CHANGING MINDS WITH ONE MUSICAL TV SHOW

Before the success of her cult-hit musicalcomedy series Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, star and co-creator Rachel Bloom faced her fair share of rejection. When she pitched the series, Netflix, Amazon and FX (to name a few) all said no.

But last year, the CW took a chance on Bloom, 29, an up-and-comer with no TV experience, and it paid off. She nabbed a Golden Globe (for best actress in a musical or comedy) and two Emmy nominations (for songwriting).

Now in its second season, the show follows the travails of Rebecca (Bloom), a delightfully neurotic (or seriously demented) lawyer who ditched Manhattan for West Covina, the Los Angeles suburb where her ex Josh (Vincent Rodriguez III) just happens to live. She insists she’s not obsessing, but her new SoCal pals Greg and Paula (Broadway vets Santino Fontana and Donna Lynne Champlin) know better. This being a musical, they all sing, in killer parodies of everything from boy bands and hip-hop videos to Fred-andGinger dance numbers.

You’ve got some serious New York theatre actors in the cast. Were you avoiding L.A.?

We had an L.A. casting director, but for the pilot we hired one in New York because this is a musical and, to be frank, it demands diversity, especially for the role of Josh Chan (who’s of Filipino ancestry). New York theatre has more roles for people of colour . . . Then there’s Donna Lynne and Santino; their acting auditions were so good we’d have hired them even if they couldn’t sing.

Do you approach the show differently now that you’re in Season 2?

The whole premise of last season was “denial” . . .

This season, it’s about the unbridled pursuit of what you want.

Now you’ve got some TV street cred, but I gather this show was a tough sell originally.

I pitched two musical shows before this and no one cared. Having a respected writing partner on it — co-creator Aline Brosh McKenna — gave us clout. Rachel Bloom won a Golden Globe for her performance in Crazy Ex-Girlfriend.

How do you have time to act and write music for the show?

I write more of the music when I can sit down at a piano and really think it through. Into the season, my contribution is more finding a song’s rhythm. We’re working on one now for Episode 12. I walked around the studio, jotted down ideas, came up with a rough chorus, which is always important — that’s your thesis statement.

I hear Patti LuPone shot a guest appearance for later this season.

She’s amazing. So chill. There was no ego. She just walked on and had fun with us.

Why do you think people seem to have such a visceral reaction to musicals? So many either love them or hate them.

Many reasons. First, songs for musicals used to be pop songs, from the 1920s through the ’60s. Frank Sinatra sang Cole Porter. Rock ’n’ roll changed that. Suddenly, show tunes became all “show-tunesy.” Also, musicals are all about the suspension of disbelief. People who don’t like musicals tend to be boring and uncreative, because they can’t suspend their disbelief.

You’re not coy about this.

Look, the other problem is that a lot of new musicals are crap. And some revivals, of shows that were good in their day, are just dated . . .

People tell me all the time, “I normally hate musicals, but I really like your show.” It’s like, OK, well, that means you don’t hate musicals.