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I got so much more” (Me and Richard Israel) Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596997446055-A6MGO5TPQLLFZTKUO2M7/David+and+Shuki+at+first+West+End+Orchestra+reh.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “Expectant Fathers” (Me and Shuki at West End first orchestra rehearsal, 2008) Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597014793049-7YM46MTMPSTV8BU7KBA8/IMG_1143.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “ I love your show, but I feel it should be completely changed” Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597001981129-HT9XI1NHW8UAVTTAXWAS/Good%2BMan%2BWorkshop%2BSTUDIO%2BH.jpg Behind the Scenes - “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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999271291-TYS02GR96R81TDS3Z0M9/Oscar+and+Me.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “Two Men, three jobs” (Me and Oscar Goodman) Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999656446-U5ODI0NBV3UD0DAUM586/Dick+and+I+in+front+of+our+names.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “Dick and I in front of our names” Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999981334-WFNA0UJ3YLY1HO6BKAVA/Dick%2C+Diane+%26+Me+backstage.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “Diane Paulus flanked by her Rabbis” (Backstage at 2nd Stage, opening night, Invisible Thread) Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000457710-IUUCGHN7B1KJKDXN6EZT/Me+and+Dmitry.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “Dmitry and Me” Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000734097-ZPSVUBLL3XT0DEZ64VCY/Fat+Mike%2C+Me+%26+Soma+Snakeoil.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “Mike, his middle finger placed surreptitiously on my shoulder. Very much on brand” (Fat Mike, Me & Soma Snakeoil) Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597003041381-9W3G97XY252D9E9YD7OK/IMG_0412.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597001271807-W6NZXQ4XZWFBVIGW87GO/The%2BGreat%2BLindsey%2BAlley.jpg Behind the Scenes - “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. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597346200766-CGGQ0MQLW4WKF9MIG7DO/FullSizeRender.jpeg Behind the Scenes - “My wife with her mentor, Hal Prince” Read more… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597168772092-A86U83DWGBAI8H20KYDL/52590563185__25F4F143-B592-4B2D-A702-143C242F8053.jpg Behind the Scenes 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. https://www.davidisawriter.com/bg-story daily 0.75 2025-02-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596997153550-N5A3TBOU6HXO768FHHAA/Berry+and+I+put+our+heads+together.jpeg BG story - Continued... [Berry Gordy is the]…smartest man I ever met. This photo represents a hard-won first year of work on what would become Motown The Musical. The first draft that we accomplished together. Someone suggested we put it on our heads, as a symbolic gesture. Our collaboration had not started so collegially. I was the (next to-) last in a long line of writers with far better credits than I, who had attempted to wrestle the Motown/Berry Gordy story and legacy to the ground, and ultimately, lift it to the stage. The job was as much to listen to Mr. Gordy and what mattered to him, and to place that ahead of what mattered to me – but to still deliver a show that would work well enough to succeed on Broadway. My first six weeks were terrifying – every day I went to work at the big mansion in Bel Air expecting to be fired, as had all those who had come before me – and every day I wasn’t I chalked up as a victory. Finally, it was time to deliver some pages. Marvin Gaye as a character in the musical was not central for Mr. Gordy, but I felt very differently. So I wrote six scenes, a Marvin Gaye arc, all based on anecdotes lifted from not just his book, but from the research I had done in other books and articles (an essentially verboten method to Team Gordy). One scene that existed nowhere was the moment that Gaye told Berry he was leaving Motown. I figured that must have happened. So I wrote it. As Charles Randolph Wright (the director) sat beside me reading Gaye, and I sat behind my computer reading Berry Gordy to Berry Gordy, my heart was in my mouth. The words I had put in the Marvin character’s mouth were excoriating to Mr. Gordy, and a stand-in for all the complaints of all the artists who had ever left him, sued him, or betrayed him. When it was all over, I looked up to see the Chairman’s astonished face – that anyone would have had the unmitigated gall to confront him in such a way. The rest of Team Gordy sat around the table in shock, and with a very familiar collective holding of breath. “None of that happened…” Mr. Gordy began, as my dreams of hearing my first words on Broadway crashed to the pit of my stomach, “… and ALL OF IT IS TRUE!” And I knew I would be back at work the next day, and likely every day thereafter. https://www.davidisawriter.com/shuki-story daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596997498647-LG8KNI6E37YIMT0IPGLX/David+and+Shuki+at+first+West+End+Orchestra+reh.jpeg Shuki story - Continued… …includes bringing it to America. What is not complex are my feelings for the man in the picture with me, the genius Shuki Levy. Shuki, the show’s founder and composer, is a brother, a counselor, and a friend. A man of honesty, integrity, and prodigious talent. I have known and worked with him now for nearly 20 years. What I love about this picture is what I love about collaborating with this exceptional artist – as we stand there together, listening to the score we’ve created being performed for the first time, he is fully committed to the work in front of him, focused only on how to make it better, without ego, without stress, without fear. The result was, and is, music that is always, at its core, heartfelt, raw and real. Setting lyrics to his melodies has always been a privilege. https://www.davidisawriter.com/kevin-story daily 0.75 2020-08-12 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597008460218-FK2ZGKY1DLM23W11L225/Scan%2B33.jpg Kevin story - Continued… …he knows where my heart is. It’s hard for me to think of this man without crying. Tears of pain, joy and gratitude. We have grown up together. Music theatre majors at the College Conservatory of Music (CCM) at University of Cincinnati, something drew us to each other to decide to become roommates. He was exceedingly goofy in those days, and I was laughingly self-serious. But he had a vision, from the age of 18, and a fearlessness born of becoming a full-on orphan at the age of 14. That vision and fearlessness endures. Luckily, so does some of the goofiness. I would have followed Kevin anywhere, as countless have, many of them to life-changing, historical results (look him up, along with the names Bobby Lopez & Jeff Marx, Bob Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda). There are many stories, too many for a web page. But over these years, his friendship and support have not only meant so much to my growth as an artist, he has given me hope and direction when there was none, and the most difficult moments between us, and there have been many, have forged me into a better man. The photo on the opposite page was taken at an event honoring the late Darren Deverna, head of the Production Resource Group theatrical technology and equipment company, whom Kevin admired very much. He had asked me to write some specialty material for the event, and I suppose it had gone over well. As he introduced me to Darren and his colleagues, and described the work I had done on Motown and Invisible Thread in glowing terms (Kevin had produced both), I replied that Kevin was my “secret weapon.” “No,” Kevin shot back, “you’re my secret weapon,” and in front of that assembled group of luminaries, kissed my hand. And that is my friend Kevin. Get yourself one like him. (Pictured): Me