Cindy Lauper on why she was fearless about writing her first Broadway show; What would happen if Hasbro buys DreamWorks Animation?; Pete Nowalk talks about creating "How to Get Away with Murder"; Jill Soloway on the first time she saw a set being built for a script she wrote.
Peter Nowalk: From the mailroom to 'Murder' boss
Long before Peter Nowalk created the hit ABC show, "How To Get Away With Murder," he worked in the mailroom dubbing VHS videos. "I had to sit in a little closet and press record on actor demos and screeners," he says.
Nowalk wrote his experiences working at the bottom of the entertainment industry in the book, "The Hollywood Assistants Handbook: 86 Rules for Aspiring Power Players." The book was published in 2008 around the same time Nowalk began working as a writer on ABC's "Private Practice." It was on that show where he began his relationship with Shonda Rhimes, and where he began his move from the bottom of the call sheet to the very top.
We talked with Nowalk about working with Rhimes, his inspiration for "How To Get Away With Murder," and how Viola Davis inspires him.
Interview Highlights
The first job Nowalk had in television:
I actually got my first job on "Private Practice" when they spun off Kate Walsh's character. So when that show started, I'd never been in a writers' room. Betsy Beers and Shonda Rhimes were very nice to read a script of mine and hire me on that. And I worked there for a few months and then "Grey's Anatomy" was short on writers, so I got moved. And it's so intimidating to be in the writers' room at first... and I've never been a writer's assistant or anything like that. So it was all very new to me.
Nowalk on going to "school":
I feel like I grew up in Shonda Land University if you wanna call it that. The best thing [Beers and Rhimes] did for me, personally, was just encourage me and give me confidence. And for someone as successful as both of them to say, "You know what? You are good at this and you can do this." That helps you a lot when you're very insecure writing your first script and also when you're turning in your first script and they're like, "Oh, we need to rewrite this from page one," which happens all the time and it happened to me. So I'm saying that for all the writers out there: don't beat yourself up too much.
Lessons from Rhimes:
What I learned from Shonda is to trust your gut, and she has always been so confident in her vision and willing to put herself out there and to take a risk with her story lines that might seem — to other people — not right. But they're right in her head, so she does them and it's really paid off. She's taken these huge risks in all of her shows and she's reinvented TV because of that. So I've tried to just keep my blinders on sometimes and just be like, You know what? My first instinct — I like that the best and I'm gonna do it. I'm sure there's critics out there or viewers who are like, Ew! I wish you didn't trust that first instinct. But it allows me to learn and it's really the only way that you can keep the writers' room going.
On how '80s and '90s legal thrillers inspired "How To Get Away With Murder":
I think there was a lack of the legal thrillers that I would watch. I love "Presumed Innocent" and "Jagged Edge," with those crazy twists and those kind of forbidden romances and the frothy fun legal thriller that they just don't make so much in the movies anymore. So my take was that I wanted to do a show that recreated those movies I used to love.
Nowalk never thought he would get Viola Davis:
The minute her name came up, it was like, Well, she'll never do TV, and I — as a first time person making a pilot — wasn't gonna be like, But my script's really good! This Oscar nominated actress would probably wanna do it. I'd sound really arrogant and naive. When Viola finally got the script and we waited on pins-and-needles for her to read it, she had such insight already into the character. And from the beginning she said she would love to see [her character] Annalise in private moments where you see the mask come off. And so, she had pitched the idea of, "Every black woman — before they go to bed — takes off their hair or deals with their hair in some way." And she really wanted to see that. And I, as a white man, did not have experience or personal knowledge of that.
On not letting the show's success go to his head:
I'm trying not to do that, because just as many people who are enthusiastic — I'm similar to a lot of writers out there — I also worry about all the people who hate it [laughs]. So if I have to think about what makes it successful, I also have to think why people don't like it. To have a successful show is a fluke and we're only a few episodes in. So, that's my biggest fear, is that you're only as good as your last episode. And how are we gonna keep this up and are people gonna eventually reject it? I go through all those neurotic scared places. So all I do is spend a lot of time with my awesome writers in the room and not to think about why people like it or why they don't and just stay true to the story.
On why he doesn't think he's "made it":
I'm still faking it in a way because that's what these jobs are. You're just learning as you go. I also think what's really interesting is that's one of the themes of the show — all the characters are wearing masks and trying to project one thing in life where they feel different inside. And I feel like that's the psychological thriller aspect of the show that I've been loving as we're writing it. And especially with the character of Annalise. Who is she really? She puts on all these different fronts, but that is something else that I hope the audience will be really interested to go on — the journey of us uncovering who the real Annalise is. Cause she is definitely a person who is faking just as I think we all do in a way.
"How to Get Away With Murder" airs on Thursday nights at 10:00 on ABC.
