Making a Broadway Musical
by John Kenrick
(Copyright 2000, Revised 2020)
Getting the Idea
The initial idea for a musical can come from all sorts of sources. In the past, Broadway musicals began in one of two ways. Either a producer got an idea for a show and hired a creative team, or a creative team got an idea and talked a producer into backing it. Either way, nothing was actually written until there was a serious commitment from a producer. Cole Porter said that the best source of creative inspiration for a new show was a signed contract.
Some classic musicals got their start when a producer found a story idea and guided the project to Broadway –
- The inspiration for Broadway's first musical hit came out of sheer desperation. The manager of a 3,000 seat theatre needed something to fill his stage for the fall. He threw together a stranded ballet troupe, a clunky melodrama and a stack of forgettable songs. Strange as that mix may seem, it clicked. At a time when most hits ran a month or two, The Black Crook (1866) became the first production in world history to run for more than a year. It toured for decades and eventually returned to Broadway fifteen times.
- All of Florenz Ziegfeld's Follies (1907-1932) began as his own personal inspirations. He would ask a small army of writers to submit songs and skits, many more than he could possibly use. He went to masters like Irving Berlin, as well as low-paid hacks on his staff. Ziegfeld chose the best of the resulting material and opened each Follies out of town. He invariably started with opening nights running four hours or more. Audience reaction determined what was kept and what was cut.
- In the early 1940s, the prestigious Theatre Guild had a run of bad luck and found itself deep in debt. They asked Richard Rodgers and Lorenz Hart to adapt the unsuccessful play Green Grow the Lilacs into a musical. Rodgers was interested, but Hart felt that no one would be interested in a musical about a farm girl deciding who would take her to a country dance. Rodgers teamed up with Oscar Hammerstein II, and Oklahoma (1943) opened a new era in musical theatre.
- David Merrick decided to turn Thornton Wilder's comedy The Matchmaker into a musical for Ethel Merman. Merrick hired composer/lyricist Jerry Herman, librettist Michael Stewart, and director Gower Champion. When Merman (still recovering from two exhausting years in Gypsy) turned down the project, Carol Channing took the lead. The mercurial Merrick terrorized everyone during the show's turbulent pre-Broadway tour, but Hello Dolly! (1964) wound up a tremendous hit, with Merman eventually taking over the lead at the end of its seven year run.
Other musicals got their start in the imaginations of writers, composers or directors –
- William S. Gilbert supposedly got the idea for his most lasting hit when a Japanese sword fell off the wall of his study. This set him to thinking of Japanese culture, royal executioners . . . and The Mikado was born.
- Jerome Kern and his frequent collaborator Oscar Hammerstein II realized that Enda Ferber's epic novel Show Boat could be turned into a musical, one with unusual dramatic potential. They discussed the idea with Ziegfeld, who had serious reservations but was not about to turn down the chance to produce a show by these proven hit makers. Show Boat became the biggest hit of Ziegfeld's career.
- Director/playwright Joshua Logan approached Rodgers and Hammerstein with the idea of turning two short stories by James Michener into a musical. By this time, Rodgers and Hammerstein were so successful that they acted as their own producers. Logan co-authored the libretto and directed – and South Pacific (1949) remains a perennial favorite.
In some cases, performers have initiated a project.
- Gertrude Lawrence convinced Rodgers and Hammerstein to turn the semi-fictional novel (and hit 1946 film) Anna and the King of Siam into The King and I (1951).
- In the mid-1970s, two dancers approached choreographer Michael Bennett with the idea of creating a musical based on the experiences of dancers. Bennett had toyed with the idea of a musical about dancers for several years. Freshly inspired, he organized a series of private workshops where dancers shared their memories – which became the basis for A Chorus Line (1975).
Winning Attention
Today, songwriters and librettists spend years writing projects without any guarantee that they will ever be produced. In fact, the odds are overwhelmingly against any new musical reaching Broadway. Established talents may have a slightly easier time getting producers to pay attention to their new projects, but they still have to struggle to get those projects staged. For new writers with no professional credit, the process is even more frustrating.
