30 Days of NYMF: It Takes A Village

IT TAKES A VILLAGE
by Joe Slabe (Book, Music & Lyrics of Austentatious)

I always thought I understood what people meant when they said that musical theatre is a collaborative art form. I wrote the book for Austentatious in collaboration with four co-writers and worked with a fellow composer/lyricist on the songs. What else did I need to know about collaboration?

But I found that the contributions of the director, design team, musical director and, of course, the actors stretched our collaborative abilities as writers. Ultimately, the experience of working with bona fide Broadway professionals made us all better at what we do and helped us create a show that is leaner, more satisfying and funnier than I had ever dreamed possible.

Through the input of our director, the script became clearer and tighter. We no longer wasted time setting up gags that didn't further the story. As a result, our script actually became funnier because the real pay-off was seeing the characters' reactions to their ludicrous situations. 

Our musical director helped us craft lyrics that were more specific and character driven. The precise moment when the emotion was elevated into song was clarified and really helped the singers act their way through our numbers.

The actors became so attached to their characters that they knew them better than we did. Their input gave the parts depth and humanity until everything the characters did made sense and, even better, was hysterically funny. 

Whenever I went back to my computer for the umpteenth re-write, I would tell myself that we were lucky to have some of the best talent in New York working on our show and it would be stupid not to listen to them. Now that we've opened and I've heard the laughter and cheers of the crowd, I understand that collaboration doesn't end with the writers.