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[0:01] Robert Bannon: This is Robert Bannon, and before I hit the theme song and introduce the show, I want to tell you about some exciting Roundtable news. The Roundtable has a brand new website. You can go to robertbannon.com, find out all about me, find out all about the show. Brand new and now up and running with brand new Roundtable merchandise. Go to robertbannon.com, follow me on Instagram, and make sure you're subscribing to us wherever you listen to podcasts or on YouTube. Now let's do a show. Are you ready? It's the Roundtable with me, Robert Bannon.

[0:32] Robert Bannon: Well, welcome to the Roundtable, everybody. My name is Robert Bannon, and you're listening to us on Broadway World, the Broadway Podcast Network, IRS, Spotify, wherever artists talk about art. This is an old buddy of mine. I love our next guest. He is one of the greatest writers of the musical genre. I didn't say musical theater. I said music, period, Billy. Mozart, Beethoven, Billy. That's what I'm saying. Mozart, Beethoven, Paul McCartney, Billy. He has been writing shows. I don't really know how many shows he's had put up in New York and around the country. A lot. You know him. You love him. He has new music. You can download the single. You're going to take money and send it to the Alzheimer Foundation. I think that's what it's called. Am I right? Alzheimer's Association. Close enough. I knew it was Alzheimer's and a nation. And he's here to tell us all about Billy. Welcome back to the Roundtable.

[1:29] Billy Recce: Thank you so much for having me. It's so great to be back. So good to see you again.

[1:33] Robert Bannon: So it's so good to see you again. I'm so excited to be able to catch up with you and see you. This is an incredible piece that is partnered with another great person who writes books and lyrics, Cheryl Burke. So how did you get involved in something called Big Man?

[1:45] Billy Recce: Yes. So Cheryl came up with the idea for this musical based on her father-in-law's journey with dementia and was looking for a composer for it. It's a really cool story about this family sort of going through this together and coming together over, you know, this other father who is, you know, heading into the memory unit. And at this same time, the way that this character's sort of dementia reveals itself is that he thinks that he is sort of a member of the Rat Pack. So there's this really cool kind of musical journey in the show that sort of toggles between new musical theater and a sort of Rat Packy kind of sound. And that was also very much sort of Cheryl's father-in-law's journey with dementia.

He thought that he was in the Rat Pack and knew, you know, Sammy Davis Jr. and Frank Sinatra. So yeah, we're sort of musicalizing that journey. And we have been putting out a couple singles to benefit the Alzheimer's Association. A couple months ago, we put out a single with Ramin Karimloo singing a song from the show. And this most recent single is featuring Kevin Chamberlain singing sort of the big 11 o'clock number from the show. And all the proceeds go to the Alzheimer's Association.

[3:06] Robert Bannon: How cool is that? Firstly, I also think I'm in the Rat Pack.

[3:13] Billy Recce: I think you are too. I've had that sneaking suspicion about you.

[3:19] Robert Bannon: Thank you, Billy. You know, I was 12 years old reading Sammy Davis Jr. biographies. I was that nerdy.

[3:26] Billy Recce: Of course. Which autobiography?

[3:26] Robert Bannon: Yes, I can. Yeah, his autobiography, absolutely. Such a good book. I mean, I don't know if it's true, but I loved what he said.

[3:32] Billy Recce: Does it matter?

[3:37] Robert Bannon: Exactly. No, it doesn't matter. It's like the Eliza book. I don't care if any of it's true. I don't care that Michael Feinstein wrote that book. Yes, pronounce Quimford in however you want. It's fine. Quimford's on.

[3:49] Billy Recce: So you're right. You're a writer. And you have shows up. So when someone approaches you and says, hey, I have this idea, what is it that sells you on committing the time in your life to say yes?

[3:53] Billy Recce: Yeah, a big part of it is like writing a type of score that I haven't written before. You know, what I really liked about this was the sort of opportunity to get to write a sort of a new musical theater sound and paired with a sort of old school 60s sound. I feel like I've done both for different shows, but I've never sort of like figured out how those two can sort of cross pollinate in a score. So I think just sort of getting to dive into a world that I have not yet gotten to dive into is really exciting for me. And that was sort of the first thing that drew me to the project. In addition to just sort of like Cheryl's, you know, passion about the show and the story that she was trying to tell and who she is as an artist was really exciting to me.

