Producer Spotlight: Deb Rabbai on our January Phony Awards

Once a month a producer writes a posts sharing with us a unique perspective from both inside and outside of the show. This month it's Deb Rabbai with her thoughts on the Triad Shows in New York City.

It's midnight on December 31st and after all the celebrating has ended and all the holidays have run their course it's time for us to think about what's ahead in the coming year. For Broadway's Next Hit Musical it's time to think about our Winter performances for the APAP convention!

Friday Night's Phony Award Winner

Robert Z's Phony "Just Out of My Reach"

Two Time Phony Award Winner Rob Schiffmann

Rob Schiffmann, Kobi Libii, and Robert Z. Grant's Fish

Gary Adler and Debbie Rabbai Pre Show

Stefan and Rob warming up

Eric March pre-show

Warm Up

Kobi Libii Presents His Nominee

Deb Rabbai Gets Finger Wagging

Greg Triggs Don't Take No Guff

Robert Z. Grant as Secret Service. Rob Schiffmann as the Unlikely President.

Robert Z. Grant Gets Smooth.

Love The Team At Baylin Artists Management

This year our two performances fell on January 15th & 16th. My birthday fell on the night before our first APAP show and while I desperately wanted to celebrate, I wanted to make sure I was well rested and vocally ready for the shows so my celebrating took place at home in pajamas and slippers. Our host Greg Triggs' birthday fell on Jan 16th which added to the excitement for Greg and offered him the opportunity to get some extra applause when he told the audience that it was in fact his birthday. Hey, whatever it takes right? Right!

The shows this year were full of great comedic moments and songs! Our cast was made up of the most talented, fun and funny people you will find in the world of musical improvisation and comedy. How lucky we were to have in the audience the fantastic actor Mr. Danny Aiello. Just having him in the audience was exciting and I know it inspired me to put my best foot forward.   

One of my favorite moments from the shows involved Robert Z. Grant portraying a dead goldfish floating in a fishbowl. Typecasting, if you ask me. Here are a few other moments I recall that brought a smile to my face; finding a way to use the song title "Yeah, I'd Hit That" to construct a musical about baseball, when Rob Schiffmann mentioned there was a "fluke" in the constitution that allowed his character (a young boy) to become president and Stefan Schick singing a song about French Oreos. Trust me, there were so many ridiculous moments that kept the night bouncy and light that it would take me another 250 words at least to recount them al. for you here.

My hope is that you were there to see it and hear the songs we sang and experience it for yourself!

If you weren't able to be there this year, I invite you to join us next year for more laughs and songs all improvised by your pals at Broadway's Next Hit Musical or see us on the road in your town!

Producer's Spotlight: Creating a Rich Life on the Road

Producer and emcee Greg Triggs takes advantage of time spent traveling to get together with far away friends.

Editor's Note: Once a month we ask the producers of Broadway's Next Hit Musical to write for the blog. Greg Triggs (emcee and producer) travels extensively for both Broadway's Next and other projects. Here is how he creates a fulfilling life despite the grind of travel.

I love everything about touring to new places with Broadway’s Next – the camaraderie of the cast, the cool local restaurants, being inspired by new ideas, the way too frequent flyer miles and observing what for better or worse makes each community we visit unique. I’ve strolled the Walk of Governors in WA.  I’ve seen a 3-legged dog in Fallon, NV.   I’ve even met the Mayor of Opelousas, LA.

The best part of touring is the reunions that happen along the way.

I’ve been able to spend the day with my college roommate Liz in Parker, CO.  I’ve performed for my siblings in Madison, WI.  In Olympia, WA I was able to hang out the kids of dear friends who happen to live on the other side of the country.

Yesterday in Hammond, LA I got to be interviewed by a young reporter just starting out. I learned that their paper the Daily Star isn’t published daily.  I discovered that their cypress forest was overrun by little rat like rodents with orange teeth called Nutrias.  When I go back home I will take comfort in good old run of the mill yellow toothed NYC rats.

Best of all, the trip provided a chance to see my good friend Mary Ellen Chamberlin, a retired music teacher from Mississippi.  Her many accomplishments include being one of Britney Spears’ choral teachers.  Mary Ellen drove over two hours listening to Sirius Escape in her Buick to see the show.

After the show, we went to a local restaurant called the Mariner Inn.  Nice place. Mary Ellen enjoyed a Popeye Pork Chop Platter topped with cheese sauce and spinach.  I had the best onion rings this side of a rat with orange teeth.

Mary Ellen and I had a great time catching up. I got to meet her new beau Dr. Dan.  They’re a perfect match.  She told me about her son’s recent wedding.  I saw pictures of her grandchildren. We reminisced about walking down Broadway doing the first post 9/11 Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade – a job I wasn’t sure I could do.  Mary Ellen’s confidence in me helped me believe I could and so I did.

Thank you Hammond, LA.

---

See Greg Triggs at the 2016 NYC Phonys

Your Improv Improves Your Writing Improves Your Improv (and so on)

Note: Once a month we have our producers and artistic directors write a post about improv, musical improv, and BNHM. This one was written by producer/co-artistic director/performer Rob Schiffmann.

View fullsize

Rob Schiffmann in a rehearsal for Broadway's Next Hit Musical

There is no doubt that the combination of being both a songwriter and a musical improviser has influenced the way I approach both disciplines. Although there are vast differences between the two, the overlap is very evident and very exciting.

As a writer, I am definitely aware of the structure of a song. However, that structure is HIGHLY dependent on the ‘energy map’ of the song. When I write a verse, I then have to sing it a ton of times until it begins to feel ‘natural’ and can begin to speak back to me in terms of what it needs. Maybe a rhythm feels off in a line or the rhyme scheme feels odd on another. What always becomes clear is sectionally, what NEEDS to come next. If the verse has built enough tension, often what comes next is a chorus to relieve that tension. If the verse ends with resolution and thus no tension to break, often a 2nd verse is called for. The knowledge that energy in the moment is a much more effective determiner of structure than predetermination has made me a strong believer that if we want our songs to soar, we MUST determine structure in the moment by listening to what the music is telling us.

Several years ago, I was asked to write a piece for a choreographer in California who liked the way I improvised melodies with my voice. When I sent him my first sketches, he remarked that they were missing the soaring qualities of my improvisations. He confirmed my suspicions with that statement. I had always wondered if my process of writing was hampering my melodies. This suspicion came from the fact that when I write, I am almost always accompanying myself, be it on a piano, bass, guitar or percussion instrument. This process had the pitfall of making my voice too dependent on my hands and vice versa. Thus, I was limiting my melodic possibilities. I knew that the melodies I was improvising were more free and exciting than the ones I was writing. Thus I have changed my process and when I am still writing for my own voice, I often record a chord progression on my instrument and then sing/improvise along to it to avoid the dependency issue. I have found my written melodies can now match my improvised ones in their originality and range.

Improvisation is a perfect tool for a writer and writing is a perfect tool for an improviser. Together they can produce a richness that either alone can often lack.

Editor's Note: You can purchase Rob's band, The Hillary Step's album "Note to Self" including the song "Tell Me You Love Me" here.