and Kevin (on the stage floor) in Marat/Sade, directed by the great Worth Gardner, CCM, circa 1982. Kevin was Marat, I was the Herald, and this would be the last time I would ever have anything over on Kevin McCollum. (Photo by Sandy Underwood.) https://www.davidisawriter.com/john-story daily 0.75 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597163053071-I89GNV0IJD698PJCDPLF/And+get+yourself+a+writing+partner+like+this.jpeg John story - Continued… …“Having It All Has It All.” So, that’s good. A great composer has full command of both sides of his brain. The technical, left-brain side and the right brain, where the creative, spontaneous sense of where the spark of magic resides. John has an overdeveloped capacity for both. But he has something else; and that is an enormous, empathic, sensitive heart. And when he pours that heart into his melodies, chords, rhythms and aesthetic sensibilities, the results are undeniable: lush, searing, heartbreaking. Funny and smart. Varied, and yet with a distinctive artistic voice that is all his own. And I know I’m right, because I feel it whenever he sets my lyrics to it. And because he’s got a slew of Emmy Awards and nominations to back me up. The shorthand between us is hard to describe. We finish each other’s -- sandwiches. We didn’t attend the same schools -- he’s a graduate of Rollins College in Florida, and grew up an Irish Catholic kid from a big family in Virginia Beach, VA. But we have spoken the same language from the first song we ever wrote together, in 1987. It only took us until 2018 to sell one together, to Disney’s Descendants 3. But there’s a good story there too. “Too ‘Music-Theatre’” was the refrain back from the executives at the storied company, after the first and second attempts at breaking into the popular franchise’s collection of songs for its final installment. “We’re a pop-song show.” We knew. It’s not what we do. “But we love you guys, and I’m sure we’ll find something for you some time.” And with that, another rejection. (John was fine -- he was halfway through his second hit series with the company, Elena of Avalor, after helping to make Sofia the First an international, multi-award winning smash hit.) Anyway, yeah, sure. They’ll find something for us, “sometime.” How does ‘never’ sound? Will you be available never? Well, sometime came two days later. “We’re thinking we should give Mal (the main character, played by their star Dove Cameron) her big ‘Let It Go’ moment” (everyone… needs… a ‘Let It Go‘ moment). This was right up our alley. We wrote “My Once Upon A Time” for the moment, and sold it. Two interesting notes about this. One, the original title and hook was “One Once Upon A Time.” It came back from the creative team that this was too much of a “thinker.” And they were absolutely right. And the fix -- to “My Once Upon A Time” was the suggestion of the director, Kenny Ortega -- and he was absolutely right too. For me, this story was about this: once you know who you are as an artist, be that artist. Let them find you. You might be skillful enough to twist yourself into what they think they want. But if you get good enough at what it is you do, then eventually -- if you’ve got a lot of patience and persistence -- someone will come around to want what it is you do, because you’ll have become an expert at doing it. John is an expert at what he does. There is nobody better. And nobody I’d rather do it with. Plus, as one of the few people I’ve ever known with a consistently happy relationship that spans over three decades (with his annoyingly gorgeous and brilliant husband Efren, pictured below), he gave me the best advice I’ve ever had, which I carry into my own marriage: “If both of you out-give each other whenever you can, then you can never lose.” There will be a lot more to share in future pages about various projects with my brother John -- it’s what we do. (Pictured, top of page): Me and John, in great suits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597163074183-OUL3K7GT8CAZDH0364EU/John%2B%26%2BEfren%2BWedding.jpg John story (Pictured): John with his husband, Efren Gonzalez, at their wedding, 2014. https://www.davidisawriter.com/oscar-story daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999380334-JW879H6IUH69CWZA8IIN/Oscar+Goodman+and+I+play+Keno.jpeg Oscar story Oscar Goodman and I play Keno. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999497998-G859Q6ZCRMXOWFLOJWO8/Workshops+get+these+%281%29.jpeg Oscar story Workshops get these. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999437845-G0TOKVO2WVHOTA9GHYED/So+Many+Members+of+the+Rep+Company.jpeg Oscar story I have this dream of one day starting a repertory company. So many members would be drawn from among the artists in this photo. https://www.davidisawriter.com/dick-story daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999768127-QB757JS0FZX21K4CA4UD/Dick+and+I+in+front+of+our+names.jpeg Dick story - Continued… …to resume the daily cycle again. Dick’s contributions to the success of the show were fundamental; sharp, funny, structural, transformative. He had the power in the room to make the changes that I would never have been permitted to have made, had I come up with them; he had the ability to articulate his vision in a way that was comprehensive, unassailable, convincing; he was able to be authoritative without ever losing the sense of collaboration. Just an extraordinary writer, artist and human being. Mr. Gordy loved him right away. I did too. We didn’t win every battle with the Chairman – we wrote multiple drafts of the scene in which Diana comes to Berry to tell him that she’s pregnant with their child, which would have been a powerful addition, but ultimately an area into which Mr. Gordy refused to venture – but we won a lot more than we lost, and the difference to the final product was unassailable. I’ll always be grateful that Dick chose to collaborate with me rather than insist he replace me. Most – or many – people in his position would have done just that. Having said that, the result of both of us working toward realizing Mr. Gordy’s vision was what I consider to be the musical’s two metrics of success: one, it recouped on Broadway, London, two National Tours and one International tour; and two, it was the show Berry Gordy had in his head with which to carry on the Motown legacy. This photo was taken outside the Lunt-Fontanne theatre on Broadway, before the show’s opening in April of 2013. https://www.davidisawriter.com/diane-story daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000235501-ZNXPS40M30IBK3O5CM5G/Matt%2C+Me+%26+Griff.jpeg Diane story Matt, Me & Griff. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000143377-2Y6WZWE32UOEOHWNPI64/Diane+%26+Jeremy+Invisible+Thread+tech.jpeg Diane story Diane & Jeremy Pope, Invisible Thread tech. