Part of Your Broadway World Podcast(S4EP31)|Christopher Robin & Pooh:The Musical with Harper Craven

[00:00:01] Hi everybody, welcome to the Part of your broadway world podcast ✨. Today we have Harper and how do you say your last name?

[00:01:20] Craven. Craven. We have Harper Craven with us. He is the Lyricsist producer and you did the book right? And the music. And the music. That's what. Okay. Yeah.

[00:01:35] Okay. With 5% of the lyrics being by A.A. Milne. Okay. My first question would be for anyone who may not know yet, could you introduce yourself and tell us a little bit about your background in musical theater? Sure. So I'm Harper Craven, the book writer, composer, and lyricist of Christopher Robin and Pooh. Born and raised in Baltimore, Maryland.

[00:02:01] I started doing musical theater in high school and I absolutely loved it, but I was always subconsciously making out my own shows while backstage. But then when I got into college, I studied musical theater as well. I went to AMDA for college and I auditioned for a period of time after I graduated.

[00:02:29] And I just realized I could not do it. It was just too much work. Like you have to love auditioning and you have to look at auditioning as the job. And I just couldn't do that. And I wanted, I really wanted to play a larger role in the creative process for musicals.

[00:02:44] And particularly when I was listening to other people, like seeing their, their songs in class, I would think like, maybe I can write better audition material. Like maybe I can create better songs that aren't just like love songs or like, I want to like reach for the stars and just, just anything else, anything else. And so, uh, and then, uh, yeah, I graduated in 2016. And about 10 years later, here I am right now. So yeah.

[00:03:13] So then what, um, like, uh, how, so like, how did you get involved in the world of musical theater then? How did I give, uh, like, like, how did I hear about it? Yeah. So, um, it's two, uh, two stories that I, um, that are kind of in sync with each other. I'm not sure which one came first, but it was at the same summer camp when I was a kid. And we had seen a production of Godspell and Once in this Island.

[00:03:43] And I don't remember which one came first, but I do remember seeing both those shows and just thinking like, uh, this is what I have to be a part of. I didn't know that that's really what I wanted to do. But as time went on and I would, I did more and more community theater shows and shows at high school, I just decided, yep, this is where I belong.

[00:04:04] So then what, and then also because you did the book for Chris Brown and Pooh, um, what, what inspired you to pursue writing, composing and, and producing, producing then? Very good question. So, uh, I actually owe it to, uh, one man and that would be, uh, Jonathan Larson. If you, who you may know is the guy who wrote Rent. Yes. I, I, speaking of Rent, did you see the 30th anniversary concert?

[00:04:34] As a matter of fact, I did. I cried. I was quite impressed by it. I was, I, I, I was, I was, I loved how it was like a collection of a bunch of different, uh, casts and companies over the years. I thought that was a really, really interesting way of doing it. And, uh, just, just seeing Anthony rapping out of Pascal back again was just, that was just amazing. Um, but, um, but no, Jonathan, um, I was watching a documentary about Rent.

[00:05:04] And Jonathan also, uh, was an actor at one point. Like he studied acting at Adelphi University in New York. And, but after, but very similar to me as time went on, he just wanted to like play more of a, a part in the creative process of shows and like change the course of how musical theater is going. And I just, and I thought, Hmm, all right, if he can do it, then I could probably do it.

[00:05:28] So that's, but I, but I will say that I've always been like writing like plots for musicals, like, and I have them like stowed away somewhere, but I never, it never really clicked for me that that's something that I could actually do. Uh, but, uh, in terms of, um, so that's like with like writing, like, cause I had written scripts and lyrics previously, but music came to me actually, when I was in college, I was, I was taking a sight singing and I learned how to read music through that.

[00:05:58] And as I learned how to do that, I learned how to play the piano and I could also make up my, I learned, I could make up my own tunes. In fact, like when I was a kid, I would listen to, I would watch like TV shows. I would watch as a kid and would like sing along to the songs on the shows. And sometimes when I would go back and listen to them as an adult, I would realize, wait, the tune didn't go that way. I thought it went this way. So I was really making up my own tunes in my head subconsciously.

