When you compose music for films, one has nothing to do with the original concept for the film. I decided I wanted to be in from the get-go, and that meant writing a show. I would be an equal participant and collaborator on that kind of project. By the time we were in previews with an audience, I could sense that we had something very special and that the audience was empathizing with the characters on stage. But I don't think anyone expected the phenomenal success that followed us after opening night, and I learned from that experience that one should really just try to do good work, and hope that everything else that usually accompanies a hit show would follow.
Comedies are probably the most difficult type of films to score.
The music cannot get in the way of the laughs, and yet it must support all of the different kind of scenes in the film. He was very receptive and it really worked out. He was new at doing movies and his raw talent was undeniable. I am very proud that I got to work with this truly major American film director. I have watched him mature into one of our country's most imaginative film-makers.