(a series of articles about how new musicals come to pass)
Preproduction: the period of time during which work is done on a show prior to the first rehearsal.
There have been many shows written by a single creator -- lyricist, librettist and composer all rolled into one -- but, looking at the track record, it seems that the greatest triumphs have been the result of some form of collaboration. (Self Test #1: Name five well-known musicals created by a single person.)
A creative collaboration consists of the following:
What part of a script should become songs? In deciding where songs should appear in a show, the rule of thumb generally used is:
When a scene or character reaches a point where the emotion is too strong to be contained or expressed by dialogue alone.
The process of actually writing a show may begin with a general outline or fairly fleshed-out draft of the script. The creation of the outline may be done jointly, but most of the script will be the work of the bookwriter (at least the early drafts). Once the "show" has enough form for the writers to feel comfortable with it, work on the other elements will begin. And then everyone starts "contributing" to everyone else's area: bookwriter suggesting lyric ideas, composer suggesting changes to lyrics, lyricist suggesting dialogue, etc.
In Part 2 of these articles I discussed the difficulty (folly?) of creating a new book around existing songs. For a show to be successful, the exchange and "give and take" between the collaborators -- bookwriter, lyricist, composer -- must be intense and constant. It is not enough for the lyricist and composer to take a script, find the places where songs would seem to be appropriate, and write and "install" them into the book. The book will need to adjust for the new material. Especially in more modern musicals, book scenes are not just replaced by songs, but incorporated, interspersed, threaded, etc.
An example of this give and take can be seen in a process I have often noted in the first readings or workshop of a new piece. The draft of the script used on the first day of rehearsal will be very sectionalized: scene, song, scene, song, scene-part of a song-more scene-more song, etc. Over the course of the workshop the songs and libretto begin digesting each other so that the songs begin to incorporate more dialogue, dialogue becomes lyric, and the goes-in-ta's (the dialogue leading into the songs) become less contrived -- the object being seamless transition between dialogue and song. (This "digesting" process may not always be for the better, but of course this discovery process is what the workshop is ostensibly for.)
Here's a nightmare scenario for you:
There was a workshop of "new" musical where: the bookwriter was deceased; the "adaptor" of the book, the composer, and the director had never held these positions on a musical before (the composer had an admitted dislike for the medium); and the choreographer had never done a musical that wasn't about dancing. The organization producing the show had shown a small, but high profile, successful track record of bringing musicals from workshop to Broadway, but had a very lofty and inflated self-opinion about themselves and their place in the theatre world. A few days before rehearsals began the composer announced that he had done his work; it was up to us to adjust to it. As with any new show rehearsals were difficult to schedule with every department vying for time. Because of the creative staff's general inexperience, however, too much weight was given to the wrong areas too often. The "adaptor" of the script did little more than shift lines or words around, the choreographer kept calling for more dance music, more dancers, and more rehearsal time, and the director seemed constantly at a loss about what to do, rehearsing the same book scenes endlessly.
A number of public performances were scheduled for the end of the workshop process. Despite the lackluster audience response, the producing organization thought that, with a little more rehearsal time, the show would have legs. They shut down for a week, announced that the show would be officially opening, went back into rehearsal with a number of new cast members and creative staff (some chose not to continue and some were not invited back), previewed for a few weeks, opened to extremely negative press (and audience response), and closed a few days later.
I can't say for sure that a greater level of collaboration (to say nothing of experience) would have lead to the success of this show, but it sure would have helped make for a better piece.
Originally published at Suite101.com Theatre, 3/18/97
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