[4:40] Robert Bannon: So that is really exciting. And now that you have these singles out, are they done single by single? Is there more singles coming out? Is it gonna be what's the plan?

[4:45] Billy Recce: Yes, there's gonna be some more singles coming out towards the end of the year, with some guests to be announced. And then from there, we're sort of working on some sort of rewrites for the show and hoping to do a sort of bigger presentation in the spring, essentially. So it's sort of, you know, we've been working on the show for two years now. And this is sort of the first sort of like public facing, you know, thing from the show. So we're sort of going to hibernate again for a little bit. And then we're sort of gathering our little team of folks for the show for the future. So.

[5:24] Robert Bannon: Exciting, really exciting. You can download it. The link to download it will be below if you download it. If you pay your 99 cents, the proceeds are going to go to the foundation. You know, it's something that people who have had family and that have had Alzheimer's or dementia and, you know, have that experience. I think it's one of the most heartbreaking experiences. My mom would say when it was people in my family, like they're not there in somewhere better already. They're not there. The family is left with the struggle and the grief that comes with it. How do you write something like that? How do you, how do you personally, Billy, and with your co-author and book writer, come up with the it's an emotional depth there. That's a deep subject.

[6:02] Billy Recce: It is. And that's all Cheryl. I didn't do the lyrics for this song. It's, you know, I think what we are finding is, you know, when we say it's a musical about dementia, you know, it's the initial reaction is sort of like, I don't want to sit through that, you know. But I think what we're really trying to find is the joy and the sort of connection that can kind of come with that, the sort of unexpected, you know, togetherness of it. And sort of, you know, I think allowing this main character who's dealing with it, allowing him the dignity to sort of, you know, live in that world that he is living in and to sort of, you know, not feel like it's a, you know, of course, it's a tragedy, but it's a tragedy for us.

And to sort of allow that person to sort of, you know, feel what they need to feel and go through what they need to go through and live the sort of life that they, you know, are living to, you know, to get through it. But it's incredible. I'm excited to hear more. And I'm telling you're gonna love Kevin Chamberlain. He's such a good singer. He's such a star. He's such a like a Disney star from being the guy. He's a huge deal to young people.

[7:12] Robert Bannon: A million followers, man. That's that's hoarding the elephant to me.

[7:16] Billy Recce: That's what I hear him from.

[7:18] Robert Bannon: So the children that he's on the show, Jesse, which is apparently a show that he's dad and he's loved beloved.

[7:25] Billy Recce: Yeah, exactly. Super nice guy. We had a great time working in the studio with him. Just for game and just yet does an incredible, incredible job on this like very big sort of 11 o'clock number and it's huge. I mean, it's like a very sort of cinematic sound and he like, really rises to the challenge. So it's awesome.

[7:43] Robert Bannon: Yeah. So I know you've been asked this probably 5000 times in interviews, but how does it work? So does she hand you a piece of paper? She emails you some lyrics? She gives you a style or idea or is it all up to you? How does this particular partnership work?

[7:47] Billy Recce: Yeah, it's come together. It is it is different for everybody. For this particular one. It's a lot of because she is so close to the story. It's a lot of handing me a lyric that is, you know, been written and I sort of sit down at the piano and I sort of change things, you know, lyrically as I go that might sort of get closer to the story, the sort of musical story that I'm trying to tell. And then we just sort of go back and forth a lot. We love sort of working in the room together. That's always really fun. Because for me, I think like if, you know, to get to write music, written by a really competent lyricist, somebody who understands sort of song structure is kind of just like a gift, you know, it ain't always that way, you know, so it's nice to sort of be able to know exactly the story we're trying to tell and the musical story we're trying to tell in this moment with her.

[8:45] Robert Bannon: So what makes good collaboration? Like what what happens when there's a disagreement? What happens when you have different ideas? How do you find common ground when you're working together with someone?

