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Michael Butler
MICHAEL BUTLER
BY:
Li lou
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Michael
Butler is considered one of the most successful stage / theatrical musical producers of all time, from the Shakespeare Free
Theatre to Broadway to the motion picture "Hair".
His theatre credits include “Lenny”, “West Side Story”,
“The Golden Apple”, “Cantonsville 9” , "Hair" and “Reggae on
Broadway”. He has also worked in film, producing “You Are What You Eat”
(1968) and “Hair” (1979).
Despite
impressive experiments in theatre his achievements are not limited to
entertainment. His interest in community and world affairs led him to pursue
political positions on both local and national arenas.
He served as Special Advisor to Senator John
F. Kennedy on the Middle East, Chancellor of the Lincoln Academy, Commissioner
of the Port of Chicago, President of the Organization of Economic Development in
Illinois, Personal Assistant to Governor Otto Kerner, President of the Illinois
Sports Council. He also ran for State Senate in DuPage County as the democratic
candidate.
LL: Thank you so much for taking the
time to talk to us today. Where does your family come from?
MB:
Originally from Ireland. In 1654. They came to this country when Cromwell went
into Ireland, and we’ve been here ever since. Chicago, Illinois was the major
area for us, but we’ve been in the eastern part of the country and Illinois.
LL:
Your interest in politics gave you quite a few memorable moments. What did your
experience in politics bring you?
MB:
I think a great concern for what’s happening in the world and for the
condition of people in general. Things, I find, are increasingly difficult.
Probably,
right now, the most difficult time during my life time that we’ve ever faced.
It’s a period of great crises throughout the world, particularly in America.
LL: Why
did you decide to give up your political career for entertainment?
MB: I
went through a great change from
being a member of the military industrial establishment to becoming what they
call a “dove”. And went through a lot of changes, which, when I had a chance
to get involved in “Hair”, I figured I could do more good with “Hair”
than I could in the US Senate.
I think “Hair” allowed me to have a
greater platform. And it has. I mean, I worked on “Hair”, had thirty
productions of “Hair”. The last major one that I did was a couple years ago.
So, it’s been thirty-five-odd years. I don’t think I would’ve been in the
Senate that long. I don’t think I would’ve had that much effect if I had
been in the Senate than with “Hair”.
LL:
What are the qualities a producer should cultivate?
MB:
Tolerance. A great deal of patience dealing with egos and different
people. A producer has three responsibilities. There’s the artistic
responsibility. There’s the business responsibility. And there’s the sales
responsibility.
LL: Could you speak more about business responsibilities?
MB:
Well, business is the financial and having a property be successful
financially. If it’s not financially successful, it’s not going to continue.
And it can’t be successful financially unless it’s sold. So, the selling is
equally important. And, of course, if the show is not very good, it’s not
going to sell.
What you do is you try to work with all three of
those elements at the same time. And frequently they are in opposition. The
director wants to do Shakespeare. The sales people want more tits and ass. And
the business people say, “Oh my God. We can’t afford that set”. So, they
are constantly...we all have the same objective, but they’re constantly have
in conflicts. That’s the producer’s job, is to keep them happy.
LL: What kind of preparation would recommend to an aspiring producer?
MB: I
think the best way to produce is to wind up being...spending time with somebody
else who’s producing. I was very fortunate to have as a mentor a man called
Roger Stevens, who was the producer of “West Side Story”...and of “The
Golden Apple”, all of which I was involved with helping him on. He later on
became head of The Kennedy Center. So, I learned a lot from him. But mostly it’s
dealing with human beings. It’s being able...you’re a leader, you’re a
team captain, so to speak. You may not be the strongest member of the team, but
it’s your job to keep the team functioning as a team.
I
had a great mentor in France. A man called Georges
Lereau, who was a financier of films. Fabulous, fabulous man. Like having
a father. (I) spent a lot of time with him.
LL: Where do your best ideas come from?