Remember that scene in The Producers where Bialystock and Bloom go through a pile of horrible scripts in search of a flop? Well, Mel Brooks was not exaggerating – every established Broadway producer has a similar "slush pile" of scripts and demo tapes sent in by aspiring talents. When I worked as an assistant to a series of Tony Award-winning producers, I had to read hundreds of unsolicited manuscripts, and listen to hundreds of demo recordings -- and after writing honest assesments for my bosses, tossed every one of those projects into the trash. I assure you that every one of them absolutely belonged there.
The plain fact is no one on Broadway pays serious attention to these unrequested submissions. Why would they? No producer in their right mind would risk their reputation on an unproven project by an unproven talent. So what is a newcomer to do? Well, sensible authors realize that the best way to get any professional producer's attention is by getting a show on its feet. This means getting a show into some kind of a workshop production.
Workshops
Workshops vary in style and size. Some are almost full-scale productions done by professional Off-Broadway or regional theatres. I've seen some done by college or high school drama depatments with enthusiastic young casts. Other workshops are produced by the writers themselves in rehearsal halls using no sets and minimal props. They may involve major stars or unknowns. Some authors put together workshops using actors they know, saving the time and expense of auditioning.
Whatever their size or venue, workshops give the creative team an opportunity to the show in its feet. Potential producers and investors are invited to see the results. While workshops give only a rough idea of what a full production might be like, they must look good enough to inspire people to lay their time, money and reputations on the line.
Many Broadway producers team up with non-profit theatre companies that can stage a workshop in a relatively cost efficient manner. If the show is a hit, the theatre company gets a small percentage of any future profits and a nice dose of prestige. The producers of Rent had such an agreement with off-Broadway's small but prestigious New York Theatre Workshop, which gave Jonathan Larson's musical two workshops and a full Off-Broadway production. The show's phenomenal success was a publicity coup for NYTW, and the commercial producers moved a fully developed project to Broadway at one fourth of what most new musicals cost in 1996.
Composers and authors can put together their own showcase workshop, booking a cabaret or inexpensive theatre space and sending out invitations to producers, casting agents and anyone they think might be interested in the show. Composer Danny Goggin launched the international hit Nunsense as a one-act cabaret show at The Duplex – when a producer optioned the project, it went on to thousands of performances in an expanded Off-Broadway production. Anyone interested in pursuing this option should read Producing Your Own Showcase (Allworth Press, 2001) by playwright Paul Harris. This route involves a lot of work, but it beats sending off scripts to languis in slush piles.
Authors who live far from New York can still be proactive by staging workshops and raising a fuss right where they are – and that applies anywhere in the world. Les Miserables was developed in France. A lavish arena staging in 1980 attracted attention, but New York producers rejected the idea. After all, no hit Broadway musical had ever originated in France, and wasn't this one "too French" to appeal to Americans? Then the Royal Shakespeare Company's 1985 London production became an immediate sell-out. New York producers suddenly clamoured for a piece of Les Miz, but by then native Brit Cameron Macintosh had shrewdly taken on the musical, which he has repeatedly presented ever since.
Many musicals never get beyond the workshop stage, either because the material disappoints or producers cannot raise the necessary funds. In 1999, Nathan Lane and Victor Garber were set to appear in a new Stephen Sondheim musical called Wiseguys. After a heavily publicized workshop drew a mixed reaction, the production didn't happen. Renamed Bounce, the show was showcased by had more than one full-scale non-profit theater, but unenthusiastic critical response ultimately made a commercial run impractical.
Producers often use workshops to build a show's creative team, starting with the director and choreographer. Aside from the artistic considerations, a team with distinguished credits can make fundraising easier. In many cases, directors have favorite colleagues who work with them on a regular basis. As a musical evolves, there may be changes in its creative staff. Such changes can be rocky, and can even earn press coverage if the names involved are prominent. The often heard excuse of leaving a show due to "artistic differences" can be quite legitimate.
After all, a creative team must be in reasonable harmony if a show is to have a fighting chance. Backstage politics can make office politics look like kids stuff. Because getting a show to Broadway is such a costly gamble, the pressure on everyone involved is tremendous.