Shonda Rhimes on "Song Beneath The Song"...

Original Airdate: 3-31-11

HOW AND WHY WE DID THIS:

So, on about the third day of filming the pilot episode of Grey’s Anatomy (way back before it was even called Grey’s Anatomy, back when it was called The Untitled Shonda Rhimes Pilot), I turned to exec producer Betsy Beers and said, “I can’t wait to do a musical episode of this show.”    See, I have this wild obsession with musicals and an unhealthy love of the Buffy the Vampire Slayer musical and also, I’m a geek.  Which is why I said it.

“I can’t wait to do a musical episode of this show,” I said.

And Betsy, who is wise and funny and wry, just nodded.  “Okay,” she said.  And we went back to watching Patrick Dempsey pretend to do brain surgery.

One hundred forty-four episodes and seven and a half years later, we began filming the Grey’s Anatomy Music Event.

Explaining what the heck took us so long is too complicated to go into here.  There are a lot of reasons – I was busy telling other awesome stories at Seattle Grace, I got a second show (what up, Private Practice peeps!), I was raising my tiny human, my musical talent involves oboe-playing and nothing else, the network thought it was the dumbest idea they’d ever heard of and refused to do it. 

And, oh yeah, one other thing:  I had no idea how we would do it.

So I forgot about my musical episode dreams.

Then a thing happened in Season Four of the show.  The Writers Guild of America went on strike.  Which meant that, instead of writing my TV show inside my studio office, I carried a picket sign up and down the street in front of my studio office.  It also meant that I got worried.  About the crews who work hard on TV shows and movies.  I got worried about how they would pay their bills.  And so a bunch of us at Private Practice and Grey’s Anatomy got together and decided to throw a benefit concert to raise money for the crews.

I stood backstage at this concert and I listened to members of both of my casts sing (Audra McDonald, folks, she has four Tony Awards and the chick can BLOW -- buy a ticket and hear the woman sing sometime).  Sara Ramirez closed the benefit.  And when she opened her mouth, she brought the house down.  I know people say that – brought the house down.  It’s a thing people say.  But Sara Ramirez (who has a Tony of her own) BROUGHT THE HOUSE DOWN.   She’s a superhero.  Singing is her super power. 

Now, most of us have a super power.  Dempsey has that twinkle in his eye.  Also, he can juggle.  And babies, all babies, every baby in the world, ALL BABIES love him.  It’s amazing how much babies love him.  They just stop crying when he’s around and stare at him and smile.   It’s awe-inspiring.  The man commands the hearts and souls of babies. He’s a baby-mesmerizer.  If I ever have another baby, I am going to bring her to work and hand her to Patrick and walk away for hours at a time.   She will be the happiest baby in the world.  I’m telling you, every baby in the world seems to get that he’s McDreamy.   Super.  Freaking.  Power. 

But I digress.  Anyway, most of us have super powers.  But not a lot of us have super powers that involve opening our mouths and having God come out.  I’m not a big God person but that’s really the only way to describe what happens when Sara sings.  God, or whatever you want to call the magic of the universe, comes out. 

You know who else has that super power?  Chyler Leigh.  And she didn’t even know she had it.  Also Kevin McKidd.  Who knew he had it but is all Scottish and humble and didn’t reveal it.  Also Justin Chambers.  Who is just so cool that it makes sense that he has it.  Also Chandra Wilson.  Who has it but gets nervous when she has to sing.  Also-

You see my point.   Our bench is deep. 

(It is also deep on Private Practice, scary deep, shockingly, brilliantly deep, but I’m talking about Grey’s here so I’ll save that for when I meet you and you ask me about it.)

Anyway, it was Season Four and we hadn’t met Kevin McKidd yet and I still hadn’t come up with an idea for a musical episode and I still only play the oboe and the network was still saying no.  But it made me think about it again.  It made all the writers sit around and say, “We wish we could do a musical episode of Grey’s Anatomy.”

