Longtime leader of O’Neill national conference honored
‘Hamilton’ creator thanks Paulette Haupt for ‘changing the face of musical theater’
Waterford — Everyone — including Lin-Manuel Miranda, Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, who provided videotaped tributes — had words of praise and thanks for Paulette Haupt during a gala honoring her Saturday night at the Eugene O’Neill Theater Center.
Haupt is stepping down after 40 years as the founding artistic director of the center’s illustrious National Music Theater Conference, and the impression she made on the artists who have developed pieces at the conference was abundantly and joyfully clear during the gala.
In a video message, “Hamilton” creator Miranda thanked Haupt for “changing the face of musical theater forever.” Miranda, who developed “In the Heights” at the O’Neill in 2005, said, “I will never forget deejaying at the Blue Gene’s Bar (on the O’Neill campus). We thought Paulette was coming to shut it down — she was just coming to dance with the cast. Congratulations, Paulette, we love you.”
As the strains of Biggie Smalls’ “Big Poppa” played, Miranda added, “I think we danced to this at Blue Gene’s bar.”
Robert Lopez and wife Kristen Anderson-Lopez wrote the songs for “Frozen,” but, long before that, they were both at the O’Neill with separate musicals, he with “Avenue Q” in 2002 and she with “In Transit” in 2008. In their video, Lopez joked about Haupt’s “deep green eyes,” and Anderson-Lopez recalled that Haupt told the artists, “Risk, play — that’s what you’re here for.” Anderson-Lopez talked about the nurturing power there and added, “You feel like you are well taken care of and are also at summer camp.” She said, “Thank you, Paulette, for everything you’ve done for us.”
“Wicked” actress-singer Kristin Chenoweth, who was at the O’Neill in
1997 to perform in “The Wild Party,” offered taped thanks, too.
The gala offered live performances of songs from shows that have been part of the National Music Theater Conference, along with more heartfelt words about Haupt.
At the end of the night, Haupt told the crowd, “I am overwhelmed. … I just can’t thank you for all the love you’ve shown tonight.”
She ended her remarks with this: “I will never forget this night — ever.”
Haupt said she had so many people that she would thank in person, but she also mentioned a few people during her speech, including O’Neill founder George C. White, who approached her four decades ago about starting a musical theater conference here, and current O’Neill Executive Director Preston Whiteway (“If you need anything … just pick up the phone and call me anytime,” she said). She said she “couldn’t be more pleased or proud” to pass the baton to Alexander Gemignani, the actor, musical director, composer/ lyricist and educator who will take over as the conference’s artistic director.
Haupt also thanked O’Neill board Chairman Tom Viertel, and Viertel spoke about how he got involved with the center. He came to the O’Neill in 1993 as the producer for the musical “Time and Again,” for which his brother Jack wrote the book. The piece went through the National Music Theater Conference, and he noted that making any musical is incredibly difficult. Viertel said what kept the process together at the O’Neill was Haupt, with her calm manner and her depth of knowledge.
During that time, Viertel said, “I fell in love with this process ... and I fell in love with the O’Neill.”
People who have been part of the O’Neill conferences and programs often talk about how it has changed their lives, and Viertel, who has been chairman of the O’Neill board for the last 18 years, has realized he’s one of those people.
“My life was changed. I got a calling,” he said. “Although I’ve had a marvelous time producing on Broadway and doing all that, the O’Neill is the place that’s closest to my heart because its mission is a pure mission. It is theater the way we all dreamed of doing theater when we were young. So I want to thank Paulette Haupt specifically from the bottom of my heart for changing my life.”
Indeed, that was a common thread of the evening — artists thanking Haupt for the impact she has had on them. Broadway star Julia Murney did just that before belting out “Raise the Roof” during the performance part of the gala; she recalled first singing that number for Andrew Lippa’s “The Wild Party” back in 1997 at the O’Neill before she and the show went onto Off-Broadway.
The last conference that Haupt led wrapped up a little over a week ago, and its three musicals included “Superhero” by composer Tom Kitt, who won the Pulitzer Prize for “Next to Normal,” and writer John Logan, who co-wrote screenplays for “Gladiator” and “Skyfall.” Kitt performed the title song from “Superhero” at the gala.
Whiteway said that, without Haupt, artists like Robert Lopez and Lin-Manuel Miranda might not have been discovered. He also said, “Every other new musical incubator around the country — and there are now hundreds of them — draws from the O’Neill and this remarkable artistic director.”
“Paulette, the American music theater as it exists today, is thanks to you,” he said.
As for why she’s leaving the O’Neill now, Haupt told The Day in January, “It just feels right that, after 40 years, I ought to give somebody else a chance to do it.” She also said, “Somebody said to me, ‘Leave when you still love the place,’ and I still love the O’Neill so much.”
And she has a new legacy at the O’Neill: Whiteway announced that the O’Neill will give out an annual award to composers as a nod to Haupt’s background as a conductor and music director. The Paulette Haupt Composition Award of $2,500 will go to a composer at the National Music Theater Conference each summer. The award is funded through many donors, with lead gifts from Robert Lopez and Kristen Anderson-Lopez, musician and producer Wendy MacDonald, and Sheldon Harnick, the lyricist for “Fiddler on the Roof.”