Jason Robert Brown, on people who want to change shows

Posted: 10/16/06 at 2:14am

Paraphrased from his blog (www.jasonrobertbrown.com), dated 9/26, in response to an e-mail from a woman wanting to make changes to The Last Five Years. He gives a great, detailed, thoughtful response, but I think he sums it up best at the end:
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But you may be reading this and have one nagging question in the back of your mind: What if the suggestion really was an improvement? What if you were reading "Into the Woods" and realized, in a flash, that if you eliminated the Little Red Riding Hood plot, the show would become not just better but transcendentally extraordinary. What do you do?

Well, first you contact the authors for permission. Like I said, they're almost definitely going to say no. But you're burning to try it! This will make a difference! Now what?

Now what?

Nothing. Leave it alone. Move on. Do not produce it at your high school, your college, your summer camp, your local theater, with the intention of "fixing it". Don't think you can do it under the radar and get away with it. Don't sneak around. I don't want my shows produced so people can fix them. I want them produced so people can love them, enjoy them, be stimulated by them. I don't put my work out in the world to have people tell me what I should have done. I put it out in the world to share with people what I did.

And if you really have that great burning idea about how to fix a show, how to bring it to life, how to make it emotionally palpable, here's my suggestion: go write your own.
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This, folks, is why I *heart* that man.

[blaxx]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 2:18am

And he's so right.

Sadly, people tend to believe that they can change any show to their needs and wants.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 2:20am

Does this mean I shouldn't continue with my production of Parade where Leo lives and he and Lucille flee to Hollywood and become big time movie stars?

[ashley0139]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:24am

Very well put. I love him!

[mauriposa]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:51am

::hearts:: Although, now I'm wondering what in the world she wanted to do to The Last Five Years to cause such a response... "Fix" their marriage?

[Calvin]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:54am

So what does this mean for that high school production of Grease in which they thought the pregnancy was inappropriate, so they rewrote it so that Rizzo got a hickey rather than knocked up?

[Kitzarina]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 10:58am

My guess would be that she wanted to present the songs in chronological order.

[mauriposa]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 11:11am

Ugh. That would kill the beauty of the entire show!

[Jovie24]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 11:28am

I have worked with directors when I was young that changed the show around or replaced one song with another, beacause the audience was familair with that song then the one in the stage version (compared to the movie version, for example GREASE). But at that time, i was young and did not know the difference, I just thought oh ok, we are doing that song instead, that is what the DIRECTOR wants. Well, he/she still does that to a lot of his./her shows...we always laugh, beacuse when hear or read what show he/she is doing next we my friends and I always say "Oh, he/she is doing that show, well we all know it is going to be HIS/HER version".

I did find out thought that a lot of times he/she acturally was granted permission to do what he pleases: I did a production of FAME once and in the contract that was given to produce it, the contract gave a breakdown of scenes it acturally said "Instert Song of your choice here" or something like that... so we opened the second Act with "PUTTIN IT TOGETHER". So, it has been done a lot. But I think one major reason that this director can do this, is that he/she asks permission because it is an educational atmosphere and so I guess at times heshe does get granted, but I know other times he/she has not.

The point is, if it works to benefit the overall experince (show, playwright, composer, crew, cast etc) and you get permission then great, but if you are just trying to fix the show to fit your personal needs, then don't do the show. Do something else and leave that one alone too.

I also had a director once who changed the show beacuse of religious reasons...DONT DO THE SHOW THEN...pick something that will satisfy in that way...


GOOD FOR JASON ROBERT BROWN...LOVE THAT MAN...

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 11:28 AM

[shiksagoddess2]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:25pm

hey mauriposa..

i read that blog and the changes this director wanted to make were related to jamie's monologues in the middle of songs, wanting to cut one altogether and move another.

[myManCape]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:26pm

Kind of OT:
One of my favorite parts of Bush Wars is at the end when they apologize for offending any one. And encourage any one who might have been offended to submit their complaints to www.writeyourowndamshow.com

Updated On: 10/16/06 at 01:26 PM

[chinkie azn jai]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:53pm

This was the person's suggestion: "Anyway, my suggestion is this: that the first monologue, the one in which he calls the literary agent and gets the address be cut completely; and that the second monologue, in which he gets an interview with her, replaces the "Rob" speech as the lead up to Moving Too Fast. It would work a lot better. He gets a great phone call from a literary agent who wants to read his book; then he hangs up and sings "Moving Too Fast". It would really strengthen the moment's narrative arc and also help preserve the momentum of "See, I'm Smiling"."

[logan0215]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 1:53pm

Interesting

I had spoken to his assistant at one point and said that I'd love to be in a version where they are a gay couple, and he said that it would take some convincing of JRB.

Guess it would take alot of convincing...

[mauriposa]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 2:12pm

Thanks. I hadn't gotten that far in my daily list of Broadway distractions yet. :o)

[sweeneytodd2]

Posted: 10/16/06 at 3:09pm

In this case, I think the change would be an improvement.