Tick Tock Goes the Clock! 25 Years!

Since the pandemic has forced me to focus on only one of my two passions, writing about musicals, but not making them, at least for a while still, an interesting thought crossed my artsy brain last night.

It was twenty-five years ago that I wrote my first book of musical theatre analysis!

The spark that started it was the still very new Sondheim Review (1994-2016), a wonderful magazine all about Uncle Steve's shows! For one of the earliest issues, the editor Paul Salsini asked me to write a piece about New Line's first production (of three!) of Sondheim's Assassins. It was only a short piece, but I found that I loved writing about what makes a musical tick!

So I approached a bunch of publishers about writing a whole book, all of whom said No, except Lisa Barnett at Heinemann Publishing, who asked me for three more chapters, then agreed to publish a whole book of my analysis essays, eventually called From Assassins to West Side Story, published in 1996.

Until then, it had never occurred to me that:  a. I could write about musicals in that way, b. anybody would want to read what I had to say; and c. anybody would ever pay me to explore cool musicals.

Two books were my initial inspirations, Stephen Banfield's excellent book Sondheim's Broadway Musicals; and Joseph Swain's The Broadway Musical. Both books were largely focused on musical analysis, and together with my music degree from Harvard, I learned how to dig deep down into a theatre score. I had also read several books digging into great plays. I realized I wanted to combine that kind of exploration of the text, subtext, and context, together with the musical exploration of Banfield and Swain. But it was also important to me that this wasn't a book for academics; it was a book for people who love musicals.

And I ended up sort of creating a new genre or subgenre -- analyses of musicals that are as serious and in-depth as the copious analyses of the plays of Shakespeare, O'Neill, or Suzan-Lori Parks. And to my surprise, once my first book was published, I was instantly considered "an expert" by strangers; and I could get access to people and stuff like never before. Thanks, Lisa!

And now twenty-five years later, I am, by necessity, a full-time writer for a while, working on my eighth book of analysis! And looking back, it's overwhelming to see how much I've written about so many musicals, and knowing that literally tens of thousands of people have read my books and know what I think about musicals. Take a look...

From Assassins to West Side Story, 1996, covers Assassins, Cabaret, Carousel, Company, Godspell, Gypsy, How to Succeed, Into the Woods, Jesus Christ Superstar, Les Misérables, Man of La Mancha, Merrily We Roll Along, My Fair Lady, Pippin, Sweeney Todd, and West Side Story.

Deconstructing Harold Hill, 1999, covers Ragtime, Camelot, Chicago, Passion, The Music Man, March of the Falsettos, Sunday in the Park with George, and The King and I.

Rebels with Applause, 2001, covers Hair, Rent, Oklahoma!, Pal Joey, Anyone Can Whistle, Floyd Collins, Jacques Brel, The Cradle Will Rock, Songs for a New World, and The Ballad of Little Mikey.

Let the Sun Shine In, 2003, covers Hair.

Sex, Drugs, Rock & Roll, and Musicals, 2011, covers The Wild Party, Grease, Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar, The Rocky Horror Show, The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas, I Love My Wife, Bat Boy, Hedwig and the Angry Inch, and High Fidelity.

Literally Anything Goes, 2019, covers The Threepenny Opera, Anything Goes, The Nervous Set, The Fantasticks, Zorbá, Two Gentlemen Of Verona, The Robber Bridegroom, Evita, Return to the Forbidden Planet, Kiss Of The Spider Woman, A New Brain, Reefer Madness, Bukowsical, and Love Kills.

Idiots, Heathers, and Squips, 2020, covers bare, Urinetown, Sweet Smell of Success, Jerry Springer the Opera, Passing Strange, Cry-Baby, Next to Normal, Bloody Bloody Andrew Jackson, American Idiot, Heathers, and Be More Chill.

My new book is called Hamilton and the New Revolution: Broadway Musicals in the 21st Century, and it will cover Hamilton, Hadestown, The Scottsboro Boys, The Color Purple, Dear Evan Hansen, A Strange Loop, Bonnie & Clyde, Hands on a Hardbody, and maybe a couple more. I think I should be done with it in about six months.

I also want to write a sequel to my horror fiction collection Night of the Living Show Tunes. The response to it has been so wonderful, and I do have ideas for more stories, so...

Also, Zak Farmer, veteran New Liner, and the illustrator for our book Shellie Shelby Shares Spotlight, wants to do another picture book.

So I've got lots of writing projects. I'm kinda stalled on my novel My Cat and I Wrote a Musical and Then He Murdered Me, so I've put that aside for now. I'm working, on and off, on a couple new musicals too. But Sweet Apollo, I miss being in rehearsal, I miss our audience, I miss backstage emergencies, I miss reviews, I miss hearing, "That wasn't anything like I expected!" in the lobby.

But so many people have it so much worse than me right now. At least my "pandemic unemployment" payments are (barely) paying my rent, food, and utilities. I have a decent apartment. I have my wonderful cat Hamilton to keep me company. I still think about musicals all the time. I have lots of artsy friends to call. I'm doing okay.

If you're missing our beloved art form as much as I am, maybe one or more of my books might help a little. You never know.

But meanwhile, stay safe, and get vaccinated as soon as you can. The sooner we're all vaccinated, the sooner we can all come together again in that most necessary and nurturing of human rituals, gathering in the dark to tell stories.

Someday soon, we all will be together, if the Fates allow.

Long Live the Musical!
Scott

P.S. If you're wondering, "Tick Tock Goes the Clock" was a song and dance cut from Promises, Promises. The dance half came back, now called "Tick Tock," in Company.