Thomas Mizer and Curtis Moore (‘The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel’ songwriters) ‘make it full showbiz’ for tune ‘Personal Trash Man Can’ [Exclusive Video interview]
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“Anytime there’s a framework, it gives us a sandbox to work in. The more specific a challenge is, the better and more focused we can make it,” explains Curtis Moore. He and his songwriting partner Thomas Moore provided the original tunes for the fifth and final season of the Amazon series “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.” While the duo created the original music that audiences hear playing in Midge’s strip club or in the theme to The Gordon Ford Show, their biggest task was writing the original songs in Episode 4, “Susan.” There, a series of industrial musicals culminate in a show stopping, garbage-themed extravaganza. Watch the exclusive video interview above.
“It was sort of returning to our roots of music theater in a fun way,” notes Mizer of their work. He continues that writer/director Amy Sherman-Palladino gave them “the keys to the car” as the musicals featured in the business expo serve as a centerpiece for all the action of the episode. The hour opens with a tune about landscaping, followed by a housewife falling in love with her mid-century modern kitchen and concludes with a giant musical about trash.
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“We actually had to play three different songwriters,” explains Moore, since Sherman-Palladino wanted each musical to sound like it was created by different composers. “That’s such a fun challenge for us,” he says. While the duo knew that they would be writing in the style of industrial musicals, they had no idea what topics would be required until a few weeks prior to filming. “It was very fast and furious,” reveals Moore.
The biggest production number is “Personal Trash Man Can,” the main song during the show for a Private Waste Management company. Sherman-Palladino had a vision of dancers strapping trash cans to their feet to use as tap shoes, with Mizer and Moore jumping off from that visual. “We just start writing right away,” explains Moore, who says that they prefer to whip up several songs to fit the given prompt. “We find that it’s easier to talk about a range of ideas, than if you just come in the room with one idea.” Then everyone involved has options, can combine ideas, and follow different creative paths as needed.
Some concept art in an early meeting about the song helped the writers dive into the mindset of their fictional “trash-y” composer. Those images included the aforementioned improvised tap shoes, a garbage heap of apocalyptic proportions, and a kick line of waste enthusiasts for the finale. “Ok, this person is showing off,” exclaimed Mizer upon seeing the vision, “Once you get that image it makes it so much more fun.” So they quickly were able to conjure up a song full of bawdy jokes and razzle dazzle that Kander and Ebb would be proud of. “You have to make it full showbiz,” admits Mizer.
Mizer and Moore are two-time Emmy nominees for their original music and lyrics to the songs “One Less Angel” and “Maybe Monica” from “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel.”
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