The next 'Hamilton'? Getting the inside scoop just in case
“I'm not saying it's going to be the next ‘Hamilton,'” I told my editors last year when I pitched a behind-the-scenes story about the making of Paramount Theatre's new tuner “The Secret of My Success.”
“But if it does turn out to be the next ‘Hamilton,'” I inveigled, “we'd have the inside scoop.”
They agreed. So did the folks at the Aurora theater. So I went to work. My plan was to follow the evolution of a new musical from the composing of the songs and the writing of the book, to read-throughs, the first rehearsal, tech week, opening night and perhaps beyond if the show were to have a future apart from its initial production.
Chronicling “Success” from its inception, however, proved unrealistic. Mainly because the show — based on the 1987 Michael J. Fox film about an ambitious Midwesterner who aspires to be a New York City corporate bigwig — has been in the works for seven years.
It came about through coincidental connections between executives from the Universal Theatrical Group (the studio's live theater division) and the show's creators: composer/lyricists Michael Mahler and Alan Schmuckler and writers Steve Rosen and Gordon Greenberg.
Admittedly, I'd have liked to have listened in on the late-night/early morning sessions when Rosen and Greenberg (who also directs) came up with their quips. I'm disappointed at not hearing Northwestern University grads Mahler and Schmuckler compose their buoyant score, which includes a lovely ballad titled “Ferry Ride” and a sly, funky Second Act opener “I Got This.”
Instead, the glimpse behind the curtain began with a July 2019 read-through, the first to take place in Paramount's newly constructed performing arts complex. I watched Greenberg whittle down to a one-word punchline a joke that initially took several sentences to unfold. When some bit of dialogue wanted underscoring, I watched Schmuckler step up to the piano and start noodling.
“Let me just make something up now,” he said.
Later, Heidi Kettenring sang a number that — despite eliciting applause from her fellow cast members and smiles from Gordon and Mahler — got cut from the show.
In January, some actors from the summer read-through joined newcomers for the show's first official rehearsal where Paramount artistic director Jim Corti welcomed the cast, crew and designers.
“This is a very exciting thing going on,” he said minutes before designers Jeffrey D. Kmiec and Mara Blumenfeld revealed their set and costume designs.
Over the weeks that followed, I interviewed creative team members during five-minute breaks between rehearsals and caught up with actors on their day off. Days before previews began last month, I watched stage manager Amber Johnson shepherd a technical rehearsal which unfolded at a snail's pace in painstaking detail. Nosing around backstage, I followed the sound of music to find cast members learning new finale music they'd received earlier that day. I also met the artisans who conjure the show's visual effects, props and costumes.
On opening night, I sat in the audience not as a critic, but as any other theatergoer eager to experience a new show that may well have life beyond Aurora. If it does, I've prepared my pitch.
“I'm not saying ‘The Secret of My Success' is going to Broadway, or that it will receive Tony Award nominations,” I will tell my editors, “but if it does ...”