Results tagged “Plane Crazy” from Blogway Baby

Lock up your chandeliers!

The national tour of THE PHANTOM OF THE OPERA is coming to Seattle’s Paramount Theatre Sept 10 – October 5.

I’m especially excited to see this production since my friend, Richard Todd Adams, will be playing the Phantom! Rick played Raoul in the national tour almost ten years ago. Rick is an amazing performer – not only does he have a gorgeous voice but he is a master on the piano as well. He toured with 2 PIANOS, 4 HANDS (the hilarious Canadian musical that indeed involves not only two piano, four hands, but four legs as well) as well as appearing in THE WOMAN IN WHITE and THE PIRATE QUEEN on Broadway.

I met Rick in New York when he starred as the dashing pilot Brett Mansford in the 2005 NYMF production of PLANE CRAZY!

Congrats Rick!

I’m super excited to see the Roundabout Theatre Company’s production of Rodgers and Hart’s PAL JOEY, which begins performances November 14 at Studio 54. I’ve never seen PAL JOEY on stage, only the film version with Frank Sinatra. And I love Christian Hoff! He totally rocked in JERSEY BOYS. Of course I’ve loved Stockard Channing ever since I saw her in the 1973 movie “The Girl Most Likely To…”.

Do you need another reason? Well here’s one – my friend and performer extraordinaire, Kathryn Mowat Murphy is also in the cast! Kathryn was the assistant choreographer and part of the ensemble in the 2005 NYMF production of PLANE CRAZY! Boy, can that girl dance! Congrats Kathryn!

According to this article on Playbill.com:

Complete casting has been announced for the Roundabout Theatre Company's new fall production of Rodgers & Hart's Pal Joey, already set to star Tony Award winners Stockard Channing and Christian Hoff and Tony nominee Martha Plimpton.

Directed by Tony winner Joe Mantello, with a revised book by Tony winner Richard Greenberg, the musical, produced in association with Marc Platt, will begin performances Nov. 14 at Studio 54 toward a Dec. 11 opening.

Creating a population of Chicagoans in the John O'Hara-inspired tale of a heel who dreams of owning a nightclub will be Robert Clohessy (as Mike), Mamma Mia! veteran Jenny Fellner (as good girl Linda English), Urinetown alumnus Daniel Marcus (as Ludlow), Wicked actor Steven Skybell (as Ernest), Timothy J. Alex, Brian Barry, Bahiyah Sayyed Gaines, Lisa Gajda, Anthony Holds, Nadine Isenegger, Mark Morettini, Kathryn Mowat Murphy, Abbey O'Brien, Hayley Podschun, Matthew Risch, Krista Saab and Eric Sciotto.

The 1940 musical — with a score by composer Richard Rodgers and lyricist Lorenz Hart — is considered one of the landmark "link" musicals between fizzy old-fashioned musicals of the 1920s and '30s and more psychologically charged shows in which darker colors of characters were revealed. Pal Joey is a sort of musical comedy character study about an ambitious performer, Joey Evans, played by Jersey Boys veteran Hoff, who seeks the affection of a married woman in the hope that she'll fund his dream of owning a nightclub (Channing plays older, richer Vera Simpson, who dryly sings "Bewitched" and "What Is a Man?" as well as the duet "Den of Iniquity"). He loses his soul along the way.

The score also includes "A Great Big Town (Chicago)," "You Mustn't Kick It Around," "Take Him," "Zip," "Plant You Now, Dig You Later," "I Could Write a Book," "I'm Talking to My Pal" (a song that had been dropped from the score during its out-of-town tryout, but is now restored), and more.

The above video is THE WORLD ANTHEM, created by Christopher Judges in an effort to save the world morally, psychologically, and environmentally. The slideshow that accompanies the song is touching, with pictures that encourage you to reach out with love and care for everyone. Especially the one that appears at 3 minutes and 18 seconds. 'Tis no other than our good friend Hollie Howard, in a Venus Flytrap-licious pose, in the NYMF 2005 production of Plane Crazy! w00t!

Starting this Tuesday, August 5, the A Chorus Line national tour will open at the Paramount Theatre as part of its Broadway Across America series (I saw Avenue Q there in June). I saw the 2006 Broadway revival when I was last in New York (agh too long ago), and I've seen various community theatre productions + the movie. I love this show, it is so funny, smart, and fabola. I can't wait to see it.

There's a cool article in the Seattle Times that tells you more about the show and its revival, etc...

Extra bonus - long time friend of the show, (and by the show I mean PLANE CRAZY, as she played Holly Banks in Plane Crazy's NYMF production), Hollie Howard is starring as Maggie in the national tour! Yay, happiness! She is just amazing. Talk about your triple threat! And on top of that, she has the best head shot in the world. I can't wait to see Hollie in the show!

For ticket information, visit here. Quickly, A Chorus Line will only be at the Paramount Theatre until August 10!!! =S

Shout out to my friend Seth Weinstein, who wrote the music for HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FIND TRUE LOVE IN 90 MINUTES. I met Seth when he did a fabulous job musical directing my show PLANE CRAZY at NYMF in 2005. I loved HOW TO SAVE THE WORLD AND FIND TRUE LOVE when I saw it in New York. I saw Hollie Howard (who played Holly Banks in PLANE CRAZY) in the role of Violet Zipper and she was amazing. It's really a great show, so go get your copy today!

From an article on Playbill.com:

A cast recording of How to Save the World and Find True Love in 90 Minutes, which played Off-Broadway's New World Stages/Stage 5 Nov. 4-Dec. 31, 2006, is now available.

The recording features the original Off-Broadway company, including Michael McEachran as Miles Muldoon, Anika Larsen as Julie Lemmon and Nicole Ruth Snelson as Violet Zipper with Stephen Bienskie, Natalie Joy Johnson and Kevin Smith Kirkwood as The Greeks.

The CD, which was recorded January 2, 2007, at Avatar Studios in Manhattan, also features conductor Seth Weinstein on keyboards, Jonnah Speidel on piano, James Bettincourt on bass and Greg Germann on drums.

The complete track listing for How to Save the World follows:

Prologue


Love or Fear


I'm Afraid of Everything


The Country Song


The Melon Ballet


Why Are All the Good Men Unconscious?


The Voices in My Head


I'm in Love With a Terrorist


Who I Am Matters Not (I)


Love Is Violet


Yoga Class/Fifteen Minutes


I Want to Know You/Read My Mind


He's a Pussy


When the Music Played


We Can Save the World and Find True Love


Save the People


Who I Am Matters Not (II)


Oh, God The Company


Read My Mind

With book and lyrics by Jonathan Karp and music by Seth Weinstein, How to Save the World. . ., according to press notes, is set at the United Nations and concerns "a cowardly bookshop clerk, a sexy diplomat and an idealistic slacker [who] confront their deepest fears when an office romance leads to international crisis."

Christopher Gattelli directed and choreographed the Off-Broadway run. The creative team comprised Beowulf Boritt (set design), David Murin (costume design), Jeff Croiter (lighting design) and Peter Hylenski (sound design).

The CD, priced $14.95, includes a 16-page color booklet with lyrics and photos. For more information visit www.howtosavetheworldandfindtruelove.com.

My Plane Crazy producer friend Kendra Bator told me about a reading she went to on Monday night for a show called Happy Days The Musical!

Yes sirree, a musical based on the 1970s TV sitcom... You know, the whole gang, including The Fonz, Ritchie, Joanie, Chachie, Potsie, Ralph Malph, Mr. and Mrs. C...

The book is written by none other than Garry Marshalland the music and lyrics are by Paul Williams, of Kermit's "Rainbow Connection" fame, "An Old Fashioned Love Song", "We've Only Just Begun", and many other hits of the '70s. He also wrote the music to the Streisand hit "Evergreen". Kathleen Marshall is one of the producers.

