A Moment with Broadway's Next H!T Musical Host Greg Triggs!

Greg Triggs, Co-Producer / Emcee of Broadway's Next H!T Musical

Greg Triggs

Co-Producer / Emcee for

Broadway's Next H!T Musical

How much research do you do on a town before a tour show? What do you look for when writing your material? 

After years of performing in a nightclub in Orlando where the audience was wonderful but largely tourist, I love going to the audience. The fresh inspiration of each town excites me.

I usually use Wiki as a starting point. It has really quirky data and great demographics from the last census. It gives a great foundation.  

I'll start writing jokes before we arrive but the real work starts after we leave the airport. As we head to the hotel I'm looking for businesses that stick out, oddly named streets, people watching, etc.

I always take time to interview some of the people that we meet. That's always fun. Hearing about the town from people who live and work there really give me an idea of what's going on and what people are prioritizing.

I'm guessing the whole process takes about four hours…totally worth it.

Is there anything off limits when you are writing local material, or is everything fair game?

I don't know if it's 

fair

, but everything is on the table.

What's the most surprising reaction you have had to a joke you told while on the road? 

It's amazing what people don't notice about their own towns. Fresh eyes bring fresh perspective. Parker CO for example. Every building is beige or brown. I mentioned that and you saw a lot of people turn to each other as if to say, "Oh my God, that's right."

We spent two weeks in Iowa. I think the audience was actually surprised that this group of comedians from NYC thought their town was cool - but it is and we loved being there. It's always an adventure.  

We were staying at a hotel in Olympia, WA. It had a Hall of Governors - very fancy. I always found a reason to walk through that area. One of their governors looked like Hitler. Not sure they loved me pointing that out.

What do you do differently when you are hosting in NYC as opposed to when you are on tour?

It's a totally different approach - usually in NYC our audiences know us better. Our points of view are established so there's less exposition. NYC audiences are a little more demanding in their own way. After all, they have about a billion things they could be doing instead of watching our show.

When you aren't out on the road with BNHM, what are you up to?

I own the world's smallest production company. It's called Strategic Entertainment. We provide a variety of creative services for companies such as the Tribeca Film Festival, the World Science Festival and Disney.

What is your craziest BNHM travel tale? 

That's hard - every tour has some sense of adventure…that's one of the reasons I love doing it. Once Robert Z. Grant, Gary Adler and I went into what we thought was a gay bar. We spent over an hour there talking to guys and wondering why there were so many straight couples there, why they only played hip hop. The mirrors on the ceiling were cool, but other than that we thought it was the worst gay bar ever.

Well, it turns out the gay bar was next door. We were in the wrong place. Being good improvisers we made a new choice and headed to that bar and started all over.

What is one thing you think your BNHM cast-mates would be surprised to learn about you? 

I'm kind of an open book. They'd probably be shocked to know that I gave serious thought to 

becoming a minister. Sometimes when I'm frustrated or over something I try to imagine what that life would've been like and am happy for the parishioners that didn't have to put up with Reverend Greg.

Thank God I didn't go into the business of God.

Memorable Melodies: A Step by Step Guide How Broadway's Next H!T Musical Improvises a Song

by Rob Schiffmann

1) Listen to the music: let it get into your soul just like you were listening to Aretha or Stevie. Or, in this case, Sutton or Kelli.

2) Accept the groove: let it infect you and start to move you physically...like a dose of sweet musical cortizone.

3) Breathe: in and out and in and out...like...well...like things that go that way.

4) Open your mouth: like when you are about to eat a big beautiful steak but in this case, it's not going in, it's coming out and it's not steak (thank God), it's sound.

5) Sing the first thing that comes to your mind: Let it be about love or snakes or clouds or chili peppers. Whatever comes, accept it. It is similar to a tax rebate, in that way. Don't judge the amount. Just be happy there is one.

6) Make the melody move in simple and repetitive ways: Like...well...like things that go that way.

7) Follow the energy as it rises from section to section: It's like being pulled on water skis. You have to ride the waves and trust the motion. I say this having NEVER water skied in my life. I just assume it's similar but less wet.

8) Follow that energy as it reaches it's conclusion and then you rest: Like...well...like things that go that way.

Wanna see this in practice? 5/29, 6/5, 6/12, 6/19 & 6/26 @ 7pm @ Stage 72 would be a great place to do JUST THAT!

This Week's PHONY Goes to...

THE LAST CIGARETTE IN THE PACK from the musical STRANDED!

as sung by Stefan Schick & Kobi Libii

There has been a plane crash with six survivors.  The Sottish folk in Business Class have already eaten poor Kevin and are plotting to take over the formerly deserted island.  Damn them and their upgrades.  They're having food airlifted in and could get off the island whenever they want but they're more hungry for power than food!  It's smoking versus non-smoking as Marsha the flight attendant draws a line in the sand as Lance and James fight over THE LAST CIGARETTE IN THE PACK from the show STRANDED!

And the Runner-Ups~

I HAVE A BELLY BUTTON from the show, HAWAII WAITS FOR YOU!

~Deb Rabbai

I LEFT MY BRAIN IN I-O-WAY, CAN SOMEONE GET IT BACK? from the show NOT THIS TIME BOSS!

~Rebecca Vigil

BOOZY PAPRIKA SPICES THINGS UP from the show FIVE ON BLACK

~Rob Schiffmann

And the PHONY goes to...

There is something thrilling about having your work recognized by your peers, or your critics, or some body that governs your craft. The speculation, the ranking and rating and comparing and lauding and deriding reach a fever pitch and the winner is finally announced. So, what if YOU were sitting in that live audience and YOUR song was presented and it WON? Such is your potential at the PHONY Awards, where your song vies for the title of Broadway's Next H!T Musical.

We love theatre, and we especially love musical theatre. We think you do, too. And we all want to get in on the act. BNHM is as glamorous as it is ridiculous. It is live theatre, as momentary as anything you will witness on stage. And the evening is a celebration of every possible story and every possible song. One show ultimately wins the evening only because we all acknowledge it is the best of all we created that night.

Ken Davenport recently posted about theatre awards on his Producer's Perspective blog, specifically the clustering of awards at the end of the theatre 'season' and posits: "In any cluttered environment, sometimes the best thing you can do to stand out is simply do the opposite of what everyone else is doing." I think this is what BNHM does. In an already crowded awards season, we are the only awards show that is instant and EVERYONE who joins in has a chance to win. You just have to be present, to alternately lend and borrow the improvised energy bouncing around the theater.

BNHM belongs in the awards season because it captures everyone excluded from the shows that get nominated elsewhere, and it truly celebrates storytelling, and the kind of theatrical creativity that is often absent from high budget, high profile shows. This year, PHONY season (five BNHM shows over five weeks) leads right up to the TONYs.

So, there's something for the best of us AND for the best of the rest of us.

--Robert