A FEW MINUTES WITH: Jeff Bowen, co-creator of [title of show]

By Donald V. Calamia

Ferndale's Ringwald Theatre knows a thing or two about making one's dreams come true. So it's not surprising that the hit Broadway musical [title of show] should make its Michigan premiere at the relatively young, but increasingly popular theater. A charming story about "two nobodies in New York" who write a play about two young authors writing play, co-creator Jeff Bowen recently talked with EncoreMichigan.com about the show's unique genesis and how it got its name.

[title of show] has one of the most interesting histories of any award-winning Broadway show in recent memory. In short, it's about two young guys writing a new musical about two young guys writing a new musical. The project got its start, I understand, when you and collaborator Hunter Bell decided to enter a play into the New York Musical Theatre Festival - but had only about three and a half weeks to create the script. So how did the concept come about? And what ideas did it beat out?

Hunter and I initially wanted to use the submission date as a deadline to get us to write something...anything. We had been sitting on our duffs and not creating, and so we thought of this as a writing exercise. We would go into separate rooms and write scenes/lyrics/songs and come back to one another after a half hour or so and share what we had written.

Practically everything we wrote on that first day was an exploration of what we were actually doing: trying to make up a musical in three and a half weeks. We went with the idea and it kept the pen moving and so we stuck with the idea of creating a musical about the two of us creating a musical. We didn't have any other ideas for it to beat out, so it won.

How long did it take you to get the first draft done? (And how many pots of coffee?)

Hunter and I only drink decaf.

The first draft was done in the initial three-and-a-half weeks. Because we had to submit, if memory serves, the first act of the show and our show was only one act, we had to have a completed script by that deadline.

How close was it to what was finally staged in the summer of 2004?

We continued developing the script that summer because we knew that we were going to perform whatever was in that envelope at Manhattan Theatre Source. It's an off-off Broadway venue that our producer Laura Camien had booked for us whether we got in the festival or not. We did several performances there that July and continued to develop the piece for the festival in September.

I would say about 80 percent of the content of the submitted script was performed at the festival.

I suspect you get asked this next question a lot. But here goes: How close does the play follow what was really happening during the play's creation?

We give several answers to this question.

One is that everything is true except the parts that are big fat lies. But truly, all the events that happen in the show are developed from seeds of ideas that actually did happen.

As we continued to make it into a play with characters, we learned that those characters had to serve functions to the piece. We usually broke it down something like: Hunter is the dreamer, Susan is the risk-taker, Jeff is the anchor, and Heidi is the audience. Meaning the audience is meeting and experiencing the three others in nearly the same way and time frame that Heidi does. Heidi is their way into the world.

There are other devices that Michael (our director) used to maintain the balance. If you study the show closely, you'll see that each one of the character represents earth, water, fire and air as well. So with all of these balancing tools, if I said something sassy and clever in real life, that line would become "Susan's" in the play. And if Susan said something eye-rolly and sarcastic in real life, her quip would inevitably be assigned to "Jeff."

And by the way, have you been told that the show's title - all lower case letters enclosed by brackets - drives us editor-types crazy? (laughs)

Yes, we've been told that lots of time. But you editor-types need something to keep you on your toes, so...you're welcome.

So how DID the show get its title?

The idea for the title came from the festival submission form. The field asked for the "[title of show]" and we just filled it in with exactly that: [title of show]. We stuck with the title because we truly felt ridiculous trying to assign a name to this show that was about the process of discovering what and who it was.

We always felt like the audience should be allowed to name it whatever they want. Li'l Dreamers is one that we always joke would've made a great title - especially when we were ready to develop it into a cartoon for Nickelodeon.

After its initial run, the show went on to performances off-and-on Broadway - and garnered a handful of OBIE Awards and a Tony nomination for Best Book of a Musical. How much did the show continue to evolve during this time?

Well, I could answer the question, but then I'd be giving you the plot of the show.

Honestly, the show evolved constantly. But, because the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization had secured the licensing rights for the show after the off-Broadway run, we knew that we would eventually have to have a final final final draft of the show so that folks like (Who Wants Cake?) could perform it. That day came on opening night on Broadway. It had such a powerful effect on all of us - it was a combination of being so proud that we had made it to the finish line, but there was great sadness in knowing that it was the also day we had to put the pens down and turn off the laptops. Our show was done.

I read a synopsis of the play not long ago and discovered that the plot includes references to Sutton Foster - who many of us remember from her early days here in Metro Detroit. Was that part of the plot from the beginning?

The Sutton Foster scenes in the show were pretty integral to the story line of the show from the beginning.

