In this Sonatas & Soundscapes interview that aired Friday, April 4th, host Bradley Fuller speaks with John Jeter about Waiting for You, an original musical comedy set to premiere at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg April 11th-13th. The musical, which takes a humorous approach to the hereafter, is a collaboration between Jeter and fellow Converse University professor David Berry.
TRANSCRIPT
FULLER: John, great to have you!
JETER: It's so thrilling to be here. I swear, Bradley, thank you for having me on. This is so much fun.
FULLER: Well you are a man of many talents—or you've worn many hats between owning and operating The Handlebar in Greenville, you write quite a bit in a lot of contexts and capacities—but have you ever written a musical before?
JETER: Uhhhh no. [laughs] It was just something my colleague David Berry at Converse University came to me about a few years ago and said “Do you want to write a musical?” And I said “Well, I don't know anything about music (after running a music venue for 20 years). But hey, you know, I can write the book and words to the songs”—which I think are called lyrics—"I can try that.”
FULLER: Libretto, if you’re feeling that.
JETER: Right, the libretto. And the lyrics. And I said sure, I’ll give it a shot. And then now we’re doing a premiere at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg. I mean who would have thought that?
FULLER: This musical of yours and of David Berry's is Waiting for You and it's a musical comedy, which I also find…starting out with a comedy. I mean, it seems like, you know, when people are going for something very serious, obviously, they go for a tragedy. But as a comedy, do you find that might have been an easier in or in a way a more difficult start to writing a musical? Or is it just what you felt like you had to do?
JETER: You know, this is going to sound really goofy given the material, but it was something I felt that I really wanted to do. Had to do. They say writing a comedy is hard, and it is. Writing comedy is really hard, except when David said “Have you ever seen Airplane?” and I said “No.” He said “Ah, I can't believe you've never…”
FULLER: The movie?
JETER: Yeah!
FULLER: Oh, it’s one of my favorite comedies.
JETER: I know, right? So I saw Airplane and it’s like, I get it. And then he said Monty Python. I said “Hmmm, how about a little bit more of The Good Place—you know the TV show? Then I got it. I was like “Okay, I can do this." And because the show is so incredibly goofy, it worked. It worked.
FULLER: So, goofiness and humor, but also dealing with some questions about life and the afterlife and philosophy. What's the synopsis here? I read one online that it is “set in heaven, where men are forbidden. But two show up and throw Paradise into pandemonium.”
JETER: Right, right. We shortened that little bit for a marketing thing. Because I'm all about marketing.
FULLER: Okay, what's the shortened version?
JETER: It's: “Heaven. Men aren't allowed. Two men show up. All hilarity breaks loose.” I mean that’s a little bit more concise. You know you gotta get into the…people’s attention spans…
Anyway, I felt like now—we all need some laughs right about now. I mean, yeah everybody could just lighten up a little bit and let's have some fun.
So this thing is really insane. These two guys show up. There's nine members in the cast, and one of them is Kimilee Bryant who starred on Broadway and Phantom of the Opera. She was the only actor to star in all three major female roles. And really unbelievable. And the song that she sings—well, songs—I lost it.
So I got into this show and writing it. And it was so much fun. And I didn't realize it because, you know, there's the distance between writing it and then watching performers. And everybody's cracking up, and I said “Who wrote that?” And they said “You did.” It's like, “That's really funny.” I mean that's the stupidest thing.
But back to your point; yes, it's silly but the message is: live for today and let's die laughing. Because—let's be honest here—nobody knows what the afterlife looks like. Nobody knows what eternity is. And there's one line in there that's like, okay, you get to heaven—"I have to spend eternity with you?” You know, it's like, “Oh man, if do I really have to be there with my in-laws from now until…oh man.”
One of the central things is: So Bobby—there’s two men, obviously—So Bobby and Susie are married for a year. And at the very beginning she dies. And she's been the best little Susie ever and she can't wait to get to heaven. And so he tells her before she goes, he says “I will love you to eternity and beyond.” Well, fast forward a bunch of decades and he's remarried to Abby. And he says, you know, they're ready to go, and he says “Abby, I will love you to eternity and beyond.” Well, they both get to heaven. What do you think is going to happen? Abby says…and then Susie says…and it's [noise suggesting interpersonal conflict]
[laughter]
FULLER: You’re really exploring some of these things!
JETER: It's very deep, Bradley. It's just one of these—you know. And I've been able to watch some of the rehearsals and I watched some of one the other day with a good friend of mine and she said “Man you are all over this.” And I said “Oh no.”
