BWW Interview - Composers Michael Weiner & Alan Zachary Chat ONCE UPON A TIME's Musical Episode

This Sunday, ABC will present the highly-anticipated musical episode of ONCE UPON A TIME entitled "The Song in Your Heart", featuring all-new original music from FIRST DATE composers Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner. In the episode, Snow and Charming make a special wish that Emma will be protected. The result of their wish has the whole kingdom bursting into song which infuriates the Evil Queen. The episode airs SUNDAY, MAY 7 (8:00-9:00 p.m. EDT), on ABC.

Today, talented composers Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner speak exclusively to BWW and explain how they pulled off an original musical episode of this beloved series!

How did you first become involved with writing the music for this special episode?

We have been fans of ONCE UPON A TIME for years and always thought it was a natural for a musical episode. It's fairy tales and Disney but with a darker twist. We discovered that many ONCE fans have asked for a musical episode since Season 1 and that the

creators, Eddy Kitsis and ADAM HOROWITZ, were open to the idea but didn't know where to start. We called one of our reps, the amazing Richard Kraft, and exclaimed "We know where to start and how to pull this off!" Richard set a meeting for us with Dawn Soler, the head of music at ABC. Dawn loved the idea and she introduced us to Eddy and Adam. The four of us sat in a room and discussed the possibilities and to our complete amazement, Eddy and Adam jumped onboard and agreed to let us develop a musical episode with them and write the songs.

Being such big fans of the show proved very helpful when we first met Eddy and Adam. We were able to show that we really understood the world of the series, the tone and the characters. We assured them that whatever songs we wrote would be consistent with the world they so brilliantly created.

Can you talk a little bit about that collaboration and how you were able to make the music feel organic to the story? How did you decide at what point in the script a song was appropriate?

TV is an incredibly collaborative medium, just like theatre. We had a few meetings with the writers where we discussed why characters break out into song in musicals. We discussed the kinds of things that only musicals can do - like revealing the innermost emotions of a character or forwarding story within the context of any given song. Then we brainstormed ways in which those rules and concepts applied to the characters and story of ONCE UPON A TIME. Eventually the writers created a detailed scene by scene outline with song ideas, and we all refined it from there. We tried to make sure that the songs happened at the most dramatic emotional moment for any given character within the episode. In fact, it was really important to the writers that music was an integral part of the story, and they came up with a fantastic idea that connects the idea of a song and singing to the entire mythology of the show.

Stylistically, did you write each song with the characters' personalities in mind or were the songs written to suit the voices of the actors?

Both. When we were developing the episode in the writers' room, we discussed what style of music would be appropriate for each character. For example, Eddy and Adam always saw the Evil Queen as a rock star, so we landed on a song that's a little Bowie, a little Rocky Horror, with a nod to traditional Disney all at the same time. Captain Hook is a swaggering bad boy who wears eyeliner so we were like... Freddie Mercury! This guy should have a Queen-inspired rock/sea shanty song. After we settled on musical influences for each number, we met with the actors and heard them sing. This was invaluable because not only were we reassured that we were dealing with talented performers who could actually sing very well, but we determined their ranges and vocal abilities and were able to tailor each of their songs to their specific strengths.

Were you at all inspired by the original Disney songs these characters sang in their respective Disney films?

We are huge Disney fans, having grown up watching the animated features and frequenting the theme parks. In fact, the first project we ever wrote together was a screenplay and six songs for an animated musical feature based on a fairy tale. We were in high school and were convinced Disney would buy the movie from us, and we'd be seventeen years old with offices on the lot and then a show on Broadway. It didn't quite happen that fast but here we are, getting to write for fairy tale characters connected to the Disney brand. It's a huge honor. We are always influenced by the classic Disney

songs, which are some of the best songs ever written, but most important to us was staying true to Eddy and Adam's vision of what their versions of these characters were. The Evil Queen in SNOW WHITE probably wouldn't sing a hard rock song but in the ONCE world... she does!

What are you most excited for fans of the show to see in this episode?

We're most excited for fans of the show (and musicals) to get to watch an entirely original musical episode on TV. There are seven songs and over 20 minutes of music in the hour-long episode. So it's truly a mini-original musical in one hour.

Do you think there will be future musical episodes for the show?

That would be nice. We wouldn't argue!

When did the two of you first begin to collaborate together? What is it that makes you such a successful writing team?

We started collaborating together in high school. We jokingly refer to ourselves as "drama jocks." You'd never find us on the sports team, but you'd find us in the auditorium performing in our high school's musicals. We're both piano players and lyricists, so we write both music and lyrics together, which is a little unusual. But that's probably one of the things that's made us a successful writing team - we're not overly precious about our work. We try to push each other as much as we can. And we truly enjoy the process of collaborating with every department on a project. Whether it's producers, writers, directors, choreographers, designers, interns - good ideas can emerge from anyone at any time. It doesn't have to be our idea, but if it makes the song or the project better, than that's what you go with. It becomes an egoless process when everyone is working in sync to create something that feels like only one person could have created it.

Check out the full song list and a promo for Sunday's episode HERE.

Below, watch Lana Parrilla sing as the Evil Queen in Sunday's episode:

Alan Zachary and Michael Weiner recently wrote all the songs for the musical epiosde of ABC's ONCE UPON A TIME. They are best known fo rtheir Broadway musical FIRST DATE, which enjoyed a sold-out world premiere at Seattle's 5th Avenue/ACT Theatres, prior to opening on Broadway at the Longacre Theatre, starring Zachary Levi and Krysta Rodriguez. FIRST DATE has since been produced in theaters around the globe.

The duo also wrote music and lyrics for a Broadway musical adaptation of the film SECONDHAND LIONS, which premiered at Seattle's 5th Avenue Theatre. Upcoming stage musicals include 17 GAIN and INTERMISSION! and original musical comedy with Jerry Zucker.

The team wrote the script and songs for the musical act of Harry Potter, CELESTINA WARBECK & THE BANSHEES, currently playing at Universal Studios Orlando. They also wrote the book and songs for Disney Cruise Line's long-running original stage musical TWICE CHARMED and have created sons and stage shows for Disney theme Parks around the globe.

Their film and TV credits include songs written for pilots and movies for FOX, Disney Channel, VH1, Nickelodeon and Amazon Studios. They are the recipients of the ASCAP Foundation Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award.

Source: zacharyandweiner.com

Images: Facebook/Alan Zachary & Michael Weiner

Once Upon a Time photo credit: ABC/Jack Rowand