NEW YORK (AP) 鈥� Ryan Miller, lead singer of alternative rock band Guster, has a new gig that even he's a little surprised about: Musical theater songwriter. He laughs that he's gone all .
鈥淚 just went full-into the ballpit 鈥� just, like, face-first, take-me-wherever-this-is-going,鈥� he said before a recent rehearsal of his bright new musical at Brooklyn Academy of Music.
Miller is part of a growing trend of alt-rockers bringing a new sound to the space carved out by giants like Stephen Sondheim and Andrew Lloyd Webber.
The Avett Brothers are about to have land on Broadway, Florence + The Machine frontwoman is working on a musical about 鈥淭he Great Gatsby鈥� and is scoring 鈥淩omeo & Juliet." Radiohead鈥檚 Thom Yorke is laboring on 鈥淗amlet Hail to the Thief,鈥� a mashup of Shakespeare鈥檚 鈥淗amlet鈥� and his band鈥檚 music.
Arcade Fire鈥檚 Will Butler is fresh off the success of the Tony-winning play Sufjan Stevens songs found a place on Broadway last season with 鈥淚llinoise鈥� and the folk-rock band Jamestown Revival is fueling the reigning best new musical,
鈥淭here seems to be a wave and we鈥檙e kind of catching it at a good time,鈥� says Miller. 鈥淚t felt like there was already some soil that was being laid that I wouldn鈥檛 have to break down.鈥�
Tony Award-winning producer John Johnson, who is helping create that wave by backing the musicals 鈥淪wept Away,鈥� 鈥淪tereophonic鈥� and 鈥淪afety Not Guaranteed,鈥� says the change reflects the rise of tastes of Millennials and Gen-X.
A changing theater audience
If, before the pandemic, the standard theatergoer was a suburban woman in her 60s, she's being replaced by folks in their 30s to 50s from chic neighborhoods in Manhattan and Brooklyn, as well as bedroom communities in New Jersey like Maplewood and South Orange.
鈥淲e鈥檙e kind of following the path of the generational shift in the audience that鈥檚 happening right now,鈥� Johnson says, adding that these new theater-goers 鈥渁re open to new stories, new voices, as well as the voices that they grew up with.鈥�
Alt-rock has been heard on Broadway before, of course, with shows like Duncan Sheik's and Alanis Morissette's but rare is a cluster like theater is enjoying now.
Scott Avett, lead vocalist and multi-instrumentalist for the Avett Brothers, has watched as his 2004 album 鈥淢ignonette鈥� 鈥� based on a book about men adrift for days in the middle of the ocean 鈥� finds a new life on stage.
鈥淚t鈥檚 surreal, for sure,鈥� he says. 鈥淭he blooming of the story with the songs and the concept has been very surreal,鈥� adding: 鈥淚t feels like quite flattering and affirming.鈥�
The songs have been wedded to a story by John Logan and the Avetts wrote one song specifically for the show, 鈥淟ord Lay Your Hand On My Shoulder.鈥�
The leap to Broadway, in one way, isn't that strange for the Americana band, who have always written narrative-driven and character-based songs.
鈥淪how tunes are like the longing coming from somebody that then is exaggerated to the stage,鈥� says Avett. 鈥淲e grew up projecting that from a smaller place.鈥�
The path of 鈥楽afety Not Guaranteed鈥�
If 鈥淪wept Away鈥� began as a book that became an album, 鈥淪afety Not Guaranteed鈥� started life as a 2012 sci-fi comedy starring Aubrey Plaza, who played one of a trio of journalists hunting whoever placed an intriguing classified ad: 鈥淲anted: Someone to go back in time with me. This is not a joke,鈥� it reads. 鈥淢ust bring your own weapons. Safety not guaranteed.鈥�
Aside from the time-travel silliness, the film and musical is about the fading dreams of aspiring professionals in their 20s and 30s who see diminished opportunities and want to go back to the comfort of the past.
Miller initially had no intentions of making musical theater. When not touring with his four-piece band, he scores films, appears on podcasts and even starred in his own PBS series. Broadway or Broadway-adjacent didn't appeal.
Miller, who lives in Vermont, was simply turned off by the sheer amount of time it usually took: Fellow Vermont creators Ana茂s Mitchell's took 14 years and Trey Anastasio's took 10 years and closed after less than a month.
But Miller found himself gradually sucked in and enjoying a timeline that was accelerated. He was originally asked just to attend a workshop performance of 鈥淪afety Not Guaranteed鈥� studded with Guster songs 鈥� basically, a Guster jukebox 鈥� and loved it. 鈥淗ave I just been like a closeted theater kid my whole life?鈥� he asked himself.
Soon he was writing original songs for it. He was a natural, since he had scored the film, knew the characters and the emotional beats. He wrote five new stage songs in a month and sent them to book writer Nick Blaemire.
鈥淚 remember after I finished that fifth song, I sent it to Nick, I was like, 鈥楳an, really fell in love with this.' Like something happened and I鈥檓 going to be really bummed if I don鈥檛 get to just see it once.'鈥�
Miller then went on a writing tear, offering some 15 new songs in place of the Guster ones. 鈥淭his was the rule: I was like, 鈥楯ust let me beat it. If I don鈥檛 beat it, we鈥檒l all know and that鈥檚 it.鈥�"
One new song 鈥� 鈥淚 Wanna Go Back鈥� 鈥� shows Miller clearly having fun, with the lyrics: "We're losing our hair/It doesn't seem fair/All the best of our days are behind us and gone/Xbox/cheap buzz/tan lines/peach fuzz.鈥�
Only three Guster songs 鈥� including 鈥� made the cut. The rest are from Miller, who relished the storytellers' task of creating songs specifically tailored for the characters and moments.
"It鈥檚 been like, one of the greatest thrills, I think, of my artistic career to have been brought/stumbled/actively weaseled my way into this world. And I鈥檓 totally smitten,鈥� he says.
More and more alt-rockers may follow, attracted by the chance to show their multi-hyphenate-ness and the constancy. No matter how successful a rock band is, life on the road means one or two nights in a city; a stage show, on the other hand, is more like a residency.
Miller says he's also embraced the narrowness of the role. When he's writing for Guster, the song can be about anything. When he wrote for 鈥淪afety Not Guaranteed,鈥� the songs had clear guidelines.
鈥淗aving limitations actually really is a very compelling, very inspirational way because it can鈥檛 just be everything. It鈥檚 got to be within,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 call them sandboxes. I love a sandbox to play in and I love limitations.鈥�
Mark Kennedy, The Associated Press