The Frame 'First': Jill Soloway on seeing her writing come to life in 'Six Feet Under'
TV writer Jill Soloway's big break came when producer Alan Ball hired her to write for the hit show, "Six Feet Under." When she came into The Frame studio to talk about her latest show, "Transparent," we asked her about the first time she saw a script she'd written becoming a reality.
The first time that I saw people actually make the thing that I wrote was my first episode of "Six Feet Under." It was called "Back To The Garden." In that episode, Claire went to visit her relatives that lived out in Topanga and I wrote this scene. It took place in a treehouse and I was walking along the lot and the episode was going to be shot the following week. I was walking past the stage and I saw five or six people building a tree and a treehouse on a stage, and I stopped and looked and stared. I guess I just forgot that somebody was gonna actually make it when I wrote the scene in the treehouse. I'll never forget that moment of staring at that treehouse and knowing that this thing that originated in my mind would be filmed and then shared with people. It was one of the most exciting moments of my life.
'Kinky Boots': Cyndi Lauper 'wasn't afraid of failing' in Broadway debut
Sometimes unlikely combinations, like pickles and peanut butter, can end up working wonders. That's precisely what happened with the team behind the musical "Kinky Boots."
Originally released as a 2005 British indie movie, "Kinky Boots" failed to make waves in the United States but did manage to catch the attention of
, the actor and playwright who's won multiple Tony Awards for productions like "Torch Song Trilogy" and "Hairspray."
Fierstein decided that he wanted Cyndi Lauper, to write the music and lyrics for his stage version of "Kinky Boots," even though the pop star had never written for Broadway before. Harvey's choice worked out. "Kinky Boots" won six Tony Awards, including the Tony for "Best Musical," while Lauper won the Tony for "Best Score."
We caught up with Fierstein, Lauper, and the show's director and choreographer,
, while they were in Los Angeles this week for the opening of the touring production of "Kinky Boots," where they discussed their unlikely collaboration and drawing inspiration from each other's confidence.
Interview Highlights:
Harvey, why did you decide to bring Cyndi on to the project?
First of all, I knew she loved theater, and we'd already talked about theater, we talked about writing something together, about something autobiographical for her. And I'd seen her do "The Threepenny Opera," and so I knew she had a real feeling for theater, and I thought the club numbers would be a good entree for her into it. I didn't know in any way whether she would be able to do book scenes or anything like that, but I knew we could sneak her in that way, and instead she blew me away in every way she could.
So if Harvey didn't know if you could do it, did you know if you could do it?
No, I just did what I thought he wanted. First of all, I'd been kicked in the keister a couple times with my record company, and I just figured, You know, here's a guy calling me up and he wanted me to write something for him and he is a friend, and then he's working with Jerry [Mitchell], and Jerry's a friend. I worked with Jerry and he's a lot of fun, and so is Harvey, he's funny. And I thought, You know, because he had so much faith in me, I would really try and make them have something that's really great. I'll try my best, and if it's not right the first time you keep trying until you get it. And you do whatever it takes to get it right.
Cyndi, how did you go about writing songs for a musical adapted from a movie? Did the movie itself suggest anything musical to you?
See, what you're not hearing is that I don't know anything. [laughs] Ignorance is great, because I wasn't afraid of failing, because I'd already failed at other things, and this was an opportunity. Harvey kept saying that there are no rules, so the only thing I did, like the first time I looked at it I said, "Wow, that's a really good song, how am I gonna write a song like that?" So first I thought it was going to be like Eartha Kitt, so I went off the deep end in the wrong way, and the first guy that I tortured with that song was Jerry, because I was calling him up and leaving phone messages of myself singing. And then I called Harvey, and as I was writing I left other messages, and he always tells this story about when I forgot that I was under the hairdryer and I thought he could hear me singing in the phone.
Harvey?
This is the recording I got: "Harvey, Harvey, I've got a great idea for a song! Here's the hook: PHWOOOOOO!" [laughs]
Cyndi, talk a little bit about the success of the show.
Who would have thought? I just wanted people to hear it. Even thought I've had a lot of success I was told how untalented I was, and how dopey [I was], and though your fans tell you that you're great, you can't read your press, cause, you know. But I never felt good about myself. And when I was able to work with them and when they thought I was good enough to do something for them, I really hauled ass as best I could.
Harvey, what are your thoughts on doing another show together?
It has to be the right thing. We've had a bunch of stuff come to us, but, you know, don't rush it. There's no reason to rush it, it'll be the right thing, and you have to let the well refill. And you have to let life happen to you again, and you have to get to the next place in life and have something else you want to say together. The last thing we want to do is repeat what we just did.
You can catch "Kinky Boots" at the Pantages Theater in Hollywood, where it's playing through November 30th.