InDepth InterView: Bruce Cohen On UPRISING OF LOVE Charity Event, PUSHING DAISIES: THE MUSICAL, Upcoming Projects & More

Today we are talking to a noted Academy Award-winning stage and screen producer all about his sensational career trajectory thus far as we look ahead to this week's LGBT awareness-raising charity event, UPRISING OF LOVE - the talented Bruce Cohen. Discussing his friendship with noted composer and UPRISING OF LOVE co-producer Stephen Schwartz, Cohen details what audiences can expect from the star-studded evening of information and entertainment, scripted by none other than Cohen's Oscar-winning MILK collaborator Dustin Lance Black, starring a slew of Broadway's best. Furthermore, Cohen outlines how he first became involved with the UPRISING OF LOVE movement at the 2014 Sochi Olympics. Additionally, Cohen shares his enthusiasm for the impressive spate of performers scheduled to take the stage of the Gershwin Theater, home of WICKED, for the one-night-only experience - including recording icon Sting, Broadway legend Patti LuPone, recent Tony Award winner Billy Porter, plus the casts of WICKED, I AM HARVEY MILK and more. Plus, Cohen teases preliminary prospective plans to pursue a stage iteration of TV cult hit PUSHING DAISIES with creator Bryan Fuller, shares memories of working with Steven Spielberg on a number of projects, as well as reflects on producing last season's BIG FISH on Broadway, as well as comments on his Oscar-winning work on AMERICAN BEAUTY, SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK, upcoming projects and much more!

More information on UPRISING OF LOVE on September 15 at the Gershwin Theatre is available at the official site here.

Silver Linings

PC: Can you tell me how you became involved with UPRISING OF LOVE in the first place?

BC: Well, to go back to the very beginning, this all started about a year and a half ago - last summer, when suddenly the awful news of all these horrible anti-gay laws were coming out of Russia. A lot of people in the United States wanted to do something about it, so Melissa Etheridge and I and a lot of other people from the entertainment industry founded UPRISING OF LOVE, which was the entertainment industry's response to what was going on over there. What we set out to do was raise money and raise awareness about the situation. Then, after the Sochi Olympics, in that ensuing time so much had been happening that concerned LGBT rights all around the globe that we had the dream to make UPRISING OF LOVE not just center on Russia, but go global.

PC: How beneficial for all.

BC: During that same time, Stephen Schwartz had been one of our UPRISING coalition members from the beginning, so he approached us and he said, "If I was able to get you the Gershwin Theatre," which is where WICKED is, his musical, "And book you some amazing musical talent, would you consider letting a benefit be done there for UPRISING OF LOVE?" Well, duh! [Laughs.]

PC: An easy question to answer, no doubt!

BC: Exactly! When you get offers like that, sometimes you pinch yourself, like, "Am I dreaming?!" So, anyway, we had the idea, "This is the perfect opportunity to launch the sort of global version of UPRISING OF LOVE." And, so, now, the mission for the concert is to raise money and awareness for the global LGBT situation. In addition to these incredible performers - who will be very entertaining, of course - we also really wanted to teach the audience something and give them a lot of information about what is going on around the world in relation to this issue - especially some specific countries - to give them a sense of the amazingly inspiring work that is happening in these countries, but also how difficult and scary and illegal being gay can be in those places. There is still a lot of work left to be done.

PC: You can say that again.

BC: We also asked Dustin Lance Black to come and write the evening for us. I think that will really set it apart from other benefits like this.

PC: Undoubtedly.

BC: There is actually a script and there actually will be a story that will be threaded through the whole evening. So, the spoken word part of the evening will be as beautiful and as meaningful and as much a part of the night as the musical performances will be.

PC: How fantastic that UPRISING OF LOVE is growing - going global, as a matter of fact - starting now.

BC: Yeah, we are really excited about it.

PC: You actually produced a segment for the Olympics in the past, did you not?

BC: Well, it was actually two different things that I produced over the years for the Olympics - but, nothing quite as grand as the opening ceremonies or anything, though; at least not yet!

PC: Room to dream!

BC: Right! That is a huge, huge dream of mine. Don Mischer, who I produced the Oscars with, is one of the great opening ceremonies producers, so that is definitely a dream of mine - just not something I have gotten the chance to do yet.

PC: Daniel Ezralow told me some fascinating things about staging this year's ceremony earlier this year, actually (available here).

BC: How cool. As an Olympic fan, though, it was horrifying for me to watch it all - on the one hand, I was so excited about the Olympics themselves; but, then, on the other hand, despite everybody's swearing to the contrary, it really turned out to be a propaganda piece for Putin and for Russia. Two weeks later, they started invading Ukraine, of course - so, there you have it.

PC: This UPRISING OF LOVE benefit will certainly keep the momentum going in the right direction.

BC: Definitely. That is our hope for it.

PC: GLEE actually did a special episode focusing on LGBT-bashing this year, as well - and, of course, one of the show's stars, Jane Lynch, is hosting UPRISING OF LOVE.

BC: How wonderful. I know about that and I am so thrilled to have Jane be a part of this and be our host for it.

PC: Did you perhaps attempt to involve your BIG FISH director and choreographer Susan Stroman in the proceedings?

BC: Unfortunately, a benefit doesn't usually have the time and the means to have a bunch of choreography, so, with apologies to Stro, we are going to be a little choreography-lite! [Laughs.]

PC: Of course, your relationship with BIG FISH composer Andrew Lippa has extended beyond that enterprise to this.

BC: Yes, the cast of I AM HARVEY MILK will be performing a number from it as part of UPRISING OF LOVE benefit and we will be doing another benefit with them later this year.

PC: What other music can we expect?