Two more seasons went by and…nothing.

Then at the very beginning of Season 7, I said to the writers that Callie should get pregnant with Mark Sloan’s baby and that it should be complicated and horrible and really upset Arizona.  And suddenly, I knew what the musical episode should be about. 

So I started begging people.  I begged the studio people.  I begged the network people.  I took these people to dinner and begged.   I jumped out at these people in bathrooms and begged.  And they all smiled politely but what they were clearly really thinking was, “This woman is an idiot.” 

So I did the only thing I could think of.   I got Tony Phelan (one of our writers, as you know, but also a great big musical theatre geek like me only he has real musical theatre talent) to help me.  I also got Chandra and Sara and Kevin to help me.  And then I dragged all of the studio and network executives in to work on a Saturday. Sandra Oh showed up to be our cheerleader.  There was an amazing band.  And in front of the studio and network execs (who are all very nice and very smart but clearly thought I might be a Grade A Idiot), we threw a great big concert.  I pitched my idea and Chandra and Kevin and Sara sang. And God came out of their mouths.  And the studio and the network stopped thinking I was an idiot and they said yes.

Seven and a half years.  One hundred and forty-four episodes. 

We started rehearsals a full four months before we filmed – unheard of for our show.  We usually prep a show for eight days.  Sara Ramirez was the one who gave me the idea that we should sing the songs our show had made famous.  Tony Phelan was the one who directed the episode.  The entire writing staff helped me make the script make sense.  Bossy McBossy Rob Corn never once complained about how overbudget we were.  The crew went all in, leaping off this crazy cliff of music with us.  And every single member of the cast got excited and came together like the family they are to do this right.

Even Pompeo.  Who is funny and kind and who has never once hesitated to do any of the crazy things I write for Meredith to do but who was also a little worried I might have turned into an idiot.  She came up to me after the table read for the episode and said, “This is amazing.  I want to sing more!”

And when I walked on stage and watched the episode being filmed, I felt like it was worth every minute of begging to get it done.  I hope you think so too.

“I can’t wait to do a musical episode of this show,” I said way back then.  And Betsy nodded. 

And now we have done it. 

On Monday (yes, just this past Monday) I stood on the mixing stage, watching the final playback of the musical episode on a giant movie screen (and boy, how I wish you could see it with surround sound on a movie screen), and then I went to Betsy and I said, “I can’t wait to do another musical episode of this show.  I want to see Ellen Pompeo sing Rilo Kiley.”  And Betsy nodded.

So now I have another dream to dream.  I kind of like to think that dreaming is my super power.  That or oboe playing.  But nobody likes it when I play the oboe so, you know, I’m gonna go with dreaming.

Thank you so much for watching.   I mean it.  My gratitude is large and my appreciation is limitless. 

Comments

[Lexie1]

Shonda you all did a great job and I enjoyed it all. Thanks again and props to all the cast and crew.

[Always_CO]

I loved, loved, loved your blog and miss, so miss, your podcasts. Beg ABC marketing peeps to put you two back on dammit! I said dammit! This episode was such a gift to us. Thank you. I've been playing back S1, S2, S3 soundtracks on my iPod cuz i can't buy the GA Cast's music yet. Song selection was brilliant. I loved the singing and the same brilliant acting and inter-play between the characters. Loved the scene between Cris/Alex/Mer. Thank you for showing Owen that Cristina is a cardiogod. So glad he finally had her back in there. Plus thank you for the CO hotness. HAWT.

[Jessica freels]

I HAVE TO TELL YOU...I WAS WORRIED...UNTIL I HEARD OWEN SING. I KNEW SARA HAD THE PIPES SO I KNEW SHE WOULD BE GOOD...BUT WHEN KEVIN MCKIDD SANG IT SEALED THE DEAL. EVERYONE ELSE WAS ICING ON THE CAKE AFTER THAT.
THANK YOU FOR NOT KILLING THE BABY...I THINK THAT WOULD HAVE BEEN TOO MUCH.
YOU DID IT....JOSS WHEDON WOULD BE PROUD. YOU ARE NOW IN THE PANTHEON OF MUSICAL EPISODES..!

