Greg Caggiano

Stewart Lane has been married to the theatre ever since his first experience with it: a production starring the father of his best friend. It was love at first sight. Since then, Lane has worked as an actor and producer on Broadway, in addition to receiving a Tony Award for his work in Jay Johnson: The Two And Only.

Recently, Lane came out with a very approachable and encouraging book titled Let’s Put On a Show that offers a step-by-step process for the theatre rookie—from raising funds to dropping the final curtain—outlining how to put on a successful play.

Reporter caught up with Lane and talked to him about his new book and experience in Broadway.

Reporter How did you get started as a producer in the Broadway industry?
Stewart Lane Well, I started off as an actor. I was a graduate of Boston University, Bachelor of Fine Arts in Theatre. But by my late twenties, I felt as though I was always going to my next job with my hat in my hand. I wanted to have at least the illusion of some control over my life. And being a producer (kind of ) offered that illusion. So if [a show] worked, I could take credit, and if it didn’t, I could say I tried my best, and I can’t point my finger at someone else.

R Was it hard to get started?
SL Well, certainly, when I went into producing, nobody wanted to be a Broadway producer. All the glamour and money was in television and movies. But by 1981, Broadway started to get its legs back again, and today, there’s an amazing array of things on Broadway.

R What are you currently working on?
SL I have three shows running. I have Legally Blonde running at the Palace Theatre. I’ve got The 39 Steps, a very funny interpretation of Alfred Hitchcock’s famous movie, playing at the Cort Theatre. And then, I’ve got Sunday in the Park with George (a revival from England) that’s playing at the Studio 54 Theater. And then for next season, I’m bringing together a musical called Stormy Weather based on the life of Lena Horn. When written, it will be a younger Lena and an older Lena who reflects back on her life. Leslie Uggams will star as the older Lena.

R Any shows that you would recommend?
SL Oh, boy, it’s a great season...Just take the revival categories. I mean, I did Cyrano de Bergerac earlier this year, which got wonderful reviews. Since then, Macbeth just opened up with Patrick Stewart, which got wonderful, wonderful reviews. And they just opened up Cat on the Hot Tin Roof, a revival of the Tennessee Williams play, which also got very excellent reviews. Then in terms of musicals revivals, you got Sunday in the Park with George and South Pacific, which got equally good reviews, and also Gypsy (with Patti LuPone) got very nice reviews. Even best new play, you’ve got The 39 Steps, you’ve got August: Ostage County. Very exciting stuff! This is a very wide range of things out there.

R Let’s talk about your book. How long has it been out?
SL It came out in April and I’m just hitting my stride now in getting it to universities and getting it on the college radar. I’m learning that it takes time to write a book. It’s much different than producing a show.

R Why did you want to write a book?
SL There is nothing out on the market now like this. Mounting theatrical productions is difficult anywhere and no professional in the business has ever written a book like this. No matter if it’s a high school, community theatre, or even a Broadway product ion, this is a book that you can use to actually put on a show and solve some of the hurdles that come along. A lot of the questions that I mention in the book are the same questions that you ask when you’re putting on a Broadway show: “Who’s my audience? How do I reach them?”...That kind of thing.

R So you wrote the book to reach people interested in theatre?
SL Not only did I write the book, I actually sent the book out to a high school outside of Philadelphia to use because they had no budget for their theatre program. They went to use my book to see if [it] works or not and it turns out it was a resounding success. The director got three schools in the district to come together to put on their show of The Wizard of Oz. They had, like, 150 kids all together in this show. Even the parents got involved. It was a great theatrical experience and solid foundation for being in the theatre.

R So you’d recommend this book to anyone doing this for the first time?
SL Doing it for the first time, and even you wanted to start your own regional theatre company, this is a terrific book to have.

R Any future books planned?
SL Well, I am planning a DVD version of this book. I just finished taping it and hopefully, in the next two or three weeks, I should have a DVD version available.

R You mention in this book that your relationship with the theatre is like a marriage. How would you say your marriage is going?
SL Right now, the marriage is going swimmingly. But you know, the theatre can be a hard wife. Sometimes, it’ll embrace you for being a genius and wonderful, but the same community will say, “How could you put on such a wreck?”

R Overall, has it been a rewarding experience?
SL Oh, I’ve been very lucky. It’s been extremely rewarding, you know, and I mean this in the best way: it’s almost schizophrenic. The highs are really, really great. To hold the artistry together, the money together, the concept together, and to have it work is amazing. And likewise, the disappointments are really tough to take, because, you know, you put a lot of years into these projects. They say it takes a musical six to seven years to go from a concept to the stage.

R Any words of advice for aspiring theatre actors or producers?
SL My major advice is to enjoy the work involved in it. Don’t get involved if you think you want to be a star and make a lot of money. Do it because you enjoy the process. Otherwise, I think that way lies madness.

Stewart Lane’s book, Let’s Put On a Show!, is available at Amazon.com and Barnes & Noble. Or, go straight to the publisher and get a 20% discount at HeinemannDrama.com.