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Exclusive Interview: Brian Townsend of the Players Guild of Dearborn's 'Disaster!' · The BSB Podcast

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  Get ready for big laughs, bigger disasters,
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  and a whole lot of seventies nostalgia in Disaster the Musical,
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  which brings together classic disaster movie mayhem,
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  unforgettable music, and plenty of theatrical chaos.
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  Joining me today is the director of the Players Guild of Dearborn's production,
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  Brian Townsend. Thank you so much for being here,
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  Brian.
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  Thank you so much for having me.
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  So you just had your opening weekend of disaster.
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  How does it finally feel to bring it to the audiences?
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  ~ it was ~ you know, I whenever a show is about to open,
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  there's always the a certain level of nervousness and anxiety
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  and and frustration and worry and you hope and you and and then we managed
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  to open to three absolutely glorious audiences who who just ate the show
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  up and ~ were singing along and applauding and cheering and belly laughing
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  and groaning and and just having a great time,
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  which then of course made our cast just
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  dig into it all the more and ~ so it was a fantastic way to kick off the show
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  and ~ I happily we've been saying this a lot sort of tongue in cheek around
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  the theater, but it was not a disaster of an opening.
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  It was a fantastic opening. We were we were very happy so far.
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  So
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  I mean it it's great to hear that a the show called Disaster is not
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  a disaster when it comes to performing it.
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  That's awesome. It sounds like it such a great kind of reception.
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  but what first attracted you to wanting to direct this musical?
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  You know, it's ~ it's ~ a sort of a rare show in a way,
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  in that it's a musical comedy for the pure sake of musical comedy.
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  ~ it makes no bones about the fact that it's it's going to be fun and funny.
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  And and I think that's kind of what what drew me to it is that there
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  is an opportunity to just go out and have a good time with it.
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  ~ and comedy can be you know,
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  there's always the the adage that,
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  you know, drama is
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  is one thing, but comedy can be even harder.
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  And and it's true
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  Sure.
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  because you do want it to have the right timing.
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  It has to land the right way. The there's so many nuances and tweaks that
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  can happen. And ~ but this was one that you could really kind of ~ sink your teeth
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  into and just go have fun and go exploring.
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  And throughout the rehearsal process the cast and I would it
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  was a very collaborative process where ~ I would have an idea and they would
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  play it out and then suddenly someone would do something different.
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  We'd say, no, no, no, that's it.
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  That's the what should happen.
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  my gosh, that's perfect. And ~ so we just kept building upon that and having
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  a lot of fun. And then once we got that audience,
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  the missing component until your show opens,
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  and we were finding that everything was was kind of clicking along.
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  So it was ~ just to be able to do a show at at this day and age that was just fun.
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  for just to go out and have a good time was was a really a a great thing
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  to have at ~ at this time of the world and everything.
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  So it was nice to go in and belly laugh with everybody and have a good time.
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  You
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  know, something that you mentioned there that I feel like I've heard quite
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  frequently is the how comparatively to like a drama,
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  how the challenges of a comedy and getting it right.
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  But it seems like this one k kinda came together almost I don't wanna say with ease,
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  but like all the pieces were kind of there,
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  everyone's working together and it really came out to be something special.
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  Yes, it definitely was. It was,
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  ~ you know, we we joked a little bit about that,
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  you know, it's a dis it's a disaster movie on stage.
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  And in those disaster movies, it's always about this ragtag group
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  of people getting together in order to survive.
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  And in some ways
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  ~ that's how the production happened.
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  Not that we were a ragtag group of people or anything,
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  but that ~ we had to pull from all sorts of different resources to make sure that
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  everything happened the way it should.
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  And that truly, from cast to creatives to the different heads of production,
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  we needed each other in order to make sure everything happened the
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  way it was supposed to happen.
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  ~ the show is deceptively
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  difficult in terms of some of its tech and some of the requirements that
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  you need and and how fast things have to happen.
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  And so we really did rely upon each other in order to survive,
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  in order to come out on top of it all.
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  So it kind of had some interesting parallels,
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  ~ although tongue-in-cheek parallels,
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  I guess I would say along
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  sure some d some very clear parallels.
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  But you all worked you worked them all out.
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  And that's the that's the amazing thing,
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  is that all it all came together to be a disaster for the story,
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  but not for the stage.
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  Yes,
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  that's absolutely right. Yes.
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  So with a show like this, it has such a very specific comedic style.
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  How do you kind of balance between like maybe the absurdity of some
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  of the aspects of like a disaster film,
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  but also kind of letting that comedy shine for audiences?
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  You know, it's ~ the thing that we found was the if we pushed it too far,
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  like if we we kind of winked at the audience and pushed it too far,
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  it it never played totally right.
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  So ~ instead it was play it like it's true to you.
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  Let's let's play it as if this is what's actually happening in your life.
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  And ~ the more
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  ridiculous the scenario, the more they took it to heart that this
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  was really happening, the funnier it becomes because it's so outlandish.
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  I mean, you know, spoiler alert,
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  the show is absolutely ridiculous.