Of course I asked her if the Happy Days Theme (It was written by Norman Gimbel and Charles Fox) was in the show, and yes, it appeared at the end.

Garry Marshall narrated the reading and apparently it was high-larious (big surprise -- he is just naturally funny!). It sounds like this was the very first reading and it's in somewhat of an embryonic stage. Apparently the music wasn't very rock 'n' roll-y, but more sentimental (very Paul Williams).

Exploring the depths of Arthur Fonzerelli's character should be quite the undertaking, so I'm interested in following the progress of this project.

So what's next from the '70s TV archives?

- Laverne and Shirley The Musical Revue?
- J.R. Does Dallas?
- "The Life" of T.J. Hooker?
- Three's "Company" (a salute to Sondheim...)

Suzy Conn turns 29...yet again!

To quote the infamous Holly Banks"...and that's why I'll stay 29 'til I die..."

Here I am in New York City, working on my musical...is there a better way to spend your birthday? Well, I guess if my family were here it would be better, but it's pretty darn good! And my friend (and New York producer on Plane Crazy) just treated me to a lovely continental breakfast (which included two much-needed Americanos). Now it's off to Midtown for more meetings...

Hey, this is cool. Venus Airlines, the featured airline in my new musical Plane Crazy which is part of this year's New York Musical Theater Festival, has just introduced a new "retro campaign" that harkens back to the airline's heydey in the 1960s.

According to this article from AdAge, Gus "Guppie" Crenshaw, grandson of Venus Airlines founder Sam Crenshaw, had this to say about the new campaign:

"Venus Airlines was one of the stars of the mid-sixties Jet Age revolution, and our reputation for the sexiest "stews" in the sky was a big part of our success. As my grandfather used to say, "If you have to fake it, just shake it..." and our stews were shaking their bottoms for the bottom line.

And although Venus Airlines has gone through a rough patch over the last thirty years, being basically reduced to a single crop-dusting contract in southern Dakota, we feel that the time is right for the Venus Airlines message to emerge once again into the "sexy skies"...

I think the the buzz on Venus is on the move. Even Broadway shows likePlane Crazy are featuring Venus as an example of blossoming womanhood in the 1960s."

Say Gus: "Our new "Va-Va-Venus" campaign is a clever play on our "VA" (Venus Airlines) acronym, and the secondary meaning of "Va", which in Spanish is "Go". So, from the perspective of one of the sexiest countries in the world, it's "Go-Go-Venus", which is also a nice play on the "Go-Go Girl" sensibility of my grandfather's airline."

When asked about a potential backlash from millions of offended women across the country, Gus laughed and responded, "Dude, c'mon, everyone likes to look at sexy stews..."

In recognition of the support and friendship for Venus Airlines from Plane Crazy, Venus Airlines is supporting Plane Crazyby giving 100 Venus Airlines Mile High Club miles to everyone who attends a performance of Plane Crazy.

As a competitive response, other airlines are expected to soon follow suit.

Plane Crazy will be appearing this fall at The Beckett, 410 West 42nd Street
(south side of West 42nd Street, between 9th & Dyer Avenues).

Performance times are:

Thursday, September 15 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 17 at 4:30 pm and 8:00 pm
Thursday, September 22 at 1:00 pm
Friday, September 23 at 4:30 pm
Sunday, September 25 at 1:00 pm

OK: It's OFFICIAL. Here are the dates forPlane Crazy's fabulous New York debut at theNew York Musical Theatre Festival.

We'll be appearing atThe Beckett, which is located in Midtown as part of the Theatre Row complex on 42nd Street. It's a great theater, and it will be a great venue for Plane Crazy. The new Beckett Theater is located on the lower level of the Theatre Row complex. Housing 99 seats, this intimate space features fixed, plush seating as well as heat and air conditoning. Although it has the same name, this is not the same old Beckett Theater. This brand new, state-of-the-art theater has a wide stage and great sightlines in every part of the house.

Here are the details:

The Beckett
410 West 42nd Street
South side of West 42nd Street, between 9th & Dyer Avenues.

Directions: Closest subway: A, C, E to 42nd Street. Walk west on 42nd Street to the theatre.

Performance times are:

Thursday, September 15 at 8:00 pm
Saturday, September 17 at 4:30 pm and 8:00 pm
Wednesday, September 21 at 1:00 pm
Friday, September 23 at 4:30 pm
Sunday, September 25 at 1:00 pm

Tickets will go fast. Many of last year's shows sold out within days of the Festival's opening. In fact, Festival-wide, 85% of all tickets were sold! Since we expect Plane Crazy to sell out quickly, you might want to consider becoming a member of NYMF to guarantee a seat at Plane Crazy and all of your favorite shows.

When you become a member you will be the first to have access to NYMF '05 passes and tickets.

Passes will go on sale to members only on August 1st before being made available to the public on August 15th.

Individual tickets will go on sale September 1st.

Only members can take advantage of this opportunity so click here to join!

To read more about tickets to NYMF 2005, you can click here.

A loyal Blogway Baby reader asked me to suggest some books on writing and producing musicals. There are a million books out there and lots of ways of going about writing new musicals, but I thought I'd give a sampler of some of the books I've read along the way.

First off, listen to as many cast recordings, read as many librettos, and see as many shows on stage as you possibly can. I am a firm believer in learning through osmosis. Learn what you like and what you don't like and why. That will help guide you when start writing.

Secondly, if possible, find someone with whom you can collaborate. I know I wrote the book/music/lyrics to Plane Crazy, but every book you pick up will tell you to avoid that at all costs. I agree. Musicals are collaborative by nature so you can't avoid it, so get a good relationship going early. Even if its just someone to give you pep talks now and then and talk you down off the ledge!

Thirdly, find a topic/story/idea (preferably original or in the public domain!) that you really care about and have a great depth of interest in. This is a long, long process and you can't afford to get sick of your own material early on!

Fourthly (fourthly?) get into a musical theater writing program. BMI holds one in New York, Theatre Building Chicago holds one in Chicago, and more and more colleges and universities are offering workshop writing programs. Educate yourself.

Finally, be prepared to write, write, and rewrite. 'Nuff said.

Here are some of my fav books (inspiring and educational) that I've read (and re-read) along the way:

The Making of Series: The Great Broadway Musicals (My Fair Lady, Gypsy,West Side Story, Cabaret, Guys and Dolls). These books by Keith Garebian are golden. Not only are they full of great insider anecdotes and hilarious stories, they also show you firsthand that musicals are an evolutionary art and "classics" don't happen overnight. As they say, plays with music go into rehearsal and musicals come out of rehearsal.

Everything Was Possible: The Birth of the Musical Follies by Ted Chain. This is about the making of Sondheim's Follies and is considered a must-read.

Making Musicals: An Informal Introduction to the World of Musical Theatreby Tom Jones. This is by the lyricist/librettist of The Fantasticks, and is charming, funny, and very accessible for a beginner.

Also, Lehman Engel has a few on both writing and producing. Browse bookstores (Theatrebooks in Toronto is fab!), go online and just start reading! I always like to read as many as I can so I can start to see the similarities and universalities and weed out the personal biases or angles.

Most of all, enjoy what you are doing! Remember, "there ain't nothin' like a musical...nothin' in the world!"

From this article in Playbill, four of the season's 11 new Broadway musicals were scored by songwriters making their Broadway debuts. It is so great to see new writers being welcomed on Broadway. As a writer myself (Plane Crazy) it holds out great hope that there is room for new voices and new styles.

My favorite line comes from Eric Idle, co-author of Spamalot, who describes the musical's success as follows: "It was a process, not a miracle," Idle says of the show's evolution. "Every day you move a little pebble."

How true that is...