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000201049-66ZJSGRSM7ASDN9BGVC8/Invisible+Thread+Tech.jpeg Diane story Invisible Thread tech, left to right: Tyrone Davis, Jr., Kristolyn Lloyd, Griffin Matthews, Jamar Williams, Nicolette Robinson. https://www.davidisawriter.com/dmitry-story daily 0.75 2020-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000554517-RUIHO9GVHHUG3VORIX7X/Me+and+Dmitry.jpeg Dmitry story - Continued… …made somehow cohesive. But his show was the Russian Once. “Why would I want to work on the Russian Once?”, I asked him at breakfast, annoyingly. “I barely liked the Irish Once.” Dmitry proceeded to tell me his story. The son of Russian immigrants, Dmitry and his family emigrated to New York from Ukraine in the shadow of Chernobyl, essentially escaping to Brighton Beach, where he was given a chance at the American Dream. Feeling responsible for repaying their sacrifice, he graduated with honors from U-Penn, became a Senior VP at a hedge fund owned by JP Morgan, and just before it crashed, made the decision to leave and found his own internet startup (a global company worth many millions) and then came to direct a startup community of close to 300 founders. I waited for him to get this story out, before I said -- “Uh, why aren’t we writing that? That’s a musical.” And so it was. Those “poetic if inscrutable” lyrics turned out to be the perfect match for my nuts-and-bolts practical storytelling style, and we wrote the first draft of the first act in the first ten days of the CCM incubator, and put it on the voraciously talented group of kids there, under the direction of Shaun Pecknic, who miraculously managed to put on a full presentation of it with staging and choreography in under two weeks, as we sent pages down to the rehearsal studio on campus. Dmitry’s computer brain made the development of this complex story, that spanned thirty years, two continents, and three worlds, remarkably efficient. While he was writing new songs and spotting where to place his old ones (unerringly, I must add), he fashioned a computerized flow-chart to keep track of all the ages of the characters as they progressed relative to the story points and locales. He is a stunning combination of a beautiful mind with a truly beautiful soul. It comes across in his songs. I can’t wait for you to hear them. Two-and-a-half years later, after many revisions, rethinking, restructuring, workshops, research trips to Brighton Beach and internet startup seminars, Fallout is ready to go, whenever theatre is. In the meantime, I have made one of the best friends I could ever hope to have. Na zdarovya. https://www.davidisawriter.com/fat-mike-story daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597179915922-S64PN2ZMQTONW1YWLOE0/IMG_2003.jpg Fat mike story - Continued… …I was hired. The original writers of Home Street Home, a Punk Rock musical about abandoned street kids eating out of dumpsters, incorporating the sure-fire hit Broadway tropes of incest, rape, cutting, substance abuse and for quite a while, S&M, were a prodigiously talented and clever couple who had achieved massive success in their respective creative careers, and wanted to turn their formative experiences into a musical. They caught the attention of Jeff Marx, who had a Tony Award for his brilliant lyrics on Avenue Q. When he and “Fat” Mike Burkett, a Punk Rock star I had never heard of, and the Dominatrix professionally known as “Soma Snakeoil,” approached me to collaborate with them, they wanted someone who never cared much for Punk Rock but who had some experience with musicals. I apparently fit that bill. I admire them all for welcoming me into their process; most creatives want to hear only compliments. I know I prefer them. But they knew they wanted their show to work. When, as it turned out, I learned that they had been working with Richard Israel, who had directed Having It All to seven Ovation nominations in LA, I felt safe, and confident that I would have a shot at taking the show to its furthest possible destination. Some shows, alas, do not make the journey. There are always a host of reasons why, some interconnected and some not, most unforeseen and unavoidable. This case was a confluence of perfect storms. The moment had arrived when I came to love this show -- after a summer at the O’Neill Theatre Center, culminating with a workshop at the Vineyard Arts Project -- and the moment passed. I’m grateful for the time I got to spend with three of the most unique, loving, open people I’ve ever met. Richard and I would go on to collaborate on Good Man, always fruitfully. And I met some future company members of the Repertory Company of my dreams; but I suppose for me, the highlight was writing a lyric with Jeff Marx, which you can read about if you click the button below. (Pictured): Workshop, Ideal Glass, Lower East Side, Manhattan. Left to right: Matt Magnusson, Tyler Jent, Robbie Tann, Ariana Goza, Emma Hunton, Alex Holmes, MJ Rodriguez, Ryan O’Connor, Allie Trimm. https://www.davidisawriter.com/hal-story daily 0.75 2020-08-13 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597002713089-5HCSGJCZ3S3DQVXUTY1Z/IMG_1294.jpeg Hal story - Continued… …that’s some sort of love-life daily-double, I would say. I met Hal Prince through my wife. I’d always dreamed of meeting him, more of working with him one day. He was my hero, but for all the photos I have of us at various openings and his legendary annual Christmas party, he never would have known me from a souvenir Phantom mask had it not been for Bryonha. Hal had cast her in the last production he ever did, the retrospective of his career, Prince Of Broadway (Samuel Friedman Theatre, 2017). He had her perform three numbers from three of his favorite musicals over the span of his legendary career: “Will He Like Me?” from She Loves Me, “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man” from Show Boat, and the title song from Cabaret, with which he chose to end Act 1. I’m getting somewhere with this, so bear with me. Every time I saw Hal after that, or nearly, at some point he would take me aside and tell me the same thing that, until now, I have kept a secret, because, well, it’s a lot when you think about it: “If someone would give me the money, I would do a revival of Cabaret with Bryonha as Sally Bowles. Bryonha is the most talented performer I have ever worked with.” I don’t use the word literally, but this was a man who had worked with… literally… everyone. I never flinched. Me, the proud boyfriend/fiancé, husband… would always just nod and agree. Love-life daily-double. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597346231660-P5MP72TGWMX1VZ3LHAQF/IMG_1369.jpeg Hal story Hal Prince’s favorite Sally Bowles, my insanely talented and beautiful wife, Bryonha Marie. https://www.davidisawriter.com/moshe-story daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597014694202-DFTYS6MZV4UK29PFDWFP/IMG_2481.jpeg Moshe story Me and Shuki in front of the National Theater of Israel in Tel Aviv where our show opened in repertory. (Shuki’s not a fan of having his photo taken.) https://www.davidisawriter.com/having-it-all daily 0.75 2020-08-11 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597187033101-C9SXDPO0IP78SKHOHRP9/IMG_2021.jpeg Having it All - Continued… …”‘Having It All.’” The thing was, the notes were smart. Really smart. You always want to be done. But you want it to be right even more. Wendy Perelman, John Kavanaugh and I set to work. The rest is a long story, but not that long. Elzer promised he would get us a production in a major theatre in LA. He brought on Richard Israel to direct, which was pretty much the only thing you could do in LA in those days to guarantee yourself a production (probably still is, who knows). He helped us to assemble a dream cast of five of the most sought-after music-theatre actresses in LA -- Lindsey Alley, Kim Huber, Alet Taylor, Shannon Warne and Jennifer Leigh Warren. And he got us a beautiful theatre in town, the Noho Arts Center (and a second production two years later at the Laguna Playhouse). A lot of people in this business make a lot of promises. Finding the people who keep them is a lot rarer. David Elzer was one of those people. Wendy, John and I wrote (and rewrote) this musical pre-Access Hollywood tape, pre-#me-too… somehow, the collective “we” never seem to get women’s equality, rights, and issues resolved to the point where the subject matter ceases to be timely. I expect there will always be a need for an update on Having It All. Maybe one day… (Pictured): David Elzer, who always kept his promises. https://www.davidisawriter.com/bg-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596997153550-N5A3TBOU6HXO768FHHAA/Berry+and+I+put+our+heads+together.jpeg BG story (Copy) - “Berry Gordy and I put our heads together, 2011 (Motown the Musical).” This is my favorite photo of me and Berry, whom I never called “Berry.” He was either “Chairman,” “Mr. Gordy,” or eventually, “Boss.” Calling Berry by his first name was not something the people in his inner circle tended to do. Occasionally it would fly out of