INTERVIEW: Lewis Flinn hopes to bring ‘Too Wong Foo’ to Broadway, but first a NYC concert
Photo: Lewis Flinn, composer of Lysistrata Jones, will offer a concert June 20 in New York City. Photo courtesy of the artist / Provided by KSA PR with permission.
On Friday, June 20, the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York City will welcome acclaimed composer Lewis Flinn for a one-night-only concert that will feature musical theater star Julie Benko and opera performer Susanna Phillips. Flinn is one of the creative forces behind Lysistrata Jones, a beloved show that made it to Broadway, and the new project To Wong Foo, based on the hit film. His other credits include everything from Like Love to The Winner, according to his official biography.
Flinn has had a long collaboration with writer Douglas Carter Beane, his husband, and playwright Charles Busch, bringing original compositions to shows like Die Mommie Die!, The Divine Sister and The Third Story, among others. There’s hardly a theater company in New York City that he hasn’t worked with over the years, and he’ll bring many of his celebrated tunes to the June 20 concert.
Recently Flinn exchanged emails with Hollywood Soapbox and opened up about working with Beane, Busch, Benko and Phillips. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can audience members expect at this special concert on Friday, June 20?
I think they will be wowed by the vocals of Julie Benko and Susanna Phillips; they are powerhouse singers, to put it mildly. I’ll also be singing a lot of the original versions of songs that have gone on to be in my Broadway show Lysisitrata Jones, so that will be fun. I’ll also be joined by my longtime music director Brad Simmons and vocalist Biti Strauchn, so there will be a lot of great harmonies and vocal arrangements.
When did you first become friends with Julie Benko and Susanna Phillips?
Julie is the lead of a new project my husband, Douglas Carter Beane, and I are developing called Up With America, so we’ve become friends through that process. And Susanna is now a longtime friend. We met when she was the lead of Die Fledermaus at the Met and Doug, my husband, had written the new libretto back in 2014. Fun fact: We introduced Susanna to my high school and college roommate at our wedding in 2014, and they are now married!
How did you develop your relationship with Charles Busch? Has that been a satisfying collaboration?
I first met Charles and Carl Andress, his director, through Drama Department [Theater Company]. They were planning to mount the stage version of Die Mommie Die! off-Broadway and asked me to write and produce the songs for the show, which needed to be “period,” as well as the score. That was a big job but great working [with] them. Charles is just so kind and smart, and sure of himself and his point of view. I also wrote the songs for Divine Sister, which has a hoot to write faux Sound of Music-type music. It is always fun to “stretch” out of my comfort zone and write songs that sound authentic of a certain style or period yet appropriately comic for Charles’ productions. I had a great time scoring his latest film, The Sixth Reel, which was a COVID project, so all done remotely and by Zoom. Those were the days.
What are your memories when you think back to the Broadway run of Lysistrata Jones?
What a whirlwind. I don’t think a move like that could happen again today. We had a successful run in Dallas but we couldn’t get people down to see it. It was in February, and there were storms the one weekend we had left in the run after the reviews landed. So we decided to essentially self-produce it in NYC with Transport Group. We literally built the theater it was going to be performed in. Our church, Judson, had an unused indoor basketball court, which we converted into a working theater (it is now the Gym at Judson). Between trying to write and orchestrate the show, I would be meeting with Con Ed to talk about getting enough power into the space for the lighting, and rigging companies to install a grid to hang lights from.
We opened in June. The reviews were amazing, and then we were on Broadway in November! Hindsight is 20-20, so maybe the move was too fast. But many had their Broadway debuts, and we all had a wild ride. That’s for sure! There is a revival in the works, so stay tuned!
Is there a hope of bringing To Wong Foo to Broadway?
Yes! We did our “out-of-town” run in Manchester, United Kingdom, and now are bringing it back to the States. We plan to open at the Kennedy Center next fall (that’s a bad joke). It is amazing that this ground-breaking film about acceptance and tolerance, which was #1 at the box office in the ’90s, is remarkably even more culturally relevant today. I think it is crucial for theaters and the artistic community to meet this moment in history, and luckily brave producers are coming forward.
What does a composing session look like? You’re at the piano? Early in the morning? Late at night?
I have a small studio in an office building across the street from our apartment and will essentially produce a rough demo of the songs. I sing all the parts. Depending on the turn-around time, I will keep producing the tracks (I also do my own orchestrations) so that the demo is pretty close to what it might sound like on stage. I then will send this demo to my collaborators, which is often my husband, Douglas Carter Beane, who also directs, [and] choreographers, designers. I’ve found that it is very hard for anyone to listen to a poorly produced or a rough piano/vocal demo and imagine what the song might be. So this initial demo is important for to communicate what’s in my head. However, sometimes, if we are in rehearsal, I will just send the demo to my copyist, and it will be in rehearsal the next day. I can work at most anytime. I’m pretty deadline-specific so can write most anytime, although I save the vocals for night, after normal “office hours,” so I’m not bothering the acupuncture studio next door!
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Lewis Flinn will perform Friday, June 20, at the Laurie Beechman Theatre in New York City. Julie Benko and Susanna Phillips will be guest singers for the special eventing. Click here for more information and tickets.
