The song we were discussing earlier today from the Tony Awards was a parody of a tune in the current Broadway musical, Be More Chill. It's called "Michael in the Bathroom," Michael being one of the show's teenage characters who is groping to find his identity and acceptance in the world. This has become a not-uncommon theme lately on Broadway and especially Off-Broadway, where Be More Chill played to sell-out crowds before relocating to The Great White Way and the Lyceum Theater.
Joe Iconis, who wrote the musical, took to Twitter to say…
Just wanna set the record straight so there's no confusion: I had no idea a "Michael in the Bathroom" parody was happening on the Tony Awards. I heard that there was going to be some mention of the song but never imagined it would be so involved. The first time I heard the song was when I was sitting in the audience and I had nothing to do with the rewritten (and totally delightful) lyrics. (Sidenote – would love to know who actually wrote those lyrics. They rhymed! I appreciated that.) Our show is a little musical not based on a famous movie or a famous musical act and so national tv exposure is a huge deal for us. Hopefully folks who saw the parody last night will take it upon themselves to research what musical the song was actually from!
Just in case they don't, do me a favor and help spread the word that the song that was parodied on the Tonys is called "Michael In The Bathroom." It is performed in the show by the actor George Salazar whose gut-wrenching and brilliant performance is a good part of the reason that our cast album was streamed hundreds of million times before we ever got to Broadway. It was orchestrated by the genius Charlie Rosen (l think the track that was used last night was recorded especially for the broadcast but it was clearly based on Charlie's iconic arrangement!) It's from a musical that celebrates people who feel like misfits, losers, underdogs. That musical is called Be More Chill and it's currently playing at the Lyceum Theater on Broadway. Come see us this summer.
Apparently, James Corden received some criticism for not identifying the lineage of the song. He then tweeted…
Our song "James in the Bathroom" is a parody of an incredible Joe Iconis song from the musical @BeMoreChill. It's my favourite song of the season and here is the original.
…and he followed that with a link to the video of the song posted below here. Iconis responded, "James Corden. Classy man. Thanks, sir." Which is fine but neither we nor Mr. Iconis know who wrote those parody lyrics that he praised. Here's the clip with George Salazar as Michael…