MB: Well,
having produced “Hair”, I’m offered – constantly – projects. Another
one arrived today. Over the years I’ve had hundreds of things offered to me,
and I’ve now reduced them to about ten projects that I’m interested in. They
come from all sorts of sources. Friends, people in the business or I may...for
example, I very much want to do a Spanish musical. I want to do it in Spanish.
And the reason is, I listened to Mexican station here. More than any other
station. I love that music. I think it could be very good. So, I have sought
out...I think I’ve zeroed in on somebody who has a project like that. Another
favourite project of mine is ”Pope Joan”, which is a story about a female
pope in the Medieval Period. It’s a musical. It’s very much about women’s
rights...it’s a love affair. A love affair she has with the King of France and
with God.
LL: Do
you want to talk about that story?
MB: A lot of people
say that she didn’t exist. But there have been too many books written about
her. It’s the Medieval Period. An English girl. She wound up passing as a man,
and wound up with the King of France, who was interested in men and women, and
who went after this beautiful priest and discovered he was a girl. And, well,
they has a wild love affair. But, then, because she was able to perform
miracles, she was made cardinal and, then Pope. And, then a conflict arose,
because she had more responsibilities to God than she did to Louis. To the King.
LL: How do you
choose your projects?
MB: Personal, whether I like them or not, subjects that I think any
producer...I’m not a so-called “commercial producer”. I’m not into
things...well,
because we’ve got a market study and
we want to have this or that. I’m into projects that I think are important,
that have something to say. For instance, another projects I have is “Dracula”,
which is a very erotic opera. And that’s really about sexual liberation. And
that’s something I’m personally very interested in.
LL: Why HAIR?
MB: Mainly because it was politically very important. “Hair” is
really about freedom. It (was) the strongest anti-war statement during the
period of the Vietnam War. It was a dialogue between generations. It was
something that at a time a lot of us felt there could be a real civil war in
America. And, if you know American history, you know the Civil War was the worst
conflict that ever existed in this country.
LL: What funds are you ready to invest
in a production?
MB: Well,
that varies a lot. Of course, most the funds that come into production, in my
case, come from other people. They finance it, but I have to finance the
preliminary amounts. They vary. Anywhere from three million dollars (U.S.) to,
well, if you go on Broadway with a musical, you’re going to have to have at
least nine million. I’m really not fond of going on Broadway, because I don’t
think Broadway is what I would call, “Classical Theater” anymore. Broadway
is more, well, it’s more commercial. I don’t believe in doing things just
from a commercial point of view. I’m not a commercial producer. My shows have
been highly profitable, but I don’t think you go into...I’m not in the
business because of finances, because of money. I believe, I mean, if you have a
good story, something people are interested in, you make all the money you need.
LL: What about casting? How involved are you in the process?
MB: Very
much involved. Particularly if they’re attractive. (He laughs.)
LL: What about an actor
tells you that he’s right for a role?
MB: Well,
you know, casting’s probably the toughest job. It’s very difficult. In the
first place, you’ve got...dealing with all these lovely people, who
desperately want to do something. And you’ve got to decide whether that person
is right for that particular slot. They may be Nicole Kidman, you know, but not
right for that particular slot. And also, fortunately, it’s not just the
producer. It’s the director, the producer and, usually, the writer. So you’ve
got three people that can make a joint judgement. The last time we had a casting
session for a production of “Hair”, we only disagreed on one person in the
entire...but we were all in agreement. I mean, we didn’t pick everybody we
saw, but (from) the ones the we agreed upon, there was only disagreement on one
person.
LL: What is your most difficult job as
a producer?
MB: Well,
I would think casting, number one. And after that it’s keeping the ego
situation under control. And in a show like “hair” it’s keeping the show
true to the original concept. Because “hair” is a very free-flowing thing,
and so you’ve got to do much, the stage manager’s primary job. You’ve got
to keep the show under control, or people start taking away. They find a book
that they like and they expand it. And instead of it taking thirty seconds, it
takes thirty minutes.
LL:
What’s the hardest part of planning a show?
MB: The hardest part?
LL: Maybe the premiere?