[laughter]
FULLER: Well, you're obviously collaborating with a composer—with David Berry—can you speak to the style of music in this, or how the music maybe enhances the comedy, or maybe at times the music itself is perhaps very serious while the comedy is very lighthearted? Maybe that also enhances the comedy even if it's not, you know, directly comedic music, you know, a la a cartoon show or something? What kind of styles? Can you speak to that? I know David's not here.
JETER: That is such a great question. I really love that question because I'm a massive Springsteen fan and Larry McMurtry and a few of these other guys. And, you know, the classical music too—it's the same. I'm a Mahler freak. And some of the stuff that really gets me are the joyful message and the dark music. So Springsteen sings dark songs, but it's carnival music. And some of the classicals are the same thing. It's like, that's a great melody. It really pops. And it's really sad!
FULLER: Yeah, the lyrics, or you look at the context in the opera…
JETER: It’s like “Oooooh that must have hurt.” So, it's pop is what it is. And every song really does move the plot forward. There's actually a plot! And every song really does move the plot along and really explains, fills out the characters. So I'm really, really proud of that. There are a couple of songs that are blow-your-face off, either really sad or really powerful.
So one song is “Bling.” Because you can take it with you. And “if you ain't got your bling, you're missing some thing.” You know—
FULLER: Okay, it don't mean a thing if it ain’t got that bling?
JETER: “Bling means everything, so bring it. You think the streets are paved with gold? Look at this, sweetie. I mean, I got my pearls on I got my, you know, I got my bling.”
And then when Kimilee does “Starborn”, which is the penultimate song of the show, it's just like—just grab-you-by-the-heart. Because the message of that is: “Okay, this whole thing has been so stupid and so silly. Okay, everybody just stop. Okay, listen. Listen. Listen. Everybody listen. Don't take life seriously. You haven't taken the last two hours seriously. If you want your money back, we're kind of just kidding…But, you know. And “Starborn”— there's an incredible story behind that, too. Boy. Wow.
FULLER: Would you say that’s the most important or meaningful moment in the show for you? I know that’s a hard thing to pick.
JETER: Well, for me it is, because—and this is kind of how the musical feels for me—I had written “Starborn” a few years ago. Several years ago. And I lost my brother about three years ago. And David had booked Kimilee at The Faculty Recital at Converse University in the fall. Well this was two months after my brother died and I had already written “Starborn” a year or so ago, and I had never heard it. And so I'm sitting there with my wife Kathy. And Daniel Recital Hall, which is gorgeous, classical…I mean it’s a classical conservatory—it's a beautiful hall. And Kimilee starts singing this song. And I can't hear it. I'm just wailing, you know? Because it wasn't about my brother because, I mean, who knows when you're going to die, right? But I had just lost him and the song was so real about that. And my wife Kathy just says “it's okay, it's okay.” It's like I didn't hear the song. It's just so powerful.
But all the other songs are so stupid. [laughter]
FULLER: I think of so many things—be they Shakespeare plays or the other musicals of the 20th century where, you know, even the tragedies are lightened by moments of comedy but even the comedies have those moments of profundity. And I don't think they're opposed, but, you know, you can approach one through the other.
JETER: They call it dramatic tension. [laughs]
FULLER: So you’re going for some dramatic tension here in Waiting for You?
JETER: Right, right. It's really been quite an unbelievable experience because I know about the business of music and art—that's what I teach at USC Upstate and at Converse. But actually doing art? You know I did The Handlebar for 20 years because I felt like I wasn't an artist. And so I thought “Okay, well here's artists out here doing their artist thing. I can at least present art.”
And I thought, “Well I'm never going to be an artist.” And then the musical comes along and it's like “Wow, I'm kind of an artist here. This is kind of cool. I think I was built for this.”
So, as I wrote in a story somewhere—actually in Town magazine—I said at the very bottom “Well, I guess the muses have been saying all along ‘We're waiting for you.’” It’s like…yeah!
FULLER: John all best to you and the cast, all the crew--I know it’s quite a group coming together for this. But all best to you as you put on this musical comedy—I know not a frequent occurrence here in South Carolina—an original musical comedy born and performed in this state. That’s Waiting for You. And thanks so much for speaking today!
JETER: Thank you, Bradley. What an honor. What a privilege. It’s been great to be here.
Waiting for You will be performed at 7pm on Friday, April 11th and Saturday, April 12th, and at 3pm on Sunday, April 14th at the Chapman Cultural Center in Spartanburg.
More information at https://www.waitingforyoumusical.com/
