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Video: He Could Write a Book- Bob Martin Unpacks His Three-Show Season
Apr 17, 2025
When this Broadway season concludes, Bob Martin will have contributed to three musicals, including Boop! The Musical, Smash, and the revival of Elf. Watch in this video as he chats more about all three of his Broadway projects, what's coming up next, and so much more!
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0:00
Welcome to Backstage with Richard Ridge
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Tony Award winner Bob Martin is one of the most sought after book writers
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He's given us such musicals as The Drowsy Chaperone and The Prom
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And this Broadway season, he has three musicals, Boop, Smash, and The Return Engagement of Elf
0:25
And this summer, his new musical, Millions, will have its world premiere at the Alliance Theatre
0:30
And I caught up with Bob here at the Museum of Broadway. What an incredible season for you
0:37
It's unusual, yes. Like, have you been able to put into perspective, like, oh my gosh, I've got three shows this Broadway season
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Yeah, a friend gave me a big framed picture with a sort of collage of elements of all three shows
0:52
and the fourth one that will open in May, as we were just talking about that. So that year of four shows is amazing
0:59
because Elf was in the season as well. Yeah. So yeah, three shows in one season
1:04
It's amazing. I'm very lucky. Well, let's start with Boop. Boop is one of the most fun and joyous musicals
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playing on Broadway. Oh, thank you. Thank you. It's, yeah, it's special
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I think it's a special show to my heart. I can't watch it without tearing up
1:20
It says so much about what it means to be human and about the nature of romantic love
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And it really gets me. And it's sprinkled with little Easter eggs about my own experience and my own, you know, the way I believe people should interact
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And that's all through the show. So for me, I hear these things that are echoes of relationships I've had and stuff like that
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And it's just, yeah, funny show too, though. but really funny and great dancing and it was it was a really joyous experience to do we all got
1:55
along so well jerry you know is amazing at running a room and he's he's it was a really wonderful
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collaboration with him and and david of course but also susan birkenhead who i've worked with
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years ago and you know that woman never ceases to amaze me what she's capable of doing and um
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Um, she's, her eyesight is impaired now. So there were times when she was writing lyrics on enormous white, you know, pieces of paper with a big black marker
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Incredible, but still turning it out. And, uh, and I'm, I'm so thrilled that the show actually projects some of her lyrics, you know, on the back wall in certain scenes of the show
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Because, you know, she needs to be celebrated. She needs to be respected more than she is
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Yeah. Well, take me back to the beginning when you first found out there was going to be a Betty Boop musical called Boop
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Like, how did you get involved and what made you say, yes, I want to do this? Well, Boop has a very strange, convoluted history of development
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It was sort of being kicked around for about 20 years before I got involved
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And certain sort of, I believe, scripts were written. I know Jason Robert Brown was involved at one point
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Different people writing different songs for the show. Apparently, in one version, she was in an asylum
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I can't imagine what that version was. but um at david and uh david and susan david foster and susan birkenhead had been working
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i guess with jerry for a couple of years before i came on board and at that time there was there
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was really no script but they had written some fantastic songs um for various versions of the
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tale you know but um basically what happened is i had a meeting with jerry um at bar central
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and he said, doing this Boop musical, this is my idea. We start in the Fleischer world, the black and white world
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We go to the color, the world of reality, and then we come back to the Fleischer world
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And Betty falls in love and brings color into her black and white world
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That was the pitch. And I was like, yeah, let's do that. I thought it was a great idea
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And I just immediately started imagining the design. I always think in terms of theatrical design