[Lara]

Cristina and Owen in the kitchen.....hell what singing! I loved that scene enough to say Great Job Shonda!

[Steph]

Greys is the best show ever.

[belinda]

thank you. thank you so much. i have been wating for this episode for months and it was more then i could've ever dreamed. you, the other wroters, the cast, the crew, everyone, did an amazing job. so, thank you.

[nyla]

"Grace" was, by far, the best of the best tonight.
Sara Ramirez - there are no words. Someone give this woman an Emmy (and Gramm!).
Cristina freaking Yang! Teddy got schooled.
I love Addi and I miss her, so so so much.
EP killed that scene in the elevator.
I'm glad Mark and Arizona have met in the middle. Also, THANK YOU for baby girl Mighty Oak!! I hope she stays strong ... (please please please!?!)
Everyone sounded amazing!

Really, Bravo to you Shonda and to the cast and crew. You took a chance, stepped outside of the box, and that is fantastic in and of itself.

[BKen123]

I absolutely love this show....but the musical was really S T U P I D and diluted all the drama out of the storyline. Please, don't ever do it again. Gray's is a drama, not a musical. A great drama. A dumb musical.

[Sheri from CA]

I thought this was going to be a "jumping the shark" episode. But it was amazing. My son who has a music background stayed for every musical moment. Don't know what else to say...I'm worried about what next week will bring....but tonight was beautiful. Those who really sang were wonderful. Sara, was beautiful....and has an amazing voice.

[1]

I boycotted the episode.

[Beth]

Put down the Krazy Kool Aid Shonda. That was a travesty. I felt very, very embarressed for everyone involved.

[Mary]

i'm totally into musicals. they're my favourite thing ever. when buffy did a musical i was beyond excited. the problem i have with the greys musical is that you took epic greys songs, song that have been defined for my entire generation and you assigned them to characters with which they have zero connection.
on top of this, it felt chaotic. i dont think any of the scenes were overly well written, which was honestly a huge surprise because shonda, you are capable of writing some AMAZING television. i just don't think this was it.
i'm not going to get into particulars, about storylines because i can't say i agree with the direction this show is headed in. I think i might be finished watching if this threesome thing continues, however i will say these things:
- kevin mckidd cannot carry a song. he may have a great voice for certain genres, but Gomez is not that genre.
- Ellen pompeo surprised me completely with her subtle but beautiful voice and i wish that had been pursued further
-chyler leigh was outstanding vocally, but i wont say how i feel about lexie's SL.
- Sara Ramirez can sing, we know this, but we don't need anymore episodes that revolve around her.
- Meredith needs to be the central being in this show. its how it works the best, and i think the shows attempt to pull away from meredith has resulted in a lot of weaknesses
- the running on sunshines sex montage made zero sense and was strange

i really think this had potential, i dont think it was executed all that well. Ellen Pompeo was outstanding, her break down in the elevator was once again what brought the episode home. Without her i think the show would lose much of its cred. The woman is talented, so let her shine. she's put in 7 years and has earned it.

you get an A for effort, because a musical is a gigantic undertaking. i am very pro musical, and if Ellen could sing portions for foxes on the extras' i promise to buy at least 100 copies.

i sincerely hope, however, that the current leading SLs are all about to take a UTurn.

[Amy]

I too agree with the Chyler Leigh comments, I never knew she had such a strong voice!! I quite enjoyed this episode but thought some of the songs were just a little much or a little too out of context (which can only be expected since they weren't written specifically for this show, but still). One character I did love tonight was Arizona. My dear Arizona. Ever since we got to knew her she has been my favorite character. I kinda got a little depressed about how the writer's had been writing her since she came back from Africa...and maybe it's just the whole baby triangle thing that got me annoyed, but i thought jessica capshaw did an awesome job tonight! (Although, I did want to punch mark sloan half-way through when he went off on his little tangent to Arizona...how rude) So anyway, I guess it goes without saying Sara Ramirez did an awesome job, as well as the other cast members. But now the only thing is I have to wait another 4 weeks to see the next new episode!! lame. Oh well...until then.

