BWW Blog: Pop Culture Trends Turned Into Musicals

I am thrilled to share with you the work of my amazingly talented friend, Daniel Ruffing! We first worked together in the social media team for the academic premiere of Kinky Boots. From there, I started to get to know his work as a composer! He has been writing music for six years now and has even premiered a musical at Feinstein's/54 Below in NYC. Daniel has a special talent to attach pop culture and popular trends to his creations. Like writing a song out of Kylie Jenner's "Rise and Shine" meme or turning Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt into an 11 o' clock number.

I've interviewed Daniel on the process of developing an original musical called "Life Song." Keep an eye on him, BroadwayWorld because this can be the next musical theatre hit!

IS: What inspired you to write Life Song?

DR: I've always wanted to write a fully original musical, and I've always wanted to do something with my mom's music, especially her song "Life Song." I like to experiment with re-arranging songs to have a more "musical theatre" vibe, so one day I decided to do that with the song, and it fit really well. I also wanted to explore the Estonian Singing Revolution, since it seems perfect for the stage and hasn't really been done (but I do know there's another musical about it now)!

IS: Talk a little bit about your process of writing/creating this show. How long have you been working on it, how many people are involved, etc.

DR: We've been developing this musical for about two years now. We're making sure that we do everything in the order that makes the most sense for the development of the show. Right now, I'm working with Jack-Anthony Ina, Lindsay Miller, Grace Oddo, and Emily Polycn on finalizing the script and score. We're taking a more devised approach to things, so it's really exciting to see everything take shape. For many of us, this is the first show we've ever worked on from the ground up, so it's a huge learning experience. We don't have much to base our choices off of, so it's a lot of risk taking!

IS: As a young artist starting your career in college, what are some strategies you've been using to get your work out there?

DR: I've found that social media really is the name of the game. TikTok especially! I've been slowly building up a list of all the different hashtags and posting times that make the most sense for my videos to get attention when they're posted. It's all about making sure you keep yourself relevant and as up to date with trends and things like that as possible. A few times, I've been able to recognize a trend just as it's surfacing, write a song or two based on it within the next day, post it, and basically have my song ready at the same time the trend reaches the mainstream, allowing my video to get recommended more and get more attention. Another very very VERY important thing I think has made a huge impact is that I've been unafraid to ask. Ask for help, ask for shout-outs, ask for shares! The worst case scenario is a "no," so you really do miss 100% of the shots you don't take.

IS: You have put on a couple of concerts at Baldwin Wallace. What have you learned from them?

DR: I have! They've been incredible learning experiences since they've given me some great knowledge about the producing and development side of things, as well as the front line (ticket sales, ushering, etc) side of things. I'm not just learning about a certain thing and neglecting every other potential skill-- I can really get experience in every side of the theatre world, which is really nice.

IS: Talk a little bit about your residency.

DR: I'll be an artist in residence at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony in Temecula, California. During the residency, I'll be finishing up the score for LIFE SONG and refining everything, recording demos, and more. This is the first residency I've done, and I'm really excited!

IS: What are your dreams/plans for the future of Life Song?

DR: I would LOVE for this show to open on Broadway one day, like any other composer would dream! Even just to have some Broadway performers help demo the work would be a dream come true for me. Once I finish the residency, we'll begin seeking out further development opportunities, like some workshops or test runs!

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