BC: We have spoken to all the performers about what the evening is and what is going on globally and what we are raising money for and what the goal of the evening is, and they have all picked sings from their repertoires that they feel are meaningful to that and can be woven into the program. So, people will not be singing songs from their shows - they will be singing songs from their own songbooks. I say this with the exception of Sting, who is performing his own numbers and also a number from THE LAST SHIP.

PC: It would be a bit disappointing without that!

BC: Yeah, yeah - of course.

PC: Are you planning future UPRISING OF LOVE benefits yet?

BC: Well, as I told you before, this is really the first time that we've done this together - Stephen and I have known each other for a while, but this is actually the first time we have worked on something together like this. Needless to say, it is a huge, huge thrill for me to work with him on this - to be honest, still, every time I see "Stephen Schwartz and Bruce Cohen present," I get goosebumps.

PC: You're a fan, I take it?

BC: Oh, yes! And, I very much hope that this isn't the only time we collaborate - on this and on other projects; that's for sure.

PC: What an impressive list of presenters, as well.

BC: Yes, indeed. There is going to be a little bit of everything - arts and politics and sports and so on. We really feel that it is going to be a very special night - and a very moving night, especially with Lance involved writing it.

PC: It's a true marriage of Broadway and Hollywood.

BC: It is. But, you know, I am a New Yorker now! [Laughs.]

PC: Were you involved in theatre as a child or was BIG FISH basically your entrée into the world of Broadway?

BC: Actually, I grew up on the East Coast and started going to Broadway as a little kid, so I have always been a theatre fan. And, then, I ended up producing a lot of live events in LA - I produced the Oscars a few years ago and other things. So, that all sort of gave me the theatre bug a little bit more, and, then, BIG FISH was my first Broadway musical, but hopefully not my last!

PC: Have you been involved with developing other stage projects over the years?

BC: I actually have two new projects in development right now, but they are still a ways away from being ready for workshops. We are moving slowly torwards that with them, though.

PC: SILVER LININGS PLAYBOOK seems a likely candidate for musicalization, no?

BC: Well, Pat, I can tell you that you are not the first person who has mentioned that idea to me. [Laughs.]

PC: Patti LuPone herself actually told me what a fan she is of that film when she did this column (available here).

BC: [Big Laugh.] I didn't know that! I'll have to ask her about that when I see her now that you are mentioning it to me! Thank you for telling me that.

PC: Is PUSHING DAISES: THE MUSICAL something that you are actively considering at the moment? Bryan Fuller has spoken about it in interviews recently as something he is actively considering.

BC: Yes. That has always been a dream of the whole PUSHING DAISIES team - to do a musical version of it.

PC: It seems to have attracted quite a lot of interest from fans, so hopefully it happens.

BC: Yeah, we will see what happens. There is no official plan yet, just a lot of people really wanting it to happen - but, that's how a lot of things get started.

PC: PUSHING DAISIES star Kristin Chenoweth has expressed interest and she will also be working with you on the I AM HARVEY MILK concert coming up, correct?

BC: Yes, indeed - yes, indeed.

PC: Given you worked on HOOK together, I was curious if you had any memories of working with Robin Williams on that?

BC: I do. Robin was the most wonderful and magical man. Weirdly, three or four days before he died I was in Los Angeles and I was standing there looking at my bookshelf in my office - I still have an office there even though I live in New York now - and I saw this little book on my shelf, and, I thought, "Oh, what is this?" So, I took it down and looked at it: it was a miniature, leather-bound version of the HOOK script. And, I remembered that it had been Robin's gift to some of the cast-members and some of the crew members at the end of the shoot.

PC: Wow.

BC: Yeah. I was standing there holding it - this book I hadn't thought about in 20 years - and I opened it up and he had written me this beautiful inscription. Just like Robin, it was really moving and really funny.

PC: What did it say?

BC: It was about this private joke that he and I had had that I hadn't thought about in 20 years since then and I laughed out loud and had this beautiful moment of remembering him and how much I loved him, and, then, three days later tragedy hit.

PC: Indeed. Second unit director to Oscar-winning producer - quite rare!

BC: It's quite funny you say that, actually, Pat, because the night I won my Oscar for AMERICAN BEAUTY, Spielberg told me that I was the only person who had done that, too! [Laughs.]

PC: What a memory!

BC: I don't know if it's actually true or not, but just the simple fact that he thought enough to tell me that is one of the special highlights of that incredible evening for me.

PC: UPRISING OF LOVE star Patti LuPone did 1941 with him right before you worked with him, as a matter of fact.

BC: Oh, I had forgotten about that! That's right! Actually, the first movie I did with Steven was THE COLOR PURPLE, which was right after 1941, but I didn't work on 1941.

PC: And now here we are, 30 years later!

BC: I know! I was only 25 working on THE COLOR PURPLE.

PC: AMERICAN BEAUTY is such a masterpiece, will you ever team up with Alan Ball again? Is he ever doing another movie?

BC: Aww, thank you for saying that. He's actually getting ready to shoot one! It's an amazing script.

PC: What's it about?

BC: It's the true story of the Chippendales - the whole beginning of that company. They are either already shooting or going to start shooting any day now. So, yes, there is another Alan Ball movie on the way.

PC: What's next for you?

BC: My next movie, BLEED FOR THIS, starts shooting in November. It's with Miles Teller and Aaron Eckhart. It's a beautiful story that Ben Younger wrote and is directing. I think Miles is just going to be absolutely fantastic in it. So, that's the big next thing for me - that's only two months away now.

PC: This was such a great chat, Bruce. Thank you so much. I hope UPRISING OF LOVE is a huge success.

BC: Thank you, Pat! We really think it's going to be great! This was fantastic. OK, bye.