BWW Q&A: Ralph Meranto Talks HITMAKERS: REWIND at CenterStage Theatre at the JCC

CenterStage Theatre has been delivering spectacular performances that touch and inspire audiences for more than 40 seasons, including original plays and Broadway hits. We continue to open minds, start conversations, and delight theatre lovers, thanks to the support of patrons, volunteers, and sponsors. 

The mission of CenterStage Theatre at the JCC is to entertain, enlighten and educate the Greater Rochester community by providing quality theatre that is relevant to the Jewish experience and has universal appeal.

Our focus is developing new works, presenting world and area premieres of America’s hottest new plays and musicals and re-imagining beloved classics. We love plays and musicals that spark conversations, celebrate world-changing people and events and bring the world closer together.

Ralph Meranto is Artistic Director of JCC CenterStage and Chief Creative Officer of the JCC. His passion for new work has led to the developed of multiple plays including recent productions of Tracy Jones by Stephen Kaplan, Division Street and On the Market (both by Jason Odell Williams), RuPaul’s Drag Race star Mrs. Kasha Davis’ There’s Always Time for a Cocktail (Off-Broadway Premiere Beechman Theater), Bruce Sabbath’s Searching for Tevye and the annual popular music series: Hitmakers. Perhaps his favorite project was directing and collaborating with Jason on the world premiere of Church & State and co-producing its Off-Broadway run (OBA Best New Play Nominee). 

How did the concept of Hitmakers: Rewind come about?

A friend gave me a CD of the 1960s music from the Brill Building in New York City. I was surprised that I knew almost every song on the recording but I was unfamiliar with the Brill Building itself. Brill was more than a place – it was a business model. Producers would hire songwriters that would pitch their songs, and the producers would assign songs to various singers. They churned out so many "Top 10" hits that it earned the nickname "The Hit Factory."  So, we picked 30 songs and I wrote a script that about a group of singers coming together to honor that music. And while they were working on it, they would talk about the history.  It turned out to be our most successful show in CenterStage history. We knew we were onto something, so we followed it up the next year with am with an exploration of what those songwriters like Carole King, Neil Sedaka, and Neil Diamond did after they were no longer part of the Brill model. Once again, we had a huge hit! After that, I changed the name from The Hit Factory to Hitmakersso that we could explore other genres of music in the 60s and 70s. It's hard to believe that what started as a “one-off” musical revue has turned into Rochester's longest running popular music series.

What elements do you believe have contributed to it being a recurring popular show?

Of course, the central part of the show is the music! People know these songs and love to hear them performed by a live band and some incredible singers. We spend months (literally starting the day after the show closes) on identifying songs for the next year. But I don't think the series would have lasted if audiences did not love to to hear the history and context of the singers and the songs. We found magic and, believe it or not, we actually increase audiences almost every year.

How do you choose which artists and songs will be featured in the series?

It starts with the theme! Usually, I get inspired for future themes while working on the current show. There will be one song or artist that gets me thinking “what if we do a deeper dive into this area or that genre?”  I send that idea to our current writer Danny Kincaid-Kunz to build an initial set list. We’ll start with around 100 songs that might fit. Then we gather the team including music director Casey Filiaci and co-director Esther Winter and we narrow it down to the 30-ish that we can cram into the show! Sometimes it’s a bit of a “Sophie’s Choice.” How do you pick only one or two songs when you look at the canon of Stevie Wonder, John Denver, Elton John, Billy Joel, or The Beatles?  But the more we listen to them, the more it became easy to narrow down. Some great songs on the radio just do not work on stage. Some artists, like David Bowie for example, have never made it into the series because their voice and their essence is just too unique to “cover.”  We usually end up agreeing on most choices. Every once in a while there will be a song that everyone wants to cut, but I insist MUST be included. That was the case with Starland Vocal Band’s "Afternoon Delight.” I was the only one that wanted to include it, but once Casey wrote the arrangement and Esther came up with some cool choreography, it turned out to be one of the most popular songs in the show!    For Rewind, we sent a survey to the audiences that included all 300+ songs from the last 10 years and they voted on their favorites. We used that survey to create this year’s set list. It still took a lot of crafting because audiences picked a lot of ballads and way too many Carole King songs, so we still had to whittle it down to the right balance to make a good show.

In your opinion, what are the key ingredients to making a successful music revue?

It's a blend of the familiar and the unexpected. Some songs need to sound close to the original recording, but most can benefit from extra harmonies or a fuller sound from the large cast. Casey writes the vocal and the band arrangements for every song. More often than not, we end up sounding BETTER than the originals. Of course, the amazing cast bring them to life in a way that makes audiences remember what it was like to go to their first concert. The staging helps also. Some songs are what we call “Park and Bark.” You hand off a song like “(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay” or “Stand by Me” to a remarkable song interpreter like Darren Frazier and you just let him do his thing. Others need full choreography. We learned a lot the first few shows, and now I think our instincts drive the process without even having to analyze it.

How does your role as Artistic Director at JCC CenterStage influence the creation and execution of Hitmakers: Rewind?

I love this series, and seeing how much audiences love this show that I conceived and created makes me take the responsibility of making each show even better than the last very seriously. Also, so many people bring friends to Hitmakers, it’s a great "new audience" feeder. Once they see the quality of the work we do, it inspires them to come back for future shows.

How does Hitmakers: Rewind reflect or enhance the Jewish experience, which is a focus of the CenterStage Theatre?

While presenting Jewish work is central to our mission, it's not the only work we produce. Hitmakers helps show the diversity we bring to the JCC stage and helps us build a diverse audiences.  It just may be one of the biggest factors that has helped us increase audiences and subscriptions in the last 10 years.

What do you hope the audience takes away from Hitmakers: Rewind?