"The Song That Goes Like This" may be delighting Spamalot audiences, but its songwriters, Eric Idle and John DuPrez, are actually part of something which, for champions of the musical theatre, is even more joyous. Four of the season's 11 new Broadway musicals were scored by songwriters making their Broadway debuts; seven songwriters in all. Joining Idle and DuPrez are Jason Howland and Mindi Dickstein of the recently closed Little Women, Barri McPherson and Mark Schoenfeld of Brooklyn, and 2005 Tony Award winner Adam Guettel of The Light in the Piazza.

Two other shows are second efforts, and a further two are musicals compiled from pop songbooks, also representing a kind of Broadway debut.

Here are the stories of the first-timers' creative collaborations, and their first taste of being produced on Broadway.

==

LITTLE WOMEN
Music by Jason Howland
Lyrics by Mindi Dickstein

Akin to his Broadway debut, Jason Howland's first musical score was adapting a classic. "In the eighth grade," he said, smiling. "Jack & the Beanstalk." The first song? "Jackie Can You Hear Me?," Howland says, laughing, "...in the key of F."

And while Mindi Dickstein wouldn't begin writing lyrics until adulthood, "I wrote my first play in the fourth grade," she proudly declares, "The Case of the Missing Jewels."

Joking aside, Howland and Dickstein's early works actually illustrate a dramaturgical instinct each brought to their five years composing Little Women -- a dedication to character and narrative drive. "It's all about telling a great story," Howland insists, "while fully integrating it with music. That's at the heart of the experience which I gained as a music director on Broadway for ten years."

In fact, Howland says his role as conductor and/or musical director of Jekyll & Hyde, Les Misérables and Taboo, among others, was invaluable to understanding how to make Louisa May Alcott's novel sing. For Dickstein, who received her MFA from NYU's Musical Theater Writing Program, collaborating with Howland was "a joyous journey." Further finessing Dickstein's abilities as a lyricist was the show's exceptional cast. "Having people like Maureen McGovern and Sutton Foster -- with these incredible voices -- didn't change the nature of what we were writing, but it certainly made it more specific."

Speaking of specific, Dickstein admits one of her favorite moments of the Little Women experience occurred on opening night. "I was sitting in the fifth row center, and Sutton is singing 'Astonishing.' And suddenly I hear my mother's voice -- who'd first heard the song at a reading and told me afterwards, 'it's you at 16!' -- and I just started bawling. Cause here was this wonderful actress singing this song I wrote that expressed the essence of who I was at that age. And I thought, here I am now, a grown-up person -- realizing that dream."

==

BROOKLYN, THE MUSICAL
Music and Lyrics by Mark Schoenfeld & Barri McPherson

After years of pitching a film concept of "Brooklyn to Hollywood," creators Mark Schoenfeld and Barri McPherson found themselves broke, bitter and back on the streets of New York. Soothing their Tinseltown wounds, the duo sat in Central Park, boom box in tow, singing Brooklyn's songs to passersby. Like a showbiz fairy tale, one of those who stopped was an aspiring theatre producer. "Scott Prisand heard us there," recalls McPherson, referring to the man who'd eventually become one of Brooklyn's lead producers. "He said, this is a Broadway musical!"

Confessing that "my dream was to write and sing in any genre I could find," the willowy McPherson says, "where ever it took me, I was willing to go." Via Prisand, it took the team -- who'd been writing partners since 1991 -- to "the best thing in the world that could've happened to us," she says: Jeff Calhoun.

Forever grateful to the director/choreographer's guidance, Schoenfeld describes their segue from street singers to Broadway composers. "Jeff would mold what he saw as the lyric of the song, and John McDaniel was excellent with the arrangements because he knew what was right for Broadway. Now that we're here," Schoenfeld chuckles, "we don't want to leave!" And despite a birth-by-fire reception from critics, the duo agree they'd do it again in a second. "The riches you get out of Broadway," Schoenfeld says, "is when people come over to you at the end of the show. They get its humanity, its spirituality. That's the currency Barri and I go home with. It's the greatest part of the whole process. I can't even imagine why other writers are not in the theatre enjoying that!"

==

THE LIGHT IN THE PIAZZA
Music and Lyrics by Adam Guettel

"I had a love song that had no title," says Adam Guettel of a composition he'd written for his best friend's wedding in the late nineties. "And that music just kept circling around me. I knew I wanted to write more music that could express the sound of being in love -- and of losing love, which is pretty much the same sound. So I started looking for a vessel for a love story, and came upon The Light in the Piazza."

Based on the same-titled 1959 novella by Elizabeth Spencer, the lushly romantic musical still holds the seed of Guettel's original inspiration, as the show's title song is the music from that wedding composition. Five years, three book writers, two workshops and two regional productions later, Piazza opened at Lincoln Center this spring. "And we're very lucky to be here," says the Yale graduate of his show's producing organization. After good reviews at the Goodman, Guettel recalls a slew of New York producers "came flooding into Chicago saying, 'We should take this to Broadway!' And I thought, 'Wow, wouldn't that be wonderful?' Interestingly," he says with a sly laugh, "they all sort of dropped away. But Lincoln Center pulled through."

Like with Guettel's 1996 break-out musical Floyd Collins at Playwrights Horizons, "because of the way you get threaded through the process at a not-for-profit," says the composer of his experience with developing Piazza, "it's so much more wholesome for the storytelling, for the growth of the score -- you're really able to maintain its singularity, its signature, its thumbprint. You're not always being asked to amp everything up, 'Bigger! Faster! Funnier!'"

As for making his Broadway debut, Guettel says, "in the most excited and positive way," he laughs, "I'm freaking out. I guess because, for my entire adult life, it's something I've hoped to achieve. And so I'm not able to forget, in a titular sense, that I have achieved that goal."

Guettel also has family history to help him through. His mother, composer Mary Rodgers, made her Broadway debut with Once Upon a Mattress in 1959, and his grandfather, Richard Rodgers, took his first Broadway bow with Poor Little Ritz Girl in 1920.

==

MONTY PYTHON'S SPAMALOT
Lyrics by Eric Idle
Music by Eric Idle & John Du Prez

"There's no solid set piece," says Eric Idle of his manner of collaboration with John Du Prez. "We've worked together so long we can do just about anything." Indeed, since meeting on the 1978 movie "Monty Python's Life With Brian," their talents have fueled more than two decades worth of Python films, TV programs, LPs and live concert shows. Was Broadway inevitable? "It was a process, not a miracle," Idle says of the show's evolution. "Every day you move a little pebble."

Three years, 12 drafts and 40 songs later, Idle says he believes their ability to straddle the cult material with the musical theatre structure rested in the score. "If you've got a wasp-ish lyric," Idle explains, "and you put a wonderful melody to it, you've got two things happening at once: The sentiment and the sentiment being mocked at the same time." In short, he says, "you get to an emotion, while taking all the laughs en route."

The latter, says Du Prez, is what differentiates their work from the satires of Gerald Alessandrini. "To set the record straight," Du Prez says, "I had never seen or heard of Forbidden Broadway until it appeared in the [pre-Broadway] Chicago reviews in December 2004. I had to ask what it was. Please note that Python has been spoofing songs since at least 1969."

Meanwhile, both Du Prez and Idle are honored to be making their Broadway songwriting debuts. "One of my proudest moments," Du Prez recalls, "was when the doorman of my hotel said, 'Thank you for coming to Broadway, we need good new work to keep us employed!'"

As for writing another show -- or perhaps performing in one, as Idle has done on tour -- "I'd love to," Idle admits. "But since Spamalot kept me on the road the past six months, I can't be absentee-dad any more. There's no total rush," Idle ponders, with a laugh. "'Cause the great thing about Broadway is you can be older on it."