[00:06:27] I'm like, I can do that too. I can write melodies. I can write. Yeah. Like, so that's really what I decided to do. And Jonathan, uh, dedicated his life to writing musicals. And I realized if I'm going to be able to do this, that's what I have to do. So I'd be lying if I said it wasn't easy, but I wouldn't be doing anything else. Um, so then, sorry, I lost my, but okay.

[00:06:52] So we're going to go into the Christopher Robin and Winnie the Pooh musical. Absolutely. I said that backwards, I think, but. No worries. Uh, what originally, uh, inspired you to bring the world of Winnie the Pooh and Christopher Robin to the musical theater stage?

[00:07:16] Well, um, I will say that I had, when I heard that the original books that enter public domain, that was back in 2022. I was very, very excited. I'm like, wait, anybody can adapt the eight, eight mil stories. And I will say that I had seen, uh, several adaptations of Winnie the Pooh, uh, since that time at which will remain nameless. Cause I thought that it was not the right thing to be done with the property. And I thought to myself, like, Hmm, maybe I could do better. Yeah.

[00:07:46] Maybe just maybe I can make a faithful adaptation of a. A. Milne and E. H. Shepard stories. Uh, because if you read the original Winnie the Pooh books, they actually have a lot of, um, adult life lessons and themes like interwoven into the simpler ones that the kids learn. And that's something that's really important. I think in, in kids entertainment today is to have something that the kids and the families can enjoy together.

[00:08:13] So like you have like, so like great example would be, um, uh, piglets song. I'll be brave for you. Uh, that one is it's piglet, like reassuring poo. Like, it's going to be okay. Like I'm here. Like, I know I'm scared too, but I'm going to like help you get through this. Um, but, but if you listen to the lyrics, you're like, Oh wait, those are like, that's simple enough for a kid to understand. But they were also like, there's themes of anxiety and like fear.

[00:08:40] And so a good, um, uh, analogy I like to use is if, do you remember the movie, um, if with, uh, Ryan Reynolds? Yes. Yes, I do. Yes. It came out a couple, it came out a couple of years ago and it was about an imaginary friend. Yeah. And well, a movie critic that I absolutely love him, Sean Chandler, uh, reviewed the movie. And he said that like kids will be entertained, but then the adults will see something more.

[00:09:08] And I'm like, that's the approach I need to have with this. And with all my shows. Uh, so then I, I, I'd be remiss to ask this, but like, well, in your own words, like, what is it about? Is it about these stories that, that makes them so timeless? So, um, I would say that because AA Milne's writing style really captures the child in all of us.

[00:09:36] And they, they, they talk to people like as people, as opposed to like dumbing down languages or dumbing down things for kids to understand. Um, but, and also like when you just, when you see the characters, like you just feel happy. Yeah. It just reminds you of your childhood and like, oh wow. And like, like, I'm still, I'm still a big Winnie the Pooh fan today. Um, in fact, I'm, I'm friends with Deborah Hoffman, who is the Guinness Book of World Record holder for the largest Winnie the Pooh collection.

[00:10:07] And, and she, and she is well, um, aware of this show and, uh, she's been absolutely, uh, amazing helping me with this. But she said that like, it's important to keep like the things in your childhood close to you, even as you become an adult. So then I guess my, my follow-up question is like, how do you, how do you balance, uh, honoring the original source material while, while bringing your own creative perspective?

[00:10:37] So, um, this is going to sound a little, a little cliche, but really just like stick to the way it's written. Like real, and I will say that the, that the script is not really like, I mean, it has a beginning, middle and end, but each scene is like divided as a different chapter. So like, even though it like, it, it all ties together. It's like, Oh, we're going to this now that we're going to this.

