There are a lot of experiences in a career in the theatre that never see the light of day.
Songs are written, rehearsed, and discarded. Whole shows can do the same. With both the failures and the successes, come moments, most of them not as flashy or seemingly significant as the final onstage result. But they make up a life, and they’re worth remembering, cherishing, and recounting, for whatever they may be worth, as example, warning, or inspiration. Here are a few of them.
- David Goldsmith
“Berry Gordy and I put our heads together” (Motown the Musical, 2011)
“And get yourself a writing partner like this”
(Me, Wendy & John at the Ovation Awards, 2011)
“I asked for one thing. I got so much more” (Me and Richard Israel)
“Expectant Fathers” (Me and Shuki at West End first orchestra rehearsal, 2008)
“
I love your show, but I feel it should be completely changed”
“Good Man, Studio H”
Take no moment for granted. This, right now, is as good as it gets, or needs to be. (I am in Studio H at Ripley-Grier Studios in midtown for my third or fourth workshop of this musical for which I wrote the book, music and lyrics.) Savor it. Appreciate the gift you’ve been given. Take a picture.
“Two Men, three jobs” (Me and Oscar Goodman)
“Dick and I in front of our names”
“Diane Paulus flanked by her Rabbis” (Backstage at 2nd Stage, opening night, Invisible Thread)
“Dmitry and Me”
“Mike, his middle finger placed surreptitiously on my shoulder. Very much on brand” (Fat Mike, Me & Soma Snakeoil)
“I’m writing a lyric with Jeff Marx” (Me, Jeff and Soma at the O’Neill, the apex)
One vexing moment (among many) got assigned to me and Jeff to fix late one night as we rushed toward the opening of a very public and high-profile workshop was a pivotal love/confrontation song between two of the female leads. After rehearsal, we went back to my apartment at 50th & 8th Avenue and got to work, rewriting a pivotal song in act two. Line by line, the shorthand between Jeff and me as to character, story, craft, rhyme, meter, prosody… all in sync, as if we had been doing this together for years. At some point I had to pinch myself: “I’m writing a lyric with Jeff Marx.” At about 4am… we sent it off.
The next day, we went to Mike, who, as primary author, had the final approval. With a cosmetic tweak or two, the song went in that day. The song worked. I will always cherish the memory of that long night, and how gratifying it was to hear the results performed (expertly, by Emma and Ariana) in front of an audience.
“The Great Lindsey Alley”
When you do a show with someone, they tend to become family. When they’re as brilliantly funny, talented and unique as Lindsey Alley, they become a muse. (She created one of the five women in Having It All -- Best Actress nominee, Ovation Awards, btw.)
The family part means, when you call me for something -- to write some specialty material for your act, for example -- I’m there. The muse part means, you get me and what I’m doing, you hear my voice on the page, and you bring my words to life the instant they fly from your mouth. It’s my inspiration to write for you. So when Lindsey Alley calls me to bug me about the next piece of specialty material she needs… the gift is mine. Plus she’s a forever friend.
The next time you have the chance to see her do her thing -- go.
“My wife with her mentor, Hal Prince”
Thank you to my brilliant and beautiful daughter Madeleine Dara Garner, for putting up with my insane perfectionism to design and build this website. I love you forever, I like you for always, as long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.