[8:54] Billy Recce: Yeah, we do a lot of table reads of the show. I think it's and I sort of feel this way for a lot of shows of mine. Like I think it's always helpful to just sort of hear it out loud, especially if there is a disagreement, you know, and like, really, you know, know that like, just because we're disagreeing on it, like I think like the the answer to it is by hearing it and hearing people try it. And you know, I think that sort of tends to 99% of the time, sort of make everything make sense. But you know, I think sometimes it's sort of like I what I love, I feel very lucky to get to have a lot of different collaborators on different projects. And you know, and just sort of step different roles behind the table on different projects.

So because of that, I think it has just made me like a way more generous collaborator and sort of more just like open to feedback. And you know, open to like, the idea that like, nobody gives a fuck that you can write a good song, like, what is it doing for the story? You know, like, is it the right song for this moment? Is that the right musical motif for this moment? So I think, yeah, I'm just I love getting to work with as many different people as possible, and understand as many different working styles, just because it makes me sort of, you know, more receptive to, to work with other writers in the room. So.

[10:09] Robert Bannon: The musical is called Big Man: A New Musical, and the song is called Wander. And it is streaming and it's available right now. And if you download it, like we said, proceeds are going to go to the Alzheimer's Association. If you want more information about them, you can go to alz.org and find out more, there's going to be more, more, more, more, more things coming. As well, just go to iTunes or go to Amazon and download it. Like we used to Billy, we used to only have old days. Oh, I missed my little iPod Nano. My God.

[10:39] Robert Bannon: I used to love that. You could buy TV episodes on iTunes. You remember that?

[10:44] Billy Recce: Yes. You sure can.

[10:45] Robert Bannon: I would buy episodes of SNL right after they aired. I got to really know, like the Jesse Eisenberg episode of SNL for whatever reason. See?

[10:51] Billy Recce: I bought that on iTunes. Why? Why? I have one episode of Don't Judge Me, Say Yes to the Driss. I don't know why I bought it. But I must have went on a pain.

[11:00] Robert Bannon: I think you know why. I think you know.

[11:02] Billy Recce: I'm gay, Billy. Yeah. There you go. That's it.

[11:05] Robert Bannon: And I think that's beautiful. Bigmanthemusical.com. So you have this incredible team. You have all of this going on. Plus you have all of the other things that is all of the Billy life. So tell us a little bit about Little Black Book and Foul Play, all these things that you have done. You got political with a show. You know, you got talking about the current politics of the world. So tell us what was it like the first time you had a show that was produced in New York City? Not like you produced it in like a cafe or like an auditorium, like under a church, you know, like not like I get those days. That's like saying I put on a show in New York and it was four folding chairs. What was it like when your first professional show was produced in a real off Broadway way?

[11:46] Billy Recce: Yeah, it was so cool. It was the first show that I wrote that I got hired to write was my senior year of college, a show called a musical about Star Wars. And like that like opened before. But like before I graduated, I guess, like the day or two before I graduated.

[12:02] Robert Bannon: Right, right. Oh, my God. Right. Yes. Yes. Well, that was that was the revival of it, darling. That was the AMT.

[12:11] Billy Recce: I thought you were just 20. You're just 25 years old right now.

[12:15] Robert Bannon: If only, if only. My God. No, I just I'm just trying to afford Botox these days. My God. You know, yeah, no, it's just cool. It's great because like I what I really love and thrive on is sort of like getting to like write something really fast and throw it up. Like I love sort of devised theater. I love sort of, you know, being like we booked a venue. Now all we need is a show, you know, and that was like very much that show. I think I got hired for it like three months before the show opened. And there have been a couple of shows like like five was like that too. Like that, you know, became it became necessary to do an original score for that a couple of months before that show opened. So like I just love an assignment of just like getting to throw something up.

So that to me, if you can almost sort of like not even like build it up in your head as like, oh my God, like this show is going to open, like are people going to like it? It's like it's not even about that. It's sort of like, OK, just write the show. Like, can I finish the show like that? That's like, you know, the most thrilling part of it. So, yeah, so that I think that first show kind of like set me up for the love of, you know, sort of being like, I don't know what I have. I'm not attached to anything because I wrote it so fast. Let's just see how people respond, you know?

