30 Days of NYMF Day 7: Desperate Measures

We recently sat down with eminent playwright William Shakespeare at his home in England and asked him about his new musical, Desperate Measures, which premieres in the NYMF Festival this September.  Here's what he had to say:

Q: You usually do all the writing yourself.  What was it like collaborating with David Friedman and Peter Kellogg on a musical version of one of your plays?

WS: Misery acquaints a man with strange bedfellows.

When they first mentioned the idea of turning Measure for Measure into a 6-person Western, set in the 19th century with country and western music, what was your reaction?

Lord, what fools these mortals be.

But when they explained how much you could make with a hit musical, when they showed you the weekly box office from Spamalot and Hairspray, what did you say then? 

Westward ho!  

I understand there were some rocky moments in the collaboration.  What was your opinion after reading Peter's first draft of the libretto?

Past hope, past cure, past help!

What did you think when you discovered that, though they retained "the bed trick" from the original play, they cut "the head trick" entirely?

This was the most unkindest cut of all.

But instead of giving up on the project then and there, you asked David to play you some of the music from the score.  What was your reaction then?

O! It came o'er my ear like the sweet sound that breathes upon a bank of violets.

And what is your prediction now as to how the show will fare in the New York Musical Theatre Festival and then in future incarnations?

A hit!  A very palpable hit!

What was it like working with Tony-nominated director, Eleanor Reissa?

Though she be but little, she is fierce.

You also managed to get an excellent cast for the NYMF Showcase: Merwin Foard, Patrick Garner, Ginifer King, Jenny Powers, Max von Essen and Nick Wyman.  What do you think of their performances?

O, wonderful, wonderful, and most wonderful, wonderful! And yet again wonderful! And after that, out of all whooping!

Did you offer any advice to the cast, seeing as you were also an actor in your day?

Eat no onion or garlic, for we are to utter sweet breath.

What do you say to people who complain that Desperate Measures is only one hour and forty minutes long, including the intermission?

Brevity is the soul of wit.

Finally, do you have any advice for anyone else wants to put on a musical in New York?

First thing we do, let's kill all the lawyers.

Visit www.nymf.org for tickets and more information on Desperate Measures.