Andrew Lippa discusses Harvey Milk, new London musical

Born in Leeds, now living in New York with his husband David, Andrew Lippa is a name that carries significant weight to musical theatre fans. His talent is thoroughly unique; he’s composed some of Broadway’s biggest musicals, and is an accomplished singer and performer himself. His most recent musical work I Am Harvey Milk brought the story of the gay rights icon to life.

London’s West End has been short changed of his full musicals, which include commercial and critical hits such as The Wild Party, Big Fish and The Addams Family. Thankfully, a compilation musical The Life of the Party – A Celebration of the Songs of Andrew Lippa, is set to open at the intimate Menier Chocolate Factory in Southwark, starring theatre starlet Summer Strallen, Caroline O’Connor, Damian Humbley and the man himself. Attitude sent Dom O’Hanlon to find out more.

What can audiences expect from The Life of the Party?
“Well it’s not a cabaret, it’s a musical. I guess the difference between this and any other songbook type show is – I don’t know of any other show where the composer and lyricist was in it the whole way through. The famous ones are like Side by Side by Sondheim, or As the World Goes Round, the Kander and Ebb one – but they weren’t in it. I don’t want to give too much away, but it’s not just me at the piano. It’s totally theatrical – there’s set, costume, musicians. When I was in college, at the University of Michigan, my teachers could see I was really eager to be composing, conducting, singing, acting – so this is really my opportunity to go back to all those things, and I’m just really thrilled that the Chocolate Factory has decided to do this.”

You were born in Leeds – is that why you want to bring things over here?
“I love being here. I am still a British citizen; therefore it’s much easier to work. I just love everything about London. It’s quite a wonderful thing. I suppose it’s the same thing the other way round – it’s amazing that there’s another theatrical culture in the same language. It’s also an opportunity for new people to discover my work and say, ‘Hey – he’s been doing this for 20 years in New York, but here he is!’ I’m going to be 50 this year, and there is nothing better than being a 50-year-old newbie! That feels fun to me like the beginning of something.”

Do you find a difference between UK and US audiences?
“Well in my previous concert here I did worry about my sense of humour, I worried about the audience not finding me funny, but they were very amused by me which was pleasing. There’s also the opportunity… we have a couple of moments in the show that are a little on the ‘blue’ side, and I think British audiences love that kind of stuff. American audiences are a little bit more tepid.”

In terms of the industry, what do you feel are the main differences between New York and London?
“I think there is a different atmosphere. It’s hard to put your finger on it. One thing is that theatre here like a thing that many more people partake in. It’s less elitist in terms of audiences. I just think it’s more expensive to see a Broadway show, and there is a division between Broadway and everything else – the Tony Awards for example only really represent Broadway, and like every other kind of award, they are a marketing tool and advertising. They don’t always mean the right thing – every year people are up in arms about who got snubbed. The Olivier Awards are spread out here, it seems like a more ecumenical environment – we’re all making art so let’s celebrate it. This is the land that bore Shakespeare, so I think there’s a sense of ‘we got there first’, and it’s interesting with the language. This is where the English language was born and developed – I think it’s a beautiful language and an endlessly inventive one.”

You mention the Tony Awards – are they something that you ever get hung up about as a composer? I think the nominations for Best New Musical do not reflect the best work of the season.
“I think this year is an unusual year. It’s a strange year insomuch as the majority of people who I’d say are frequent contributors to the industry, such as Jason Robert Brown, Jeanine Tesori, me – this year our shows were just not embraced. Some people were – and there can only be some people. It’s always a mystery and I never involve myself in that. Otherwise you’d go crazy trying to figure it out. I don’t let it affect me. At this point in my career I have more support than I’ve ever had, more people wanting to do my work, more places doing my work, more active titles – I’m so grateful that I have this body of work. Last year was about doing Big Fish, but it was really about doing I Am Harvey Milk. That reminded me that I am an artist, and making things is what I love to do, and as long as I have people who want to put them on, then my life is very good.”