[13:29] Robert Bannon: So, yeah, yeah. As they've gotten bigger and more expensive and is there more pressure? Is it a little scarier? Is it more thrilling? How does it feel as it's continuing?

[13:40] Billy Recce: Yeah, totally. I mean, there always is. You know, I think you're just sort of like always constantly trying to be like, oh, God, I'm like, you know, if are they going to let me write another one, you know, after every show, you know, and I think because of that, I feel very lucky that I have a lot of different kinds of projects in the work, you know, show wise and style wise. I never sort of want to be like pinned down as like somebody who can only write one type of thing. And I think because of that, I never sort of allow myself to feel the pressure of like it has to be this one or nothing. You know, I love all of them equally, you know, and like there's yeah, there's certainly you know, I want everything to be a success and be well reviewed and whatever, because that just means that, you know, the show can run and people can stay employed.

But yeah, but for me, it's sort of, you know, I think I think it was Hal Prince, right, who like always had a meeting the next day after every opening night. And like, that's very much sort of like by the time like the show is about to open, I kind of want to already be thinking about what the next one is, you know, so you don't have to put all that weight and all that pressure on that piece. So you stay busy, then you don't have to think you don't have time to think about it. You just keep writing.

[14:44] Billy Recce: Exactly. I don't I don't think at all. No, I think so. How many shows are you currently working on in your head?

[14:53] Robert Bannon: In my head? Nine or 10 of like various stages. I mean, you know, like, but you know, it's so it's not cyclical, like shows sort of, you know, some sort of come to fruition, while another show is sort of sitting on the shelf, you know, and so it's like, every show is at a sort of different stage in its life. And I think that's also really exciting to me, right? It's like, there's this one show that I'm like, actively writing right now. There's this other show that we just did a production of and are trying to get the next production of up. There's another show that we're doing meetings about trying to get a cast for, you know, etc, etc. This show is going to licensing. So it's like, what I love is like, being able to like, you know, just open up my computer and like, think about any of these shows, you know, so yeah, I feel very lucky in that way.

[15:41] Billy Recce: But well, I like a show that goes to licensing for you, because I want you to make some money.

[15:46] Robert Bannon: Thank you. I want you to do it at the school, my God.

[15:49] Billy Recce: We want it. We want to book Billy. We have, you have shows available for licensing that can be done at schools, theatres, community theatres. I think what's moves me about that is growing up in New Jersey, there's a snotty tri-state mentality that everything is Broadway, and everything is so and so. But theatre is created and for the world, like, I live in Detroit now most of the time. And I see a different side to theatre because now I'm looking at tours and regional theatres. And people doing your shows in Oklahoma somewhere is just as important as people doing your shows in New York City.

[16:24] Billy Recce: 1000%. And honestly, like that means more, you know, to me, like, we just I just opened this new musical in Illinois, the Timberlake Playhouse, which is a theatre in the middle of nowhere in the cornfields. And they have this, you know, new musical program that every year they do a new musical that they've commissioned. And honestly, it was like one of my favorite experiences I've ever had working on a new musical. Because one, it's just like the small miracle that this regional theatre can exist in the middle of nowhere, and that there are enough patrons to go out and support it. And, you know, to us, it's like, okay, you can open a musical in New York, and suddenly all these eyes are immediately on it, and everybody has the knives out for it.

But out there, it's like that is the one theatre out there people drive an hour, sometimes more to go see a show at that theatre. And that is like, you know, that is why you do it, right? To not feel jaded. And I've had so many great experiences, like, just as an audience member this summer, sort of being out of the city, seeing theatre, like, I'm why am I sobbing at a production of Hands on a Hardbody in the middle of the Illinois cornfields right now? I don't know. But it's like, because it's, that's just the sort of transformative beauty of this art form is that like, you can, you know, the power of telling a good story is going to work anywhere. But, yeah.

[17:38] Robert Bannon: And you're the only show in town, they're dying for R&B.

[17:41] Billy Recce: Well, exactly. Also that, exactly. You know, there's no competition.

