Broadway tunes into Bangkok with debut of ‘Waterfall A New Musical’

His “Waterfall A New Musical” is an English-language production with a veteran Broadway crew and actors, Boy, however, remains in control as director. He is also CEO of The One Enterprise Co Ltd, director of One 31, a digital TV channel, and chairman of the Scenario Co Ltd, a subsidiary of GMM Grammy Plc.

The English-language musical will debut in Bangkok next month with acclaimed actors Josh Dela Cruz, Danielle Hope and Jon Jon Briones in the lead roles.

The script was written by Tony Award-winner Richard Maltby Jr and Karen Hartman. The music was composed by David Shire, who won a Best Song Oscar for the theme of the acclaimed film “Norma Rae”. The lyrics were written by Richard Maltby Jr.

It will be the first Thai musical with both lyrics and dialogue in English. Thai subtitles will be displayed on LED screens on each side of the stage.
In an interview with The Nation, Boy spoke about his play.

How did you develop “Waterfall A New Musical”?

I have been directed several musical plays. The first time was in 1997 when I directed “Wiman Muang” after the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre opened as a venue for stage plays. I then directed “Fah Jarod Sai”, “Mae Nak The Musicial”, “Banlung Mek” and “Behind the Painting”.

After I met several Broadway figures. I wondered how my work compared to international standards. I wondered how far my work could go if it was presented to an international audience. I wanted to know whether a Thai musical could be presented in English.

Then, I met Richard Maltby Jr. He wrote the script for Miss Saigon. He is a Tony Award winner and veteran Broadway director. I have been monitoring his work since I was in school. When his name was mentioned to me, I became very excited. Then, I had a chance to dine with him one day and I was jumping with joy.

I showed the video of the “Behind the Painting The Musical” to him. He said the story could be an international love story. I directed the “Behind the Painting the Musical” in 2008 and I met Richard in 2011. At that time I thought the story already had an international plot so international audiences would get it, but they might not understand the idea of prohibited love in the Thai context.

So, I had second thoughts and decided to change the characters of the play to Western characters so that international audience would understand the story better. I thought a lot about whether I should change the lead actress into an American woman.

That idea led to a new story. The story no longer has Khunying Kirati, the lead female character of “Behind the Painting”. So, I no longer use that title. Instead, I use “Waterfall”.

Anyway, the story was inspired by “Behind the Painting”. After I changed the lead female character to Catherine, it opened up several other options.

How did you get the chance to work with an award-winning Broadway team?

I am still excited and wonder how I was able to get to work with these Broadway veterans. I was amazed by Richard Maltby Jr from the start. When someone advised me to talk to him, I accepted it immediately. I also looked for several other staff and sought women’s input for my play.

So, I got to work with a female Japanese-American choreographer. She used to be a Broadway actress. She was among the original company of “Hamiton”, which revolutionised musicals in 2016. “Hamilton” was the milestone that divided musicals into two ages – before “Hamilton” and after “Hamilton”.

And my music director used to be the music director for “Phantom of Opera”, while I have a Thai production designer.

I got Johs Dela Cruz to play the role of Nopporn, the lead male character. Cruz used to play Aladdin on Broadway. Parents should recognise him because he used to be the host of the children's TV programme “Blue’s Clues & You!” I have been to the Reading Festival with Cruz twice. He is Filipino-American. He has a great singing voice, so he is very suitable for the leading role.

The lead actress is Catherine. Initially, I had no lead actress so I held a casting and an English actress, who moved to the United States, came for the casting call. She is Danielle Hope. She used to act in “The Wizard of Oz”, “Les Misérables”, and “The Sound of Music”. When she read the script, everybody turned to look at each other. We all said at the same time that she was very cute.
Another character that makes me very excited is Jon Jon Briones. I have not met him yet. He will play the role of Than Chao Khun. He has recently acted in a remake of “Miss Saigon”. He played the role of the pimp. He is a very capable actor. When we contacted him, he accepted the role. He has roles in some movies streamed on Netflix as well.

How did you get the chance to work with an award-winning Broadway team?

I am still excited and wonder how I was able to get to work with these Broadway veterans. I was amazed by Richard Maltby Jr from the start. When someone advised me to talk to him, I accepted it immediately. I also looked for several other staff and sought women’s input for my play.

So, I got to work with a female Japanese-American choreographer. She used to be a Broadway actress. She was among the original company of “Hamiton”, which revolutionised musicals in 2016. “Hamilton” was the milestone that divided musicals into two ages – before “Hamilton” and after “Hamilton”.

And my music director used to be the music director for “Phantom of Opera”, while I have a Thai production designer.

I got Johs Dela Cruz to play the role of Nopporn, the lead male character. Cruz used to play Aladdin on Broadway. Parents should recognise him because he used to be the host of the children's TV programme “Blue’s Clues & You!” I have been to the Reading Festival with Cruz twice. He is Filipino-American. He has a great singing voice, so he is very suitable for the leading role.

The lead actress is Catherine. Initially, I had no lead actress so I held a casting and an English actress, who moved to the United States, came for the casting call. She is Danielle Hope. She used to act in “The Wizard of Oz”, “Les Misérables”, and “The Sound of Music”. When she read the script, everybody turned to look at each other. We all said at the same time that she was very cute.

