. Along those lines, the episode isn’t gimmicky, and there are clear plot developments. The episode’s integrity is probably due to SCRUBS writer Deb Fordham writing the script and majority of the lyrics, as well as the participation of AVENUE Q’s Tony winning songwriting team, Robert Lopez and Jeff Marx.

“My Musical” opens with a traditional, introductory-style number, in the vein of “Tradition” from FIDDLER ON THE ROOF and “Belle,” the opening number from BEAUTY AND THE BEAST. The biggest production number in the episode, “Welcome to Sacred Heart” makes the hallucination concept clear and serves as an entertaining introduction to any first-time watchers.

“The Rant Song” is possibly the best number J.D.’s acerbic “mentor” Dr. Cox (John C. McGinley) could have. The businesslike, Gilbert and Sullivan style patter song perfectly captures his sarcastically funny rapid-fire insults and elaborate angry rants. D’Abruzzo’s involvement at the song’s end makes it even funnier.

One of the most popular songs from “My Musical,” “Guy Love” is an ode to the “bromance” between J.D. and his best friend, surgeon Chris Turk (Donald Faison). Modeled after power ballads from musicals such as JEKYLL AND HYDE, “Guy Love” contains many references to previous episodes and perfectly captures the hilarity and sincerity of their closeness.

“Friends Forever/Finale” is clearly based on “We Go Together” from GREASE. The buoyancy of the number expresses the characters’ optimism perfectly, as well as the upbeat feel of the show overall. More importantly, the song gives the audience a much-needed release after the more serious plot points regarding Elliot and J.D.’s relationship and Patti’s medical condition. This is especially necessary since the episode ends fairly ambiguously. While Patti’s surgery is successful, she finds herself missing the songs in her head - just as the other characters miss the things their decisions caused them to leave behind.

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