Photo of Joe Stein at Vico Restaurant by Brad Balfour.
All About Joe Stein
Written by Corine Cohen
Page 2 of 4
CC: How did you come up with the book?
JS: Well, I wrote a book called "Fred and John." Basically, Fred and John are old friends. And, we had collaborated before. We wrote "Zorba." And, we were looking for a show we could work with together. We examined many! We sat around Fred's kitchen table for many weeks discussing various possible show ideas. And ,once this idea came up, we all got very excited!
ES: Basically, I suggested it because she suggested to me that this would make a musical. It was the most exciting play I was in college. I had played Sabina in college. And, I said, this would make a great musical. It's by Thornton Wilder, called "The Skin of Our Teeth."
JS: That's really the genesis. She played in it some years ago. While we're talking about ideas, I came up with the suggestion that came from my wife, And, this has gone through a lot of difficult times until we finally have the show that we originally dreamed of!
CC: That's wonderful. And you worked with Zero Mostel in the original? How did "Fiddler on the Roof" get started?
JS: I worked with Zero. You want to know how "Fiddler" started. It goes back a long ways. It has nothing to do with "All About Us." Very briefly. In a curious way, it started the same way as "All About Us." Jerry and Sheldon, people I had worked with on a previous show. We got together and decided we wanted to do a musical together, because we enjoyed working together. And, we examined numerous possibilities. And, then I remembered this old show from stories revolving around the character of Tevye. We all got excited about it. That's really the way it started.
CC: It's one of my favorite musicals of all time.
JS: One of mine too.
CC: I saw it with Harvey and with Rosie O'Donnell.
ES: Was she very funny?
CC: Yeah very funny. I loved Harvey's interpretation even though he's not a great singer.
JS: I thought Harvey was wonderful. I do.
CC: He's a wonderful actor, and he has been the host of the Drama Desk Awards for the last three years. Was he easy to work with?
JS: Harvey? Oh, Harvey's a joy. He is. He's a darling man. He's very professional. Harvey, as a matter of fact, asked to audition. He said, "Will you let me do the show?" You immediately like him, and that's a very rare quality. Schuler has that quality too.
CC: He's playing the father of the gorillas right now in "Tarzan."
JS: In "All About Us," he plays a father basically of the human race.
CC: Tell me about Kander and Ebb.
JS: Listen, they were wonderful to work with. You know, the other thing we regret about this show is that Fred is not around. He loved the show. He did marvelous work. The lyrics are a blessing, and he had his heart and soul in the show. John is a dream to work with. I've been very lucky.
CC: Is John involved in the day to day with you?
JS: Oh yeah. He's the composer. He's now also writing additional songs for the production.
CC: Oh fantastic. Who is the song for?
JS: It's kind of a light comedy song, but basically, it's not the major thing in this score. The score is very full. Basically the score was written by John and Fred. This is just a little added tidbit for Cady Huffman.
CC: That's great. She is very impressive.
JS: She did several versions of some of my old shows at the York Theatre. She played in "Plain and Fancy," and she was wonderful.
Legendary singer Eartha Kitt plays a fortune-teller in "All About Us."CC: Was "Plain and Fancy" your first show?
JS: My first musical. My first show was "Enter Laughing."
CC: You have a theater named after you. How does that feel? And there's a picture of you. They even engraved your face on the theatre…I saw pictures of it in 1995. Are you excited about that?
JS: I know. But nobody knows if I ever went there.
CC: If I were you, I would. I'm excited about having a sushi roll named after me. But I would rather have a theatre named after me than a sushi roll named after me. (Laughs.)
JS: Well, I don't know. I guess it's an interesting experience. I don't think about it every day. (Laughs.)
CC: So, tell me more about "All About Us." What is the most exciting thing about it for you as a writer?
JS: Well, it's been a challenge from the beginning because the basic play is very difficult really. I don't think it has a kind of old fashioned feel. But, the ideas are so contemporary and so exciting about today and what I think we have done is transfer it into a very contemporary musical while keeping intact the basic ideas from the original play. It's about the things that are happening to us right now. And, so, of course it's a challenge for awriter to interpret the material and bring it up to this level.
CC: So in addition to "All About Us," what's it like working with Jacki?
JS: I have said this about her, when she's not here. She is a very exciting and wonderful producer. She's a hands on producer with excellent taste.
CC: We've embarrassed her!. Sorry Jacki. (Laughs.)
JS: No, it's true. As a matter of fact. I had a conversation with somebody this morning, and her name came up. And I said, "She's one of the best producers I've ever worked with." Despite the fact that she has limited experience so far. I think she can go very far. And, I'll tell you something, I'd love to work with her on any show rather than just pick a show. Otherwise she's terrible.
CC: Liz Smith did an article on her recently in the New York Post. They mentioned her as a man.
JS: Well, I'll tell you. Liz Smith and everybody else is going to get the doughnut.
CC: She'll figure it out. I was going to write about it in my blog. So Jacki, your plans are to bring this to Broadway?
JF: Yeah, this whole thing is a dream come true! Truly, this is a childhood dream. I was in the theatre as a child. I wanted to produce or direct something in the theatre that was not onstage. I never really liked, was never comfortable on the stage. And I had to give that up several times for many reasons. But I kept coming back to it. It just wouldn't go away. So, several years ago, five or six years ago, I decided to pursue that dream again. But this! This I could have never imagined. The project and the people I'm working with are never anything I would have ounted on. To me it's a gift. I'm just doing the best I can with it.
ES: You're doing an incredible job.
JS: The whole staff is crazy about her. She's also the prettiest producer in town.
JF: This Thornton Wilder play is traveling the globe the world half a century and is still going. This musical, I think, will capture an audience and move many people. Like in Princeton. I mean, we had nothing, and literally, the four house lights is all we had.
CC: They were throwing money?
JF: They were like "Can I invest?" There's nothing to invest in right now. We're just a workshop. But, it was that moving. So, I stay with that. And I've carried that. It'll be two years in June. And it's really motivating because I've watched that week—in the audience, and that's all you have to do. The audience will decide. They will really bring this to Broadway. It will come from that.
CC: I hope so! Are you the only producer? Or do you have investors?
JF: I do have investors.
CC: Right, but are you the sole producer on the show?
JF: Westport is really the producer of Westport. And David Brown. He actually supported all the workshops which were many. Now, I'm coming in. He's been terrific, supportive.
ES: David Brown thinks you're terrific.
JF: He's a great guy. I've learned so much from him. Do you have his book? He has a book.
ES: He has a book?
JS: He bought a book or he wrote a book?
JF: He wrote a book.
ES: I'd love to read that.
JS:I have a book too. We all have books.
