The upcoming production of Ordinary Days represents a bunch of exciting firsts: not only is it my first professional production in New York City, it’s the first musical ever produced at Roundabout Underground! In honor of the pioneering spirit of the Underground, here’s a collection of interesting firsts related to Ordinary Days.
Roundabout, like me, started in a basement. Roundabout’s first production, Strindberg’s The Father, opened in 1966 in a supermarket basement in Chelsea. The tradition continues in 2009, as Roundabout Underground’s first musical opens in the basement of Roundabout’s Steinberg Center for Theatre.
The first musical I remember seeing as a child was Babes in Toyland. I don’t remember much about the show, except going down to the orchestra pit during intermission and talking to the tuba player. The first Broadway show I ever saw was Beauty and the Beast. The first show I saw at Roundabout was the terrific production of Side Man which played when I was in college!
The first note sung in Ordinary Days is an “A,” and the first word spoken is “G’morning.” Have I whet your appetite yet?
One of the first people to hear any of the songs from Ordinary Days was Lynn Ahrens, who’s been a mentor and supporter of mine for several years now. (Lynn is an incredible lyricist, who, with composer Stephen Flaherty, has created such amazing shows as Ragtime, Once on this Island, and countless others!) I recently chatted with Lynn and asked her to share some memories of her first New York production. Here’s what she had to say!
AG: Lynn, thanks for taking the time to chat! What was your first professional production in New York?
LA: Lucky Stiff, produced at Playwrights Horizons, was our first off-Broadway show.
AG: And how did it come about?
LA: We were “discovered” at an ASCAP workshop by Ira Weitzman, then the head of Musical Theater Development at Playwrights Horizons. The crowd parted like the Red Sea and there he was, asking us to come and see him. We’ve never stopped working together since.
AG: And Ira is still busy helping out young writers to this day! What’s your fondest memory of Lucky Stiff?
LA: Watching Ira knitting a brown sweater with a dog on it, which was later used as a prop in the show. Also, doing our rewrites sitting at the bar in the lobby, because it was the only space.
AG: My orchestrator likes to knit, maybe I’ll try and get a scarf out of Ordinary Days. Were you nervous at all about making your professional New York debut? What was your biggest fear?
LA: That someone would get sick, because we had no understudies.
AG: We don’t have understudies either! It’s kept me up at night!
LA: When Mary Testa fell ill, they tried to get me to go on in her place, but I went into hiding till they found someone else. Priscilla Lopez finally filled in. I would do it now, though.
AG: Yeah, we’ve already talked about who from the production team is gonna cover which part in Ordinary Days. I got Warren. Do you still collaborate with any of the folks from that production of Lucky Stiff?
LA: We’ve done five more shows with Andre Bishop and Ira Weitzman, who are both now at Lincoln Center Theater. They gave us not only our first off-Broadway show, but our first Broadway show (Once On This Island) and have continued to produce us.
AG: So, really, your first production gave you so much more than just your debut.
LA: It enabled us to develop a relationship with producers who believed in us and wanted to help nurture our careers, no matter how successful our first production was—or wasn’t.
AG: You and Stephen have both done your share of helping to nurture young writers, like myself. Any words of advice to writers embarking on their first production?
LA: Write fearlessly, rewrite tirelessly. And don’t read reviews.
Well there you have it—everyone’s got to start somewhere. So if you haven’t yet been to a Roundabout Underground production, what are you waiting for? You’re missing your chance to be part of an historic first!
And back to those firsts… The first day tickets go on sale for Ordinary Days? August 17th. That’s right, you missed it! Get your tickets now!
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August 24th, 2009 at 1:34 pm
I’ve enjoyed listening to whatever clips I can find from “Ordinary Days.” My wife and I are coming in Oct to see it. Can’t wait! Thanks for the blog updates.