Guest Blog Day! Please welcome Tom Mizer, one half of the songwriting team Mizer & Moore (The Marvelous Mrs Maisel), a longtime TFE reader and previous Smackdown panelist.
me on the set of The Marvelous Mrs Maisel. A dream come true
by Tom Mizer
When Amy Sherman-Palladino, the producer/director/creator and all-around whiz-bang brain of The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel, asked my writing partner Curtis Moore and I to write original music for the third season, we knew immediately it was going to be a big challenge. (Also, let’s be honest, wicked cool.) The songs needed to sit alongside the needle-drop classics they deploy so expertly on the show (don’t tell anyone but the show is a musical in perfectly pink disguise). They needed to help tell the story and illuminate character while also being believable pop hits of 1959. They also needed to be written, approved, and recorded before filming in a few weeks. So, yeah, just a wee bit challenging.
What we didn’t know was how welcomed we'd be into the “family” of the show. Instead of just turning in demos and hoping for the best --fly free little songs, fly free! -- we were invited to collaborate during the whole process....
We were involved in the arrangements and recording, and most exciting of all, we were asked to consult during filming. As a film musical junkie, being on set for the splashy production numbers (literally splashy for the aqua ballet in episode 306) was always a blast, but three moments stood out above all else. I'll remember them my whole life.
EPISODE 301 - “ONE LESS ANGEL”
Our first time on their set as writers was a whopper of an introduction. The premiere episode features a full USO show. The sequences were shot in a massive Long Island airplane hangar filled with period airplanes, whizzing jeeps, a bunting-festooned stage, a kick-line of dancing girls, and 800 soldiers circa 1959. (That’s a lot of buzz cuts and well-fit khaki. I wasn’t complaining.) It was like: Welcome to the go-for-broke, MGM-musical-esque world of Maisel!
The centerpiece of the sequence was a concert performance of our song “One Less Angel”— meant to be the big pop hit of fictional crooner Shy Baldwin. We wanted the song to be super catchy but also capture the swoon of romance in bloom—Midge and the audience are hopefully falling in love with Shy and his stylish swagger. We had rewritten it and honed it note by note, syllable by syllable, until we hoped that with all the effort it would feel...effortless. But how would it actually play?
Watching the scene unfold
Two-thirds of the way through the day we got an answer. The technical side of filming the number had been going well so Curtis and I had moved into a video tent to talk about an upcoming song. Suddenly, someone from the crew grabbed us and said we had to come out on set. Gulp. Had they replaced us with Pasek & Paul while we weren’t looking?
We hustled out to the stage—and were greeted by 800 soldiers singing “One Less Angel” at the top of their lungs. They weren’t filming; the AD was leading a sing-along to keep energy up between takes. Everybody, even some of the crew and cast were singing every word and dancing and smiling and swaying. To our song. It was magical.
(Amazingly, Amy ended up turning the camera on the soldiers singing as part of the scene...so you can get a taste of what we experienced in the actual episode.)
EPISODE 505 - “MAKE MINE A DOUBLE”
Discussing the scene with Amy Sherman-Palladino
The core of this gorgeous episode, directed by Amy, is an achingly romantic night out on the town with Midge and Lenny Bruce. One of their stops is a live taping of the fictional "Miami After Dark," inspired by an actual episode of "Playboy’s Penthouse" that Bruce appeared on (go check it out on youtube; it’s unbelievable that this show with people just hanging out and drinking and smoking aired on television.)
We had sent Amy three song options that we thought captured the ring-a-ding vibe of the moment—each one with a title that was a play on the name of a cocktail. Two minutes after we sent the drafts, Amy texted back, “Are you boys drunk?”
Amy decided to shoot the sequence as a long single take that would last four or five minutes, snaking from a choreographed intro, through the first half of our song, and onto a couch where Lenny and Midge would banter with the host. Complicating things for us, she also wanted to try the song being played live. Luckily, Ari Brand, the actor playing Jem is a fabulous actor/singer/pianist and for many, many takes, he belted out our tune with the band.
Somewhere long past midnight, the cast and most of the crew were finally released. But we still needed a few sound-only takes of the song, just in case it was needed in post-production. The lights were low. Ari and the band were half in and out of costume. Amy, Curtis and I flopped onto the couch where Midge and Lenny had been all day. And we got a private, late night jazz club concert, the band riffing instrumental extensions of the song. The set may have been in New Jersey, but we were in "Miami, After Dark."
EPISODE 306 - “NO ONE HAS TO KNOW”
(SPOILERS AHEAD) It’s rare that a television show relies on music to tell story, but Shy’s arc reaches its climax in a song he sings on stage. It’s a huge moment because he’s just come out to Midge after being gay bashed. It was daunting writing a song for this moment, but we looked at it like a music theater 11 o’clock number—Shy finally revealing his emotional core—while also still being believable as a romantic pop hit of the era. It’s a very special song to me and I put a lot of my heart and personal experience in it.
But shooting was tense, both because of the emotional weight of the scene and several technical issues--including a failing air conditioning system. To top it off, Curtis had a deadline to leave Miami for another commitment, and with the shooting delays, he resigned himself to heading for the airport before we got to filming the song.
So I was alone. And I was hiding in the back of the dark showroom, nervous that this huge moment we worked so hard on would never land. And we would kill Shy’s arc and the series and all of Amazon Studios. I was also sweat-stuck to a plasticky banquette, so maybe I was a little over-emotional.
Finally, it was time for a close shot of Shy singing. And the lights fell. And the playback rolled. And the room hushed. And LeRoy was fighting back tears, inhabiting Shy’s emotional and physical pain.
Before another take rolled, Amy barked at me, “Tom, stop hiding and get over here.” I slid into place beside her, right by the camera. She leaned in and gently whispered, “You did this.”
I knew, of course, that I didn’t do this. Not alone. We all made it happen, this enormous, crazy, talented, hard-working team—trying to tell a story together in some hot, dark, buzzing room somewhere just out of reach of the beach. And there might have been the faint sound of my crying in the next take. But no one has to know that.
all posts by Tom Mizer...
Childhood movie love
Oscar winners for Best Original Song
Filming Mrs Maisel's Musical Numbers
Movies to Stage -Musical Adaptations
Meeting Barbra Streisand