The main point of those scenes was the exploration of what happens when you replace someone who has been working on your piece for so long with a bigger "name." We explored those scenes with several different actresses. I think Emily Skinner was used for off-Broadway. The first time we presented those scenes...I think they were in a backers audition...we got such a crazy positive response from audience members - especially other actors and writers who had experienced first-hand how devastating it is when a replacement happens. And it happens ... a lot!

Did you have her permission to do so? Or how did this all come about?

Sutton was game for us to use her name and her voice. She had seen the show at the Vineyard, and she was a big supporter of what we were saying with the piece. She's been on both sides of the replacement situation and the emotions around that were very resonant for her.

In the Broadway production, another plot point involved messages left on an answering machine from women you had asked to be in the show, and you had a number of major stars record those messages - including Sutton, Christine Ebersole and Patti LuPone. How easy was it to get their participation - or were they already in your Rolodex? (laughs)

Honestly they were pretty easy to get. The Broadway community is really like a college campus. Everyone sort of helps out for whomever, whenever something's needed.

So when were they cut - and why?

They were the only thing that was cut from the Broadway script before it went on to regional productions.

The truth is, buying those women's voices for the rest of time was way too expensive for Hunter and I, and so Hunter changed the messages to be from the characters in the show.

And really, the celebrity messages were just fun gimmicks that were light and fluffy for those Broadway audiences, but they had nothing to do with the plot or the characters in the show. The new messages do - which Hunter and I really like. We did buy Sutton's message because it was the only one that was key to a plot point in the piece.

The show's director is your life partner, Michael Berresse. At what point in the process did he become involved in the show? And how easy was it to work so closely with him on it - and then go home at night together?

Michael and I had been together for about five years when he came to see mine and Hunter's scrappy, self-directed production that we did at Manhattan Theatre Source. Hunter and I were in the place where we knew we had to find someone to direct and choreograph (the show), and so we met with a few people and talked to them about their ideas and involvement. It was Michael who approached us and presented the strongest vision.

Because Hunter and I were in the show, we were never able to sit outside of the play and watch it, so we had to find someone whom we could trust to be completely honest about what was happening. We often refer to Michael as "the secret weapon," because he really has this unbelievable brain that can simultaneously problem-solve, create and execute. And he sits quietly in the dark in the back of the house and no one knows he's the one pulling all the strings.

So, I guess because he was such an amazing director, it made working closely with him very easy.

We usually had a rule, though, that we kept [title of show] conversations to a minimum when we were at home. We were always so exhausted from a full day of [title of show] that we usually just wanted to lay on the couch and watch a TiVoed episode of The Biggest Loser or Ace of Cakes.

Looking back over the years, did you in your wildest dreams ever think that your three-week project would evolve into a Tony Award-nominated Broadway success?

Absolutely, deep down inside Hunter and I believed that the show would become a success.

Now, "success" is a subjective word, so it depends on how you measure it, but we couldn't be happier with our success. I think a creative person who wants to make a living as an artist has to believe in success or they'd never pick up a paintbrush or turn on their pottery wheel.

Hunter and I just ran a marathon in Orlando, and as we were training, all you can see is that finish line. It's what keeps you going. If you can't see that finish line as a reality in your brain, then you'll stop training. The show was the same way for us.

But the show's success is really about an amazing group of about 25 people who include our managers, agents, the interns, the designers, the producers, our families, our therapists. We were just this little train with six cars (me, Hunter, Heidi, Susan, Larry and Michael) and at any given moment, one of us was the engine. And you could be the engine on Monday and then on Tuesday you could be the caboose. We just kept on keeping on because we were surrounded by so much love and support.

So what do you do for an encore?

As far as an encore goes, as long as the six of us are on the planet, you'll see us making stuff together again.

ABOUT JEFF BOWEN:

Jeff Bowen is the composer/lyricist of the Tony Award-nominated Broadway musical [title of show]. Winner of three OBIE Awards (including one for Bowen) during its eight-month run at New York's Vineyard Theatre prior to moving to Broadway, [title of show] is currently receiving productions from coast to coast throughout the United States.

Bowen has written music and lyrics for several shows at PS 122 including Avant Garde-a-Rama in Sparklevision and Hello, My Name is Avant Garde-a-Rama. Also, Sparklefest 2000 at Dixon Place, The A-Train Plays and the score for the film Boat Mime. Currently at work on a new project for Disney, he is also writing a pilot for ABC with his writing partner, Hunter Bell.

SHOW DETAILS:

[title of show] runs Friday through Monday Feb. 19 - March 15 at The Ringwald, 22742 Woodward Ave., Ferndale. Tickets: $10-$20. For information: 248-545-5545 or www.whowantscaketheatre.com.

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