someone’s mouth, usually someone stopping by who assumed more familiarity than had likely been bestowed, and you could feel the energy sucked from the room as all else assembled held their collective breath to see how it would be received. Usually, Mr. Gordy’s eyes would light up with impish glee, the old boxer called into the ring to spar against one more unsuspecting victim. He would play the rope-a-dope with his intellect, and the knock-out blow would be swift and deadly. Few saw it coming. I learned a lot from watching that. Berry Gordy was easily the smartest man I ever met. This photo represents a hard-won first year of work on what would become Motown The Musical. The first draft that we accomplished together. Someone suggested we put it on our heads, as a symbolic gesture. Our collaboration had not started so collegially. I was the (next to-) last in a long line of writers with far better credits than I, who had attempted to wrestle the Motown/Berry Gordy story and legacy to the ground, and ultimately, lift it to the stage. The job was as much to listen to Mr. Gordy and what mattered to him, and to place that ahead of what mattered to me – but to still deliver a show that would work well enough to succeed on Broadway. My first six weeks were terrifying – every day I went to work at the big mansion in Bel Air expecting to be fired, as had all those who had come before me – and every day I wasn’t I chalked up as a victory. Finally, it was time to deliver some pages. Marvin Gaye as a character in the musical was not central for Mr. Gordy, but I felt very differently. So I wrote six scenes, a Marvin Gaye arc, all based on anecdotes lifted from not just his book, but from the research I had done in other books and articles (an essentially verboten method to Team Gordy). One scene that existed nowhere was the moment that Gaye told Berry he was leaving Motown. I figured that must have happened. So I wrote it. As Charles Randolph Wright (the director) sat beside me reading Gaye, and I sat behind my computer reading Berry Gordy to Berry Gordy, my heart was in my mouth. The words I had put in the Marvin character’s mouth were excoriating to Mr. Gordy, and a stand-in for all the complaints of all the artists who had ever left him, sued him, or betrayed him. When it was all over, I looked up to see the Chairman’s astonished face – that anyone would have had the unmitigated gall to confront him in such a way. The rest of Team Gordy sat around the table in shock, and with a very familiar collective holding of breath. “None of that happened…” Mr. Gordy began, as my dreams of hearing my first words on Broadway crashed to the pit of my stomach, “… and ALL OF IT IS TRUE!” And I knew I would be back at work the next day, and likely every day thereafter. https://www.davidisawriter.com/having-it-all-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682720858-3VJ15II034N322UJJS6T/IMG_2021.jpeg Having it All (Copy) - “I asked for one thing. I got so much more.” “I just want one thing,” I said to my LA agent at the time: “A production of Having It Almost in a major theatre in town.” Two weeks later, I was sitting at the Daily Grill on Ventura Boulevard with David Elzer. David had notes, but he was interested. He’d produced another piece with five women called The Marvelous Wonderettes which had been a big hit for him, but he didn’t want to be known as “that guy” who did the all-women musicals. Still… if we could make these changes -- and they weren’t necessarily easy or small -- he’d look at a new draft. “And oh -- I think the title should be ‘Having It All.’” The thing was, the notes were smart. Really smart. You always want to be done. But you want it to be right even more. Wendy Perelman, John Kavanaugh and I set to work. The rest is a long story, but not that long. Elzer promised he would get us a production in a major theatre in LA. He brought on Richard Israel to direct, which was pretty much the only thing you could do in LA in those days to guarantee yourself a production (probably still is, who knows). He helped us to assemble a dream cast of five of the most sought-after music-theatre actresses in LA -- Lindsey Alley, Kim Huber, Alet Taylor, Shannon Warne and Jennifer Leigh Warren. And he got us a beautiful theatre in town, the Noho Arts Center (and a second production two years later at the Laguna Playhouse). A lot of people in this business make a lot of promises. Finding the people who keep them is a lot rarer. David Elzer was one of those people. Wendy, John and I wrote (and rewrote) this musical pre-Access Hollywood tape, pre-#me-too… somehow, the collective “we” never seem to get women’s equality, rights, and issues resolved to the point where the subject matter ceases to be timely. I expect there will always be a need for an update on Having It All. Maybe one day… https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682734640-ATXMTIV058UPUZAO1ZIL/Aro%2BHa_0010.jpg Having it All (Copy) David Elzer, who always kept his promises. https://www.davidisawriter.com/moshe-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597014694202-DFTYS6MZV4UK29PFDWFP/IMG_2481.jpeg Moshe story (Copy) Me and Shuki in front of the National Theater of Israel in Tel Aviv where our show opened in repertory. (Shuki’s not a fan of having his photo taken.) https://www.davidisawriter.com/shuki-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596997498647-LG8KNI6E37YIMT0IPGLX/David+and+Shuki+at+first+West+End+Orchestra+reh.jpeg Shuki story (Copy) - “Expectant Fathers: Shuki and David at West End first orchestra rehearsal, 2008.” For any musical, the best day of rehearsal, at least for me, is the Sitzprobe. A strangely suggestive German word which means, literally, “to sit and probe,” it’s the day the cast and the orchestra meet for the first time and sing through the score. The magic either happens or it doesn’t. Luckily, this day, it happened. The history of the show that resulted is long, bumpy and complex, but it is now called Masada 1942, it’s a success at the National Theatre of Israel in Tel Aviv, and there is a European tour being planned that includes bringing it to America. What is not complex are my feelings for the man in the picture with me, the genius Shuki Levy. Shuki, the show’s founder and composer, is a brother, a counselor, and a friend. A man of honesty, integrity, and prodigious talent. I have known and worked with him now for nearly 20 years. What I love about this picture is what I love about collaborating with this exceptional artist – as we stand there together, listening to the score we’ve created being performed for the first time, he is fully committed to the work in front of him, focused only on how to make it better, without ego, without stress, without fear. The result was, and is, music that is always, at its core, heartfelt, raw and real. Setting lyrics to his melodies has always been a privilege. https://www.davidisawriter.com/john-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597163053071-I89GNV0IJD698PJCDPLF/And+get+yourself+a+writing+partner+like+this.jpeg John story (Copy) - “And get yourself a writing partner like this.” I’ve been blessed to work with a long list of great collaborators. Some, but only a few, are listed here. First among favorites is John Kavanaugh. These photos were taken at the Ovation Awards in 2011, when John and Wendy Perelman, my talented, gorgeous dear friend from CCM, and I were up for 7 of LA Theatre’s most prestigious awards, including Best Musical and Best Book. (We didn’t win any.) Wendy had had this dream of a musical about women, and somehow she ended up with two guys to write it with her, but it seemed to work out anyway. The headline in the print edition of the LA Times review declared “Having It All Has It All.” So, that’s good. A great composer has full command of both sides of his brain. The technical, left-brain side and the right brain, where the creative, spontaneous sense of where the spark of magic