With 11 new musicals having opened on Broadway in the 2004-05 season, it has been a boom year for the art form. Of course, any time new works are offered by Stephen Sondheim, Frank Wildhorn and William Finn there is reason for excitement. Also extremely welcome back are David Yazbek, making a timely return with Dirty Rotten Scoundrels after his Tony-nominated debut four years ago with The Full Monty, alongside the Chitty Chitty Bang Bang brothers, Richard M. and Robert B. Sherman -- whose previous Broadway score premiered in the Tony-nominated 1974 musical, Over Here!. Add to the mix a couple of Top-40 songbook shows featuring tunes made famous by The Beach Boys and "The King," and -- as Fats Waller once said -- this joint is jumpin'.

I was taking a little walk down Memory Lane last night, and I ran across this great shot of a Plane Crazy poster in Times Square, circa 1965. How cool is that? I especially enjoyed the floods on the guy in the foreground of the picture...

In other Plane Crazy news, things are moving rapidly toward the NYMF 2005 staging. We're close on a Director, and lots of other pieces are falling into place.

The New York Musical Theatre Festival (NYMF) has a new Web site, which is a lot more elaborate than last year. Check it out!

Here's the latest press release on Plane Crazy:

The swinging 1960s Jet Age returns to New York: "Plane Crazy" to debut at World's Premier Musical Theatre Festival

Out of more than 400 submissions, Suzy Conn's "Plane Crazy" is among 18 jury-selected musicals chosen for the 2005 New York Musical Theatre Festival

May 24, 2005

NEW YORK

"Plane Crazy", a musical comedy about the emergence of feminism set against the glamour and sex appeal of the swinging '60s Jet Age (http://planecrazythemusical.com), has been accepted into the Next Link Project at the New York Musical Theatre Festival (http://nymf.org).

"Plane Crazy" is set during an explosive time in history: The intersection of the dawn of the Jet Age; the introduction of the Pill; the genesis of the modern Women's Movement; and the Golden Age of Advertising.

"Plane Crazy" explores these clashing values in an engaging story that follows two young stews who are learning about love and life in the high-flying airline business circa 1965: A time "When Stews Were Sexy and the World Was SexistTM".

"Plane Crazy" has been reviewed as:

"...it was fantastic: funny, catchy, engrossing, with a really authentic sixties-kitsch feel: like Hair at 30,000 feet, with seasonings of Jesus Christ Superstar and Germaine Greer."

-- Cory Doctorow, BoingBoing.net

Suzy Conn, author (Book/Music/Lyrics), says, "My favorite shows have always had some innately non-commercial element, and I think that all theater needs that element of uniqueness for it to be commercial. With "Plane Crazy", I'm talking about feminism, which sounds like a real drag, but I've done it in a really fun, sexy way that will be entertaining for everyone. This is part of what makes the show different, and really worth seeing."

Suzy also outlined her personal goal for theater: "I want to make going to the theater groovy again, and write shows that seem retro, but are relevant to today. I'm happy with where I ended up with "Plane Crazy" because I feel that I've been able to accomplish that goal."

Suzy divides her time between New York and Chicago, where she is enrolled in the Theatre Building Chicago Musical Theatre Writer's Workshop.

Suzy is also the editor of Blogway Baby (http://blogwaybaby.com), one of the leading blogs on the Broadway scene.

"Plane Crazy" will be produced in late September, in New York, as part of the Festival.

The Producer for "Plane Crazy" at NYMF 2005 is Michael Rubinoff (mrubinoff@mrubinoff.com), and the Associate Producer is Kendra Bator (kbator@planecrazythemusical.com).

==

According to the NYMF press release:

The New York Musical Theatre Festival has announced the 18 jury-selected musicals that will be part of the Next Link Project of the fest, to be held Sept. 12-Oct. 2 in midtown Manhattan.

After reviewing almost 400 scripts -- nearly double last year's submissions -- the NYMF selection committee has chosen a fresh, diverse collection of 18 new musicals to be presented September 12 - October 2, 2005 in Manhattan's Theatre District, alongside more than 100 invited shows, concerts, and other special events still to be announced.

Our jury included Rob Ashford (Tony winning Choreographer for THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE), Thomas Cott (former Artistic Director of Musical Theater Works), Joanna Gleason (Tony winner for INTO THE WOODS, Tony nominated for DIRTY ROTTEN SCOUNDRELS), Kevin McCollum (Producer of AVENUE Q and RENT), Susan H. Schulman (Director of LITTLE WOMEN, THE SECRET GARDEN and THE SOUND OF MUSIC), and Jack Viertel (Jujamcyn Theaters Creative Director, Encores! Artistic Director).

Last year more than 20% of the shows were optioned for commercial productions - including ALTAR BOYZ (2005 Outer Critics Circle Award) and Stephen Schwartz's CAPTAIN LOUIE (currently at the York Theater), as well as the forthcoming commercial productions of TITLE OF SHOW, SHOUT!, and THE GREAT AMERICAN TRAILER PARK MUSICAL -- an incredible record for a first year! Keep your eye on this year's crop to see the best and brightest new musicals.

Well, well, well...what a fantastic evening!

Tonight at Hurley's was the NYMF 2005 Creative Team Mixer AND I'VE NEVER HAD SO MUCH FUN...

We talked to a MILLION people, and it was very exciting to see how many people want to work on Plane Crazy.

Right now, Plane Crazy is looking for a Director -- here's a quick description:

We are looking for someone who "gets" the mid-'60s time period that we are working in. This will be someone who loves classic musicals like The Pajama Game; who has all the Doris Day-Rock Hudson-Tony Randall movies on DVD *and* VHS; who doesn't understand why people weren't standing in line to see Down With Love; and whose favorite contemporary musicals would include Hairspray and The Producers. The Director will work closely with the Producer to assemble the rest of the creative team.

We are interviewing this week, so if you're interested please let me know asap...send an e-mail to suzy at planecrazythemusical dot com

I'm still shaking with excitement now that it's official: And I just wanted to make sure that I had mentioned to everyone thatPlane Crazy IS GOING TO BE INNYMF 2005! YIPPEE KI EH! YEAH! w00h00! ALRIGHT, OUTTA SIGHT!

I'm skin tight and ready to fight: We're going to put on an awesome show!

Most exciting of all, Playbill posted the list of Next Link shows today in this article...and there I am. Wow, my name inPlaybill. Finally! Here's a taste:

The New York Musical Theatre Festival has announced the 18 jury-selected musicals that will be part of the Next Link Project of the fest, to be held September 12 to October 2 in midtown Manhattan.

"After reviewing almost 400 scripts -- nearly double last year's submissions -- the NYMF selection committee has chosen a fresh, diverse collection of new musicals to be presented," according to the May 24 announcement.

The Next Link works are production-ready scripts that will receive full stagings for a handful of performances in repertory in the hope that NYMF is "the next link" to a wider regional or commercial life.

The Producer for Plane Crazy at NYMF 2005 is Michael Rubinoff (based in Toronto), and the Associate Producer is Kendra Bator (based in NYC).

Right now, we are looking for a Director. Specifically, we are looking for someone who "gets" the mid-'60s time period that we are working in. This will be someone who loves classic musicals like The Pajama Game; who has all the Doris Day-Rock Hudson-Tony Randallmovies on DVD and VHS; who doesn't understand why people weren't standing in line to seeDown With Love; and whose favorite contemporary musicals would include Hairspray andThe Producers. The Director will work closely with the Producer to assemble the rest of the creative team.

We also need a great Casting Director, with the same "gets it" qualifications.

If you're interested, send me an e-mail at suzy at blogwaybaby dot com

You can order Plane Crazy merchandise off the Plane Crazy Web site. And buy a ticket! Come see a great show!

HOLY CRAP!

I haven't been this excited about news since I found out I was pregnant (both times). But this time my baby is Plane Crazy: A true work of love if there ever was one.

Here's the lowdown: Plane Crazy has been accepted into the Next Link Project at the New York Musical Theater Festival. Of 325 submissions, only 18 musicals are chosen to be in the Next Link Project.

As Blogway Baby readers know, Plane Crazyis a fun, upbeat musical about the modern women's movement set against the backdrop of glamour and innocent sex appeal of the swinging '60s jet age. A time When Stews Were Sexy and the World Was Sexist (TM).