[00:10:59] Um, but, um, in, in, in, um, in an effort to, I can say like in an effort to distance myself, uh, from Disney, um, because like that version is just so iconic. And a lot of, a lot of people immediately asked me when I write, when I'm, when I tell them about the show, like, wait, you could do that. You can get around like with Disney and whatnot.

[00:11:17] And like, yes, uh, for, cause if you adapt anything from the books, it's fair game, but you can't use, but any of the characters like gopher or Kessie, the bird, like they were all created by Disney. So they're still under copyright and poo can also not have a red shirt. Um, but another thing too, that really helps, uh, especially with this new, um, uh, cast album that we've just released out on streaming right now, little plug there.

[00:11:44] Um, if you listen to the characters, uh, and the actors singing, they, they're not really doing like a, like an impression of the Disney version. They're, they're basically, they're just being themselves and through their performance, you can like picture the characters in your face. And use your imagination.

[00:12:02] Uh, the only exceptions would probably be rabbit and owl because they're, uh, more comedic and they have like, I did tell them to put on a certain kind of voice for that, but, uh, but really they're really just basically just being themselves. And that's how it's coming across as authentic. In fact, um, like, um, Sterling Holloway, who was the original voice of poo. Uh, if you've seen like other like things that he's done, that was just how he talked. Like, did you ever notice that cough, the snake from the jungle book sounds a lot like him? Yeah.

[00:12:32] That that's cause it was Sterling Holloway. Also the Cheshire cat in Alice in Wonderland. So that was also. And really every there's like multiple care. That's why I always found, found interesting. Like there's only, there's only one person that does multiple Disney characters. Mm hmm. Yeah. Well, I mean, I mean, Sterling didn't actually know he did a lot. He was honored as a Disney legend.

[00:12:56] Um, but, uh, but not just him, uh, uh, Paul Winchell, who was the voice of Tigger, um, that signature. Like that, that was just something he did. Yeah. But that was just something he did. Like, like he wasn't directed to do that. Like I was, he just ad libbed that and was just being himself. And that's what made his performance come across as so authentic. Even further than that, the voice of Eeyore was actually not even an actor at all. It was a guy named Rob Wright, who was the, actually one of the storyboard people.

[00:13:24] And he just had a really, really deep voice. And they just thought like, that's perfect for Eeyore. And of course we have struck gold with our, with our college year as Eeyore, because his voice is very, very deep. And he just, he delivered, when you hear him saying, you will be blown away. But everybody, you'll be blown away by everybody. But I wanted to throw out a plug for especially him. Could you imagine Patrick Page as Eeyore? Yes. Oh my God.

[00:13:52] If Patrick, as long as you are a bass and if you can preferably tap dance, that's awesome. I don't know if he can tap dance, but his voice would be perfect. Well, well, Eeyore does have a tap dancing solo in his song, Why Is It Rainin' On Me. Oh, that's cute. I mean, and who would expect that? Like a tap dancing number from Eeyore? Yeah. Like that's going to kill. That's amazing.

[00:14:19] I did not like the, the guy that voiced Eeyore in the Christopher Robin movie. I did not like him. I think it was okay. It didn't, it didn't bother me too much, but I, I see what you mean. It bothered me. It was different. It bothered me. It was just different. Yeah. And I don't like different. I'm very mad at different. Fair enough. I'm the person that doesn't like change at all.

[00:14:45] So if like things changed a little bit to the point where I noticed, I will bitch about it for like weeks. Yeah. I get that way sometimes. Yeah. So then what do you hope audiences take away from experiencing these, these productions?

[00:15:04] So I hope the audiences, well, basically, of course, on an overall scale, I want everybody to leave the show feeling like a little better about yourself and your life. Like that's what I, because the show is all about growing up a friendship and self-worth. And if you at least walk away feeling a little happier about the world around you, that'll be great.