Another character that makes me very excited is Jon Jon Briones. I have not met him yet. He will play the role of Than Chao Khun. He has recently acted in a remake of “Miss Saigon”. He played the role of the pimp. He is a very capable actor. When we contacted him, he accepted the role. He has roles in some movies streamed on Netflix as well.

How will the Waterfall a New Musical story unfold?

It’s a story about a young Thai man in his early 20s. The story happened in 1932 when Thailand changed from an Absolute Monarchy to a Constitutional Monarchy. The young man lived in a province. One day, he got a chance to read an American history book and he got an inspiration that Thailand should follow US history.

On the day the ruling system was changed, the man thought his life would also change. He went to a university and went to work in the Foreign Ministry and he became an assistant to the chief of the ministry, whose post was called Than Chao Khun director-general.

Several years before 1932, Than Chao Khun knew a US ambassador who came to Thailand with his daughter. At that time, the ambassador’s daughter was 18 years old. She is Catherine. Than Chao Khun felt that the girl was lovely but he could only look at her because he was married.

Than Chao Khun led the young American girl to tour and observe the artworks and culture of Thailand. The girl was impressed. When she returned to the US, she dreamt of becoming a painter. In those days, it was hard for a woman to attain fame as an artist. So, she left home to pursue her dream. She later became a famous painter. Ten years later, in 1929, the US was hit by an economic depression. She became depressed and could no longer paint.

Her father committed suicide and her mother died of heart failure.

She wondered what went wrong with the US and longed to return to Thailand because the land inspired her to become an artist. So, she sent a letter to Than Chao Khun, asking if he remembered her. Than Chao Khun’s wife died recently so he was very happy to meet her. Than Chao Khun asked Catherine to marry him and the two wed. Then, Catherine met Nopporn and the main story would start from here in Thailand.

Later on, Than Chao Khun took a trip to Japan to meet the Japanese foreign minister so he brought along Nopporn and Catherine. During the meeting, Nopporn led Catherine to tour Japan and they fell in love. At that time, American culture started to reach Japan. Japanese people hated Americans. While Than Chao Khun was seeking to establish ties with Japan, he had an American wife. Than Chao Khun realised Japan had changed and everybody knew what would happen after that. It would lead to World War II.

It seems that all of your plays are about national politics or nationalism. Did you intend to this?

It depends on the chosen stories. A musical can be great if we have a social element in it too. We just can’t have a love story. A love story alone won’t make a musical great. That’s why I put those stories in my plays. What I love about “Waterfall” is it has an element of internationalism in it. Americans themselves come from several races. Several of them suffer because they are not accepted by society just because they are Asians although Asians have beautiful and admirable cultures. It has become a question worldwide – how to balance the mix of cultures.

What are the differences between the two versions?

When I first directed “Behind the Painting the Musical”, I interpreted it differently from the original movie and several versions of the plays. At that time, several people could not accept my interpretation. They asked why I interpreted Khunying Kirati that way. Some people would like to regard Khunying Kirati as a traditional Thai woman, who is soft. But I added sexual desire to the character and people could not accept it. But I’ll say it’s natural.

Had Khunying Kirati not had sexual desire, why would she have kissed Nopporn at the waterfall, right? Nopporn was 22 years old so how could he stop having dirty thoughts about her? She is very beautiful so how could he prevent such thoughts? I made the play different from other versions. Some disagreed with me, but it’s my play. Why would I have done my play if it had nothing new?

The Waterfall is also different. It no longer has Khunying Kirati. So, don’t expect to see her in the play. It’s no longer “Behind the Painting”. But it was inspired by the story. And they may not just kiss each other at the waterfall. (laughing).

After the show in Thailand, will you bring it abroad too?

I can’t tell yet. If you ask if I want to bring it overseas, I’ll say “yes”. You can imagine it. But whether it can go is another matter. For example, in the old days I could not say with full confidence that I wanted my play to be staged on Broadway. It’s because if I fail to reach my goal, I would be battered badly as having a daydream. At the moment, I think it’s normal to have such a goal.

We must understand that a project could either succeed or fail. It’s like a sporting competition. This year, we may win all matches but in another year we may mostly lose, but it doesn’t mean we fail. I think when we do a play and don’t get what we want, it is better than doing nothing. If you ask whether I would like to bring my play abroad, I’ll say I want to. But I don’t know if I can or not. How many Thais have gone this far? It should be okay now. We’ll do our best and failure or success is the matter of the future.

Your first “Behind the Painting” play was once shown in the US?

At that time, the lead actor was Sukrit “Bie” Wisetkaew. He played with a Broadway team. It had a lot of procedures to complete for a play to be shown in Broadway theatres in New York City. We couldn’t just go there and show. Then, when we gradually developed our team, we also tried out at theatres in other cities. I don’t know whether we were successful or not in that play.
You can see that “The Phantom of the Opera” has been on the stage for 15 years and it has just stopped recently. Some plays were discontinued in a month or even a week. I can’t tell why. Nobody knows the secret. At that time (2018), our play was staged at the Pasadena Playhouse in California, and in Seattle. Was I satisfied with the performance? No. The audience might not understand our presentation, which was rather traditional. Anyway, we learned a lot from that..

“Waterfall A New Musical”, directed by Takonkiet Viravan, will run from September 13 to October 1 at the Muangthai Rachadalai Theatre. (Thai subtitles will be shown on LED screens on both sides of the stage.)
Tickets are available at all Thai Ticket Major counters.