This year's Next Link jury included Rob Ashford (Tony winning Choreographer forThoroughly Modern Millie), Thomas Cott (former Artistic Director of Musical Theater Works), Joanna Gleason (Tony winner for Into the Woods, currently in Dirty Rotten Scoundrels), Kevin McCollum (Producer of Avenue Q and Rent), Susan H. Schulman (Director of Little Women,The Secret Garden and The Sound of Music), and Jack Viertel (Creative Director, Jujamcyn Theaters; Artistic Director, City Center Encores!).

The show will be produced in late September, in New York, as part of the Festival.

NYMF is the largest musical theatre event in the world. The core of the Festival are the eighteen new musicals for NYMF's Next Link Project, but the Festival also includes a staggering 141 events across 26 venues, 46 concerts, 332 performances, 7 seminars, 39 movies and almost 1000 performers and musicians.

NYMF was recently recognized with the prestigious 2004 Jujamcyn Theatres Award, given annually to a "resident theater organization that has made an outstanding contribution to the development of creative talent for the theatre."

At least seven of last year's Next Link shows have been optioned by commercial producers and/or are planning off-Broadway or other runs.

I'm going to enjoy this news for a couple of days, and then I will start "officially freaking out" with production logistics.

Wow, this is an interesting idea. Product placement in live theatrical productions. It's been happening on movies and TV for a while (with American Dreams Kraft and Campbell's product placement the most egregious examples), but now it's coming to the world of live theater.

I LOVE IT!

Hmm. Let me think: "United Airlines Crazy"? "When You Chase A Dream You'd Walk A Mile For A Camel"? "That Was Then, This Is Now The Time For Johnny Walker Red"? "Hey Baby, You've Come A Long Way"? "Dancing On Air Nikes"? "I Wanna Get Married With A Tiffany Diamond"? "What Do Women Want: Whiter Whites With Clorox"? "I'll Teach You How To Fly The Friendly Skies"?

HELP! Someone stop me before I completely sell out my whole show...

Here's the full article from AdAge.com:

TEQUILA BRAND PLACED IN BROADWAY'S 'SWEET CHARITY'
Neil Simon OKs Script Change to Hype Product
May 23, 2005
By Lisa Sanders

NEW YORK (Adage.com) -- As part of a product placement campaign in Broadway's Sweet Charity, playwright Neil Simon approved a script change to promote Gran Centenario tequila, according to the deal makers.

Jose Cuervo's tequila has been woven into the script, the stage sets and the advertising and promotion for 'Sweet Charity.'

The arrangement was the latest brand integration success by Amy Willstatter, president of New York-based Bridge to Hollywood/Broadway, who specializes in inserting product promotions in and around live theater productions.

Last fall, spirits marketer Jose Cuervo was looking for a unique way to generate buzz in the U.S. for its little-known premium tequila Gran Centenario, but the company only had a modest budget to work with.

Executives at Jose Cuervo's advertising agency, Omnicom Group's Arnell Group of New York, introduced Carlos Arana, Jose Cuervo's managing director, and Onute Miller, Gran Centenario's brand director, to Ms. Willstatter. She brokers agreements between various marketers and Broadway productions and works on retainer with Spotco, a New York agency focused on theatre advertising (clients include Dirty Rotten Scoundrels, Avenue Q and Sweet Charity). After hearing about Gran Centenario's goals, she reviewed Spotco clients and came up with Sweet Charity, the Neil Simon revival about a hard-luck dancehall hostess searching for a good man, as the show that best met the tequila's brand attributes. The show opened in April.

"The play is a fun environment," Ms. Willstatter said. What's more, with a new-to-Broadway leading lady, Christina Applegate, best-known for her long-running role on TV's Married with Children, Sweet Charity potentially brings to Broadway a new generation of theatergoers -- just the sort of upscale, experience-oriented consumers Gran Centenario was looking for.

Ms. Willstatter previously signed Pfizer Women's Health, Procter & Gamble Co.'s Olay Regenerist and Anheuser-Busch's Michelob Ultra to sponsor the Broadway and national tour productions of Thoroughly Modern Millie. She also made British Airways the official airline of the National Theater in New York and arranged for Hennessy to be the opening night sponsor of Raisin in the Sun at the Royale Theater.

Marketing competition in the tequila category is increasing as its reputation has evolved from a drink often associated with frat-house bashes to one that's increasingly common at more sophisticated affairs. U.S. sales of high-end and super-premium cases rose 29% to 1.2 million cases in 2004 over the prior year, said David Ozgo, chief economist of the Distilled Spirits Council of the U.S.

With Ms. Willstatter as the go-between, Sweet Charity's producers Barry and Fran Weissler and the Gran Centenario team hammered out a deal. Talks began with the suggestion of putting the tequila logo on Sweet Charity ads. For the marketer, "that wasn't enough," Ms. Miller said. "Ours is a unique brand." She and Mr. Arano concluded they wanted a deal with three components: a product mention in the show, incorporated in a natural, unobtrusive manner; an uncontrived product placement; and promotional and public relations programs to build brand awareness among the marketer's target audience.

To Mr. Weissler, having products placed or mentioned in his shows is not a new concept. "There's nothing different here than in sports or movies where marketers co-promote a film," he said. But he sets limits on what he'll do to marry art and commerce. "We never, ever distress a script." With this Gran Centenario example, the producers and playwright replaced a line, "I'll have a double scotch on the rocks" with a mention of the premium tequila. "We didn't bastardize the script, and [playwright Neil Simon] OKed the change," Mr. Weissler said. "We always pass sponsors by authors."

In addition to having the Gran Centenario mention written into the script, the tequila's logos are integrated into the show's set in one scene, and the product has been the drink of choice at Gran Centenario-sponsored parties thrown during the pre-Broadway shows as well as its New York opening, all attended by the cast, their friends and a select group of invitees. Specialty cocktails featuring Gran Centenario created by well-known bartender Dale deGroff are featured at those fests as well as in the Al Hirschfeld Theatre where Sweet Charity plays and at nearby bars.

A print ad, adapted from the tequila's current print campaign, runs in Sweet Charity Playbills (where, on one of the credits pages, Gran Centenario is thanked for its "generous support"). Gran Centenario promotes the show through ads and events, and the show's ads mention the tequila.

Neither the marketer, Mr. Weissler nor Ms. Willstatter would comment on the financial specifics, other than to describe the arrangement as a flat-rate package structured as a "step deal," in which payments were made in increments. Ms. Willstatter, a proponent of cash deals rather than barter agreements for branded entertainment on Broadway, explains that she's trying to "make Broadway competitive with other forms of media, such as TV and radio."

One major difference, of course, between Broadway and TV or radio, is that measuring the effectiveness of a product mention or a sponsorship is art rather than science. While Mr. Weissler and Ms. Willstatter deliver their marketing partners demographic data like income of their audiences, the definite impact on audiences is not tracked. "We don't poll theatergoers," Mr. Weissler said.

But Gran Centenario's Ms. Miller does monitor Gran Centenario consumption in the theatre as well as in nearby bars. She watches the tequila's distribution in stores and bars where theatergoers shop or frequent for indications that Gran Centenario is gaining popularity.

Asked whether she's concerned about the outcry from some over the inclusion of the tequila in the play's dialogue (one paper wrote, "Sponsorship should not mean authorship, or the license to tweak creative work to make it sell when it should simply sing."), Ms. Miller said no. "We believed it was the correct fit. The press has built brand awareness."

Here's something for all you Plane Crazy fans out there.

National Geographic has a mini-photograph gallery of theAirbus A380 SuperJumbo plane. This is a picture of the onboard duty-free shop.

