Live Arts: Oliver Mayer On The 5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career in Broadway, Theater or Live Performance Art

An Interview With Savio Clemente

Someone to remember. It’s so important to know that we’re connected to those who came before us, and that they’re with us when we remember them. Together, our souls linked, we can do anything.

As a part of our series about creating a successful career in theater, I had the distinct pleasure of interviewing Oliver Mayer.

Oliver is the director of the MFA Program in dramatic writing, a professor of dramatic writing, associate dean of strategic initiatives and associate dean of faculty at the USC School of Dramatic Arts. He is a playwright, poet and librettist, whose newest play, Ghost Waltz, was commissioned by L.A.’s Latino Theater Company and is scheduled to open at The Los Angeles Theatre Center on May 4. He is the author of more than 30 plays, from his ground-breaking Blade to the Heat to its long-awaited sequel Members Only. Recent plays include The Dragon Tree and Letters from the Black Sea (commissioned by the Getty Villa). Other produced plays include Blood Match and Yerma in the Desert, inspired by the plays of Federico Garcia Lorca; Fortune is a Woman, The Wallowa Project, Dias y Flores, Dark Matters, Conjunto, Young Valiant, Joy of the Desolate, The Sinner from Toledo, Laws of Sympathy and Ragged Time. His opera 3 Paderewskis, composed by Jenni Brandon, received its world premiere at Washington D.C.’s Kennedy Center in November 2019, as well as in Poznan, Poland and on the USC campus. Mayer also wrote the libretto for the opera America Tropical, composed by David Conte, and the book for Blue House with music and lyrics by Perla Batalla and David Batteau. He writes essays regularly for Zocalo Public Square, and has written a book of poetry entitled “Body Languages”. He also wrote the children’s books “Big Dog on Campus Learns to be a Trojan” and its follow-ups “Big Dog on Campus Goes to the Library” and “Big Dog on Campus Goes on Patrol”. On campus, he has received several university honors, including the USC Associates Award for Excellence in Teaching, Phi Kappa Phi Faculty Recognition Award, and a Mellon Mentoring Award for mentoring undergraduates. His writing has received various awards, including The American Prize for new opera.

Thank you so much for joining us in this interview series! Can you tell us the story of how you grew up?

I’m proud to have been born in Los Angeles, at the Hollywood Presbyterian Hospital, to be exact. My parents were both artistically inclined, and from an early age they took me to plays and museums and foreign films. Being an artist always seemed to be something I could aspire to do, they never once tried to stop me. My mom wanted me to be an actor, I think. She also wanted me to play the piano. I’m a lousy actor and I never practiced enough to get good at piano. But when I found playwriting, I never looked back and I never let go.

Can you share a story with us about what brought you to this specific career path?

I wrote my first play in England. I was studying at Oxford. Reagan had just been reelected and Americans were really unpopular. It was hard to make friends. I was so lonely that I decided to write a play for my actor friends/drinking buddies. The play was called GOG, and I’m pretty sure I wrote it longhand and delivered it to the Experimental Theatre Company, who decided to produce it. Then they took it to the Edinburgh Fringe, where it got a review in The Scotsman. I came back to the U.S. a produced playwright. Nothing else really made sense in my life. But writing plays gave me the chance to meet cool people, work with great artists, find my audience. Not to mention work out all the questions and problems I had (and still have) about the world.

None of us are able to achieve success without some help along the way. Is there a particular person who you are grateful towards who helped get you to where you are? Can you share a story about that?

I think about my mentor, Howard Stein, one of the all-time great playwriting teachers, who I worked with at Columbia. “Why doesn’t anyone write about what’s really going on in the world?” he said with raised voice the first time I met him. It went through me like a spear. “You have to feel with your mind and think with your heart,” he used to say. I’m not sure I quite get that, even after all these years (!!), but I love how he challenged me to be present and current and surprising and brave. I try to give a bit of that bravery to my students. I always ask them what’s really going on behind the mask, beneath the surface, and to have the courage to ask the unanswerable questions out loud.

You probably have a lot of fascinating experiences. Can you tell us the most interesting story that happened to you since you began your career?

My favorite story out of a nearly 40-year career (so far) is that I wooed my wife with a play. We were both with other people when we met. We took a walk in the rain and sheltered in a gazebo. I think she was afraid I was going to kiss her, and she was talking a mile a minute. About two months later, I contacted her agents about a reading of a new play called DIAS Y FLORES. When she read the manuscript, she realized that I had taken elements of all the stories she was telling me rapid-fire. I turned it all into fiction, but she knew then that I was a good listener. We were married within two years.

It has been said that our mistakes can be our greatest teachers. Can you share a story about the funniest mistake you made when you were first starting? Can you tell us what lesson you learned from that?

I made so many mistakes! I still do. I got into a fight with the box office folks at the Mark Taper Forum when my play BLADE TO THE HEAT was in previews there. On Opening Night, I found out that I had no tickets under my name. Don’t mess with Box Office. I was prepared to stand, but Gordon Davidson laughed and sat me next to him. I don’t fight with Box Office, or anybody, anymore. At least I try not to.

What are some of the most interesting or exciting projects you are working on now?