MB: No, I would guess financing is one of
the hardest parts. Another very difficult part is making sure that the director
and the writer are in synch. Are together. The concept.
LL: You spoke about financing.
MB: Raising
the money for the show. Finding people that want to invest in the theater. More
and more now a days it’s big corporations. It used to be private individuals.
Big corporations being frequently you’re dealing with projects by committee
instead of individual eyesight. The personal aspect has gone out of it. The “Disney
Approach” has become more dominant in the theater.
LL: How involved are you in marketing
and distribution?
MB: Very
much so. I believe very much (in) P.R., which influences word of mouth is the
most important aspect about selling a show. But people have to have a really
good show to deal with. People aren’t fools. They’re going to accept
something if it really has quality.
LL:
What staff do keep?
MB: A
very small staff. I work with – usually – two or three people on a constant
basis. But then it goes up. Every time we do a show we wind up with a hundred or
a hundred and fifty people being involved. Onstage, backstage, offstage.
LL:
Would you like to talk about your current productions, “Cyberbill” and “Orlok”?
MB: “Orlok”
is just a...name of a production company I use. But it has nothing...it all
depends on the show. “Cyberbill” was a very interesting experiment we tried,
and I think it probably will work. But it hasn’t worked so far. We’ve only
tried it once. We tried it when we did a workshop with “Pope Joan”. And that
was to do the program on the internet. So. intead of “Playbill”, we called
it “Cyberbill”.
LL: What’s
next?
MB:
“Pope Joan” will be next. I also have a couple of motion picture projects. I
working very much on a book called “Island” by Aldus Huxley. And then there’s
a movie - that will be a film. Another, “Dracula”. That will come after “Pope
Joan”. And then we have another project called, “Easy to be Hard,” which
is based on two young people, girl and a boy, who meet at auditions for a
touring company of “Hair”. And they’re picked for the show. They go on the
tour and they fall in love. This is their love story and all the stories that
“Hair went through when it was being toured. There were a lot of things. There
were bomb threats, and there were riots. And arson, where some people were
killed. We went to the U.S. Supreme Court one time to defend our rights. “Hair”
had a lot of battles. So, this movie has some of those stories incorporated with
their love story.
LL: Do you want to direct?
MB: No.
No, I don’t think so. I love being a producer. I think it’s a wonderful job.
And I don’t really know that I have the ability to direct. I think I would
rather produce.
LL: Any advice you would like to share?
MB: I
think that people should, if they’re able, and we should make every attempt in
the world to do it, is to do things they love. Because if your work is something
that you love it means...it’s no sweat. It’s just all pleasure.
LL: Thank you. Thank you very much.
MB: Thank you.
HollywoodFunding.com's video on that interview
should be available as well..
An older story from Chicago Tribune
Michael Butler
Clarence Petersen, Chicago Tribune, Thursday, May 22, 1969
Michael Butler was introduced to the assembled press agents who constitute
the Publicity Club of Chicago as the world's hippiest millionaire. And
there he sat, waiting to begin his speech, in his long hair and bushy
mustache and love beads and his kind of hippie-looking, cocoa-colored
suit. But the suit, you see, was not bought at one of those second-hand
thrift stores or anything like that - it was pure suede.
Michael Butler is a name you might remember no matter which sections of
the newspapers you read most. He has been on the main news pages as an
adviser to President Kennedy on Indian and middle eastern affairs, as a
special projects man for Gov. Otto Kerner, as an unsuccessful Democratic
candidate for state senator from Du Page county [where he was something of
a phenomenon even as a loser because no Democratic has won a state office
in that county since the Civil war and Butler at least had his Republican
opponent worried].
Butler has been on the society pages and in the gossip columns as a
member of the jet set, seen with the best people in Chicago, New York,
Palm Beach, Acapulco, and almost everywhere else the action is. His three
marriages made almost as much news as his three divorces.
The full
story can be read in full @ http://michaelbutler.com/orlok/michael/message.html.
More on Michael Butler @ http://michaelbutler.com
Video Interview with Michael
Butler by HollywoodFunding.com
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