Today, Norm Goldman Publisher & Editor of Bookpleasures.com is excited to have as our guest John Meyer Producer/Playwright at GraceNote Productions. John is also the author of a recently to be published book Operation Ruby Slipper that is about Judy Garland as heroine of a WWII adventure behind German lines.

John has written comic song material for Joan Rivers, Shirley Bassey, Lily Tomlin, and Judy Garland. In addition, he has written a book/music/lyrics for the successful London show, The Betrayal of Nora Blake (Jermyn St. Theatre, 1998). As co-producer, with Bobbie Horowitz, he enlisted director, choreographer, set designer, costumer and supervised orchestration for piano and saxophone.  Produced CD The Saturn Session with five Singer/Pianists; available at Cdbaby.com. John wrote a non-fiction memoir, Heartbreaker about his experience with Judy Garland (Doubleday, 1983).

Good day John and thanks for participating in our interview

Norm:

How did you get started writing books, comic song material and musicals? What keeps you going?

John:

Okay, here are my early influences.

Age Seven: HUT SUT RAWL, SITTIN' ON A RILLAH RAH WITH A BRAWLA BRAWLA SUET

Age Twelve: WHEN YOU SEE A GUY/REACH FOR STARS IN THE SKY/YOU CAN BET THAT HE'S DOIN' IT FOR SOME DOLL

Age Fifteen: WILD AGAIN/BEGUILED AGAIN/A SIMPERING, WHIMPERING CHILD AGAIN

Growing up in Manhattan, I was lucky enough to catch the tail end of the great Broadway-musical era. Always a wise-ass, when I got to high school I found my jokes became funnier if I could get themto rhyme. I had a facility with words and it was fun and provocative to to make up doggerel: for example:

SIX HUNDRED HORSES, CAN YOU IMAGINE IT?

MORE PANOPLY THAN ANY PLANTAGENET!

When my comedy number, MR. CLEAN, became a hit in a NY revue, I was hooked.

People began calling me to write special material for their acts; I got into the BMI workshop and began experimenting with lyrics for a book show. 

What keeps me going is: I find life is fun and stimulating. Every few years an idea will hit me that clamors, cries, simply SCREAMS to to be developed. When I hit upon the concept of using Judy Garland as an OSS spy behind German lines, I couldn't wait to explore it. The result is Operation Ruby Slipper.

Norm:

What is your creative process like? What happens before sitting down to write any of the above?

John:

The initial idea may come from any place: "TWIN BROTHERS CHANGE PLACES IN PRISON". This newspaper headline gave rise to my film noir musical, The Betrayal of Nora Blake. I turned the brothers into sisters, and put the innocent one on death row, scheduled to die at midnight. When her sister Laura comes to say g'bye, Nora knocks her out, slips on her clothes, and leaves Sing Sing to find the real murderer. I was able to create a complete noir adventure, spurred by that headline.

Norm:

What has been the best part about being part of the theater? As a follow up, what is the best part about being a published author?

John:

In theater, what's most thrilling is the audience reaction: when they laugh at the jokes, it's like they cover me with invisible maple syrup. When they're rapt in attention to the drama, it's like I'm completely validated: You see, I'm saying to the world, this stuff is WORTH PAYING ATTENTION TO!

As an author of a book, I get constant energizing feedback -used to be snail mail, now it's e-mail. I'm lucky I had such an interesting subject (Judy Garland) and that her following has only increased since her death. Her fans are all looking forward to Operation Ruby Slipper, which will be out on Amazon.com/books by December 1st.

Norm:

Why have you been drawn to musicals? As a follow up, are there aesthetic advantages and disadvantages peculiar to musicals?

John:

There is a unique emotional reaction one has to action expressed in song. Words make you think a thought, Music makes you feel a feeling. Together, they make you feel a thought. Nowhere else does this happen in quite the same way. That's the advantage to the musical form.

The disadvantage is that it's so hard to do well. The proportions of the story change between dialogue and song; you have to find the emotional high points and musicalize them. 

Norm:

What was it like to work with such great celebrities as Joan Rivers, Shirley Bassey, Lily Tomlin, and Judy Garland?

John:

They all have their quirks: Joan was trashy, Shirley was haughty, Lily was adorable and Judy...was a whirlwind, the most glamorous, funny and sexy, yet manipulative and self-serving.

Norm:

Could you tell our readers something about Heartbreaker?

John:

Heartbreaker is my personal account of the emotional meat-grinder Judy Garland put me through in 1968-69, six months before her death. She loved my song, the one I titled I'd Like to Hate Myself in the Morning. She responded to its humor. I thought I could rescue her,  threw myself two hundred percent into the effort;  it was an impossible task, she chewed me up and spit me out.

I was in love with her, we spent eight weeks together, experiencing the highest highs and the most agonizing lows. The new edition contains a CD of a rehearsal we did 'round the piano -just the two of us. I flipped on the recorder, she didn't know. She sings, tells stories, she's totally un-self-conscious -a fascinating window into her persona. 

Norm:

Could you also tell us something about your soon to be released book?

John:

Knowing Judy as intimately as I did, I find I can predict her actions and comments to any given situation with remarkable accuracy. So I've been able to practically 'channel' her wry, ironic voice as -on assignment from the OSS- she goes to France to locate a Nazi physicist who's developing a nuclear-powered sub battery for the U-Boats. All she has to do is bring back his photo with the camera concealed in the heel of her shoe. This is a real WWII espionage adventure, with actual personalities of the period interacting with Judy; I've got Howard Hughes, General Patton, Nazi commander Albert Kesselring -Judy deals with all of them. And she uses her singing to deal with threatening situations. 

The book is called Operation Ruby Slipper, and it'll be available on Amazon.com/books the first week in December.

Norm:

Did you learn anything from writing your books and what was it?

John:

In all my work, I've learned the value of economy; what you leave out is just as important as what you leave in. I leave out the boring parts, the unnecessary description, the flaccid adjectives, anything that gets in the way of the narrative line...no matter how pretty or appealing it may be. If you have to describe something, anchor it to the emotions of the character who's viewing it. Don't say merely, the sun was setting behind the hill; say Judy squinted against the setting sun.

Norm:

What is GraceNote Productions?

John:

GraceNote is a company I've formed to produce plays and publish books. In addition to Ruby Slipper, I'm putting on a reading -in London- of a play, a comedy-thriller called Zazou. It's about a French music-hall artiste who is driven to murder.

Norm:

Where can our readers find out more about you and your books?

John:

Visit my web and BLOG SITE 

Norm:

Is there anything else you wish to add that we have not covered?

John:

Thanks for giving me the chance to sound off!

Norm

Thanks once again and good luck with all of your future endeavors