Quick Q&A: Joe Iconis

photo: Alex Koch

Composer Joe Iconis talks about his influences and sensibilities as his Things To Ruin begins performances at Second Stage Theatre.

Is Things To Ruin a revue of your songs or a standalone piece?

The first time we did Things To Ruin it was the first time I put my work on stage. It was very much like a revue of my songs. The idea was always to turn it into a piece that worked dramatically in and of itself, which is what we’ve done for this particular incarnation. There are some standalone songs that were previously written, but there are no songs that are from other shows. I don’t feel like it’s a song cycle, like Songs For A New World, but it isn’t a straight up revue either. There aren’t easily definable characters; there are seven young people who go on a journey together. They each have their own songs, and these songs can only exist when they are in the company of each other.

How did the show come to be at Second Stage?

We were supposed to do two months at The Zipper every weekend (earlier this year) – we got one show in before it closed up. It was kind of like a cruel joke. We wound up at Second Stage through our producer Sara Katz who is co-producing with Sh-K-Boom and Kurt Deutsch, whose wife Sherie Rene Scott has her show at Second Stage now. They’ve never done anything like this before so it is kind of like a test run.

Will there be a cast album?

That’s definitely something that we’re talking about. I’m working on an album apart from Things To Ruin right now of my standalone songs called Rock And Roll Jamboree so hopefully we’ll have that and a cast recording.

Are you influenced more by rock music than by showtunes?

Somewhat. A lot of the stuff I’ve written is kind of rock and roll but I do tend to be influenced by things other than musical theatre. I’m a huge Rolling Stones fan. I love Dolly Parton – I guess now she is musical theatre. I’m a huge Robert Altman fan – Nashville is the single greatest thing ever. His movies are so much a celebration of people who at first glance would seem deliriously unspecial; in any other movie or play they would be in the background. That’s the kind of character I’m drawn to. The musical style comes out of my response to characters like that. I want to write about characters like the kid who doesn’t get picked for dodgeball because he’s too fat and then his feelings translate into a style that sounds like rock and roll.

photo: Lilly Charles

What makes a good interpreter of your songs?

I feel like I tend to write a lot of stuff that is about normal people; I’m interested in writing musicals or songs about people who don’t usually get musicals or songs written about them. I respond to some un-musical theatre-y actors who feel very much like people just walking around on the street who could suddenly break into song in a potentially real and unpretty way. The guys and ladies I work with – I respond to how human they are. They’re all ridiculously talented and can sing classic musical theatre stuff but they aren’t afraid to let themselves sound ugly or nasty. It’s unperfect. I feel like in a lot of musicals there’s a huge disparity between how people act when they’re speaking and how they act when they’re singing.

Have you responded very positively to any recent Broadway musicals?

My favorite show of the past couple of years was Passing Strange. Immediately responded to the music and lyrics. There are so many shows that are branded rock musicals but aren’t, they’re a Broadway version. This was a sound I hadn’t heard before on a Broadway stage. There are so many things I loved about it but most of all it had a lot of heart; it was so nice to see a show that was created by a human being rather than a room full of old rich white people.

Is the world of musical theatre welcoming or unwelcoming to new composers?

It depends on the work that you want to do. I’m not quite sure what the world of musical theatre means, but I personally feel that I can write something that is gritty and dirty and maybe offensive and I can somehow get it on stage and people will come and see it. I don’t think it’s an impossible thing for new writers to get their stuff out there.

Who are your musical theatre idols?

Kander and Ebb. Cabaret is my favorite show. When I was in high school and younger I only listened to musical theatre, I didn’t know other music existed and Kander and Ebb were definitely my guys. I don’t know what it is about them- they wrote songs that were accessible that people could appreciate on a surface level. Like, “Cabaret” is a great song, but you wouldn’t necessarily know what it means in the context of the show. It’s insane to me that those dudes could write a show like Cabaret in the ‘60s and then Kiss Of The Spider Woman in the ‘90s, a show that is grittier and nastier and more dangerous than anything written by young musical theatre writers.

Are you also drawn to gritty subject matter?

I’m drawn to anything that seems real and messy. A lot of musicals just seem too perfect to me, with people who are able to verbalize their feelings in a neat and concise way. For me, that has nothing to do with real life.