[00:15:28] But to be more specific, I want the kids who come to see the show to see the familiar characters that they know, even if they aren't as familiar with the classic books, they know the Disney version. And so they are already, they already have a sense of what this is. And they probably at least read the books at least once in their life. And the adults who are more, probably more familiar with the books will like see their, their childhood come to life on stage and just feel that sense of nostalgia.

[00:15:56] And so, but really overall, just as long as you come in feeling a little bit happier and, and are inspired to use your imagination, then we'll have done our job. Mm hmm. So then, um, I wanted to dive into the creative process a little bit. Please. Um, you've worn several hats as writer, composer, lyricist, and producer. How do you balance? Addition to the hat I'm wearing right now. Addition to the hat.

[00:16:24] Uh, how do you balance all those responsibilities? It's not easy. Um, often you have to, um, you have to deal with it one at a time, uh, for me. So in terms of, well, producing is like what like can come later. Um, let's say, let's start with, for me, the way, the way it usually starts is with story. Like we figure out like what the general flow of the story is.

[00:16:50] And then once we have like a general layout of the scenes and everything, then like, then typically I'll, I'll go through and see, find like the song moments. And like, okay, this sounds like a song. Like this could be musicalized right here. This may or may not be. And then you kind of just have to see what happens. You kind of just have to go through it and just, um, it's not easy. It's really, yeah. Uh, it's the way I kind of work is a bit of a backwards way of doing things.

[00:17:19] Like I often like to start with the, uh, piano part and then the vocal melody. And then after that, I write the lyrics, but in, but in the case of there, uh, there are a few songs in the show with lyrics by A.M. Milne, uh, most notably, uh, us to, if I were king, a happy morning being poo. Sing home for the life of a bear. Um, the opening of why is it raining on me, a bridge and growing and halfway down the stairs, of course.

[00:17:48] And, uh, wind on the hill. Those, the, the lyrics were already there. So I didn't have to really do much work with that. And I will say that was really one of the most fun, but really all the lyrics were like by A.M. Milne in the show are songs that I have a deep personal fondness for. Uh, but, um, in terms of the script, um, that also happens a little bit later. Like I'll lay out the scenes and then the dialogue will come.

[00:18:14] I just got to look at it and then think like, okay, what would the characters say in this scene? And then just like go for it. And what you got to do is just like, let it all out, like get everything on the paper and then go back and look, and look it over and then see what works and then what could be better. So, and then producing is that that was like the final thing. Like after everything was finished, that was when I had to like really focus on, okay, now we need to raise the money. We need to book a rehearsal space.

[00:18:44] We need to find actors and we need to do all this stuff. And it's, there's really not a formula for it. I really just kind of started doing it and just learning as I went and I'm still learning how to do it. Um, so then when creating a new musical, like since we're going to go to like the later stage,

[00:19:05] when creating a new musical number, do you typically start with the, the lyrics melody or story? Uh, well, story definitely. Like we definitely know, we have to know what the, the, the moment is, uh, for me, typically it starts with music. Like music comes first and then the lyrics can come naturally because lyrics are a lot harder. Like, like, like, like lyrics are like, I'm going to quote Stephen Sondheim here.

[00:19:34] It's, it's like, or actually better yet. Um, people like, do you know the musical curtains? Mm. Uh, kind of. Well, there, there's a line in that show that I absolutely love. Um, let me see, uh, where the main character is talking to another character who happens to be a composer and he asks him, I always wonder what comes first, the music or the lyric. And he, and he goes, same answer as the chicken or the egg. And I went, ah, so it's the lyric.

[00:20:05] Uh, no, um, it can start with a note, which can become a phrase. And then you start hanging words off each branch, like trimming a tree. I'm literally quoting the show. And I, but I, but I thought that, and I was like, wow, like, that's a genius way to describe how to, how, how musicals are written. Like, it's, it can start with like, with, with just work, like in the case of the Meln songs, the, the words were already there. But in case of the other songs, I had to basically just sit at the piano and just play around, just play, just figure out what was there.

