(NY Times) Daryl Morey Built an Elite N.B.A. Team. Now He’s Building a Musical

I really love musicals. Proud to hear one produced in Houston getting all the media coverage!

 

Never seen the big guy doing this doe.....Morey better step up!

This casting couch looks like a lady doctor.

 

Thanks for the posts, y'all.

If you have any questions about the musical, I'm finally free to talk about it so fire away if you like. I've had to keep this pretty secret for 2 years and it's been tough.

That's especially so because everyone will be surprised by this musical and I think people will be surprised in wonderful ways. Most of the speculation I've read in sports news stories seems to sort of regard it to be fluff, but while it's extremely funny and fun it's the exact opposite of fluff.

And the music is extraordinary as well. Along with the strange but haunting music, it's Mickle's story and dialogue that's going to take absolutely everyone by surprise. It's more than a laugh a minute, by far.

I listened to two guys cracking up about the project on a podcast last night and they were having fun with it, sort of calling it silly, which it also is (seriously silly), sort of making fun which is a natural reaction and I found that so gratifying because I know that every single person that has a guess as to what this is, is going to be so surprised. It would be impossible to guess at the products of Mickle's imagination. It's too singular. I was cracking up with them, thinking "PLEASE yuk it up! Please underestimate it! We're about to blow your minds."

Mostly though, if you have any interest at all, "ask me anything." And I hope to see as many of you as possible at the play. And if you come on a night Daryl is there please ask for me so I can introduce you. You can ask for Jason or Batman. Either works.

 

Casting couch has no boundaries..........

 

It's a fun joke but I'm hopelessly devoted to my girlfriend. I've always been a serial monogamist and I don't cheat.

 

Beautiful! Congratulations and good luck!
I really liked the story that was described in the article. Liliputians and Jordan! And beautiful songs and a love story!
Also the lack of the concept of 5 should bring a lot of humour to the story.
I wish I could go watch it. Best of luck!

 

My question is that do you think that the approach that Morey brought to the musical creation like a GM with the drafting process is better and more efficient than the usual ?
I lol'ed when I read it. A GM will always be a GM in the end.

 

I was just joking and you've always come off as an honest guy.

Thanks for taking on this project with Daryl, and I'd love to attend when it opens

Best of luck Batman

 

It was an unusual situation because we knew who we had writing book/lyrics and still had to choose a composer and we each had different ideas as to who it should be. We came up with a list of 6 composers or composing teams, gave them each 2K, and told them to score two pages of dialogue and put a lyric to music. We referred to it as a "bake off." Once we had all 6 entries, Daryl did insist on us each ranking them and sharing our rankings before discussing, which was an efficient way to "avoid group-think" as he put it. Our rankings were almost universally agreed upon though so there wasn't a lot of debate. When we heard the submission from Merel van Dijk and Anthony Barilla (AKA Merel & Tony) we were agreed we'd found our composers.

When making new work, there's no standard system. Daryl's suggestion of ranking before talking was productive though and I'd repeat that process again if I were in the same position again. It landed us some truly brilliant composers and the collaboration between them and the playwright (whom we have produced more than any other writer) has been a revelation. Mickle's a genius on his own as anyone that's seen one of his plays can attest (@finalsbound) and Merel & Tony are geniuses too. Together though they make one another so much better.

I've directed 60-70 plays in various cities, a lot of it new work, and I can honestly say I've never felt so excited or honored to be a part of any prior project. This one is going to take the world by storm.

Thanks for the question.

 

Oh, I betcha say that to all the girls.

Here's what BJ will tell Kristine Leahy during her couch casting audition

"I've directed 60-70 plays in various cities, a lot with fresh and new talent, and I can honestly say I've never felt so excited or honored to be a part of directing an actress's first play. You are going to take the world by storm."
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Seriously, you genuinely sound excited and not just thrilled to finally get to do that basketball play you've likely always wanted to do. I'm definitely coming down to see it.

 

Congratulations!

Probably missed it - where to get tickets?

What is best way to reach you? Email? Message through the board? See you are famous now

 

I actually lol'Ed at the thought of no concept of 5, sending 4 players out at a time. I will definitely go see this if I can.

 

Thanks, IBTL!

Best way to reach me? PM through the board. Or use my email: jason.nodler@catastrophictheatre.com.

Where to get tickets (and more info)? At the link below!

My theatre, Catastrophic, is Houston's only Pay-What-You-Can theatre. We have a suggested price of $35 but we never turn anyone away for lack of funds. You can pay at 5 price points online or call 713-521-4533 and pay literally any amount you can afford.

For some people $50 is a lot of money. For some, $5 is. We rely on our audience to let us know what they can afford to pay so our plays are accessible to anyone that wants to see them. It's not a discount or a giveaway; it's our best attempt to address income inequality and make theatre affordable for all.

https://matchouston.org/events/small-ball

 

Awesome. You'll LOL harder to see what the writer does with this problem, I promise. Daryl was resistant to this plot point as mentioned in the NYT article but it was presented as a straight play (no music) at DePaul in a workshop production to develop the script and the entire audience were practically wetting themselves at the "5" stuff.

 

Batman, I'm definitely going to be seeing it during its run, congratulations. Any fun requests for tickets yet? I'd expect LMM and Parsons (he's a friend of yours right?) to be there during the run.

 

As a former participant of musicals, I will definitely support this Batman...Well done.

 

This is WONDERFUL! Congratulations Batman.

 

I'm so out of touch I can't even think of who LMM might be. I'm sure it's someone obvious and I'm just spacing it. Yes, Jim Parsons is a dear, old friend and he's on our advisory board at the theatre. We made a lot of theatre together in the 90s (and watched countless Rockets games together as well back then). If he's in town when we're on I'm sure he'd see it. But of all the busy friends I have none are busier than Jim or Daryl. Those guys never stop working. I'll be really happy if just one Rocket, even a former Rocket, comes to the play. Hopefully more than one will. It's impossible to guess but that would be a dream to me, having a Rocket at one of our plays. It's already pretty dang cool to me that Daryl Morey comes to them.

 

Lin Manuel Miranda, seems like he and Morey have a pretty good friendship. I think you're going to be surprised with how many people come and see it. You're gonna have Danny Ainge and Presti front row!