Recently named the “Most Influential Person in U.K. Theatre,” David Ian’s esteemed career has involved practically every aspect of theatre; actor, producer and chairman of Global Theatre for Live Nation, the parent company of Broadway Across America. Now he is rounding out his resume as a judge on “GREASE: You’re the One That I Want,” a new talent competition series where NBC viewers choose the next Sandy Dumbrowski and Danny Zuko. The two finalists will star in the new Broadway production of GREASE, which Ian is co-producing and anticipates will become a national tour. Ian recently discussed the future of Broadway reality television, those GREASE characters that America just can’t seem to get enough of and what it takes to be a producer.
How did the idea originate for “GREASE: You’re the One That I Want?”
I know that it had been suggested several times in the past. I suggested it to the owners of GREASE about three or four years ago but they felt, quite rightly, that it was too soon after the Barry Weissler production to bring GREASE back to Broadway. But then I did a similar sort of idea with Andrew Lloyd Webber on THE SOUND OF MUSIC casting Maria on the BBC back in the United Kingdom in the summer. So, I went to the owners of GREASE with the BBC and said ‘We’d like to do this.’ I was going to be doing GREASE anyway in 2007 and was looking to cast the stars but this time around the owners agreed and said ‘We liked the Maria program’ and ‘Why not?’ So that’s how it came about.
Speaking of “How Do You Solve A Problem Like Maria,” have you noticed any differences in casting in the U.S. versus the U.K.?
I always notice differences to be honest with you. Obviously a much bigger country, much bigger acting demographic and just an awful lot more choice (in the United States). The turnout has been much more considerable, particularly in New York, I have to say. Given that GREASE is such a traditional piece of Americana, if you like, there were a lot of very good Dannys and Sandys that showed up. Many more than when I auditioned for Danny, in particular, in the U.K.
What are the “must-have” characteristics you’re looking for in Danny and Sandy?
Simple answer, this one. The usual triple threat: sing, dance and act. And then an extra special something star-quality that makes her the sweetheart of the high school and him the leader of the pack. So, charisma and star quality.
Do you think programs like “GREASE: You’re the One That I Want” will become a viable way for future Broadway shows to find talent?
I don’t know. I think that you could do it once or twice but I think that there’s a limit as to how many shows would make sense like this. At the end of the day, if you’re going to ask the public to participate in the voting of the final ten or twelve, they’ve got to have a very, very strong opinion and clear cut vision as to who those characters are and I find that, invariably, that comes from when there’s a movie connection. Lots of people have seen GREASE on stage but an awful lot more, I would suggest, have seen the movie. And that’s what helps them have a very clear vision of who Danny and Sandy are.
I think a lot of traditional shows, if you haven’t got the assistance of a big iconic movie, then it would be more of a struggle to delineate what those character requirements are. So I think GREASE is a great example because it’s arguably one of the most successful movie musicals of all time. The SOUND OF MUSIC was similar. There are probably one or two other examples if I thought about it. But I don’t think you could cast every musical like this. I think it would be inappropriate. It’s a fun way of doing it and I think it’s obviously got great marketing potential and I think it can get an audience into the theatre that perhaps isn’t a traditional theatre-going audience which is great for my industry. But I think it has to be with something that the public are very, very familiar with.
Will there be any changes in the new GREASE production?
Yes, there’s one very significant change insofar as there’s never been a Broadway production with the songs from the movie in it which are “Grease Is the Word,” “Sandy,” “Hopelessly Devoted to You,” "You’re the One That I Want” and, for the first time ever on Broadway, we’ve managed to get those songs and interpolate them into the stage show.
How does the experience of working on a television production differ from working on a theatre stage?
I think the biggest difference is for theatre, you have to get it right the first time and you have to get it right in one continuous go. Whereas on TV, and I’m not experienced in television, it just seems like one take after another. You do it, ‘Oh, sorry, no, it wasn’t quite right for sound,' you do it again ‘Oop, no, it wasn’t quite right from this angle,’ ‘Nope, the lighting’s just gone, sorry, let’s do it again.’ With theatre we’ve got to get it right, we’ve got to do it live and if it goes wrong we have to keep going.
Give us an idea of what it’s like to be a producer.
I always say that a producer really does three things: chooses the project, chooses who’s going to work on the project - like the director, choreographer, designer - and raises money for the project. And then manages that team. The fourth thing that he does before, during and after, is focuses on sales and selling tickets. In a simplified version, that’s what I think my job is. There’s a lot of subtext to it other than that, of course, but fundamentally that’s it. If you choose the right project, the right team to do that project and you manage them properly and you sell your tickets properly then that’s what you were meant to do.
How did your career in theatre begin?
I was Joseph (in JOSEPH AND THE AMAZING TECHNICOLOR DREAMCOAT), Frederick in PIRATES OF PENZANCE, Rocky in THE ROCKY HORROR SHOW, so I started out very much as a musical theatre artist in London and the U.K. It was whilst I was Frederick in PIRATES OF PENZANCE at the London Paladium that I started to think that I’d quite like to produce. Together with my partner at the time, Paul Nicholas, who was a big star in the U.K., we decided to put on some shows and fortunately the early ones were successful so I kept going. On my 13th birthday I was taken to see Michael Crawford in a show in London called BILLY. I came out of that show knowing that I wanted to be in the school play the next morning and got into it and from there, I’ve never looked at anything else.
Were there any challenges in switching to the other side of the stage?
It sort of happened fairly seamlessly, to be honest with you. I guess the most difficult thing was at the very beginning I was auditioning and employing people that a matter of weeks or months earlier I’d been in shows with. So that was quite a challenge turning from fellow actor to producer overnight. As years have passed there’s less and less of those people around. At the same time I constantly find benefit from the fact that I’ve been an actor because most people know where I’ve been in casts and appreciate that I know what they’re going through and what it takes to get it out of them.
By: Beth Cox
