INTERVIEW: ‘Stranger Sings!’ has been a labor of love for Nick Flatto
Photo: Stranger Sings! stars Jamir Brown and SLee. Photo courtesy of Evan Zimmerman of MurphyMade / Provided by Keith Sherman & Associates with permission.
Nick Flatto is a wearer of many hats for Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical, now playing an extended run at Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s in Midtown Manhattan. Nestled at the east end of Restaurant Row, only a few feet away from the glowing marquees of the Broadway district, this little-musical-that-could continues to pack in fans of the beloved Netflix series Stranger Things. With his many hats, Flatto sits in the middle of the orchestrated chaos, serving as director and co-lead producer. In fact, at a recent performance, he even took to the microphone and welcomed the audience members to the theater.
“It’s been a dream come true with Stranger Sings!,” Flatto said in a recent phone interview. “So it’s just nonstop these days.”
Flatto has a circuitous journey to this parody musical. He acted on stages for more than a decade, but toward the end of his time in the spotlight, he realized he was no longer content telling one part of a story. He wanted to tell the entire story, from start to finish, so he began shadowing theatrical directors, including Gordon Greenberg.
“He not only directs, but he’s a writer and helps tighten and make shows more concise,” Flatto said of Greenberg. “I assisted him for three or four years on different projects, and my last acting contract was at Cape Playhouse in a production of South Pacific. Ironically, it gave me my Equity card. I thought maybe this might be my last acting gig.”
That final acting project proved to be fortuitous because Flatto met Dean Cestari, who would go on to play the original Will in Stranger Sings! Cestari put Flatto in touch with Jonathan Hogue, who wrote the book, music and lyrics of the show, and eventually Flatto became the project’s director.
“I met Jonathan Hogue,” Flatto remembers. “We hit it off for three or four hours. I watched the first 54/Below show, and I knew this material deserved to be in Midtown Manhattan. And we’ve been fighting every day for four years to get it there, so two 54/Below shows, an industry reading. We then were the first musical back post-pandemic in the Village at the Players Theatre for a sold-out five-week run, and then we got this opportunity to open in Midtown Manhattan this past September. It’s been a whirlwind ride, but an exciting journey.”
Flatto counts Hogue as fan #1 of Stranger Things, a Stephen-King-esque TV show that follows a group of kids (now teenagers) as they take on an otherworldly, evil presence in Hawkins, Indiana. Flatto could be considered fan #2 of the TV show.
“I’ve binged it,” he said. “We’ve been having Stranger Sings! parties where we binge season four in two days, which is 13 hours of watching, so these characters are dear to my heart. I just love what the Duffer Brothers have created. … This piece is mostly season one, which is really the heart of these characters. I just love giving audiences what the show didn’t, especially Barb’s 11 o’clock number. That kind of symbolizes our goal here, which is a love letter to our favorite TV show and giving audiences what they didn’t get in the show. Where is the justice for Barb? It was written in such a way, the TV show, that it was prime for musical theater.”
This musical is Flatto’s first co-lead producer experience, and it has been an educational journey. Flatto said they received a development fund in 2021, and with that money, they produced the original five-week run in the Village.
“That gave us the seven Broadway World award wins, including Best New Musical in ‘21, and that really unlocked the doors,” Flatto said. “We heard from London first, then Melbourne, Australia, and all of this led to, hey, we need to do this … New York Midtown experience. So every step of the way, whether we knew it or not, was in preparation for this time, so yeah this theater climate is a tricky one. We’re seeing all these Broadway shows closing. People are not buying in advance. It’s all day-of sales. It’s so volatile, and everyone’s struggling because of the pandemic and all these things. We have to take it week by week.”
Sales seem to be strong enough to keep Stranger Sings! around for a while. Performances were going to end March 5, and now they are continuing to at least April 30.
“We need to see what eight weeks do, what those sales and data do, to know if we can survive for more,” he said. “Winter months are tricky, but off-Broadway does very well during winter months. And this title does so well. We’re finding when the kids and the adults are off from school and work, they’re coming to this show. … Our title is very intentional. It’s not the musical parody; it is the parody musical. ‘Musical’ being the noun, in that this is an original musical theater work that impresses musical theater fans, people that miss the ‘80s and Stranger Things, that happens to be based on your favorite TV show. … We’re truly a musical trying to redefine what parody means, and I think we achieve that.”
By John Soltes / Publisher / John@HollywoodSoapbox.com
Stranger Sings! The Parody Musical, directed by Nick Flatto, continues at Playhouse 46 at St. Luke’s in Midtown Manhattan. Click here for more information and tickets.