[00:20:35] And once I found something I liked and. And I have a rule of thumb when I'm writing music that if the melody does not get stuck in my head, it's not going to get stuck in anybody else's. Not to say that every tune is going to stick with everybody. Like that's impossible. There, there are even songs in my favorite musical that I, or favorite musicals that I do not like. And I won't get into that because I don't want to, that, that, that, that's not my place.

[00:21:02] But, um, but yeah, so that's, um, that's kind of how that, how that works. Mm-hmm. Like, uh, that episode, my friend Jake, Jake was like, or no, my friend Justin was like, I do not like, did not like Patrick Page as Hades. I did not.

[00:21:30] I'm like, how dare you, sir? I, uh, I, I, I, I can't really fathom that because the minute when I first, when I saw Hades down and I first heard him utter, I missed you. I'm like. Yeah. That is a bass villain voice. That is perfect. Every time, every time I hear him sing, I just cry because I'm like, I love you so much. Hey, hey, little song. I can't, I can't, I can't go that deep.

[00:22:00] I, I, I, I actually recorded the demos for, cause I, cause I can sing bass, but like. Yeah. Our Colin, Colin or Eeyore just takes it to a whole other level and recording the demos for Eeyore was a little difficult. Yeah. Cause it's just so low and it's. There we go. Okay. Yeah.

[00:22:22] Uh, so then how closely do you collaborate with your orchestrator and other members of the creative team then? Very closely. Um, very, very closely. Um, uh, Ray Bernard are, um, incredible, incredible orchestrator. Basically, uh, the way that I work with them is I set, uh, after all the songs are written, I send them the demo track and the sheet music and the piano track.

[00:22:50] And they take that piano track and add all of the instrumentations on top of it. And they'll always send me like what they have and I'll look at it and I'll go, uh, okay, maybe more instrumentation here, less there. Um, nothing right here, but it's an incredibly collaborative process.

[00:23:11] Um, as well as, uh, not just, uh, Ray, but also our incredible social media people, um, Shannon Compton and Olivia Conte, who was also playing Piglet on the album. Um, they, uh, they, they, they, they always like, they're, they're more knowledgeable in the social media stuff than I am. Um, and so they like, will send me ideas for content of what we can do. And like, I'll like either, uh, I'll likely be okay with it cause they're, they're really, really smart. Yeah.

[00:23:39] Um, but yeah, so that's how that works. And also, um, our concept artist, uh, Samuel Jack, um, he and I have also worked together for a little while. And like, I always, like I did, I did say to him, like, always like adhere to as close to each Shepard's illustrations as possible when, when doing this. So that way we can really capture that essence when we're, and that, those, that artwork was used to like sell the show ultimately.

[00:24:06] And like, so people can see it, like see the artwork and then see the people like great example. Um, when we had our, when we had a concert version of the show at, uh, green room 42 and, um, back in April, if you, I don't know if you got the chance to see that or not. I don't think so. That's okay. Um, but, um, what, what we had was we had the, the artwork that Samuel did on a little, uh, monitor next to the stage and every, with every, with every,

[00:24:36] with every song, the artwork changed. And so you can look at the artwork and then back to the actors and okay, I can picture that. And then look back and then use your imagination. Just again, it's all about using your imagination, but to answer your, your, your, your question, it's a highly, highly collaborative process. Like I, I never want to be the one, the, the, the one who makes the final decision on things. I always want to run everything by my collaborators.

[00:25:02] The veil between our world and the other has fallen and magic is loose in the streets. After four years in a coma, Tori James wakes to a world transformed and to a power igniting in her own hands. Her gift for ancient languages pulls her into a world of thieves, secrets, and magic.

[00:25:37] Revival book one of the unveiled series by Debbie Lynn available now in paperback and Kindle unveil your destiny. This is a two parter. So what's, what's, what has been your biggest challenge as a musical theater creator? And what's been your proudest moment working on these productions? Hmm. That's a good question. That's a very good question.

