Interview: Playwright/Director Stan Zimmerman Has Many A GOOD ONE

Co-playwrights Stan Zimmerman and Christian McLaughlin's HAVE A GOOD ONE world premieres at the Dorie Theatre at The Complex October 2, 2021. Stan also directs a cast that includes Megan Cournoyer, Adrian Gamez, Tom Plumley and Tanner Stine. Had the chance to get some behind-the-scenes and early history of Stan's most prolific career.

Thank you for taking the time for this interview, Stan!

So how did the gem of an idea for HAVE A GOOD ONE first come to you and Christian?

Christian and I were talking while working another theatre project, as we often do. I had been looking through some old pictures and thought to myself that I wasn't bad looking when I was younger. Maybe even cute. But at the time, I felt hideous and completely un-loveable. That got us thinking about why we can't appreciate our looks in present day, but only when we look back. And who gets to choose what is considered "beautiful" in the first place?

What would your three-line pitch for HAVE A GOOD ONE be?

HAVE A GOOD ONE is a coming-of-age comedy about four young people who work at an Abercrombie & Fitch-type store at Midwest mall in 1999. The quartet become a "work family" as they deal with body image, identity and why we can't appreciate how we look in the present.

How long did it take from the idea of HAVE A GOOD ONE to its rehearsal draft?

We started conceptualizing the piece in early 2019. We discussed it heavily, then outlined, then began writing a rough draft.

When does your script become set in stone? After dress rehearsals? Post-opening night curtain?

Each script is different, but with HAVE A GOOD ONE, we were pretty much "locked" by tech rehearsal. Of course, some lines or words will change up until closing. Hearing how an audience re-acts, especially with a comedy, affects rewrites during the run. Sometimes if a joking isn't landing, we'll replace it to see if we can get the response we wanted.

I actually reviewed a previous production of yours and Christian's KNIFE IN THE HEART in May 2018. "KNIFE TO THE HEART Hits A Bullseye!" How long have you and Christian been collaborating on your very clever scripts?

I met Christian a billion years ago when he came to a taping of one of my first TV pilots. Then he was brought on as a "Punch Up" writer for Situation: Comedy, a Bravo reality competition show produced by Sean Hayes (Will & Grace). I was the host/showrunner on the series. We hit it off and I asked him to co-write an idea I had for a new musical using TV theme songs. We wrote IT'S ON!, which workshopped at the Garry Marshal Theatre and was a part of NYMF at the Signature Theatre in NYC with Sheryl Lee Ralph (DREAMGIRLS). We've written three musicals and four plays. Not to mention numerous TV pilots and screenplays.

How do you two write? Separately, then together? Always together ping ponging ideas and lines back and forth?

I like writing with the other person in the room with me. The brainstorming and exchange of creative ideas is very exciting. But then we each read our current draft overnight, do notes and present them to each other the next day in our writing session.

Does director Stan Zimmerman ever disagree with writer Stan Zimmerman (and Christian McLaughlin)?

I rarely disagree with writer Stan Zimmerman. He's extremely brilliant. Kidding aside, I enjoy wearing many hats with a production - producer, director, writer, set, lighting and costume designer, not to mention being in charge of music and writing my own press releases. Luckily, I've been working pretty consistently with the same team - producer Stefani Von Huben and stage manager Miranda Richard. And creating theatre at the same theatre (Dorie Theatre/Complex Hollywood), with the same wonderful team (Monica Martin, Marjorie Knight and Ross Gosla).

You started preparing to be in the biz at the ripe young age of ten when you created your very own network grid in your bedroom. How elaborate was this grid created by a ten-year-old?

If my parents ever found out how intricate my TV network in my bedroom was, I'm sure they would've thrown me in the back of my Dad's gold Eldorado and driven me straight to a therapist. I made a scheduling board out of cardboard and planned seven days a week of primetime programming, figuring out what would work best against my competition (CBS, NBC, and ABC). And if a network cancelled a show too soon, in my humble opinion, I would pick up the show and put it on my network. Or if I felt a performer was worthy of it, like Lily Tomlin, I'd give them their own weekly variety show. So basically, I'm doing the same thing in theatre today, as I "played" as a kid.

Where did you get your information from to fill a monthly TV column in your junior high newspaper?

Don't tell anyone, but I would borrow liberally from TV Guide. You have to remember; this was before the internet and the power of Googling.

In your youth, what did you want to be when you grew up? Writer? Director? Producer?

I started off wanting to be an Ernie Flatt dancer on The Carol Burnett Show. But that was not to be. The next dream was to be an actor and I started studying at the ripe old age of 7½. I auditioned and got into NYU/Drama Undergrad program in conjunction with Circle in the Square. At the same time, I studied ballet at Joffrey and began writing TV pilots with Jim Berg in between classes and my after-school job, running the box office of CSC Repertory in the East Village. I never thought I could be a writer because I did not read many books. I just watched TV. A lot. And went to movies. Only one a weekend, which for some reason was what my Dad allowed me to. Director came much later, through a connection I made doing that Bravo reality show. That's why I always advise myself (and my acting students), say - "Yes and..."

What else did you do to keep creatively sane during the lockdown besides teaching your writing classes on Zoom? A new sitcom script? A laugh out loud satirical theatrical piece?

When all of my plays started getting cancelled due to COVID, I went Zoom crazy. Beside the teaching, I did tons of readings of my plays, including HAVE A GOOD ONE and SILVER FOXES (with Michael Urie directing George Takei, Daniel Davis, Jim J. Bullock, Garrett Clayton and Daniele Gaither). This was an excellent way to hear my new works, read by top tier talent, since everyone was stuck in their houses. But then A WENDY WEEKEND, three Wasserstein's classic comedy play readings, with a cast of 30, all done over Zoom, did me in. We raised a nice chunk of change for The Wendy Project/TDF on Playbill.com. But I couldn't look at actors in boxes anymore.

Would you say your goals as a director are similar to your goals as a teacher?

Definitely. Teaching has made me a better director and vice versa. It's all about knowing, in an instant, what would make each actor shine. And knowing how to bring that out in them.

Any rules you always practice and teach in writing for theatre?

Structure and outlining are important for me. And just get to the end and you can always rewrite. Don't get bogged down before putting pen to paper. Or fingers to keys.

Are they different from the rules you always practice and teach in writing for television?

No, I bring the same principles I use for writing TV as I do with theatre. Passion, excitement, positivity, and love for what you're writing. And commitment.

Tell us about the benefit performance at Cass Tech in your hometown Detroit that you going to after this run of HAVE A GOOD ONE?

I literally hop on a plane the day after HAVE A GOOD ONE closes in L.A. I'll be performing my suicide notes play, RIGHT BEFORE I GO alongside Hill Harper in Detroit. We're bringing together the many communities in Detroit to raise money and awareness about suicide training.

What else is in the near future for Stan Zimmerman?

As soon as I can catch my breath, I need to finish my book, The Girls: From Golden to Gilmore. It's about all the wonderful women I've worked with. And Roseanne. It's being published through Indigo River and I'm two-thirds done with it. I'm also planning to bring back my LatinX production of THE DIARY OF ANNE FRANK in L.A. in the spring of 2022. And hopefully one day have a play produced on Broadway or Off-Broadway. I've spent many hours memorizing the Theatre Directory in the Sunday New York Times and trying not to drool on the theatre posters at Triton Gallery. So that will be a dream come true.

Thank you again, Stan! I look forward to laughing hard at your GOOD ONE.

For tickets for the live performances of HAVE A GOOD ONE through October 17, 2021; log onto www.brownpapertickets.com/event/5225289