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It's like, oh, wow, we can depict two worlds. And there are moments in the show where both worlds are depicted at the same time, which are my favorite moments in the show
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So it was great. And then that sort of constraining principle was what helped me to assemble the book
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There was no book. And so I created a story that would support that idea, basically
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No, I love that. So when you work, you think of design, too, at the very same time when you're writing a book
4:34
Yeah, yeah, I do. For a number of reasons. And if you don you can make a show sort of unproducible if you not thinking about how it could be staged I mean because it a piece of theater and you know a piece of theater involves costume and sets and lights and everything
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not just a writer's idea of what may be possible. So I always think of the mechanics of the piece that I'm creating, yeah
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See, I love that, because you write in all different mediums. You write for television, you write for film, you write differently for the theater
5:06
Yes, and differently for television, yeah, for sure. I mean much shorter scenes in television
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you can montage is possible on TV it's also possible on stage and actually in Smash
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we have a montage section of the show but generally speaking, roughly speaking, scenes
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are longer, they sit longer and of course musicals for a writer, some of the most interesting parts
5:28
of the story are expressed musically so it's all about supporting a score so it's a different
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exercise as well but yeah I always think sort of mechanically, I always love
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working with a director from day one um as casey nicolau was great that way we would we sit down on the very first day with blank page
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and really discuss what the show would be and jerry did the same thing with you yes jerry is
5:48
jerry is such a wonderful guy and uh he's extremely respectful of the composers and the writers
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so he's he's sort of just bring me what you want to do and let's discuss how it can be done
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and you know certain things that i would present to him inspired him and and together we would say
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oh, we need a song here, we need something here in order to tell the story. It was a wonderful working relationship with Jerry on this one
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Collaborations are really special. And like on this show, you had Jerry Mitchell as director choreographer
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You have David Foster and Susan Birkenhead. So they had written some of the songs beforehand
6:23
So when your book got involved with the show, did you all sort of talk together about where new songs were going to take place
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and which ones you were going to keep? Yeah, absolutely. And there were quite a few new songs that were created for this version of Boop
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I think three or four that were so good that we wanted to find a place for them in the show
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One of them was The Opening Number, A Little Versatility. Another one, which was really significant, was Ain't No Cure for Love
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which really, trying to incorporate that song in our story led to the creation of the entire storyline with Grampy and Valentina
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which is Faith Prince and Steven DeRosa. So that story was actually created for that song
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And that story kind of took a lot of work. We didn't have it quite right in Chicago
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and we did a lot of reworking when we came into Broadway
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And I think it works quite well now. And there's sort of two stories and two songs in that story
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that one and Whatever It Takes, in the second act. And it tells now a very, very sweet tale, I think
7:26
for that particular B story of our show. Yeah, what did you learn after the run in Chicago
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before Broadway, of what you wanted to change with the book and everything else, just the feel of the show
7:36
Well, oh, man, there's so many things. But definitely the opening of the second act was changed dramatically
7:45
The Grampy-Valentina storyline was changed dramatically, including a completely new song for them in the second act
7:52
The ending of the show was changed. What else? There was a lot of work done
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The first act was pretty tight, and we made adjustments, adjustments, but most of the work was in the second act. The other thing was there's politics
8:07
in the show, slightly, lightly, a touch of politics. The politics changed dramatically
8:13
between Chicago and New York. So, and I'm always pushing to make a statement of some kind