The Airbus A380 "SuperJumbo" is the largest civil aircraft ever built. Designed to carry 555 passengers in a three-class arrangement, it has one-third more seating capacity than a Boeing 747. A planned stretched version would carry 656 passengers, and an all-economy-class configuration would be able to carry more than 800 passengers.

(via BoingBoing)

I've always thought that the time was right forPlane Crazy, a Fun Feminism musical.

But I'm seeing more and more evidence that its time has come! First of all we all know thatMenopause the Musical has been running for a while, and the Canadian hit We're Still Hot(similar topic) opened off-Broadway in January.

When I was in Chicago, I noticed a show called Respect: A Musical Journey of Womenopening April 17 at the Chicago Center For The Performing Arts. It is billed as a musical revue celebrating women through American pop music, with more than 60 songs, including "What's Love Got To Do with It?" and "These Boots Are Made For Walkin'". Next stop:Plane Crazy on Broadway!

In all the hubbub of launching the Plane Crazy Web site, I've forgotten that Plane Crazy isn't my first stage show!

About a million years ago, when I worked at Procter & Gamble, a group of us long-haired creative types decided to "Old Spice up" the fall dinner dance with an employee stage show.

What started out as a small talent show quickly blossomed into a full-fledged musical revue called Fiscal Follies (insert groan here). I was one of the writers who took well-known songs and wrote new, P&G relevant lyrics.

I also performed in the show, singing and dancing in the final number (dressed in black tights and a tuxedo jacket -- how incredibly professional!) which was the Michael Jackson song "Man in the Mirror", but rewritten to inspire organizational change.

We even had the president of P&G at the time, Doug Grindstaff, come up on stage to join with me to say "Make That Change!" (insert groan here).

But my two favorite numbers, which I wrote, were "Summer Intern" about summer business school interns sung to the tune of "Summer Lovin'" from Grease, and "Olestra Lightning", about P&G's new fat substitute, sung to the tune of "Greased Lightning", also from Grease (duh).

What made the former special was that I sang it, but what made the latter even more special was that two senior managers, Tim Penner and Mike Kehoe, sang it -- dressed as '50s greasers. Tim Penner has gone on to become the President of P&G Canada (27 years with the company -- Wow!). Mike Kehoe has also gone on to fame and fortune as the leader of the Crest White Strips introduction.

Actually what brought this all back to me was when I saw a big pic of Tim in the business section of the The Globe and Mail last week, costumed up for P&G's Cultural Diversity Day. Yikes...I was soooooooo not right for P&G: I can't believe I lasted four years. And I've been a full-time songwriter ever since I left.

To top it off we videotaped the entire Fiscal Follies and I still have the videotape. I'm prepared to sell the last remaining copy of this incriminating tape to the highest bidder...eBay here I come!

I just found out that Plane Crazy has been selected out of over 300 applications as one of 36 finalists for the New York Musical Theatre Festival for 2005! Here is an exerpt from the e-mail:

Thank you for submitting Plane Crazy for consideration to the 2005 Next Link Project. As you may be aware, we received over 300 applications for this year's Festival, and the process of winnowing down the options has been exciting, enjoyable, and challenging.

We are pleased to inform you that after careful consideration the Reading Committee has selected your show as one of the 36 finalists for the Next Link Project. All 36 are now being evaluated by the Next Link Jury (comprised of leading theatre professionals Rob Ashford, Thomas Cott, Joanna Gleason, Kevin McCollum, Susan H. Schulman, and Jack Viertel), who will select the final line-up of 18 shows for inclusion in the Festival.

How cool is it that one of my musical theater heroes, Joanna Gleason (another Canadian), will be reviewing Plane Crazy?

Keep your fingers (and stew legs) crossed!

There's a good Plane Crazy discussion thread on MetaFilter. I'm heading over to weigh in on the discussion.

From MetaFilter:

I should probably state for the record that it is likely Ms. Conn is using this 1960's music style ironically, applying it as both a commentary on the era and the world as it was then. I'm sure she'll hear about this post and comment in some way or another (and likely already has).

The problem is, a lot of these "short-cut" aesthetic styles that came out of mass entertainment always do an amazing disservice to the eras they portray, since they cut out a lot of humanity for the ease of using some tried and true "phrases" to lock the "setting" and move on.

Here's the topline on my philosophy: I have two daughters, and I want them to fully achieve their potential. I don't understand a world that would deny them that opportunity, and I don't understand cultures that hold down the potential of 50% of the population.

Why did I choose to base a musical about feminism in the 1960s? Well, in a way, it was an easy choice since the '60s were the decade where the modern feminist movement came to life. As well, the spirit of optimism of the 1960s is important to the hopeful message of Plane Crazy. The 1960s represented an era that embraced change, and had great hope for the future.

So, in fact, I am using the decade as a dramatic device to reinforce the message of the show.

Now, a moment on the message of the show.

Today, the term "Feminist" has become loaded with a lot of negative baggage. Feminism is sometimes typecast as a dour, man-hating, bankrupt philosophy. This makes me very sad.

So I call my philosophy "Fun Feminism".

Fun Feminism embraces the innate female traits of love, joy, and sexuality. Some of us like men. Some of us want to have children. Most of us like sex...but don't tell us what we do or don't want, don't tell us how to think or how to act. If I want to be a Mommy...that's cool. If I want to be a corporate ladder climber...that's cool. If I want to be a musical theater writer...that's cool too (but who would want to do anything that silly!)

Fun Feminism is about choosing who you want to be and what you want to do, and not having your limits set by anyone else -- or by society.

It's no coincidence that by the end of Plane Crazy, one character becomes a mommy, one character becomes a feminist organizer, and one character decides to go and beat the ad men at their own game.

Finally, while I appreciate the seriousness of these issues (which are important to me), I also want to be entertained when I go to the theater.

I'm a huge fan of Tom Lehrer who always managed to wonderfully combine the serious with the silly. I've been heavily influenced by Tom Lehrer, and I believe that you can teach people more when you entertain them, when you engage them, when you make them laugh and when you get them singing!

OK, this is a plug for a performance featuring my oldest daughter. She is appearing in the City Youth Players 1st Annual Fundraising Cabaret this Wednesday, April 13, 2005.

The fundraiser is described as:

A wonderful evening of entertainment at the City Playhouse Theatre featuring a silent auction and great performances from the talented cast members of Honk! and Footloose. One night only: Wednesday, April 13, 2005.

Myrna is doing a duet from Wicked. It will be fantastic!

Now, I know that there are lots of theater-loving Blogway Baby fans out there...and some of you live in Toronto. This is a great organization that is keeping musical theatre alive for our children: Please buy a ticket and come out for a great eveneing of entertainment, while contributing to a good cause. Mention that you heard about the fundraiser from Blogway Baby, and you will get a free Plane Crazy t-shirt.

Tickets are only $20, and can be ordered at 905.882.7469.

Well, there's been a flurry of Plane Crazy activity since we launched the site. This is my favorite post. Here's a priceless extract:

Many reading this blog are old enough to remember When Stews Were Sexy and the World Was Sexist, which is the subtitle of an off-Broadway play about life as a stewardess in the 1960s.

Visit the show's brand new website and let the opening song play for a while. Then check out the show synopsis.

A great big thank you to Cory Doctorow and Boing Boingwho blogged the launch of the Plane Crazy Web site. Thanks guys: Much appreciated.

Cory had some really nice things to say about the workshop he attended last year:

A year ago, I got to see the musical performed at a workshop at Toronto's Poor Alex Theatre and it was fantastic: funny, catchy, engrossing, with a really authentic sixties-kitsch feel: like Hair at 30,000 feet, with seasonings of Jesus Christ, Superstar and Germaine Greer.

I've been a Boing Boing reader since Cory started working on it in 2000, and it's been amazing to see it grow in reach and popularity. I've also known Cory since Down and Out in the Magic Kingdomwas just a glimmer in his eye, and I listened to my husband describe this cool story that Cory was writing as they took the train to a client in Kingston, ON. Cory is a great example of how to succeed in this brutal creative business, and his focus, discipline, and work ethic is something to which all creators should aspire.

