[title of show] Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 1

[title of show]
AN INTERVIEW WITH HUNTER AND JEFF
INTERVIEW
[title of show] is a musical about two guys racing to write
a musical to submit to a theatre festival. It’s a warm and
delightful love letter to the creative process, and it was
extremely well-received by New York critics. You want to try
describe it any better than that?
HB: Actually, that’s pretty darn good. Jeff and I had collaborated
in the past, and wanted to get writing again so when the inaugural
season of NYMF came up (we found out about it three weeks
before the deadline), we decided just to start writing, send
something in and see what happened. In that process, we found
that the most interesting thing, and what made us laugh and think
the most, was us trying to create, and talking and singing about
why and how we create.
Hunter & Jeff in formal attire
JB: Yeah, that was pretty good. The show is really simply the story about the show you’re
watching from its initial idea to the night it opened at the Vineyard.
What had been your writing experience beforehand, both separately and as a team?
HB: We had collaborated on a musical adaptation of 9 to 5, which went well. I think from
that experience, we learned that we loved working together and that it could be done,
we just had to sit down and do it. Also, Jeff and fellow cast mate Susan Blackwell, had
worked and written a lot together for pieces at various venues, PS 122, Dixon Place, and I
got in on some of that action too. I also wrote the book for Silence! The Musical for the NY
Fringe Festival, had a short play of mine done at Manhattan Theatre Source, and written
pilots, spec. scripts, and industrials.
You’d both been involved in different aspects of the business before writing—as
working musical theatre actors, writing for various projects, and working behind the
scenes of the industry. Why did you finally decide to write a show for yourselves?
HB: A few reasons. I love musical theatre, but lately, I’ve felt like I wasn’t surprised by
what I was seeing. So, Jeff and I wanted to just try and create something we’d like to sit
through. Also, from a performer’s point of view, I loved the idea of creating a vehicle for
my friends and me. Having that sense of ownership just made me much more confident
as a performer. There was no right or wrong, no preconceived notion of what the role
was. It was what we came up with. Also, a lot of artists whose work I admire is sort of
self-generated, Eddie Izzard, Margaret Cho, Ricky Gervais, Lily Tomlin, Christopher Guest,
Rosanne…these are all people who inspire me because they create great material for
themselves…they didn’t necessarily wait for someone else to do it for them…they just did
it themselves.
Arizona Theatre Company Play Guide 10