'Hollywood' :: Feeding the Obsession

La Jolla Playhouse enthusiasts best know two-time TonyAward-winning playwright Joe DiPietro for the book and lyrics to "Memphis" and "Chasing The Song." On the East Coast, he is equally well loved for "Memphis" and for crafting the book and lyrics of the Off-Broadway smash hit "I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change." He also wrote the book for "All Shook Up," "Over the River and Through the Woods," "The Toxic Avenger" and "Nice Work If You Can Get It" (musical revival). Lesser known DiPietro works include "F**king Men" and "The Thing About Men."

DiPietro is taken with a true life crime story, a star-studded cold case from 1922. "The show takes place in the silent movie era when William Desmond Taylor, a very famous director, is found murdered in his home... It's an epic story. Between the media storm that ensued and the larger than life characters, I have loved reading and thinking about how to put this on a stage. I started off writing it as a musical, developed a few song ideas, but mysteries are hard to make into musicals. There is music in it, but this is a non-musical with suspects and clues... It's a noir thriller."

Underneath all the glamour and concealment is a real, unsolved crime and much speculation continues today: Was Taylor murdered by a jealous rival? Was he killed by some figure from his past? Were two of Hollywood's most beloved celebrities, Mabel Normand and Miles Minter, who the press called his "rival lovers," somehow involved? These questions unanswered, largely thanks to representatives from Paramount Pictures (which employed both Taylor and Minter).

With such a meaty story, DiPietro had to choose early on what excited him most. "Mabel Normand was the Jennifer Lawrence of her day and one of the last people to see Taylor alive. She was a huge, comedic actress, was smart and people loved her, but she had a serious drug problem. Minter was a major child star starting in 1919 and her mother, Charlotte Shelby, was the original 'stage mother.' Then there is the very last person who discovered the body, Henry Peavey, an African American man who was very out of the closet for that time. He is a fascinating character, and Taylor knew he was gay," says DiPietro.

"We have 15 incredible actors playing all these roles who are chewing into these characters with great gusto, heart and humanity. Putting these women at the center of this story gives the show conviction, heart and beauty."

Once "Hollywood" is mounted and gets its legs, fans like this writer are hopeful DiPietro will look into completing the trilogy that started with "Memphis," show in which DiPietro addressed music of the 1950s and the civil rights movement. In "Chasing the Song," he looked at women's rights
and music in the early 1960s. The third show, in logical progression, would focus on music of the 1970s and the gay civil rights movement.

DiPietro says he isn't working on that play... yet. "Our rights and politics are evolving so fast right now; there are so many breakthroughs and setbacks. I want the LGBT civil rights issues to settle down a bit, because we want the themes in the play to be relevant. We don't want to write a play regarding LGBT civil rights and then when it comes out, the theory is two years behind.

"I always felt theatre led the way with gay rights, during the early days of the crisis, plays like 'Angels in America' led the way in outrage and compassion and for who we want to be as a people. There is certainly power in television and film; 'Ellen' and 'Will and Grace,' for example, were tremendous in terms of reaching middle America. Their shows were powerful, but they followed years and years of theatre."

Joe DiPietro's Hollywood runs Tuesday, May 10 through Sunday, June 12 at the La Jolla Playhouse. For tickets and more information, call 858.550.1010 or go to lajollaplayhouse.org