[00:26:07] Um, I can say that the challenge with creating all this stuff is just, just keep going. Like I, I definitely have moments where I'm like, ah, I don't know if I'm going to be able to finish this. Like, it's just, I'm racking my brain. It's like taking forever. Just get one fricking line. Like sometimes I only write one line a day. Like that's how hard lyrics can be. Sometimes they come really quickly. And those are the, to quote Michael Stipe, those are the times that we like.

[00:26:33] Um, but, uh, my proudest moment, you know, I gotta be honest, probably the concert at Green Room 42, because, uh, Andrew Winans, my director and producing partner for that. We worked really well together. Uh, we got, we put the whole thing together in about, in less than a week. Mm-hmm. And, well, by that I mean we had less than, we had like five days of rehearsal before the concert. Uh, granted they didn't have to memorize anything. They have the, saw, the music with them.

[00:27:03] But, the fact that we were able to pull that off in the amount of time that we did and really did a fantastic job. I, that, that's probably the, that is probably the proudest moment of my, of my career thus far. Mm-hmm. So then, um, I got some like Broadway and Disney connection questions. Um. If you could write a musical adaption of, of any Disney property, what, what would you choose? Brother Bear. Brother Bear.

[00:27:32] I don't know if you saw, if you watched one, watched my podcast episode, but I actually talked to the creator of Brother Bear. Really? Yeah. Wow. Aaron Blaze. Yeah. That was surreal. Like, I pinch myself every day. I talked to Goofy one time too. Bill Farmer. Dang, that, that's amazing. Yeah. Uh, well, the, the, the little plaque right here.

[00:28:02] Yeah. Uh, with, with the helmet. Like, that is, is the best guest award I got for that, for the Bill Farmer episode. And Bill Farmer got, got a cop, like, his own award. Mm-hmm. And he, uh, his, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, uh, publicist emailed me and was like, he loved it so much. Like, he's hanging, hanging in his office. Mm-hmm. So. That's amazing.

[00:28:30] I, I cried when I got that email. I bawled my eyes out that morning. Aw. Love that. Aw. But yeah, definitely Brother Bear. Um, I would not want to write the music for it. I would probably only want to write the script, maybe direct it. Uh. But, because Phil Collins' music is untouchable. Yeah. And I cannot, I, the guy's a genius. And I think that Brother Bear really could translate well to the stage in a similar vein to, it could be a good contender for Lion King.

[00:28:59] It could actually be done in a similar fashion to Lion King, almost. But, yeah, if I had, probably Brother Bear. Um, so then, Disney has such a special relationship with, with, with musical storytelling. Mm-hmm. Um, has Disney's approach to music and storytelling influenced you? Mm-hmm. Actually, yes. Yes.

[00:29:23] Um, I will say that, um, I was heavily influenced by the Sherman Brothers, who wrote the original, uh, Winnie the Pooh songs. But they have also written, um, the melody, these songs to tons of Disney property, if you're aware. Like, do you know what other stuff that they've done? Kind of. So, I'll give you, I'll give you a little hint. I'll give you a hint of, like, some of their major properties by humming the tune.

[00:29:50] Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-da-da-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-da-da-da-ba-da-da-da-da-da. Oh, it's going for sugar. Sugar helps the medacy. So, Mary Poppins. Mary Poppins. Most notably. Which, which, which they won the. I, I know that they did Small World, too. They did, they did write Small World. They also wrote Bear Necessities Jungle Book Chee-Chee-Bang Bang

[00:30:19] Oh, they did Chee-Chee-Bang Bang? I didn't know they did that Those guys Were extremely prolific There was a Disney musical In the early days They were the first Big Disney songwriters The only ones that Walt personally hired Before Alan Menken And Howard Ashman And before Kristen Anderson Lopez

[00:30:48] And Bobby Lopez Those guys were the titans Of Disney songwriting And I was very I did want to capture The essence of that Not copying their melodies Exactly But looking at how they Did things and made it all Whimsical and happy And I'm like Okay How can I take that But also add A little bit A little Little hint of melancholy To it Yeah Like to quote

