I had already been nominated for the Tony Award for my work in Joseph Papp’s production of Much Ado About Nothing and also had done the similar style scoring for productions like Lincoln Center’s Trelawney Of The Wells and James Lipton’s production of The Mighty Gents with Morgan Freeman on Broadway.

American Playwright Neil Simon

I was offered the opportunity to work with the legendary Neil Simon on his play about Anton Chekov called The Good Doctor. As a young man, I was very excited to work on this wonderful show with the cream of the crop on Broadway.

I also had the opportunity to collaborate with Mr. Simon who wrote his first lyrics for 4 or 5 songs that I composed for the show as well as over an hour’s worth of underscoring and a pre-show “band concert”.

The cast was led by five seasoned Broadway stars – René Auberjonois, Barnard Hughes, Marsha Mason, Frances Sternhagen, who won the Tony Award for her work in the play, and Christopher Plummer who played Anton Chekov.

Tony Walton,  set designer, and Tharon Musser, lighting designer, were two of Broadway’s legendary stars of the theater as creative artists.  Both were people who I was simply in awe of, both consummate professionals.  Neil Simon, Broadway’s most successful playwright, would work with the best.

I loved this show and the entire experience, but like any other show, it had its difficult moments.  When I think back on the experience, one night and a great life lesson jumps out at me.

We were out of town in New Haven at the Shubert Theater.  We were in rehearsal, and working on the set in the theater between previews.  We were having trouble with one of the songs that Neil and I had written for Christopher Plummer.

The year before, Christopher had won the Tony on Broadway singing the lead in the musical, Cyrano. He was also an accomplished pianist.  So when he auditioned, he was not required to sing – only to act in his audition.

Because the show was a play and not officially a musical we would be going, not into a Broadway musical house, but rather a playhouse.  This meant that there would be no orchestra pit down front.  So in keeping with the traditions, we put the small orchestra backstage and cordoned them off from the noises of the backstage activity where they played the scoring of the show on mic and on camera.

Instead of a live conductor standing in front of the stage conducting, there was a television monitor approximately where the conductor would stand with the conductor of the orchestra conducting on TV shot from his back stage position.  This, though it’s used all the time now, was a new technique at that time and very confusing to Christopher.  He really missed a live person conducting out front.

Also, to say this as nicely as possible, Chris was, shall we say, somewhat rhythmically challenged.  This is a superbly talented man; make no bones about it.  He was wonderful in the show and a major force in the theater.  He was also a strong personality with a most confident sense of self.

I was frustrated because he, in performance, kept getting off from the orchestra.  He was used to the orchestra following him instead of the necessary opposite.  Because of the set-up, he had to sing with the band, not vice versa.  For several nights now, we had had train wrecks during the number where the two, band and performer, ended up doing the song off from each other.

In short, Neil and I had written a beautiful song for Chris that we knew would work – that worked beautifully when Chris rehearsed it backstage standing in front of the orchestra – but in performance separated from his conductor, the song would fall apart.

The scuttlebutt was that the song might be cut.  This raised the tension level of the rehearsal because the rehearsal had been called specifically to figure out the problems and we were not coming up with the solutions and the more we rehearsed, the worse it got.  I could see the cut coming.

I knew at the time that the song could be easily done and, in fact, got out on the stage in rehearsal and sang it myself just to show Chris that our idea could work.  Rather than showing him that it was possible, I’m afraid that it just showed him up.  The tensions grew worse and as he tried again and failed to stay with the band, we both snapped.

We both got into a bit of a screaming argument there in the middle of rehearsal on the stage of the Shubert Theater.  It was late, we were tired, I could see this number about to be cut, frustrations were high and there was no solution in sight.  We both blew.  There I was, this young “kid”, having a screaming match with the star.  Not pretty.  Not cool.

At one point during the argument I turned downstage and looked out into the empty audience and there were my heroes, Neil Simon, Tony Walton and Tharon Musser sitting together in the front row watching rehearsal, watching Chris and I carrying on.  They were calm professionals simply watching the children act up.

I instantly got it.

I was waaaaay out of line.  This argument was not helping the situation one iota.  I was being totally unprofessional.

Let me say that the theater experience is full of emotions.  That’s what it’s all about.  Actors are highly volatile people – almost of necessity.  Tensions can run high in multi-million dollar productions and creative artists can and do blow up and go off.  I had seen it happen often and was just following suite.

But I was wrong.  And as I stood there looking at these three Broadway legends calmly and curiously looking up at me from their seats, I just suddenly got it.  I stopped shouting mid-sentence, became calm and professional, turned to Chris, apologized to both him and the rest of the cast and then turned back to Neil and said, “I think we should cut the number.  It’s just asking too much of Chris.”  We cut it then and there and all went home.

I never lost my cool in the theater again in my career.  I got it so completely in that moment that I was never even tempted to blow again.  I became a professional in that moment – taught by the best of the pros.  It was a lesson I never forgot.

That kind of behavior has no place in the professional theater – no matter what happens, no matter what the problem.

I was crushed that the number had to be cut.  As it turned out, two other numbers that Chris sang ended up being cut for the same reason.  That was very hard for me to go through.  They were beautiful songs that perfectly fit the moments, but in the end result, we couldn’t get them to work.