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  ~ the things that happen are just wacky crazy.
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  And the more they believe that it's true,
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  the more the the cast, the characters believe that this
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  is what's actually happening, the funnier it becomes.
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  and it it truly it's just a joy to watch then.
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  ~
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  this so you know, from from the moment that an earthquake hits to when
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  the rats show up to when sharks attack.
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  ~ you know, we ~ to see that happen on stage is there's no way this is crazy.
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  This is crazy, this is happening.
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  And yet, you get so drawn into it,
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  it's so fun and so funny and and you just it becomes so enjoyable
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  to watch these disasters happen on stage.
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  That's sounds really weird to say,
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  but it it's it's a it's an absolute joy to see things fall apart the
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  way that they do. So
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  I
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  do have to say I think one of my favorite comedy styles is when you
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  see a comedy show or like a movie and they are it almost kinda reminds me
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  of like a like a melodrama like you would watch,
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  but like they buy into it so much that like you the comedy is the fact that they
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  think it's so true and real and not winking at the audience,
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  you know?
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  Yes,
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  absolutely. Yes. Yeah. The the more that they're they turn aside
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  and bite their knuckle and and the the more that they are hanging on
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  to each other because my gosh,
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  what was that? And and ~ it just it ends up being so funny w when
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  the audience gets to be in the know,
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  of course, and and they get to sort of be like,
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  We we know this could never happen in any possible scenario.
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  And yet here it is playing out in front of you,
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  and the more they believe it, the the better it becomes.
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  It's it's just great.
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  Is there a sp particular moment or character that has been especially fun
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  to kind of shape as the director?
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  gosh, that's a great question.
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  ~ the show is full of really ~ really fun characters.
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  They're they're all very distinct.
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  And in in in some ways it it it leans into some of the the tropes
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  of disaster movies, but at the same time,
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  you need them to really help propel the story along.
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  ~ I mean, some of the ones that have just been a ton of fun are Sister Mary Downey,
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  who is ~
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  The a nun who comes to try to save souls at the casino.
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  And it turns out that she actually has a past when it comes to casinos and
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  ~ and her sort of struggling with her own needs and desires while trying
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  to save everybody else. she's hilarious and she has a great star turn
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  in the show, and ~ she's she's very fun.
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  But also Shirley and Maury Summers,
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  who are an an older couple.
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  ~ just retired and they're hoping to live their lives.
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  And of course they have a background and it surely has a secret and and it's it's
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  it could be fatal. And ~ just watching them blossom and share their love
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  and try to get others to understand that loving each other as a couple
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  is still an okay thing to do. That that's you know it's it's not a terrible thing
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  to have happen. And how they end up coming to the aid of all these other characters
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  throughout the show. ~ it's it's really ~ a lot of fun.
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  Everybody's very distinct.
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  the cast has been so marvelous because they they just really went full throttle
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  in developing who they are and and what their part of the story is.
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  And that's from any of the principal roles to our ensemble who
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  are just amazing because they wear multiple hats throughout the show and
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  Sure.
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  and they, you know, even in even if all they're doing is running across the stage,
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  they have some very distinct characters that they're portraying and
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  and it just makes it fun that wherever you look.
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  There's a very unique individual appearing on stage at that time.
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  It almost sounds like there wasn't a lot of challenge to kind of
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  the cast embracing the larger than life tone of this show.
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  You know, our ~ our assistant director,
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  John Skomag, had a great statement when we started.
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  And he said, as soon as you're able to embrace your inner kookiness,
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  the kookiness of the show will just come to you.
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  And that's totally what happened.
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  The more that they just understood that,
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  yeah, this is yeah, this totally happens.
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  A casino, ~ more do a fault line and an earthquake happens.
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  Of course that happens. Of course.
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  That's that's totally realistic.
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  And the more they believed it,
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  the better it became, the more fun they had doing it.
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  So awesome. And the show also kind of has a very recognizable soundtrack,
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  seventies hits, you know. Was there a particular song or musical number that
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  you knew was just gonna be a major hit with audiences from the beginning?
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  gosh, you know, it's very funny because our opening weekend,
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  opening night, we had people singing along,
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  which was a which is, I think,
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  a good sign that they were just they
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  Absolutely.
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  were enjoying themselves that much.
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  It's such a great score. In fact,
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  have hearing it played with a a live orchestra and live singers,
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  and it just you you get drawn into each one.
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  ~ hot stuff is the opening number and that
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  is a crowd pleaser because it's just so woven beautifully into the setup
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  of the story. And it's funny at the right moments and it's ~ you you jam
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  to it at the right moments and it just makes it made every every every audience
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  so far would just hoot and holler when that number was done.
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  So that that's a surefire hit to a great way to kick off an evening of disaster.
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  ~ it's it really does,
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  Really sets the tone.
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  yes,
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  it really does.
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  You know, with a show like this too,
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  you have a lot of physical comedy.
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  There's a lot of elements that go into a show,
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  such as disaster. How do you feel like the designers and the backstage team have
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  really helped to kind of create the chaos that's happening on stage?