[Lauren]

Sara Ramirez is a Broadway superstar. End of story.

[Joe]

Um, yeah...Sara Ramirez. That is all.

Props to Shonda, cast, and crew.

[Always_CO]

Did I mention how much I loved listening to Kevin McKidd. Squee. Amazing voices all around.

[Enforce]

Where to begin? This was supposed to be a love letter to the fans and I for one can say that I got my mail, and read it, and brought me to joy and tears at the same time. I call you the evil genius because you put us fans through hell but at the end of it all, momma knows best.
I knew Sara would be phenomenal, masterful, brilliant. And she was all that and more. But I did not expect Ellen and Jessica to sing as beautifully as they did. I call Chandra's song a lullaby that I could fall asleep to every night. Chyler? Wow! Girl has skills. She seriously needs to do something with that voice. But the biggest surprise of the night to me were Scott, Daniel and Justin. They can get together and form a band and I will be a front row groupie. Wow. Just wow. After PP was over, I re-watched GA and played 'Running on Sunshine' about four or five times in a row. They all rocked, ROCKED this song. And even though Sarah didn't have a solo, her harmonies were oh, so sweet and touching, and beautiful. "Grace" was my favorite. Goodness gracious, the background harmony (on Grace and Wait) were angelical. I know it's corny but it's true. Awesome, awesome! I hope you get to do another musical. What about a special Grey's movie? BTW, Tony Phelan is a directing genius and I cheered when Addison stepped off the helicopter. I still miss her at SGMW. Thank you for being a dreamer. Thank you for a beautiful, beautiful episode. And I have to mention the dancing with Chandra and Eli. OFF THE HOOK YO!!! Well, I'm gonna go and watch the epi one more time and then go to sleep listening to the soundtrack. Sweet dreams...

[Jane]

Justin Chambers is the actor that impressed me most. Kevin McKidd gets the hype for being a great singer but he wasn't all that good (he sounded really poor in How To Save a Life). I wish Justin had had more to sing (really, I wish he had more to do not only in this episode but the whole season!) because he had the most pleasant male voice. Of the girls, Chyler was impressive. She has a very soft, sweet voice which I tend to like more sometimes than Sara's loud, powerful delivery. It was interesting and surprising to see the actors doing something different.

[Maddie]

I liked the songs, but the singing ruined the episode. If it wasn't for MerDer moments... the tiny 2 we got... I would have been super dissapointed. In short... give them baby now. OK? Come on. Enough with the depressing MerDer angst.

[F.G.A.]

Dude.. Shonda, that wasn't as good as u thought it was. Really wish ABC held their ground on this idea.

[kate]

pleasantly surprised to hear that ellen pompeo can carry a tune but overall disappointed in this episode.

[Me]

It was awful.

[Sara]

The singing was lovely and I love your enthusiasm for putting together a musical episode. Still, I've got to say some bits came across as kind of ridiculous, which isn't a mood you want to convey in a life-death situation in the operating theatre.

[anon]

I LOVE YOU SHONDA! Thank you for making this happen! Also, major acting props to Jessica Capshaw in this episode. She stole my heart.

[Audrey]

This was a very ambitious episode. I feel a little mixed about it though. I mean, one of their own is in serious trauma & all of a sudden, surgeons break out in song. That's what happens at Seattle Grace Mercy Death. But I get it. It's Callie's out of body experience or something. I do have a favorite part though--the "running on sunshine" bit, especially Justin Chambers' part. That was sexy hot. Scott Foley's part was funny.

Next week better not be a re-run. ABC, you listening?