As it was I was nominated for the Tony Award for my music and The Good Doctor has gone on to have thousands of performances world-wide.  The royalties from that show alone have made life easier.

But what I really got out of the experience was the lesson of that night.  Never lose your cool in the heat.  Maintain your professionalism at all costs, because the cost of losing it is far too great.

Even More Inspiration

• Much Ado About Nothing
• WFM Listening Room – Series II Finale
• It’s A Small World And Gettin’ Smaller n’ Smaller
• Gettin’ It Done
• Love Is The Reason For Living
• Watchfire Music Acquires Solo Thoughts

Much Ado About Nothing

Also they say that ultimately any Broadway show rides on its book, its story, its script.  Without a good book, the show is usually doomed for failure except in a few exceptional cases.

I worked on one show that had a great book and a great writer at the heart of it.  His name was William Shakespeare.

I spent 5 years working as composer-in-residence at the NY Shakespeare Festival under Joseph Papp, who was a great producer — smart, savvy and dedicated to the theater.  I did a number of the Bard’s works during that time, but the real winner was “Much Ado About Nothing”, which opened in the summer of 1976 in Central Park.  It was set brilliantly by director, A.J. Antoon, in 1904 during the time of the St. Louis World’s Fair.

I wrote an hours’ worth of music, underscoring the scenes and setting Shakespeare’s lyrics to music. I even wrote a 20 minute pre-show warm-up concert played by an 8 piece oom pah band we named Private Papirofsky’s (Joe Papp’s original name) Genuine Nickel-plated Portable Musical Brass Band.  They played in a park gazebo setting and totally set the scene and period for the show.

It was such a success that summer in the park that they moved it to Broadway.  It became the longest running Shakespeare to ever run on Broadway, starring Sam Waterston, with a wonderful cast.

After its run on Broadway it then received a 3-hour IBM sponsored CBS televised special, which they still air on TV.  It was one of those perfect shows. There were no bad days with that show.

For my work on the show I was nominated for the Tony Award for best composer in the musical category even though it wasn’t officially a musical.  The entire experience was a graceful delight – every scene a gem, costumes and scenery created by Theoni Aldredge and Ming Cho Lee respectively, two of Broadway’s all-time best.  This was a show graced by God and the wonderful and witty script of Mr. Shakespeare.

My favorite memory of that run was this:  About a week after we had opened on Broadway to smash reviews, I had proudly invited my parents to come to New York, see the show and bring with them my grandmother, Marcella Roth, who was then in her 80s.  ‘Nana’ was a lover of the theater and totally star-struck especially now that her grandson had a hit Broadway show.

I bought the three of them my house seats, sixth row, on the aisle at Broadway’s famed Winter Garden Theater.  On the night they came, it so happened that another attendee to our show was the President of the United States, Richard M. Nixon, and his family.  With the klieg lights blazing out front, it was pandemonium, but washed with total elegance.  The Secret Service was out in full force and all the eyes of NYC were turned to this moment.

I had my family come early to the theater to avoid the crush and enjoy the spectacle.  I timed it so that the band, Private Papirofsky’s  Genuine Nickel-plated Portable Musical Brass Band, came on stage and played “Hail To The Chief” just as Nixon entered the theater and came down the aisle.  The theater stood and cheered with excitement.

One of the pieces I had written for the pre-show concert was a wonderfully funky little theme song called “Marcella” after my grandmother.  In it, the band would play a chorus or two, then all sing in their even funkier musician’s voices the following classic words:
Marcella
Marcella
Marcella
Oh Marcella!

Even before we knew Nixon was coming, I had told the band that when they performed the song that night that Marcella was going to be there and that they should come down off the stage in their military band costumes, and serenade ‘Nana’ in the aisle.  Everybody was excited about this cute idea.

So at the appropriate moment halfway through the concert, the band did just that – they gathered in the aisle and started to play.

Now the Nixon family had excellent seats as well – 8th row on the aisle – two rows behind my family.  So when the band gathered in the aisle, everyone, of course, figured that that band had come down to serenade the President – probably including the President himself.  Smiles radiated through the theater as the band played on.  Then the band began to sing:
Marcella
Marcella
Marcella
Oh Marcella!

I watched Nana in that moment from my hidden corner in the theater.  As they began to sing, a shocked and puzzled look spread over her face.  She looked back and forth from my father to my mother then back to the band in speechless wonder as the band serenaded her there in front of the President of the United States of America at her son’s hit Broadway show at the famous Winter Garden Theater in New York City.

The people in the theater, including the President and his family, understood the moment right away and the applause filled the theater for Marcella as the band played on.  Nana sat stunned at the wonder of it all.  I stood in my corner watching and wept.  It was a moment I shall never forget.  Nana talked about it for the rest of her life.

Much Ado About Nothing was a lot to do about heart.  Looking back, that was a pinnacle moment in my life and a gift from God to my grandmother in its timing and perfection.  You can’t make those moments up.  Everything about it worked beyond expectation and to perfection.  It’s one of the favorite stories of my lifetime.

Even More Inspiration

• WFM Listening Room – Series II Finale
• The Road To Inspiration — Peter Link and Julia Wade
• The Ira Awards Part 4
• You’re Leaving Me
• Grieving In Silence
• The Changing Scene