BWW EXCLUSIVE: 5 SONGS BY... Michael Friedman On THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE

BroadwayWorld recently kicked off a brand new feature series spotlighting the best and brightest songwriters on Broadway and beyond with their own personally chosen quintet of songs that hold special meaning to them, titled 5 SONGS BY....

Today we are continuing the 5 SONGS BY... series by talking to a noted composer of many Off-Broadway musicals and special events including SAVED, THE BLUE DEMON, IN THE BUBBLE and more all about his latest musical offering, the Itamar Moses collaboration THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE. Based on the celebrated novel of the same name by Jonathan Lethem, THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE provided Friedman with rich dramatic fodder with which to craft a spectacular musical score overflowing with melody and displaying a wide swath of influences befitting of the coming of age story and late twentieth century milieu, ranging from traditional musical theatre to rock, pop, R&B, funk, rap, world music and beyond, which he describes in detail via his personally chosen selections from the show in today's revealing score-focused discussion.

More information on THE FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE original cast recording is available at the official site here.

"The One I Remember"

"When Daniel Aukin first approached me with the idea of adapting Jonathan Lethem's novel, I knew I had to say yes when I had a vision of an opening number on the block: Dean Street. Everybody singing a different song, and they don't all quite fit together. A record player, nursery rhymes, a spaldeen bouncing against a wall, Motown, street corner harmony, a Mets game on the radio, the silence when a bully passes by, the rhythms of a chess game, a list of paint colors, a stickball game on the street, Barrett Rude Jr. and the Subtle Distinctions' unreleased demos, Rachel Ebdus' collapsing bohemian dreams, and the block comes together. And Dylan Ebdus meets Mingus Rude."

"Superman/Sidekick"

"A show called FORTRESS OF SOLITUDE has to have a song called 'Superman', so I wrote this song not having any idea where it would go. Itamar liked it so much that he put it everywhere he could, until I complained. Finally, we realized that it should be the Barrett Rude record that Mingus plays for Dylan in the basement when their friendship is sealed. Adam and Kyle standing silently and listening to Kevin Mambo sing is one of my favorite moments of the show. The following duet was a late addition: I took some kind of principled stand that Dylan and Mingus didn't need to sing together, that listening to 'Superman' was enough. I was wrong. The research for sidekick was fun: who knew that Aquaman's sidekick is, actually, Aquagirl?"

"Take Me to the Bridge"

"Late in Act 1, Dylan and Mingus use a magic ring and fly, an event that screamed out for a big number, but which remained song-less (all I could imagine doing was using 'I'm Flying' from PETER PAN, or R Kelly's 'I Believe I Can Fly') until Itamar suggested this structural concept, and Jonathan, in passing, mentioned that the original title of the book was going to be 'Take Me to the Bridge'. I ran with the song structure wordplay, with a deep bow to Al Green, and happily passed the baton to Andre De Shields."

"Painting"

"This one took forever. Abraham is a character who can barely be made to speak, let alone sing, and I wrote a few inadequate songs for him in early workshops. He paints, and from his studio he almost notices the minute and enormous changes going on around him. Time passes. Finally, I thought that each verse could begin with a reference to a famous New York Post headline ('Ford to City: Drop Dead'), and a sort of list-song-ballad resulted, repeating the phrase 'And you're painting,' at the end of each line. Late in the day, I realized that Mingus, the other painter in the show, should join the song, so he does. And I'm proud of a little harmonic trick: the verse thinks that the song is in C-sharp , but the Chorus thinks it is in F-sharp."

"Bothered Blue"

"Jonathan's novel is littered with lyrics and titles of songs that don't exist (half of "Who's Calling Me" is by Jonathan.) But the most important fictional song in the book is The Subtle Distinctions' biggest hit, 'Bothered Blue'. Trying to write a pop song armed only with a title seemed insane at first (though I guess that's how the Brill Building worked, no?), until I remembered that I was writing as Junior, who has a pretty distinctive voice. There's a moment about three quarters of the way through the song which is all about the amazing Kim Grigsby dancing the groove for the rhythm section."

Photo Credit: Craig Schwartz & Public Theater