[00:31:18] The great Stephen Flaherty Of Aaron's and Flaherty He said that Really Even the happiest Songs out there Have a little bit Actually Better yet Let me Let me rephrase that Even the happiest moments In life Have like A sense Of sadness To it And That's what I wanted to capture I didn't want to give Like simple answers To any To any Oblux questions In the show And In fact To quote Owl Some things can never be known

[00:31:48] Um And then Looking ahead What are you currently Working on Oh man What am I not working on That's the question Um So I This is right now The only project That I have Um Uh That's That I'm working on Getting off the ground Um The next step for this Is to get it Um Professionally produced On stage So that it can be Uh Professionally licensed To be performed In schools And theater companies All around the world

[00:32:17] In terms of other properties Or other Other properties Other projects Hmm Can't really talk A lot about them Because I haven't really I haven't finished them yet Uh But I can I'll give you like A little tease Like I'm writing one That's about The golden history Of Hollywood Where it takes place In that In that time period Um I wrote I have one That I finished Uh With uh With Mother Goose Characters And it's also But uh But it's also A Brothers Grimm Fairy tale Version of it

[00:32:47] I love horror Stuff And I I think I wanted to Put a little bit Of that into it Uh I'm also working on Um A piece Uh Uh About About space It's like Related to space Um I think that's about All I could really Talk about right now All the other ones I like Like right here Like there are tons Of ideas Just flowing around Waiting To quote Um I know I'm doing A lot of quoting In this episode But to quote One of my favorite movies Uh Rocketman With uh The movie about Elton John Yeah

[00:33:17] And Elton first Wanted to throw out But he was like No it's really good And that song Became Border song And he And he was like Like I Like it's like My fingers couldn't Work fast enough To give up With my brain And that's Literally me My fingers Cannot work fast Enough to give up With my brain Yeah Um What's one Creative goal You still hope To accomplish Directing Directing I would love To direct

[00:33:46] A production In fact The only production I could see myself Directing Like before I do Anything else Is Jesus Christ Superstar Yeah It's my favorite Musical of all time And I I really think I can really Capture what Andrew and Tim Really want Because really With that show Um A lot of people Perform it as like A straight Legit Biblical piece And that's not What it is It's a bit It's a biblical It's a retelling Of a biblical story But in a modern Setting

[00:34:16] So they need to have Like modern day Clothing And But also That calls to mind The biblical account Which is You could also see I got inspiration From that For Christopher Robin and Pooh Like there are Like there are So many Influences That I have On this show Um Some fun Closing questions To Yeah Who is your Favorite Winnie The Pooh Character Oh wow Okay So this is This is funny I was

[00:34:46] I was seeing My friend There's a little story I was telling Seeing my friend Ruby Lewis In a show That she was doing You may have Heard of her She starred in Cirque du Soleil's Paramore on Broadway Yeah Yeah Yeah I ushered there And she and I Became really close We're still friends Today But I went to go See her In a show She was doing At Green Room 42 Where Christopher Robin and Pooh Premiered And I was talking With her With her boyfriend At the time After the show And he I was telling him About this And I He was like So which Winnie the Pooh Character are you

[00:35:16] Like who's your Favorite character And I was like Christopher Robin Like you're the one Who created all this Stuff like it's in Your imagination And I was like He's right He is 100% right And he may have Had a couple drinks But like that's But but but That's true So My favorite My favorite part Of that whole thing Is like

[00:35:46] He may have had A couple drinks But he was right Yeah No he was He was absolutely Right And I So now Whenever people ask me I gotta say Christopher Robin Yeah What about you Pooh Good answer Oh Pooh That came out Weird Not That came out Not the way I wanted to You're not the First and not the Last Someone's gotta