The list of people you have worked with over the years is just extraordinary, it covers absolutely everyone. Do you ever just sit at a piano and think ‘I can’t believe this person is singing my song?’
“I always do. I always feel like that. Last Saturday night Kristin Chenoweth performed a solo evening at Carnegie Hall, and I was one of her surprise guest stars. We did My New Philosophy, the song I wrote for her for You’re a Good Man Charlie Brown. Normally when I do that number with her I’d be at the piano, but she said to me, ‘this time I want you to be an actor out on stage with me’. She sang this song of mine called One Day, which is from the point of view of a woman – and you find out in the middle of the song that her brother is marrying a man, and the song is about the support of gay marriage. And Kristin sang the SHIT out of it. I’d never heard her sing it before, I’d never heard the orchestration before, and I cried – it was so moving to me. She was basically saying in front of 3,000 people that she supports her friend and she supports gay marriage. This was an ultimate pinch me moment. When I was a child there was no discussion of gay marriage, there was no discussion about gays at large, I felt marginalised when I was very young. My assumption in my childhood brain was that I’d never get married, I’d never have a partner, I’d never be happy, or that whole list of things that as a gay man I inherited from culture at large, and there I was having one of my best friends who happens to be one of the greatest singing artists of our time on the stage of Carnegie Hall singing MY song about gay marriage TO me. It was just insanity.”

You are such a singer’s composer – every singer I know has so much pleasure in delivering your music. What is it about your music that makes every musical theatre singer just want to sing it?
“That’s wonderful to hear, thank you. I would say that if that’s the truth, and I’m only hearing it from you, I think it’s because I am a singer. I just think that way. There is something about the way I hear music and the way I make music is from a singer’s point of view. If I couldn’t sing it, I wouldn’t write it.”

Harvey Milk is a huge subject and something quite different. What inspired you to do it, and what challenges did that form present?
“I had been approached by the San Francisco Gay Men’s Chorus who asked if I would write a five-minute piece about Harvey Milk for their 30^th anniversary concert for. I called them and said thank you so much for asking me to write a five minute piece, but I want to write a sixty-minute piece! They were not expecting that! I just knew this was something I wanted to do. I wanted to express things about my gay life and my gay experience through the lens of Harvey Milk, with whom I felt I had a kinship. I was alive when he died, he was 48 – I was 48 when it premiered. He was born Jewish, I was raised Jewish, he was from New York – I felt we had a lot in common. He came to his politics late in life as have I. My husband David was the marketing executive on the movie Milk, and the producers of the movie were the producers of Big Fish. It was in the air, and I felt it was my turn to talk about Harvey. I loved the challenge of writing for a chorus and soloist – but I’m never going to be the one to write something in a traditional way, I’m not even sure what that means! We call it an oratorio because it is. It’s a concert work for orchestra and soloists but there’s a good amount of theatricality in the writing. There is a sense of theatricality in it – some choreography, some video, and we’ll be doing it this summer at the Disney Hall in LA, home to the LA Philharmonic with 550 people onstage for two performances. There are plans to bring it to London. We have LA, Seattle and hopefully some time next year it will be here in London. And I never intended it, but I’ll also play Harvey Milk in each of these.”

How did you begin to work from the source material for Big Fish – did you see a musical in it instantly?
“I saw the movie in 2003 and loved it. I didn’t think of it at the time, but a year later I met Bruce Cohen, and when we got home, I said to my husband – ‘Remember that movie Bruce produced? I think that would make a great musical’. So I watched the movie again and I called Bruce, and he HAD been discussing it as musical and had already met with a different songwriter from the theatre, did a test of a few songs and scenes, it wasn’t a good match, and they went back to their list – apparently I was at the top of the list! I got there before them. John (the screenwriter) and I wrote the first two scenes of the musical and played them for Bruce five days later and they looked at us and said, ‘let’s do this’. That was at the end of 2004 and we opened on Broadway in 2013. It takes a long time!”

Are there any other plans in London for any of your other shows?
“No, not at the moment. Actually there’s one thing I can’t announce yet about another show that will hopefully be coming over to London.”

*cough* The Wild Party?
“I can’t say! It’s The Wild Party that’s the issue. I have people write to me, but we can’t license it here at the moment. There is no other plan after Life of the Party, but I hope there becomes one. I’m telling you, I want to live here for a while. The Addams Family has been extraordinary successful all over the world. I just saw it in Tokyo. I was in Lima, Peru and I’m going to be in Mexico City this fall – these are all big productions of our version of the show. I can’t say what’s happening in the UK but it’s coming! The amateur rights had an enormous response – something good is happening…”

The Life of the Party – A Celebration of the Songs of Andrew Lippa runs at the Menier Chocolate Factory from May 27 to June 14. Click here for more details.