In the words of Burton Cummings, "Planes Are Goin' Up....Planes Are Goin' Down"...with lots of traffic to thenew Plane Crazy Web site!

Now Plane Crazy has a Web site, and it looks FANTASTIC. We have developed the Web site to support an upcoming Actor's Equity Showcase production this summer.

The site includes samples from the whole score, and some killer Flash graphics. It was designed by Michael Karst with Flash by Nathan Fenwick. It was built and is maintained byRich Williams.

It's colorful, fun, and tuneful -- with lots of interesting info about the show. And a great B&W photo of me too!

Back in my impressionable youth I watched a lot of TV. A lot. I used to fake illness and spend the day at home watching TV. That's where I developed my passion for old movies, and movie musicals (Fred and Ginger to be specific). I did all my homework in front of the television (math was particularly easy to do with the boob tube on). I would memorize the TV Guide listings so my sisters only had to ask what was on and I would give them the complete line up for the evening. In addition to my love of old movies I developed of love of advertising. And back in the good old days of the late sixties and seventies they had lots of great jingles that I still carry around in my brain. Who can sing the jingle from Mystery Date board game -- "Open the door to your mystery date!" Love the internal rhyme, man!

Yeah, yeah, I've read the Ogilvy bible and I did hard time in Procter & Gamble's marketing division for advertisng deliquents. Even ran an advertising agency (ConnAd of course!) with my hubbie. Of course, it's no coincidence that my husband loves advertising and has devoted his career to it in some form or another. But it was watching every episode of Bewitched that really helped develop my truly deep understanding of the craft of advertising, and the hard, hard work involved.

About that the old joke -- for some reason advertising is generally viewed as morally despicable and dare I say, evil. Don't get me wrong: It drives me nuts with its pandering, inane, irrevelant and irritating messages. But on the othe hand I love advertising when it is great. And I love watching advertising executives and creatives portrayed on the screen and stage, as the industry is ususally given a sexy (and lovably silly) sheen in those movies and TV shows. (World Wide Widget anyone?)

So the Golden Age of Advertising (all those wonderfully goofy sexist campaigns!) was something I just had to include in Plane Crazy, especially since advertising has a spotty history in its portrayal of women. And it was an "ad woman", Mary Wells, who was the brains behind the Braniff Airlinessexy and Pucci-esque repositioning. But when I poke fun at the industry and the advertising execs it is done with love, comes from my experience, and hopefully rings true.

I grew up in a feminist household. Although my father was Hungarian and born in 1926, he always regarded my two twin sisters and I as fully capable of doing anything and being anything we wanted (as long as it made lots of money!). He was happy when I got married, but secretly I think he wanted me to be a driven, single, business tycoon who would one day grace the cover of Fortune magazine.

At university I joined the women's groups on campus, started reading Ms. Magazine, stopped wearing a bra (actually, I really didn't need one all that much...) and generally swore off men forever.

However, I found the groups a tad boring, switched back to Mad Magazine, joined Queen's Musical Theatre, and met my future husband who was also in the Queen's Commerce program. So I got my MRS degree after all...

But I still firmly believe that a woman should have a choice to do whatever she wants -- whether that is to have a career outside the home, or to have kids and stay home, or to do some combination of the two. Yes I know we've come a long way baby, but we still have a long way to go (just check out the beer ads on TV!), especially around the globe. That is one of the reasons I wrote Plane Crazy -- to remind us, in a fun and entertaining way -- about the issues that women have faced and continue to face today. Well...also to win a Tony and meet Hugh Jackman, but that's a different story.

So endeth the lesson, at least for today.

As we are a couple of days from launching the official Plane Crazy Web site, I have taken a few moments to sit back and say "you've come a long way baby".

So much work and energy has gone into this musical thus far (and so much more is ahead, I know, I know) I have to stop and think -- where did it all begin? Can I pinpoint the genesis of Plane Crazy, the actual moment of conception?

When did that seed first drop into the fertile ground of my young, impressionable brain, to grow and grow over the years, nurtured by my experiences, dreams, and fantasies? Let us cast our minds back to the 1960s.

My Grandmother (on my Dad's side) was Hungarian, so we would travel to Europe for vacations and drop in on my Grandmother who lived in Budapest. We always flew into Frankfurt or Zurich and we almost always took Luftansa. As a child of five I was enthralled with the whole airplane experience and especially the compartmentalized food on those long flights, those lovely little trollies that would bring wonderful snacks and exotic soft drinks. I remember it was all so grand.

But most of all I remember the napkins.

With our drinks (hard or soft) we would get napkins that had little cartoons on them. Except these were naughty little drawings of balloon-breasted women in short tight dresses (inevitably bending over to pick up something ), with some lewd joke or pun captioned underneath. I don't think I really understood the jokes, but I was fascinated by these napkins (remember, I was five). I hung on to a few of them for a while but over time I have lost them. But at that moment, at 30,000 feet, as I sat drinking my Orangina and contemplating those funny drawings, an idea was born: Stews...sexy...sexist...funny...airplanes...that was to grow one day into Plane Crazy!

To be continued tomorrow...

From BoingBoing:

Todd Lappin has finished installing his 707 jet panel in his house. It looks incredible! Here's a link to his great Flickr site.

My 707 has come a long way since I first found it at an aircraft scrapyard in Tucson. Here's a daylight view, shortly after I stripped off the paint. The illumination comes from rope lights mounted on the structurally-cool back side. (Next time you rest your head against a window-seat wall to snooze, this is basically what lies underneath.)

I did an earlier post on this fixture in the middle of March. I love it for a couple of reasons. Firstly, it's a great example of modernist architecture...both the plane and the resultant fixture. But mostly, it feeds into my plane fetish and obsession with the Jet Age, amply demonstrated by my musical Plane Crazy, and my Pucci stewardess uniform collection.

It was announced today that Plane Crazy, The Classic '60s Musical Comedy, has received a record 15 Tony nominations!

Plane Crazy was nominated for Best New Musical, Best Score, Best Book, Best Web Site Design, Best Costumes, Best Sets, and in a special category: Best Functioning Jet Plane on a Stage, among many other nominations.

When author Suzy Conn was contacted for comment she was quoted as saying "I'm so thrilled just to be nominated, but when do I get to meet Hugh Jackman?"

This extraordinary announcement comes on the eve of the launch of the official Plane Crazy Web site and merchandise store. Exciting things are store for Suzy Conn! What's next, The Ellen DeGeneres Show?

Oh, and Happy April Fools Day!

I was watching a great old musical on BRAVO last night. You know the kind that you can have on in the background while you do other stuff, stopping occasionally to take in a great song or dance number? It was the story of three navy nurses played by Joan Evans (redhead) Vivian Blaine (blonde, of Guys and Dolls Adelaide fame) and Esther Williams (brunette).

Lots of great singing (I believe Ms. Williams was beautifully dubbed) and a great out-of-the-blue dance number by Bobby Van and Debbie Reynolds (where did they come from? Who cares!)

And of course, lots of swimming. You hear about how famous Esther Williams was, but it's hard to believe until you see a film with a bunch of neato swimming scenes. She was known as "The Million Dollar Mermaid", and it's the first movie I've ever seen with gratuitous "swimming" shots in it...including a great scene where Esther joins two young children in the pool and creates a very cute performance with some great little swimmers complete with a toy ladder and sailboat.

Did people really enjoy watching her swim? It's interesting enough, but it does feel a bit weird since it isn't tied into the story at all. Her character just takes the occasional choreographed dip in the pool! I guess you had to be there...

I tuned in late, so I didn't know the title until the very end, and it was hilariously calledSkirts Ahoy...wow, times really do change...especially since 1952! This gem even has the song "What Goods a Girl Without a Guy".