[00:36:16] Clip that Someone's gotta Clip that I swear to god It's okay If you could Spend an afternoon In the 100 acre Wood Who would you Want to spend It with Whoa You know Hmm Oh There's a Oh man That's a Well Who would you Spend it with Pooh bear Yeah You'd spend it With pooh bear

[00:36:45] Okay Um You know Hmm It's gonna sound Like a You know I think I gotta Go with owl Owl Only because Owl is very Knowledgeable And he likes To talk And I'm a Talker So I think We could like Have some Interesting conversations And I could give him A break from having A therapy session With rabbit Yeah Yeah

[00:37:16] Poor rabbit He's his most Frequent Client And still Has no Cure Nope Um If you Could collaborate With any Broadway composer Living or Deceased Who would it Be Ooh Hmm Like Um Like collaborate In what capacity Like they would Write the music I'd write the Yeah

[00:37:45] The lyrics Yeah Uh You know Honestly I probably Wouldn't do that Cause I'm I'm gonna sound Like Stephen Sondheim Here but like I want to Always write music And lyrics And if I'm not Doing that Then I wanna Write the script Just the script But okay To If I had to Pick a You know If I was Writing the script For the show I'd wanna work With Andrew Lloyd Webber And Tim Rice Hmm I would bring I would wanna Bring them back For at least One more collaboration Cause they have not Written anything Since Evita No

[00:38:15] And I would Love I would I'd love To work with Andrew Lloyd Webber I love Andrew Lloyd Webber So much Oh He's a genius As is Tim Yeah Yeah Um So Pooh Bear is famous For his love of honey Yes What's your creative Equivalent Of a little Something that keeps You going You know So By that do you mean Like

[00:38:44] Something that Despite how difficult The process is It just keeps me going No matter what Mmhmm Probably the moments When you come up With a tune That's just so catchy You can't Stop singing it And Really just any Moment when you Get something that Works When you're like You're like Oh okay Like we're starting Something here And like when you Start hitting gold Like I'm gonna like I'm gonna call Alan Menken In an interview That he did When he compared Writing Specifically writing music But like to

[00:39:14] Like digging a hole And like you're You're digging for gold And you're like Like it's just dirt It's just dirt Like I'm not getting Anywhere It's like No gold Like can I stop Like no Keep going I'm like Okay ding And then ding There's gold Okay Like I don't mind Digging a hole As much anymore Like Like that's all Alan Menken That's all Like came from him But I really Resonated with that Actually I'm gonna go Back to your previous Question If I had to Compose I had to Collaborate If I was just

[00:39:43] Writing the lyrics I'd want to do it With Alan Menken Yeah I'd want to write I would have Alan Menken Write music for my words Any day of the week Oh That'd be so cool Yeah I want to meet Alan Menken So bad So do I So and then The final fun Closing question Is Yeah Complete This Complete The The sentence The magic Of musical theater Is Blank The magic

[00:40:12] Of musical theater Is The people Just the The people That you spend That you That you Either like That you spend So much time with Like and you work Really closely with You form Relationships with them And like There's just something There's just a sense Of camaraderie That you have With them That just can't be broken Okay So then For For our Listeners Where can

[00:40:43] Where can Listeners Follow you Or follow your work And keep up With future projects Sure So Well you can Follow Christopher Robin and Pooh On Christopher Robin Musical On Instagram I am I am off Of social media So But I Will be at some point Launching a professional Website And then that will be I still have to get Designed and everything But then That'll be where Everything I do Will eventually be

[00:41:13] But But yeah If you want to follow Like stuff going on With the show I would follow Christopher Robin Musical On Instagram But if you also I'll give Ray Bernard Our orchestrator A little plug If you want to Follow their work You can Just follow Go to Bernard Studios On Instagram Well thank you so much Harper for coming on 100% And again I'm so sorry For like the Like Rescheduling And Canceling And rescheduling And all that

[00:41:43] It's all good It happens Yeah So I guess With that being said I am off And I will see you Eternal Stars In the next one Bye guys