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And there was pushback about, you know, let's not alienate people. So the political statement we
8:24
make, I think, is one that's very, you know, inspiring and I think fairly benign. But we're
8:32
making a statement because Betty would. Betty coming into the present day and seeing what
8:38
reality is like at this point in her future, she would be disappointed as many of us are
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And she points that out. So yeah, there's a tiny, we really sort of change the way we approach
8:51
politics in the show. Now let's talk about Smash. Another show you have opening really soon. I mean
8:56
two openings in like one week. In one week, yeah. All right. So let's take me back. If you want to
9:01
lose weight, open two Broadway shows in one week, because that's what happens. Because I'm sure it's
9:06
just running back and forth between the Broadhurst with Boop and Smash at the Imperial. So how did
9:11
you get involved with Smash and what made you say, yes, I want to do that? That's a much more
9:15
complicated tale Smash I mean the thing that not many people know is I was sort of interviewed to write the TV series years and years previously and that didn happen which was fine I hadn written any television in America before just in Canada
9:37
And so I had that sort of connection with the show in the very, very early embryonic stage of the TV series
9:45
And then, you know, the series happened. I was trying to work with Scott and Mark on different projects, and it never kind of happened
9:51
And then they had written all of these songs for the show within the show, for Bombshell
10:00
And they didn't tell any story, coherent story, because the songs were written in service of each TV episode
10:07
So then there was this exercise. I was contacted, I guess, by Bob Greenblatt, who I'd worked with before, about can you make this into a musical
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and Rick Ellis, who I work with a lot, we had been struggling with another show
10:22
and I said, hey, do you want to make a show about making a musical
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and we can put all of our frustrations and all of our blood, sweat and tears into it
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and it'll be a therapeutic exercise and he was like, yeah, let's do that
10:38
So we pitched it to Greenblatt and Marin. you know we know we don't we what we really said was we don't want to make a musical about
10:50
Marilyn Monroe called Bombshell we want to make a comedy about the making of a musical called
10:53
Bombshell about Marilyn Monroe and and we sort of sketched it out they liked the idea then we met
11:00
with Mark and Scott and they were somewhat reluctant because they've had a lot of success
11:06
with their music in a concert form. But we really encouraged them
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And, you know, and I said, you know, this is going to be a balls-out comedy
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It's not going to be the melodrama that the TV series was. It's going to be a completely different genre
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And they really got into it. And eventually, you know, here we are
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On Thursday it opens. No, because what I love about Smash is it gives a big homage to the TV show
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yet it's got a whole brand new story to it too at the very same time. Yeah, I think of it as fanfic
11:41
So it sort of exists alongside the original. There are references to the original characters
11:46
but they're quite different as depicted in our stage version. So I would hope that if you're a fan of the TV show
11:52
you can come and you'd see this alternate reality version of Smash and really like it
11:57
So was there a lot of changing during the preview process of Smash? Oh, yes
12:01
Have you tinkered? Yeah. Yeah, in fact, our assistant, Emily, she told us that she had printed 500,000 script pages by the time the show was frozen
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So that's, you know, we come out like with 20 or 30 or 40 pages of changes frequently
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And so the total number of script pages printed was half a million, which I think is a record even for me
12:30
And I'm notorious for making changes all the way through the process
12:34
But yeah, we were sharpening it and again, tailoring it to people's strengths
12:38
I do want to talk about Brooks because I think Brooks is the most talented comedian working
12:42
on Broadway today. And this is, I've actually written three shows for him
12:47
This prom was written for him. And there's another one that Chad and Matt and I are working on that hasn't seen the
12:54
light of day yet. And then this one. And he's just fabulous
12:58
And there's no one like him. I love working with him so much. I mean, Susan Stroman is your director on that
13:04
Yes. And Josh Begasse is your choreographer. Collaborating on that with Scott and Mark and all of them
13:09
what's been the best part of the collaboration? Well, we had a little sort of post-freeze dinner the other day
13:15
Josh and Mark and Scott and Stro and me and Rick. And we just sort of sat back and said
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this was an incredibly calm collaboration. It was like there were no divas
13:28
We were all servicing the show. There were no egos. I mean, we all have egos
13:32
but we were setting them aside for the greater goal of the show. It was a really, really wonderful collaboration
13:38