Maybe I should call Plane Crazy "Stews Ahoy"...

In the story, Esther plays Whitney Young who leaves her fiance at the altar and joins the Navy. There she meets two other young ladies who are also having trouble with love. One was left at the altar, and one just can't be in the right place at the right time.

They decide they want to travel the world and forget about men altogether, that is until Whitney meets and falls in love with her Lt. Commander. From then on, all she wants to do is win him over whatever the cost. The other two girls play out their own stories of how they find happiness.

Braniff Airways is the inspiration behind the airline Venus Airlines in my musical, Plane Crazy. Oh, how I wish Braniff was still flying today...

In today's world of cut-rate airlines, it's difficult to remember that air travel was once a much more rarefied experience. Even routine flights would include roses for female passengers and seven-course meals on fine china and linen tablecloths. Stews at the time were required to make omelettes from real eggs in the galley, to cook steaks to order, and to run a complete bar.

"...boarding a plane was such an event that stewardesses took souvenir Polaroids of passengers as if they were sailing on an ocean liner or catching a dinner show. Once, there were planes with piano lounges. Once, a first-class meal might have included turtle soup served from a tureen, Chateaubriand carved seatside, and cherries jubilee. Steaks would be cooked to order -- eggs, too, on breakfast flights."

-- Bruce Handy, Glamour With Altitude, Vanity Fair, October 2002

The time period of the mid-1960s, when Plane Crazy is set, was also about freedom. It was a unique period in history where technological changes (computers, Pill, jets), social changes (mass media, leisure society, Baby Boom teenagers), and political changes (Civil Rights, Vietnam, Cold War) combined in an explosive fusion of color, sound, and energy.

Forty years later, the decade of the 1960s continues to capture our imagination in movies, music, and popular media. Plane Crazy has chosen to focus on two interesting and contrasting themes of the time: The glamour, pizzazz and flash of the mass media "Jet Age" fascination; and the serious issues and compelling questions of the Women's Movement.

"It rained very hard the day we made our first flights as stewardesses. Our brand new, custom-tailored, form-fitting, wrinkle-proof, Paris-inspired uniforms became soaked in the dash to the cab."

-- Trudy Baker and Rachel Jones, Coffee, Tea, or Me?: The Uninhibited Memoirs of Two Airline Stewardesses, Putnam, 1967

Coffee, Tea, or Me? was a big bestseller, testament to a strange elation that was sweeping the nation. The book was written in worldly first person, and it was illustrated by Bill Wenzell, who turned those two stews into "Wenzell Girls," a cartoon type he made famous in Esquire magazine (butt like a beach ball, breasts like twin missiles, Barbie Doll feet).

"This morning, sightseeing in New York -- and in about five hours, I'll meet my date for dinner in San Francisco."

-- American Airlines recruiting poster, circa 1961

Faith and Rachel weren't just serving caffeine -- they were mixing an explosive cultural cocktail. Call it "The Sexy Skies". Made of airplanes, advertising, and affluence, this sky-highball was first shaken-not-stirred in 1965, two years before the publication of Coffee,Tea, or Me? The key ingredient was a sassy new uniform for stewardesses.

The instigator for uniform change was Mary Wells, and she worked for Jack Tinker & Partners, the advertising agency hired in 1965 by Braniff Airways. It was imagination and pizzazz that earned Wells her fame, and she brought both to the Braniff account. The aim was to enlarge and update Braniff's image, a campaign that coincided with company expansion into new technology and new international routes.

In 1961, when Continental Airlines launched its "Proud Bird with the Golden Tail," it simultaneously put its stewardesses in gold uniforms -- a classy bit of innuendo. Wells went Continental two better. She hired the designer Alexander Girard to redesign Braniff terminals and repaint its planes, and she hired Emilio Pucci, himself a "bomber" (he flew missions in WWII), to design new stewardess uniforms. These designers took Braniff over the rainbow, leaving stately silvers and golds behind for a jewel-toned palette with an Op Art jiggle.

"The End of the Plain Plane," Braniff ads boasted, and could as easily have said "The End of the Plain Jane." Wells made her campaign a play of perceptions, a party game of double meanings. Sex was the message and in an era famous for its subliminal advertising, there was nothing subliminal about Braniff. Girard fitted its famous Love Field terminal with round mirrors on the ceilings, and the gate areas were hung with huge white globe lights -- a bachelor pad in heaven.

Well, "the wish to fly," wrote Freud way back in 1910, "...is a longing to be capable of sexual performance." In Business Week, in 1967, Mary Wells put it bluntly: "When a tired businessman gets on an airplane, we think he ought to be allowed to look at a pretty girl." In her new Pucci uniform, the Braniff stewardess was like no other girl on the concourse.

She was now stewardess-as-jet-setter. In the sixties, a Pucci dress -- like Gucci shoes and an Hermes handbag -- was one of the status symbols among the rich and mobile. These little printed sheaths and A-lines in luxurious silk jersey were fantastic for travel, could roll up into a ball and come out swinging. And they were light as air. Pucci based his uniform on these high-society frequent flyers. He threw out that dread three-piecer of the last 30 years, and built Braniff women a with-it wardrobe of layers, pieces that could be added on or taken off depending on the weather -- a concept that was advertised, to cries of sexism, as the "Braniff Air Strip."

"Marriage is fine! But shouldn't you see the world first?"

-- United Airlines recruiting ad, circa 1967

Construction of the clothes was sixties simple, but with a curious recurring note of architectural interest: there's a round, rolled, slightly stand-away collar that appears throughout the collection. Though it makes room for a Pucci-print scarf, this wide, round collar really seems to be waiting for an astronaut's helmet. And it comes! Pucci's pièce de résistance was a clear, plastic bubble of a helmet, designed, he said, to preserve the women's hairdos. It was the perfect lack of gravity -- Mod meets moon walk. Wells' perception play was working. Braniff stewardesses were soon accepted as the best-looking women in America, leggy birds of paradise in their bright Pucci plumage, feathery exotics who might have picked up their colors on one of Braniff's South American flights (routes exclusive to Braniff).

Eventually they became brides of paradise, with Braniff a kind of breeding ground for the second wives of wealthy men. "Does your wife know you're flying with us?" asked one of Braniff's pointed print ads, yet another innuendo that hit home. Mary Wells herself became a second wife, marrying none other than Braniff president Harding Lawrence in 1967.

"Every [passenger] gets warmth, friendliness and extra care. And someone may get a wife."

-- United Airlines advertisement, late '60s

Braniff was based in Love Field in more ways than one. And "Love Field" is not a bad way to describe the famous patterning of those Pucci prints. Whether it was biomorphic forms in a frenzy of cell division, or jazzy geometrics riffing inside a short-wave, these imploding, oscillating color fields suggested good trips, Op Art orgasms.

In keeping with the theme of my musical Plane Crazy, maybe I should do a musical on Playboy magazine next?

Plane Crazy is a fun, upbeat musical about feminism set against the backdrop of glamour and innocent sex appeal of the swinging '60s Jet Age. A time when the stews were sexy and the world was sexist (TM).

Plane Crazy is set during an explosive time in history: The intersection between the dawn of intercontinental jet travel, the introduction of the Pill, the genesis of the modern Feminist Movement, and the Golden Age of Advertising.

While the Playboy club was an important cultural fixture at the time, it's only glancingly included in some of the winking comments that the males in the show make. I could easily do a whole bunny musical...

I have an old mid-sixties copy of Playboy and it's hilarious. The demure sexuality is one thing: Most of the pics would be rejected by Maxim or FHM as "too tame", but the ads are something else. There's one amazing cigar ad where a woman, dressed as a tiger, is actually IN A CAGE. Whew, you really have come a long way, baby!

So now I've run across this archive of Playboy models from 1956 to 1962. Wow, I almost fell out of my chair. Two words for these girls: Jenny + Craig...