INTERVIEW: Drew Larimore, Billy Recce invite you to ‘Bestest Office Christmas Party Ever’
Image courtesy of artists / Provided by Fortune Creative with permission.
Musical theater writers Drew Larimore and Billy Recce are celebrating the holiday season with the release of their new EP, The Bestest Office Christmas Party Ever, featuring the singing talents of a variety of performers, including Mary Testa and Paige Turner. Recce takes care of the composing, while Larimore takes care of the book; both are billed as lyricists.
The songs from the new EP come from Larimore and Recce’s similarly titled musical project, which is still in the works. For this recording, listeners can enjoy four songs from the show, which depicts the difficulties of five adults working in an adult diaper factory. When these workers, who are dressed as elves, realize the holiday bonus will not be coming this year, chaos ensues, according to press notes.
Recently Hollywood Soapbox exchanged emails with Larimore and Recce. Larimore is known for the shows Smithtown, starring Michael Urie and later adapted into a movie, and Out of Iceland, which played Walker Space in 2012. Recce’s credits include off-Broadway’s A Musical About Star Wars and the album Little Black Book. Questions and answers have been slightly edited for style.
What can listeners expect from this new EP?
LARIMORE: In order of appearance — a twisted take on Christmas, everyone’s beliefs about office holiday parties come to life, and Mary Testa singing “Sex Machine Robot,” which is legit the most outrageous thing Billy and I have probably written to date. Billy, what am I missing?
RECCE: Do they really need to hear anything other than the words “Mary Testa singing ‘Sex Machine Robot’”? No, but seriously, there are so many fun surprises and goodies in this little stocking stuffer of an EP, and first and foremost, listeners can expect to laugh at some insane Christmas shit that they’ve never heard before.
Where’s the musical currently in its development process? Will audiences be able to experience a full-on production one day?
RECCE: If our Christmas wishes come true, yes, you’ll be able to see productions of TBOCPE at theaters across the country next holiday season. If they don’t, this interview will be very awkward for anyone who stumbles upon it again next year.
LARIMORE: We’ve developed it previously with New York Theatre Barn during the pandemic and done a handful of table readings. We’ve been working on it for about 3-4 years now, and we’re excited about its current shape.
How can you tell when a lyric is going to be funny?
LARIMORE: I’m not sure you ever really do until someone else sings it and you hear it out in the wild. What do you think, Billy?
RECCE: I think all comedy stems from the element of surprise. So, when writing a good musical comedy lyric, you almost need to reverse engineer a song by first thinking about what the audience is going to expect to be sung, and then writing the complete opposite of that. From there, it’s helpful to record demos and hear how these crazy lyrics sound out loud, but you really don’t know if it’s gonna be true musical comedy heaven until you get those performers in the room — and if they’re really great, they’ll add layers to the delivery of your song that is even funnier than you first expected.
What’s it like working with theatrical royalty like Mary Testa and acclaimed drag performer Paige Turner?
RECCE: They’re both a perfect example of what we’re talking about. Two incredible performers who simply add layers and layers and layers to the work that they’re performing. Truly musical comedy geniuses who both came into the studio knowing exactly what the world of the show is and how to tap into that world immediately. It’s kind of scary!
Personally, Mary has been one of my heroes since I was in high school (her solo album Have Faith is, I think, the greatest solo album of any theatre artist of the last two decades), so to have her in the studio sing this ridiculous song is a Christmas gift I’ll never forget; she’s like gold, frankincense and mer all in one.
LARIMORE: Paige has been with us since early versions of this show — both in-person and digitally — so it feels like it’s come full circle to have her featured so prominently on this EP. In many ways, she’s helped clarify why that character (Agnes) is best served by a drag performer. Her comic timing is the best.
Are you generally a fan of the holidays and the music of the season?
LARIMORE: I have a complicated relationship with it, frankly — because there is a magic in the air and Christmas lights can be really chill. It’s a time to reconnect, to make amends, to evaluate. My birthday is right after, though, and then there’s New Year’s. So I’m really relieved when December is over, but that’s why we wrote this — this time of year is fraught, and I think we need to poke some holes in it with music just to say what everyone else is thinking.
RECCE: Musically, I love this time of year. It’s the one time that the radios are playing what are unequivocally perfectly written songs. So to get to tap into that sound is what keeps bringing me back to this crazy show — it’s a celebration of the sound of the season that I love that also lampoons it at the same time.
And what other time of year can you get to savor the sweet sounds of Mary Testa singing about a Sex Machine Robot? Well, at least until we write our Valentine’s Day sequel musical.
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
The Bestest Office Christmas Party Ever, the EP, is now available on all digital and streaming platforms. Click here for more information.
