Staged by Ruby Preston

 Guest Post with Ruby:

The Real Life Drama of Daphnie du Maurier’s Rebecca

By Ruby Preston

In SHOWBIZ and STAGED I tell the story of Scarlett Savoy, an aspiring Broadway producer trying to bring a new musical to the stage. Based on my own personal experiences as a Broadway producer, I reveal all the backstage drama that goes into making a musical before the audience even sets foot in the theater.

There are many steps involved in getting a musical to Broadway, one of the most important of which is raising the money. It costs millions of dollars to produce a musical on Broadway and usually this money is raised through investors.

Though anything related to fundraising may seem, well, boring, there was a lot of breaking news about a new musical that never quite made it to the Broadway stage, which revealed just how fascinating and intriguing it can actually be!

The show was a musical based on Daphnie du Maurier’s Rebecca, the classic novel that was adapted for the stage by Michael Kunze and Sylvester Levay. Originally written in German, the musical first premiered in Vienna in 2006 and after many years was finally making its way to Broadway.

However, just as in du Maurier’s novel, all was not as it seemed.

The financing for the production fell through after one of the show's major investors was revealed to never have existed! The scandal rocked the Broadway community and became the buzz of conversation over many post-show cocktails, not to mention the butt of every legitimate Broadway producer's joke.

Eventually the authorities became involved and it was discovered by the FBI that a Long Island stockbroker had, in fact, invented this rich investor and others and had pocketed $60,000 in fees for himself. He has since been arrested and though the remaining producers are still trying to bring the show to Broadway, the Broadhurst Theatre, where the musical was supposed to play, has since been claimed by another show, Lucky Guy starring Tom Hanks.

Filled with deceit, scandal and dashed dreams the story of Rebecca the Musical has become such an epic tale that this behind-the-scenes story itself has the makings of great novel. Hmm, I’ll have to remember that as I’m writing the third and final installment to my Broadway Trilogy …

Excerpt from Staged:

Scarlett rallied the Swan Song troops for an emergency meeting at the bar above Sardi’s restaurant. Her favorite theater hot spot always cheered her up. The hundreds of caricatures which lined the walls - portraying decades of showbiz glitterati - always gave her a healthy dose of rejuvenating perspective. She gazed out the window of the second floor bar in time to see the two Jeremys, Swan Song’s composer and lyricist darting past yellow cabs, toward Sardi’s front door below.

 “Hey guys,” Scarlett said. “Thanks for meeting up on such short notice.”

“Anything for you, Madame Producer,” Jersey Jeremy said, with a mock bow as he sat down across from her.

“What can I get for everyone?” Lawrence said, arriving just in time.

His question was greeted with a chorus of “white” and he headed to the bar to secure their late afternoon libations.

The four of them had become a tight knit group in the past several months while working hard to bring the musical Swan Song to Broadway. In fact, their journey together had provided career breakthroughs for all of them. Swan Song’s off-Broadway success had given Scarlett and Lawrence the excuse they needed to open their own producing office. It had also made the Jeremys one of the hottest young musical theater writing teams in town.

“Cheers,” Lawrence said, when they all had a full glass in front of them. “To Team Swan Song. “Next stop Broadway!”

“So... about that...” began Scarlett, as three sets of eyes turned to look at her. “It seems we’ve hit a few snags. I’m having a hard time getting a theater. It seems that even though we have the funding and a great show, it’s not enough.”

“How can that not be enough?” Jersey Jeremy asked.

Lawrence explained, “We need a green light from one of the theater owners.”

“So you can have an awesome show, but if it doesn’t float the boat of some...” Buff Jeremy sounded disgusted as he searched for the right word “... real estate exec at one of those three companies, you’re just S.O.L.?”

Scarlett shrugged. Though the system was frustrating, she knew that so much of Broadway came down to dollars and cents, and this was just more of the same.

Before Scarlett could answer, more bad news walked in the door.

“Fancy meeting you two here,” Reilly said. It took a second for Scarlett to register Reilly’s appearance. Her ex was the absolute last person she wanted to see.

Her brief but intense relationship with the celebrity theater columnist, Reilly Mitchell, had imploded several weeks earlier. There had been an undeniable and thrilling attraction between Scarlett and Reilly from the second they had met. But things had gotten too complicated. In the end, a Broadway producer dating a Broadway gossip columnist turned out to be a recipe for disaster.

“Hi Scarlett,” Reilly said with his signature cocky charm. Though it didn’t quite ring true as their eyes met. She wondered what was going through his head. Was as awkward for him as it was for her, she wondered.

“Reilly, hi,” she said, trying to get her wits about her. “Good to see you. Still keeping the theater world on its toes?”

“You know me,” he said. They both registered the awkward choice of words. “If you’ll excuse me.”

With that, Reilly turned away without another glance and headed back across the room to his usual table.

“You OK, Gorgeous?” Lawrence said, wrapping a protective arm around Scarlett.

“I’m fine. It’s just weird. First time since the break up and all,” Scarlett said, finishing off her glass of wine in one gulp.

Scarlett couldn’t help stealing a quick glance toward Reilly’s table, wondering how she’d feel if she had to see him already wooing another girl. Scarlett’s eyes widened. His drinking companion had just arrived.

She grabbed Lawrence’s arm and whispered in his ear. “Look who that is with Reilly. It’s Bobby Stewart.”

“Ah, yes. Just the very theater owner we were talking about. In the flesh,” Lawrence said, with a glint in his eye. “Who knew he and Reilly were friends?”

In that moment, Scarlett realized there was, in fact, one more thing she could do to try to get her Broadway plans for Swan Song back on track. She hadn’t been willing to even consider it, but it was beginning to look like the only option. This wasn’t going to be pretty.

All Rights Reserved

www.dresscirclepublishing.com

my review of the book:

I loved this book! Broadway musicals are always a hit and Ruby sure has a hit with this one. Scarlett is Riveting fun filled and her wit makes you love her more. Meet Scarlet and her  sensational friends in the theater as they take you on a journey  that makes this story a Sensation! If you love Broadway then this book is one you won't want to miss.

Aspiring Broadway producer Scarlett Savoy has almost everything she needs to make her first musical a huge success- millions in financial backing, a talented (not to mention handsome) young director, and a big-name Hollywood starlet as her female lead. But with none of the theater owners in town willing to back a novice, she’s missing one final piece of the puzzle: a Broadway theater. Just when Scarlett thinks her show might never see the footlights of day, an unexpected meeting with the young, eligible son in the Stewart theatrical empire changes Scarlett’s Broadway prospects forever.
Staged is the much anticipated follow up to Ruby Preston’s juicy Broadway novel, Showbiz.

Author Bio:


Author Ruby Preston is an award-winning Broadway producer who has helped to bring many
musicals to the stage. Her first novel “SHOWBIZ,” described as “The Devil Wears Prada” meets
NBC’s Smash, received widespread praise. Now a promising talent in the literary as well as the theater world, Preston’s newest release is the second book in her Broadway Trilogy. For more information on Ruby Preston and her novels visit www.rubypreston.com or www.dresscirclepublishing.com.
Follow Ruby on twitter: @BroadwayRuby

Buy SHOWBIZ and STAGED in paperback or Kindle on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Showbiz-A-Novel-ebook/dp/B007V59IZU/ref=tmm_kin_title_0?ie=UTF8&qid=1353621332&sr=8-1

Or on Nook, iTunes or Kobo!