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  yeah, it's been ~ it's been really great to see from our from our the
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  way our our costume designer created things because everybody goes from their their
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  beautiful disco 1970s outfits as they're arriving at the opening night.
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  And then when Act Two begins, suddenly everything is just shredded and blown out,
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  and and it's amazing to see them how they d devised that.
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  to make sure that everybody looked like they had gone through something,
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  that something awful had happened to them.
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  That sounds so wrong to say. But to so and then watching how costumes then would
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  work with our props department to make sure that anything that props needed would
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  be would collaborate with them and and connect with them.
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  And then props would work with set to make sure that the
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  that this has to happen when the set falls apart and the set designers would say,
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  okay, we know how we can make that happen.
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  And so there was a lot of sharing between departments as we put the show together,
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  which ~ that kind of collaboration was just amazing to to see happen.
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  And ~ and added to the element of fun because again someone would say,
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  ~ you know what we could do. And then suddenly we had this great thing happening,
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  this this
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  was like, yeah, that's perfect.
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  How did you think of that? And like,
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  okay, then we're gonna make all that happen.
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  And can you get me this and we'll work on that?
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  And ~ so that sort of sharing across all the the departments,
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  which happens in a normal show too.
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  ~ but this time it seemed kind of amped up that everybody sort of would go all in,
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  and sometimes it was a matter of explaining the scenario,
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  and someone would say,
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  ~ so there are real rats. You're talking about rats showing up on the ship.
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  I'm like, yes, yes, yes. And then suddenly the sound understood it
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  and the lights got it and things
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  Sure.
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  would happen. And it it was just fun to see all the the light bulbs
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  go on as everybody had ideas of ways of making things happen.
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  When you're when you're talking about the fun,
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  like both on and off stage just happening here,
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  do you think that there's like a sense of freedom when it comes to doing
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  a show that is like deliberately over the top like this?
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  I yeah, that's a great way to put it.
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  I I I think that's it, is that you're ~ and especially a show like this that while
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  I I I always hate to banter around the the word well theater people,
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  theater people might might know this show.
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  ~ the general public might not know it as as well.
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  because it it was basically a New York based show for such a long time that
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  it really didn't always travel very ~ very far.
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  So ~
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  In fact, we had quite a few audience members this past weekend say,
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  Well, I I knew nothing about this show.
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  And that ended up benefiting because they had such a great time.
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  They had no preconceived notions about it.
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  And and and you know what?
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  yeah, I think so because I I think that allowed us that sort of ~ it's it's open.
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  It's it's there's an opportunity to.
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  Test the waters and see how far we can go with it and ~ and just sort of make
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  it our own, like pay homage to what the show is supposed to be and then still find
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  those moments where ~ as as a member of our organization organization would say,
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  ~ give it that players' guild touch that there's an opportunity to say,
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  Hey, yeah, though you did you see the way the guild did it though?
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  This was hilarious, or this was so much fun,
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  this was clever, this was smart.
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  ~
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  So we it it really did allow everyone from from our designers to our actors
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  to ~ even our our stage crew just helping figure out how things need
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  to fly around the stage that ~ we had an opportunity to to do something that we'd
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  never done before and just have fun with it and just go for it.
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  So awesome. And I'm sure that's something that audiences can tell on stage.
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  You know, what they're seeing the actors having fun,
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  you know, they're that that give and take of what a what a theater what
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  a theater experience should be.
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  ~ but it's good to kind of feel that energy from from everybody that's kind
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  of involved there.
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  yeah, absolutely. Yeah.
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  So just one final question for you.
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  So what do you hope audiences take away when they leave the theater from disaster?
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  gosh. Well, first and foremost,
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  never go to a floating casino that's moored to a fault line.
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  Ha ha.
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  ~
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  but ~ I I think that what I really want them to do is is come away just just having
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  enjoyed the last two hours, having forgotten everything else that's going on,
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  and ~ and just sit down and and tap your toes,
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  sing along if you're so moved,
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  and ~ and just really walk away having had a really good time.
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  ~ there was a a a couple leaving on our our matinee this past weekend
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  and one of them said, you know,
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  this was a lot of fun. And the other person said,
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  It it certainly was. Sometimes you just want to go to a show and have a good laugh,
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  and this was it. This was a great laugh.
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  And I think that's the best thing.
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  Just come and have a good time and forget all your worries for a moment.
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  Let the disasters happening on stage make your worries seem like absolutely nothing.
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  That's a great sentiment. And absolutely I feel like sometimes you're right.
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  We need to shut off our mind and be able to go and have a good time with theater
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  and not have to think about everything that's happening in the real world.
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  So, ~
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  That's right.
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  but thank you so much for being here and joining us today to chat about the show.
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  It's been such a pleasure, Brian,
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  chatting with you.
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  Thank you, Brian. I really appreciate it.
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  Thanks for having me.
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  So disaster runs at the Players Guild of Dearborn through October fourth.
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  So get your tickets now and we'll see you there.