I was lucky enough to have two at the same time because Boop was also a wonderful collaboration
13:43
It's not always like that. Sometimes it's extremely fraught, But we just never stopped working on Smash
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like right up until the last second. And we were all making changes all the way through
13:56
and calmly and focused. And it was great. It was great. And Strowman is just the best
14:02
And then your third new musical is going to premiere this May
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at the Alliance Theatre in Atlanta. Yes. I mean it Millions What can you tell us Well Millions is also a show that super dear to my heart It Adam Gettle and I wrote it And we wrote it years ago really and have developed it over the last 10 years
14:20
And it's never been in front of an audience before. I think it's definitely some of Adam's most accessible music
14:28
His music is gorgeous and heartbreaking. It's also a comedy, but with really dramatic undertones
14:37
is it deals with two kids who've lost their mother recently and they're trying to sort of grapple with loss
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basically, in different ways. And if you don't know the plot of millions
14:48
one day they're struggling financially as well, this family, and one day a bag of money apparently falls out of the sky
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and these two kids have to decide what to do with that money. And that was, I mean, talk about thinking about design
15:02
I'm working with Bart Sher, who's also a real child of the theater, and he's designed operas and everything
15:09
And we talked very much about design from the very beginning on that show. And I can't wait
15:14
It's in rehearsal now, so I haven't been able to be down there, which is not usually what I do
15:19
So I can't wait to see what's happening down there. You know, before we started, we talked about how do you stay calm
15:24
I mean, in a really great way because you've got Boop, you've got Smash, you've got Millions
15:28
I mean, you drive into the city, right? Yes, yes. So the drives, I moved out of Manhattan just before the pandemic
15:37
And so I live sort of not in the country, but it's a suburb with lots of deer and trees and everything
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So it's peaceful. And then the commute, which is anywhere between 40 minutes and an hour, depending on traffic, I get to really just calm down
15:52
There's no computer. I listen to crazy podcasts. I listen to music that's not Broadway, like Radiohead
16:00
I'm a huge Radiohead fan. and I just and I'm just sort of yes chilling I'm able to do that but the beginning and the end of
16:07
each day and and and as we discussed I will sometimes write in the car I dictate to my phone
16:15
make voice memos of things um but yeah I really really enjoy that people always say when you just
16:21
rent a hotel or something and I was like I really like driving in and out of the city
16:26
The only catch is I can't drink. And dictate and drive at the same time
16:32
No, but you said to me, you know, these scores play in your head, so it's the one downtime you have to sort of like just chill
16:39
before you come into the city and start working on a show. Yeah, one of the things that people probably don't talk about
16:43
when creating musicals, the score is in your brain 24 hours a day
16:48
So when you're sleeping, it's in your head. You hear the songs over and over and over and over again
16:53
It can drive you mad. it's got Mark Shaman talks about it too
16:56
so it is nice to be able to turn that off in some way
17:01
so finally writing for the theater what do you love the most
17:06
you always come back you always write numerous musicals you've got all these projects happening
17:10
what do you love the most? yeah my background I mean I've done a lot of
17:14
I did a lot of theater in Canada and I was an actor for a long time but the main thing I did was write for television
17:21
and television is its own sort of thing It's an extremely tiring process
17:28
And the writer is relatively isolated in writing for television. In the theater, you're in the room with the actors
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And it's an extremely personal connection. And as I say, you're tailoring the part to that actor in rehearsal and in performance
17:46
And it's just much more human. And it's a much more essentially collaborative process
17:52
So what's going through your mind this week with the shows that are opening in New York and as before you head down to Atlanta for millions
18:00
There's a lot. My furnace broke. I have to get that fixed before I go to Atlanta
18:05
I just bought some shoes that I'm going to wear for opening. I hope they're comfortable
18:11
And I'm just, you know, obviously I'm concerned with reviews. I don't read reviews anymore in my life, but I know that they have some significance when you're trying to sell tickets
18:20
so I'm hoping for good reviews for both shows. Once Smash opens, yeah, I mean, I assume I'll get sick
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because normally adrenaline keeps you going and then you just sort of collapse
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Hit the wall. Yeah, yeah, so we'll see. Atlanta might be, the first couple of weeks
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I might just be recuperating. But as I say, it's been a wonderful, insane season
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and I'm proud, very proud of both shows and they're very, very funny shows
18:53
so I can't wait for the world to really see Smash too
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