GHOST WALTZ is the most exciting play I’ve written in 20 years. I didn’t know about Juventino Rosas before I was commissioned to write it, but very soon he got inside me. A proud Indigenous, brown-skinned Mexican virtuoso to rival Strauss! His musical gifts made me feel proud and joyful, but the way that he was treated during his lifetime and after, with his story being whitewashed and his music attributed to others, made me feel a great injustice had been done to him. This play is an active recovery of his life, and my hope is that the play sparks courage in people’s hearts now to know that we belong and have belonged among the greats in music — and that there is more to come. I can’t wait for people to see it and for Juventino to live again. More information and tickets are available at LatinoTheaterCo.org.

You have been blessed with success in a career path that can be challenging. Do you have any words of advice for others who may want to embark on this career path, but seem daunted by the prospect of rejection, lack of support, or failure?

I am blessed, I know. But I’m no stranger to rejection, lack of support, and failure that I’m squarely to blame for. The best thing I did was marry the right person who constantly continues to inspire me with her own artistry, and who can cut me down to size when I need it. I love what I do, and a long time ago I made the pledge to write plays out of love and not for money or success. When I write, it’s because I want to, and I have something to write about, and the process gives me joy. Then, no matter what happens to the play, I can love it for what it is and be grateful for the life it gave me.

Which tips would you recommend to your colleagues in the live performance industry to help them to thrive and not “burn out”?

Burnout is real, but you can avoid it if you don’t take yourself too seriously. The single most important talent to have is a sense of humor — on the page but more importantly in life — particularly when things aren’t going great. My biggest defeats have occurred when I lost my sense of humor, couldn’t laugh at myself or anyone else, and essentially took myself out of the game. As soon as I can get it back, then I can endure most anything. But I say this from hard experience. What we do is a contact sport!

Thank you for all that. This is the main question of our interview. What are your “5 Things You Need To Create A Highly Successful Career in Broadway, Theater or Live Performances” and why? If you can, please share a story or example for each.

1. Something to love. A partner is preferable, but a dog or cat is nothing to sniff at. Even as I am writing this, my cat is gnawing on my pencil erasers. I could kill him. But he makes me laugh.
2. Something to believe in. I’m not a religious person, except about writing plays. I’m searching for stories and people and moments in history to put my faith in. I think that it will be a lifetime’s search, and I’m fine with that.
3. Someone to learn from. I’m always looking for mentors, even now at my age mentoring many younger artists. If I’m doing it right, they’re mentoring me too. It’s more than advice: It’s modeling ways to survive all the pitfalls and disappointments and lies without losing your sense of self and what roots you to identity and family. I’m still learning.
4. Someone who can do stuff you can’t do. I’m always blown away by the superpowers that we all have, and that some of us use. We don’t all have the same superpowers, so it’s important to align yourself with people/artists who have special insight, ability, & intellect.
5. Someone to remember. It’s so important to know that we’re connected to those who came before us, and that they’re with us when we remember them. Together, our souls linked, we can do anything.

For the benefit of our readers, could you describe how the skill-sets you need in a theater performance are different than the skill-sets you need for TV or Film?

In the theater I have learned to keep my stories open-ended. I’m not looking for answers, just the right questions. The best ones are the unanswerable ones. These are the ones I ask with all my heart and all my skill. Some movies and TV can be like that too, I guess. We’re really not that different.

You are a person of enormous influence. If you could inspire a movement that would bring the most amount of good to the most amount of people, what would that be? You never know what your idea can trigger. :-)

We need more joy in our lives. I think we all need to play more. After about the 3rd grade, we are mostly taught to devalue play and to get serious. I think the most serious thing in the world is to play well — with others and by oneself. Play music. Play games. Play with ideas. Play with your animals. Make the time for it.

Can you please give us your favorite “Life Lesson Quote”? Can you share how that was relevant to you in your life?

“At the moment of commitment, the universe conspires to assist you.” That’s Goethe, the great German poet/playwright. I think that when we choose our path and do so fully, and don’t worry about the path not taken, then things have a much better chance of going smoothly.

We are very blessed that some very prominent names in Business, VC funding, Sports, and Entertainment read this column. Is there a person in the world, or in the US with whom you would love to have a private breakfast or lunch, and why? He or she might just see this if we tag them.

I’m a gigantic fan of Jeffrey Wright. We met once ages ago in New York. He was great then and he’s an all-time great now. I have a great role for you, Jeffrey!

How can our readers continue to follow your work online?

I’m one of the few who never got into social media. So you need to follow me through my work at USC’s School of Dramatic Arts, where I’m a professor. My plays and essays are available online though. If I need to post something, I can hitch a ride on my wife’s account, I guess!

This was very meaningful, thank you so much! We wish you continued success!

It’s been a pleasure. Thanks, and come see the show.

About The Interviewer: Savio P. Clemente, TEDx speaker and Stage 3 cancer survivor, infuses transformative insights into every article. His journey battling cancer fuels a mission to empower survivors and industry leaders towards living a truly healthy, wealthy, and wise lifestyle. As a Board-Certified Wellness Coach (NBC-HWC, ACC), Savio guides readers to embrace self-discovery and rewrite narratives by loving their inner stranger, as outlined in his acclaimed TEDx talk: “7 Minutes to Wellness: How to Love Your Inner Stranger.” From his best-selling book to his impactful work as a media journalist covering resilience and wellness trends with notable celebrities and TV personalities, Savio’s words touch countless lives. His philosophy, “to know thyself is to heal thyself,” resonates in every piece.