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Classnotes | Profile
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broadway’s doug mcgrath ’76 with
by benjamin firke ’08
Manhattan’s Algonquin Hotel played host to a meeting of theatrical and literary minds on February 8, as playwright, screenwriter, and director Douglas McGrath ’76 spoke about his career with Choate legend Ed Maddox and an audience of alumni. Ed engaged Doug in a free-flowing discussion that began with Doug’s self-deprecating account of writing for Saturday Night Live during what Doug called “the worst season in the show’s history.” However, he emphasized that writing for SNL was an invaluable gift as a writer and a director. “At SNL, the writer really produces his own sketch,” Doug told the Bulletin. “You tell the costumers what clothes you want, you tell the set designers how you see the set. You talk to the actors about the characters. You really direct the sketch in every way except camera placement. This was ideal training for me when I eventually became a director, because directing was just an extension of that work.” Doug also regaled the audience with his story of how he began to collaborate with Woody Allen on several projects, most notably the Oscar-nominated Bullets Over Broadway. With a spot-on impression of the famed director, Doug spoke fondly of his collaborations with Allen, saying “he thought about the audience in the right way: from [their] perspective and not the studio’s.” I caught up with Doug afterward to learn more about his Choate experiences and his new Broadway musical, Beautiful, featuring the music and life story of singer-songwriter Carole King.
Ben firke: Ed Maddox mentioned you played
Snoopy in You’re A Good Man, Charlie Brown while a Choate student. Any memories stick out from that period? Did you do the “Suppertime” tap dance? Douglas McGath: We worked really hard, and had lots of fun. That seems contradictory, that work and fun are the same thing, but if it’s work you love – one of the greatest blessings of life – they are the same. Even better, it led to lifelong friendships for all of us. My main memory is how hard we laughed and how much we all loved our director, George Moredock, who pushed us hard and made us feel good about the effort. Yes, I tap danced in my own idiosyncratic, not-actually-really-tap-dancing way. BF: What drew you to Beautiful? How did it challenge you as an author? What moments in the show are you proud of? DM: The thing I loved about Carole King’s story is that it is two things. Of course it’s a musical for boomers who want to hear the songs that were such an important part of their youth. But what really appealed to me about it was that it is a girl-empowerment story. She is 16 when the story starts, and young for a lot of it. What it says to young people is this: Success takes not just talent but hard work. If you work hard, sometimes really, really hard, you can achieve something amazing. Even better, her story says that you can fall in love with someone you love more than anyone you’ve ever loved, but then it can all go wrong and your heart gets broken. You think it’s all over, that you will never find that joy again, and out of that heartbreak, you can find an even bigger success and a different kind of joy.
For me, I like the moments that subvert the audiences’ expectations. On the one hand, there is the humor in the show. Most people don’t expect the show to be funny. On the other hand, I always like it when we can move the audience. This is not a typical jukebox musical where we just raid somebody’s catalogue for a quick nostalgic thrill. I wanted people to really feel and be moved by her struggles. BF: What advice would you have for current Choate students interested in going into the arts? DM: Follow what you love, work hard at it, then work harder. Study all areas of the arts, especially literature, even if you don’t plan to be a novelist or even a writer. Classics teach about everything: society, language, philosophy, human behavior. Even if you want to do Adam Sandler comedies, it only helps for you to be as smart as you can. The Simpsons is full of low humor, and is still as smart as can be.
Ben Firke ’08 is an aspiring playwright living in New York City.