How shall I say this?  Well, I guess it’s as simple as saying . . . some of the most successful musicals of the last ten or so years have come out of this guy’s brain.

Avenue Q:  Remember that time it beat Wicked for the Tony Award?

The Book of Mormon:  Remember that time it sold over 102% of its capacity last week, grossing over $1.3 million in a 1,100 seat theater, 5 years after it opened?

Frozen.  Yeah, I’m calling it a musical because that’s what the movie was . . . and we know it’s going to be on stage soon enough, so if you don’t agree with this classification, then just “let it go.”

I got to spend an hour with Bobby in his brand new songwriting studio in Brooklyn (which was the coolest space btw – in addition to the computers and white boards that had notes about dramatic structure – there was this big ol’ cabinet that housed all of the awards that make up that EGOT title), and we talked all things about songs and his success including . . .

• What an early meeting with Stephen Sondheim meant to his career.
• Why he never thought The Book of Mormon would ever happen.
• Why he recommends the BMI Workshop to Writers.
• What he thought the moment he and his wife, Lyricist Kristen Anderson-Lopez, finished writing “Let It Go.”
• If there might be another collaboration with the South Park guys in the future.

There’s no question that Bobby is an insanely creative guy, but he’s also an insanely nice guy.  What does that have to do with his success?  Well, as you’ll hear in this podcast, Bobby’s openness and lack of ego (despite all the awards in that cabinet of his) gives him the flexibility to work with so many different types of terrific collaborators, from the South Park guys to Disney to Scott Rudin to Casey Nicholaw to his wife.  And when you are the best, and can work with the best, well, your chances of creating the best are that much greater.

Listen to it on iTunes here.  (And give me a rating, while you’re there!)

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