2002 Symposium: Magic To Do: The Writer Director Relationship

At its 2002 Musical Theatre Symposium, SDCF hosted a panel on the writer-director relationship featuring "Urinetown" composer/lyricist Greg Kotis, "The Wild Party" composer Andrew Lippa and director Gabriel Barre, "Violet" composer Jeanine Tesori, bookwriter/lyricist Brian Crawley and director Susan H. Schulman, "Side Show" director Robert Longbottom, "Jelly's Last Jam" lyricist Susan Birkenhead, and "tick, tick...BOOM!" and "Bat Boy" director Scott Schwartz, moderated by Manhattan Theatre Club Musical Theatre Program director Clifford Lee Johnson. The panelists discuss the formation of their writer-director relationship on each of these shows: how the initial connection and trust happened, the barriers they had to overcome, and working on an unfinished show with a living writer vs one who has already passed. The conversation is followed by a lively Q&A session about new musical development programs, the director's role in the development of a musical and how to know when a relationship doesn't work. Filled with many humorous stories, this panel offers great insight into this vital relationship as told by some of today's top Broadway talent.