INTERVIEW: ‘Measure for Measure’ moves to the American West in new musical

William Shakespeare’s Measure for Measure has been given the musical treatment with the new show Desperate Measures, currently playing the York Theatre Company in New York City. The brainchild of Peter Kellogg (book and lyrics) and David Friedman (music), the musical takes the Bard’s original tale as a mere starting off point and then moves into a high-stakes hilarious adventure in the American West.

Both Kellogg and Friedman promise plenty of laughs and more than a few rhyming couplets. The show, directed and choreographed by Bill Castellino, officially opens Sunday, Oct. 1, and performances run through Sunday, Oct. 15.

Kellogg has been nominated for two Tonys, both for his book and lyrics for Anna Karenina. Friedman has written songs for everyone from Disney to Diana Ross. Together, the musical team has created Money Talks, Aucassin and Nicolette, Nellie Bly and Lincoln in Love.

Here’s what they had to say about Desperate Measures:

On his inspiration for adapting Measure for Measure …

Kellogg: “The cast is fantastic, I mean fantastic. … I always liked the idea of Measure for Measure, and it turns out it makes a pretty wonderful western because everything that happens in the Shakespeare play transfers nicely. like the nun works as a novice as a St. Franciscan mission. … Anyway, we did it first, and we did it first in prose. And it worked nicely, and then we decided to do it in rhyming couplets.”

On how the collaboration worked …

Friedman: “The way the process generally works is Peter comes up with an idea, and Peter actually hands me a complete script and lyrics. So there it is, and then we take sometimes like months before I actually write any music, to discuss, and how does this work, and what do we want here and how does it change. I’m reading it for the first time, so I go, I don’t understand this, and maybe we need this. And we collaborate on getting the script and the lyrics in a place where I understand what I need to write. Then I write very quickly. I often write four songs a day. We write quickly, and then we go back and forth, 100 emails a day, lots of phone conversations. We fix things. We tweak things. Sometimes we replace whole songs, and then when we feel we’ve got it to the point where we feel, OK, this is good, this works, then we do a reading. And then we find a zillion spots that we can tweak and improve when we see it on its feet, and we continue that process until it gets to the point where it can be produced.”

On the major changes that took place during the show’s development …

Kellogg: “I’d say during the course of doing readings, we have changed maybe three or four songs, but again, changing it to rhyming couplets just made it a step funnier. And then when we did the reading at the York, we had such a good cast. I couldn’t believe the response, and that’s why we are where we are today.”

Friedman: “We had such fun at the York. I mean, people were just rolling in the aisles. I mean, a reading basically, if you really sit objectively and watch a reading, you kind of realize like, oh, that line isn’t necessary, or that song’s too long, or that emotional thread is not either picked up or strong enough or resolved, or there’s something hanging. So each time we read it, we do things like that, but basically this piece, the bones of it are the same.”

On their different approaches to the material …

Kellogg: “David and I actually have a very good collaboration because I always say, ‘It’s got a laugh. Let’s keep it. Let’s make it funny.’ And David is like, ‘Well, where is the emotional touchstone?’ We kind of go back and forth on that.”

Friedman: “We guard different things, and it comes together in the middle very nicely.”

On writing the music to match the musical’s western setting …

Friedman: “Definitely this show is definitely a country and western show. There’s no question about it. The music is country music. I’ve spent a good deal of time in Nashville in my songwriting days, and this is even way far west of Nashville. I remember, who was it, I think Richard Rodgers said, ‘When you write a period piece, write it first, and then look up what the period was.’ In other words, let it go through as that period comes through you, and then check and see how accurate you were. This one, it was a departure for me, but it was easy for me because I love that kind of music. And it was really fun to write in this style, and it’s really fun to have a country band in it.”

On whether they reread Measure for Measure for inspiration …

Kellogg: “I read it in college. It’s the bare bones of the plot, and, of course, it’s called Shakespeare’s problem play or Shakespeare’s dark comedy. We don’t have dark parts in ours. It’s a much more fun show.”

Friedman: “I had no idea. I had never read the play, but Peter really knows this. And I’m always amazed at the level of references that are in here that he knows about. … We’d been living with this show for years, and so we have strong ideas. And we have tried a million things that haven’t worked and stuff, but we have to give the director and the cast a little time to catch up, to experiment, to make the same mistakes we made, to often come up with things we never thought of, to give insight into it. We kind of sit there and watch. I mean, I’m fairly active when the music is being taught, and Peter is sitting as they’re reading the lines, checking to see if there’s extra fat, or is this line being read as intended.”

By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com

Desperate Measures is currently playing the York Theatre Company in New York City. Click here for more information and tickets.