Interview: Brooke Di Spirito of THE OPENING at The Players Theatre

"What's a butt plug?"

Last Friday night, we sat down with Brooke Di Spirito, bookwriter and co-lyricist for "THE OPENING", which opened on January 11th at The Players Theatre, for a quick Q & A. As a Musical Theatre Historian, I love doing deep dives into how certain musicals came into being, but nowhere on my bingo card did I have "do a deep dive into the conception of a musical about a butt plug-wearing chess player". As fellow BroadwayWorld writer Chloe Rabinowitz wrote in her press release, the show takes inspiration from an alleged scandal in 2022 where something like this potentially took place. We have included a video/audio component to this interview with additional questions.

Video: Interview with Brook Di Spirito of THE OPENING at The Players Theatre.

Tell us a little bit about yourself and your position inside this show.

I am the co-writer with my collaborator Mateo Chavez Lewis. I was also the lead producer/general manager and the choreographer of this production. Aside from The Opening, I run a performance company called The Sparrows. After writing and producing eight sold-out original shows for that group, I am very grateful to be sharing this opportunity with many of the musicians, actors, dancers, singers, and yo-yoers in The Sparrows, who have been by my side for years. I am currently a second-year lyricist in the BMI Lehman Engel workshop. Technically the New York Times called it "the Harvard of songwriting", but my classmates will definitely make fun of me if I call it that in this interview. Aside from writing and running my production company, I am also a ballet and swing dancer. 

Do you remember the moment the idea for the show first appeared—or did it sneak up on you over time?

Easy answer here. My collaborator Mateo and I had to present three potential ideas for a 30-minute musical in the writing program we were both in at the time (MCI - the Musical Creators' Institute. We are both currently in BMI but we met a few years before that). We were already pretty set on a different show idea; it was about someone who "falls" off (read: throws themselves off) of a fire escape in order to collect insurance money and fund their own musical. [Laughs] Anyway, the rules of the class were that you had to present three ideas no matter what. We had the one we wanted to do, another idea, and then we were totally stumped for the third one. Finally, at literally two in the morning, we decided we'd just do a fake pitch about the buttplug chess cheating scandal. We figured the whole class would get a big laugh. They did. They also said: wait...that's the one you're not going to write? The faculty members were adamant that that was the funniest of the ideas we'd brought in. Cue silence as we look at each other. Surely we couldn't...I mean...well...I guess...I guess we could. I guess we're writing a buttplug musical. 

I remember this moment very well because I was secretly horrified that I might have to really write A MUSICAL ABOUT A BUTTPLUG. They're gonna call me the buttplug girl. Oh god. Couple years later, here we are! 

What was the very first thing that felt “right” about the show—a song, a character, a moment, or a theme?

When we figured out how to handle the buttplug “insertion scene” (sorry, that’s just what we call it). We weren’t sure how to handle such a delicate but hilarious moment. We decided to make it a musical joke – so what the band is playing corresponds to what we might imagine Newton [main character] is experiencing as he tries to…well, you know…for the first time. He’s off-stage, and music is what’s telling you what’s happening. So it’s dissonant and uncomfortable, and once it finally “goes in”, we hear this major chord, and it just absolutely kills everyone. During this production, we also added in a slide whistle, and man, nothing can take down an audience like a slide whistle.

What part of the writing process surprised you the most once the show started becoming real?

The stakes - making edits raise the stakes when they are going to be acted by an actor immediately. We have these amazing actors, I am so grateful for all of them – but they are so good that if I were to change a book line or lyric in rehearsal, they’d be able to incorporate that change immediately off-book! Usually, when you’re writing, you have a long time alone with it, so you get to read it in the comfort of your own home or with other writing buddies. So it was really different to make an edit and then have it happen right in front of my eyes. Definitely taught me to try and make really precise rewrites. Shoutout to our absolutely incredible actors there.

Was there a turning point where the show changed significantly? What triggered it?

The first day we incorporated the actual chess moves into the piece, that was awesome. If you haven’t seen the show, there are these pretty speedy musical sequences where the actors are singing the moves as they are making them, and they are making real actual chess moves, a lot of them inspired by historical chess matches. They are also following all the legal rules of a chess match (only using one hand, hitting the clock after each move, etc). That was absolutely insane to see that happen in real life, and that’s when it suddenly started feeling real. Shoutout to actors Ryan Jacobs and Harrison O’Callaghan, who have the hardest chess sequence in the show and absolutely kill it! 

How did collaboration shape the final version of the musical—whether with performers, directors, or other creatives?

Musicals are so collaborative; the best things come out of collaboration. Incredibly grateful for the many people who helped shape the show – some folks I’ve worked with for years, and others whom I met only just working on this project. For example, I learned about this self-producing residency from the BMI workshop, and all of BMI is pretty much based on collaboration. We’ve actually got 7 folks currently in the program in our show. They’re all composers/lyricists themselves, but working on this show in acting or producing capacities. It’s amazing to have so many multi-faceted and talented people here, not only the actors, director,and  my co-writer, but also our awesome tech team and producers. Definitely a big collaborative effort. 

What do you hope audiences walk away feeling or thinking after seeing the show?

Knowledge of buttplugs. No, just kidding. Not sure if we should print that. You probably won't learn that much about buttplugs, but you definitely will learn about chess. 

In what ways do you hope this musical contributes to—or challenges—the current theatre landscape? What conversation do you hope this musical adds to the theatre world right now?

I want people to take away that you too, can write a musical about a buttplug. Haha. Just kidding. There are already two musicals about chess, not sure if we need two about a buttplug. What I’d more point to is not about the content of the show, but about the conception. So, I was the recipient of the Players Theatre Self-Producing Residency award. That means everything in this show, all of the funding, every single element that you can think of, all of that was self-produced by me and my team of amazing co-producers. So it’s been a pretty wild ride getting to a 25-show run, but hey, it’s possible! You don't need anyone but yourself to tell you yes. 

How does this show reflect where you are in your life or career as a writer?

Man, I’m just in awe that this is happening. This is the 14th show I have written and produced, including the eight for my production company, The Sparrows, but this is my first Off-Broadway! Obviously, there have been hundreds and hundreds of rejections since I started writing and producing shows, so I’m just so grateful that this time it feels like that work has amounted to something.