[17:44] Robert Bannon: No, but in a good way. You're filling the need that is needed to be had for the people that love R&B.

[17:50] Billy Recce: Exactly, exactly. And it was so fabulous, too. There was only one restaurant in town, martinis were $6. Can you believe that?

[17:57] Robert Bannon: Oh, that is as far from New York City as you can possibly make it.

[18:01] Billy Recce: It came out in a plastic cup. It was wonderful. Oh, take me back.

[18:05] Robert Bannon: Somebody take me there on vacation. That is a good night out.

[18:11] Billy Recce: I want people to go to your website. I want people to go to your Instagram page. I want people to go see anything that you've done. Go follow Billy, go and then download the singles and give some money to people who need it. Maybe they're going to find a cure and they're going to help people provide life-saving medication and provide people some dignity and keep their, keep us all to, we got to pay it forward because one day we'll be the person that's older and we got a good karma for sure. It's good karma for sure.

[18:37] Billy Recce: And I'm pretty sure there is a link as well on the big man website where if you want to donate more, you can donate more. So I think if folks go to big man, the musical, I'm not, yeah, I'm not sure what the exact website is, but, but if you look it up, big man, the musical dot com, yeah, there should be a, a way to, to download the singles there and also donate more. So

[18:58] Robert Bannon: there you go. Everyone's got a couple of bucks that you could help out people who need it. Buddy, you're a class act. You're so much fun. You're so talented. You're the best.

[19:06] Billy Recce: One day I'm paying you. I'm going to make you write me a song. I need it.

[19:09] Robert Bannon: Please. I want to, I want to. We sing. I think that he knew me in our house all the time. I hope you know. I hope you know, because we saw it in your show years ago and it's so catchy.

[19:20] Billy Recce: So I'm ready. You just throw me in, put me in coach.

[19:23] Robert Bannon: I'm in, let's go. I need a big gay old number.

[19:27] Billy Recce: Please. Come on. I'm ready. I'm your guy. Big gay old. Let's do it.

[19:32] Robert Bannon: That's my new show. Big gay and old.

[19:34] Billy Recce: Big gay and old, honey. Oh my God.

[19:38] Robert Bannon: Oh, I love it. All right. I'm going to reach. I'm calling. I'm texting you, Billy. I mean it.

[19:42] Billy Recce: I mean it. Literally. You got my number. Call me.

[19:44] Robert Bannon: I have your number. When's your next show? What can I come see?

[19:48] Billy Recce: Okay. So look, I, I got married last year. I did a show in June.

[19:53] Robert Bannon: Congratulations. Gay.

[19:55] Billy Recce: Thank you. We bought a house in Detroit. We fostered a baby for six months. We tried to be a domesticated gay man, but then the shows came in my, you know, they just, they're in my ear. You get it.

[20:09] Robert Bannon: As if we never said goodbye. Oh my God.

[20:14] Billy Recce: Why am I, I don't know why I'm frightened.

[20:18] Robert Bannon: So I'm thinking a moment, but I'm going to be, I'm at 54 Below. As you know, every June for the Pride show.

[20:25] Billy Recce: And I'm doing my first show here in Detroit this fall as well, which I've never done a show in Detroit for the people in Detroit. So I'm going to do my show at the Aretha Jazz Club in Detroit, and then I'll be back at 54 Below. And I'm going to make Billy be at 54 Below. Maybe Billy's going to even play it. And we're going to sing a song.

[20:36] Billy Recce: I'll be there. I 100% literally reach out. I'm there. Let's make it happen.

[20:42] Robert Bannon: People who like Billy have now, that have liked me, have become obsessed with Billy because that's kind of what he is.

[20:48] Billy Recce: This is true. This is true. This is fair.

[20:51] Robert Bannon: God bless. God bless.

[20:53] Billy Recce: For offline. Yes. Thank you, Billy. I appreciate you.

[20:57] Robert Bannon: You're the best. I appreciate you, my friend.

[20:58] Billy Recce: All right. Thank you for having me.

[20:59] Robert Bannon: Thank you for being here. All right. Bye-bye.