resides. John has an overdeveloped capacity for both. But he has something else; and that is an enormous, empathic, sensitive heart. And when he pours that heart into his melodies, chords, rhythms and aesthetic sensibilities, the results are undeniable: lush, searing, heartbreaking. Funny and smart. Varied, and yet with a distinctive artistic voice that is all his own. And I know I’m right, because I feel it whenever he sets my lyrics to it. And because he’s got a slew of Emmy Awards and nominations to back me up. The shorthand between us is hard to describe. We finish each other’s -- sandwiches. We didn’t attend the same schools -- he’s a graduate of Rollins College in Florida, and grew up an Irish Catholic kid from a big family in Virginia Beach, VA. But we have spoken the same language from the first song we ever wrote together, in 1987. It only took us until 2018 to sell one together, to Disney’s Descendants 3. But there’s a good story there too. “Too ‘Music-Theatre’” was the refrain back from the executives at the storied company, after the first and second attempts at breaking into the popular franchise’s collection of songs for its final installment. “We’re a pop-song show.” We knew. It’s not what we do. “But we love you guys, and I’m sure we’ll find something for you some time.” And with that, another rejection. (John was fine -- he was halfway through his second hit series with the company, Elena of Avalor, after helping to make Sofia the First an international, multi-award winning smash hit.) Anyway, yeah, sure. They’ll find something for us, “sometime.” How does ‘never’ sound? Will you be available never? Well, sometime came two days later. “We’re thinking we should give Mal (the main character, played by their star Dove Cameron) her big ‘Let It Go’ moment” (everyone… needs… a ‘Let It Go‘ moment). This was right up our alley. We wrote “My Once Upon A Time” for the moment, and sold it. Two interesting notes about this. One, the original title and hook was “One Once Upon A Time.” It came back from the creative team that this was too much of a “thinker.” And they were absolutely right. And the fix -- to “My Once Upon A Time” was the suggestion of the director, Kenny Ortega -- and he was absolutely right too. For me, this story was about this: once you know who you are as an artist, be that artist. Let them find you. You might be skillful enough to twist yourself into what they think they want. But if you get good enough at what it is you do, then eventually -- if you’ve got a lot of patience and persistence -- someone will come around to want what it is you do, because you’ll have become an expert at doing it. John is an expert at what he does. There is nobody better. And nobody I’d rather do it with. Plus, as one of the few people I’ve ever known with a consistently happy relationship that spans over three decades (with his annoyingly gorgeous and brilliant husband Efren, pictured below), he gave me the best advice I’ve ever had, which I carry into my own marriage: “If both of you out-give each other whenever you can, then you can never lose.” There will be a lot more to share in future pages about various projects with my brother John -- it’s what we do. (Pictured, top of page): Me and John, in great suits. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597684237117-EUCZ2CUBVP3LNHJ67KSD/image-asset.jpeg John story (Copy) Me, Wendy & John at the Ovation Awards, 2011. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597163074183-OUL3K7GT8CAZDH0364EU/John%2B%26%2BEfren%2BWedding.jpg John story (Copy) (Pictured): John with his husband, Efren Gonzalez, at their wedding, 2014. https://www.davidisawriter.com/oscar-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999437845-G0TOKVO2WVHOTA9GHYED/So+Many+Members+of+the+Rep+Company.jpeg Oscar story (Copy) I have this dream of one day starting a repertory company. So many members would be drawn from among the artists in this photo. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999497998-G859Q6ZCRMXOWFLOJWO8/Workshops+get+these+%281%29.jpeg Oscar story (Copy) Workshops get these. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999380334-JW879H6IUH69CWZA8IIN/Oscar+Goodman+and+I+play+Keno.jpeg Oscar story (Copy) Oscar Goodman and I play Keno. https://www.davidisawriter.com/dick-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596999768127-QB757JS0FZX21K4CA4UD/Dick+and+I+in+front+of+our+names.jpeg Dick story (Copy) - “Dick and I in front of our names.” By December of 2012, it had been 18 months of my work on the book (and some lyrics) for Motown, and my influence on Mr. Gordy had peaked months before. The mission to get us across the finish line to Broadway, four months hence, was at a critical juncture. When Dick Scanlan was hired to work beside me during the treacherous final phases – workshop, previews, to Opening – we both knew he had the power to replace me, had he so chosen, given his position in the industry (two Tony nominations and one of his shows, a Best Musical winner); he certainly had the talent. Instead, he opened his generous heart to me and a collaboration began that traversed across two projects, a teaching semester at an AIDS orphanage in South Africa, and a lifelong friendship. I learned more about writing, art and how to be a courageous human from this man than from just about anyone. For four months, we were inseparable, by necessity, writing all day until previews, back at work at midnight at the Westside Grill on 9th Avenue until 4am, and up for notes with Mr. Gordy at 8am to resume the daily cycle again. Dick’s contributions to the success of the show were fundamental; sharp, funny, structural, transformative. He had the power in the room to make the changes that I would never have been permitted to have made, had I come up with them; he had the ability to articulate his vision in a way that was comprehensive, unassailable, convincing; he was able to be authoritative without ever losing the sense of collaboration. Just an extraordinary writer, artist and human being. Mr. Gordy loved him right away. I did too. We didn’t win every battle with the Chairman – we wrote multiple drafts of the scene in which Diana comes to Berry to tell him that she’s pregnant with their child, which would have been a powerful addition, but ultimately an area into which Mr. Gordy refused to venture – but we won a lot more than we lost, and the difference to the final product was unassailable. I’ll always be grateful that Dick chose to collaborate with me rather than insist he replace me. Most – or many – people in his position would have done just that. Having said that, the result of both of us working toward realizing Mr. Gordy’s vision was what I consider to be the musical’s two metrics of success: one, it recouped on Broadway, London, two National Tours and one International tour; and two, it was the show Berry Gordy had in his head with which to carry on the Motown legacy. This photo was taken outside the Lunt-Fontanne theatre on Broadway, before the show’s opening in April of 2013. https://www.davidisawriter.com/diane-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000201049-66ZJSGRSM7ASDN9BGVC8/Invisible+Thread+Tech.jpeg Diane story (Copy) Invisible Thread tech, left to right: Tyrone Davis, Jr., Kristolyn Lloyd, Griffin Matthews, Jamar Williams, Nicolette Robinson. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000235501-ZNXPS40M30IBK3O5CM5G/Matt%2C+Me+%26+Griff.jpeg Diane story (Copy) Matt, Me & Griff. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000143377-2Y6WZWE32UOEOHWNPI64/Diane+%26+Jeremy+Invisible+Thread+tech.jpeg Diane story (Copy) Diane & Jeremy Pope, Invisible Thread tech. https://www.davidisawriter.com/dmitry-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-31 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597000554517-RUIHO9GVHHUG3VORIX7X/Me+and+Dmitry.jpeg Dmitry story (Copy) - “Dmitry & Me.” Surround yourself with geniuses. I make it a rule. Or try to. Dmitry Koltunov is an uncommon kind of genius. When we sat down for breakfast at what was to be a sort of arranged marriage to see if we would work together on a musical he was writing that would be taken to a development incubator at my alma mater, CCM’s music theatre department, I was skeptical. What I knew about Dmitry was that he had been trying to get this thing going for a while about a boy (of vaguely Russian extraction) named Jim and a girl with a guitar named Jackie who comes into his bar. There was a book that no one really wanted me to read, some poetic if inscrutable lyrics, and some really, really, really good music. Unique, yet somehow familiar, it had a folk earthiness to it that was difficult to pinpoint at first, a great deal of variety (pop, funk, hip-hop, classic Broadway), and all of it made somehow cohesive. But his show was the Russian Once. “Why would I want to work on the Russian Once?”, I asked him at breakfast, annoyingly. “I barely liked the Irish Once.” Dmitry proceeded to tell me his story. The son of Russian immigrants, Dmitry and his family emigrated to New York from Ukraine in the shadow of Chernobyl, essentially escaping to Brighton Beach, where he was given a chance at the American Dream. Feeling responsible for repaying their sacrifice, he graduated with honors from U-Penn, became a Senior VP at a hedge fund owned by JP Morgan, and just before it crashed, made the decision to leave and found his own internet startup (a global company worth many millions) and then came to direct a startup community of close to 300 founders. I waited for him to get this story out, before I said -- “Uh, why aren’t we writing that? That’s a musical.” And so it was. Those “poetic if inscrutable” lyrics turned out to be the perfect match for my nuts-and-bolts practical storytelling style, and we wrote the first draft of the first act in the first ten days of the CCM incubator, and put it on the voraciously talented group of kids there, under the direction of Shaun Pecknic, who miraculously managed to put on a full presentation of it with staging and choreography in under two weeks, as we sent pages down to the rehearsal studio on campus. Dmitry’s computer brain made the development of this complex story, that spanned thirty years, two continents, and three worlds, remarkably efficient. While he was writing new songs and spotting where to place his old ones (unerringly, I must add), he fashioned a computerized flow-chart to keep track of all the ages of the characters as they progressed relative to the story points and locales. He is a stunning combination of a beautiful mind with a truly beautiful soul. It comes across in his songs. I can’t wait for you to hear them. Two-and-a-half years later, after many revisions, rethinking, restructuring, workshops, research trips to Brighton Beach and internet startup seminars, Fallout is ready to go, whenever theatre is. In the meantime, I have made one of the best friends I could ever hope to have. Na zdarovya. https://www.davidisawriter.com/kevin-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682602946-NMZ2BRCH2GT9GYJH8VVD/Scan%2B33.jpg Kevin story (Copy) - “First, get yourself a life-long friend like this.” Kevin McCollum would hate being on my page. He’s not a self-promoter. He takes his name off shows he’s producing so as to not draw attention to himself. If he saw it, he’d probably call me and tell me to take it down. That’s okay. He’s been my best friend for 40 years, so he knows where my heart is. It’s hard for me to think of this man without crying. Tears of pain, joy and gratitude. We have grown up together. Music theatre majors at the College Conservatory of Music (CCM) at University of Cincinnati, something drew us to each other to decide to become roommates. He was exceedingly goofy in those days, and I was laughingly self-serious. But he had a vision, from the age of 18, and a fearlessness born of becoming a full-on orphan at the age of 14. That vision and fearlessness endures. Luckily, so does some of the goofiness. I would have followed Kevin anywhere, as countless have, many of them to life-changing, historical results (look him up, along with the names Bobby Lopez & Jeff Marx, Bob Martin, Lin-Manuel Miranda). There are many stories, too many for a web page. But over these years, his friendship and support have not only meant so much to my growth as an artist, he has given me hope and direction when there was none, and the most difficult moments between us, and there have been many, have forged me into a better man. The photo on the opposite page was taken at an event honoring the late Darren Deverna, head of the Production Resource Group theatrical technology and equipment company, whom Kevin admired very much. He had asked me to write some specialty material for the event, and I suppose it had gone over well. As he introduced me to Darren and his colleagues, and described the work I had done on Motown and Invisible Thread in glowing terms (Kevin had produced both), I replied that Kevin was my “secret weapon.” “No,” Kevin shot back, “you’re my secret weapon,” and in front of that assembled group of luminaries, kissed my hand. And that is my friend Kevin. Get yourself one like him. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682617768-8P622AXZE2JVW1E9QKYI/Aro%2BHa_0010.jpg Kevin story (Copy) Me and Kevin (on the stage floor) in Marat/Sade, directed by the great Worth Gardner, CCM, circa 1982. Kevin was Marat, I was the Herald, and this would be the last time I would ever have anything over on Kevin McCollum. (Photo by Sandy Underwood.) https://www.davidisawriter.com/fat-mike-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-09-15 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682451056-CZJ8DD4CEN1JIBKDIJHQ/IMG_2003.jpg Fat mike story (Copy) - “Fat Mike, Me & Soma Snakeoil. Mike, his middle finger placed surreptitiously on my shoulder. Very much on brand.” “I don’t know how I can help you. As I experience your show, I just want it to be over. I find it aggressively unpleasant, gratingly vulgar, and largely amateurishly written.” And with those words I was hired. The original writers of Home Street Home, a Punk Rock musical about abandoned street kids eating out of dumpsters, incorporating the sure-fire hit Broadway tropes of incest, rape, cutting, substance abuse and for quite a while, S&M, were a prodigiously talented and clever couple who had achieved massive success in their respective creative careers, and wanted to turn their formative experiences into a musical. They caught the attention of Jeff Marx, who had a Tony Award for his brilliant lyrics on Avenue Q. When he and “Fat” Mike Burkett, a Punk Rock star I had never heard of, and the Dominatrix professionally known as “Soma Snakeoil,” approached me to collaborate with them, they wanted someone who never cared much for Punk Rock but who had some experience with musicals. I apparently fit that bill. I admire them all for welcoming me into their process; most creatives want to hear only compliments. I know I prefer them. But they knew they wanted their show to work. When, as it turned out, I learned that they had been working with Richard Israel, who had directed Having It All to seven Ovation nominations in LA, I felt safe, and confident that I would have a shot at taking the show to its furthest possible destination. Some shows, alas, do not make the journey. There are always a host of reasons why, some interconnected and some not, most unforeseen and unavoidable. This case was a confluence of perfect storms. The moment had arrived when I came to love this show -- after a summer at the O’Neill Theatre Center, culminating with a workshop at the Vineyard Arts Project -- and the moment passed. I’m grateful for the time I got to spend with three of the most unique, loving, open people I’ve ever met. Richard and I would go on to collaborate on Good Man, always fruitfully. And I met some future company members of the Repertory Company of my dreams; but I suppose for me, the highlight was writing a lyric with Jeff Marx, which you can read about if you click the button below. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682460229-TJDRYHH3VNW6YEU7Q5QO/Aro%2BHa_0010.jpg Fat mike story (Copy) Workshop, Ideal Glass, Lower East Side, Manhattan. Left to right: Matt Magnusson, Tyler Jent, Robbie Tann, Ariana Goza, Emma Hunton, Alex Holmes, MJ Rodriguez, Ryan O’Connor, Allie Trimm. https://www.davidisawriter.com/hal-story-1 daily 0.75 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682324278-HTCKGJR6SCV5ZUDW79IT/FullSizeRender.jpg Hal story (Copy) - “My wife with her mentor, Hal Prince.” The other thing you should do is marry someone you admire. I was Bryonha Marie Parham’s fan before we were friends. Everything about her was intimidating -- her beauty, her talent, the silent h’s in her name. Love, thankfully, conquered all. But when the person you love and admire most in the world is loved and admired by the person you love and admire most in the industry you love and admire most that’s some sort of love-life daily-double, I would say. I met Hal Prince through my wife. I’d always dreamed of meeting him, more of working with him one day. He was my hero, but for all the photos I have of us at various openings and his legendary annual Christmas party, he never would have known me from a souvenir Phantom mask had it not been for Bryonha. Hal had cast her in the last production he ever did, the retrospective of his career, Prince Of Broadway (Samuel Friedman Theatre, 2017). He had her perform three numbers from three of his favorite musicals over the span of his legendary career: “Will He Like Me?” from She Loves Me, “Can’t Help Lovin’ That Man” from Show Boat, and the title song from Cabaret, with which he chose to end Act 1. I’m getting somewhere with this, so bear with me. Every time I saw Hal after that, or nearly, at some point he would take me aside and tell me the same thing that, until now, I have kept a secret, because, well, it’s a lot when you think about it: “If someone would give me the money, I would do a revival of Cabaret with Bryonha as Sally Bowles. Bryonha is the most talented performer I have ever worked with.” I don’t use the word literally, but this was a man who had worked with… literally… everyone. I never flinched. Me, the proud boyfriend/fiancé, husband… would always just nod and agree. Love-life daily-double. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597346231660-P5MP72TGWMX1VZ3LHAQF/IMG_1369.jpeg Hal story (Copy) Hal Prince’s favorite Sally Bowles, my insanely talented and beautiful wife, Bryonha Marie. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597682382272-WPV79YR2N6B9925FTN0M/IMG_1294.jpg Hal story (Copy) https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects daily 0.75 2025-08-19 https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/virtual-stage-lab monthly 0.5 2025-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/36a02c4a-3a14-4a61-8251-1ef09d679cf2/Real+Final+Press+Version%21+6.27.25+1.9MB.jpg https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/my-improbable-sisters-with-david-goldsmith-paul-gordon monthly 0.5 2025-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/57751926-23db-4fed-b5e1-8a8c58baf6ad/EC872DE0-164A-4F3F-B347-5044F16DAECB.png https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/lyric-writing-for-the-musical-theatre monthly 0.5 2025-03-16 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/72a9d1b6-426a-4427-a052-de0299a11331/IMG_4264.png https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/first-night monthly 0.5 2025-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/71cc024f-6158-4f60-9792-12acbcfe1fae/MIS+Screenshot+2025-01-21.jpeg https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/five-women monthly 0.5 2024-08-27 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/7ec7af36-fad1-40d4-b1b9-74853a99f821/Screenshot+2024-08-24+at+9.52.01%E2%80%AFAM.jpg https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/the-descendants-3 monthly 0.5 2023-06-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596390262545-CFAVX58FOTWZ5KFR50I9/IMG_0183.JPG Projects - The Descendants 3 David went to see Dove Cameron when she was starring in Clueless the Musical at Signature Theatre off-Broadway. She said nice things, but they’re private. Okay, she said the song he wrote for her changed her life. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596390233498-Y5DTNOEW3MPZYFI7EJE6/81mUqAFPHJL._SL1500_.jpg Projects - The Descendants 3 The promotional art for Descendants 3. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596390662252-Z3DK2972WALOI92PJ871/Screen+Shot+2020-08-02+at+1.50.42+PM.png Projects - The Descendants 3 Still from the movie, Dove Cameron (as Mal), Lets It Go. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596390376326-QW0P539YBIB645SPWTSK/Screen+Shot+2020-08-02+at+1.45.54+PM.png Projects - The Descendants 3 In a promotional interview for the movie, Dove reveals her favorite song in the 3-picture franchise; SPOILER ALERT (it’s the one she once said changed her life). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/69a6afb3-cd6b-4f26-8f89-6449bd621e8e/Screen+Shot+2021-09-15+at+3.23.55+PM.png Projects - The Descendants 3 2020 Billboard Music Award Nominee https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/good-man-the-muiscal monthly 0.5 2023-06-23 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596389473281-D06M62S1R7F3S3GKT8AE/73478.jpg Projects - Good Man These are real photos of Oscar Goodman representing alleged gangster Anthony (“The Ant”) Spilotro, in and out of court. Oscar’s the taller one. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596389542869-6TOAIUKDWD3K1DREZJW4/scaled.0732_goodmanspilotro_t653.jpg Projects - Good Man Tony was Oscar’s #1 client. He was also Oscar’s friend. Oscar always felt the FBI was using Tony as the face of All Organized Crime in Vegas. That they were too lazy, and corrupt, to do their jobs to prove his client guilty beyond all reasonable doubts before a jury of his peers, as outlined in the Constitution, which Oscar saw as his most important client. Oscar’s skills as a defense attorney kept Tony from prison, even as Tony was accused of some 22 murders. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596389501033-NS735AMFSMTMSTJWJ9WS/35532629355_055931ed9e_z.jpg Projects - Good Man Tony was infamous. He was a character. Joe Pesci played him in Scorsese’s “Casino.” Oscar appeared in the film as himself. It wasn’t the best career decision he ever made. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596389548335-OBIVHIWT9I2II13JNNFZ/pho009318.jpg Projects - Good Man As in the film, Tony was found dead in a cornfield, buried in a shallow grave next to his brother. To Oscar, it was the loss of not only business, but a trusted, loyal friend... and a turning point in Oscar’s life. It was around this time that Oscar decided to change careers -- by running for Mayor of Las Vegas, a post he would be elected to for three consecutive terms. In the musical, he sings the song “Tony Spilotro,” which is an eleven o’clock (climactic) ballad, with the unlikely opening lyrics: “They killed Tony Spilotro in a cornfield…” It’s actually very heartfelt. I hope you get to hear it someday. As was the plan. (DG--08/12/20) https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/invisible-thread monthly 0.5 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597012152872-5W86BKF8OCYY6NRY309V/Diane%2B%26%2BJeremy%2BInvisible%2BThread%2Btech.jpg Projects - Invisible Thread Diane Paulus & Jeremy Pope, Invisible Thread tech. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597012149150-1MUSPADIB9CU9DT5UKKU/Matt%2C%2BMe%2B%26%2BGriff.jpg Projects - Invisible Thread Matt, Me & Griff. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597012226713-I0QI98QK1JB4QAJ4Y4YE/Invisible%2BThread%2BTech.jpg Projects - Invisible Thread Invisible Thread tech, left to right: Tyrone Davis, Jr., Kristolyn Lloyd, Griffin Matthews, Jamar Williams, Nicolette Robinson. https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/masada1942 monthly 0.5 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1595010402566-JGX4IW39234M0PP9VGG9/0bc5ce21-a29f-4edb-8544-45acb4c17aca.jpeg Projects - Masada: 1942 The cast of National Theatre of Israel production at Habima, Tel Aviv, directed by Moshe Kepten, February 2020. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1595010382684-TC3V6LL7JXUQDWIQL2Z9/2d3ab492-73aa-4547-9546-65c15b305788.jpeg Projects - Masada: 1942 Liliana Waszinski, the daughter of the Waszinski Family Players, questions the value of putting on plays in the ghetto of Warsaw in 1942. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1595010382473-RJSPBCAJ76PY03ZIK6VB/7c5ae8ba-622d-43ab-8ab4-195e14bcf714.jpeg Projects - Masada: 1942 The treacherous Lola, once a star in Berlin, holding onto secrets as desperately as her one valuable possession, her fur coat. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1595010493359-FYZ12G7MEF1NIMZ4UB4T/67c64104-6bf3-4ad1-8e22-125c2f37b750.jpeg Projects - Masada: 1942 The Jewish resistance fighter Adam rehearses a song wherein he will portray the tortured Roman General Silva. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1595010377079-8NNJNJXVFCZGC8B9KJ9C/7539a7a6-4fd4-4846-955c-b33c0e475d46.jpeg Projects - Masada: 1942 The SS Captain Blick examines an artifact left behind after taking his part in the liquidation of the ghetto. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597002912614-WDWZEH8WNCBZQAFX1XUO/Screen+Shot+2020-08-09+at+3.53.54+PM.png Projects - Masada: 1942 The poster for "Masada: 1942" at the National Theatre of Israel production at Habima, Tel Aviv, directed by Moshe Kepten, February 2020. https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/fallout monthly 0.5 2025-08-19 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/05acc1e3-a969-4f3a-bcac-585610606c43/IMG_6421.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/2f1e248f-73e7-4706-b16c-b685b5e53f79/IMG_6423.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/313c6f86-f807-4571-95ac-a3247df608a5/IMG_6422.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/079244ee-5c89-4087-84a2-c3c198332fbb/IMG_0684.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/48a45e4b-1ca9-4e74-b00a-ceb73fc204e6/Fallout.png Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/75dbdd90-29c2-4a84-9c54-e1f03bb4bcf2/IMG_6289.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/6ca472eb-34c9-4cd1-bcce-3e2efcb02375/IMG_6288.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/a0b29ad5-1c70-46d1-9519-45bbff9bd077/IMG_6287.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1595372775120-6MJLKWZ2V28O9SQ0JN24/IMG_0534.jpeg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America “4x15” Workshop at Music Theatre Factory, East Village, NYC. Standing: Gary Milner, Brooke Packard, Ryan Cupello, Jonathan Christopher (on box). Seated, left to right: Rachel Flynn, Ali Castro, Shaunice Alexander, Eddy Lee, Emily Celeste Fink, Rupert Daniel Spraul. Seated, back row: Michael Kostroff, Amanda Lo (violin). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597185907817-6WI0DDWDOGLDZ76K3IU4/pasted+image+0.jpg Projects - Fallout/aka Nasha America December 2018 workshop, Ripley-Grier studios, Manhattan. Kneeling: Dmitry Koltunov (music & lyrics), Jason Kravits. First full row, left to right: David (book), Emily Celeste Fink, Latoya Edwards, Liz Larsen, Catherine Ricafort, Virginia Cavaliere. Second row: Rupert Daniel Spraul, Larry Owens, Vishal Vaidya, Allie Trimm, Shaun Pecknic (director), Chris Kelly (guitar, arrangements). Back row: Theo Stockman, Sally Ann Triplett, Gary Milner. https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/motown-the-musical monthly 0.5 2020-08-14 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596391698551-B8DYXOQB6EQV24ZUDA0E/motown_1919.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical Brandon Victor Dixon as Berry Gordy presiding over a “Quality Control Meeting.” Left to right: Dominic Nolfi, Nicholas Christopher, Marva Hicks, Julius Thomas III (behind Hicks), Dixon, (the late) Eric LaJuan Summers (Winner, Astaire Award, best featured dancer), Daniel J Watts, Donald Webber, Jr., Sasha Hutchings, Milton Neely. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596391320021-Z1HPWT61YXFKVVMA3FS6/EP-140418731.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical The Temptations sing “My Girl” (choreography by Patti Wilcox and Warren Adams, inspired by Cholly Atkins). Left to right: Jesse Warren-Nager, Donald Webber, Jr., Julius Thomas III, Ephraim Sykes (Tony nominee, Ain’t Too Proud; Michael Jackson in Broadway’s MJ, whenever Broadway should return), Jawan Jackson. Jawan, seen here in his Broadway debut as Melvyn Franklin, would later play Franklin a second time in the OBC of Ain’t Too Proud. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596391323759-GK88DIR066S87A7N9U0D/image-1.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical Diana Ross & The Supremes sing “You’re Nobody ‘Til Somebody Loves You” at Hullaballoo in Manchester, England. Left to right: Sydney Morton (“She’s Gotta Have It”), Valisia Lekae (Tony nominee, Best Actress), Ariana Debose (OBC “Hamilton,” Anita in Spielberg’s West Side Story). https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596391320354-2KC3ZD0MDHVERH1C6UZP/EP-140418731-1.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical Saycon Sengbloh (Tony nominee, Best Actress, Eclipsed) as Martha Reeves. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596391700722-VWX8FW42H6HM0HB2PQYG/image.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical Brandon and Valisia  as Berry Gordy and Diana Ross sing “Remember Me.” https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1596391549447-7RI3IC4WU9L3FVPMZV4H/Motown_the_Musical_1.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical Foreground, left to right: Rebecca Covington, Charl Brown (Tony nominee, Best Actor as Smokey Robinson), Morgan James, recording artist as Racist White Lady, Brandon Victor Dixon, Sydney Morton, Marva Hicks. B/G, Julius Thomas III, Nicholas Christopher, and on the ladder, Jawan Jackson. Rebecca would later marry Donald Webber Jr., and perform as Eliza Schuyler opposite his Alexander Hamilton in one of the National Touring companies of Hamilton. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597012376701-VPJKTX1JNUG4DIKB4HGH/IMG_0179.jpg Projects - Motown the Musical David with Mr. Gordy and director Charles Randolph Wright, the day the marquees went up outside the Lunt-Fontanne. https://www.davidisawriter.com/projects/having-it-all monthly 0.5 2020-08-17 https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597012248511-9BNWZRSMYDG1BP7FPBZQ/DSCN3773.jpeg Projects - Having it All The original New York Theatre Festival production (“Having It Almost”), New World Stages Stage 5, directed by Casey Hushion, top l to r: Anastasia Barzee, Liz Larsen, Wendy Perelman (co-author and conceiver), Stefanie Morse, Amy Eschman True. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597012567241-2K0QZBNACW6QG4KO3CL5/a7e0a0f6566499f4b36a4591f90a939.jpg Projects - Having it All World Premiere production “Having It All”, Noho Arts Center, directed by Richard Israel, left to right: Lindsey Alley, Kim Huber, Alet Taylor, Jennifer Leigh Warren, Shannon Warne. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597179625660-UYB92LWDYM9CY3DYAD5J/Screen+Shot+2020-08-11+at+5.00.10+PM.png Projects - Having it All Taylor, Warne, Huber, Alley, Warren. https://images.squarespace-cdn.com/content/v1/5ee3e3be976f713fb5f0a078/1597179628767-AO40JNYJ1QO6RNZ7DBUV/Screen+Shot+2020-08-11+at+4.59.48+PM.png Projects - Having it All Michelle Duffy (kneeling) steps into the role of Carly for the 2013 production at Laguna Playhouse.