Interview by Paul Salfen
BROS is in theaters nationwide on Friday, September 30
From The Press Release:
Back Lot Music will released Universal Pictures’ BROS Original Motion Picture Soundtrack with music by GRAMMY, EMMY, Tony Award-winning and seven-time OSCAR nominated composer Marc Shaiman. The soundtrack also features an original song “Love is Not Love”, co-written by Shaiman and the film’s writer/producer/star Billy Eichner, and performed by Eichner. The film, the first romantic comedy about two gay men released by a major film studio, hits theatres nationwide in North America on Friday, September 30th, and the album will be available everywhere digital music is sold and streamed.
Music has always been pivotal to romantic comedies, so Eichner, director Nicholas Stoller and producer Judd Apatow were beyond thrilled that Tony winning composer Marc Shaiman agreed to compose the score for Bros. “I’ve been a huge, huge fan of Marc Shaiman since I was a child, literally reading the liner notes of movie soundtracks and early Bette Midler albums like the young gay man that I was,” Eichner says. “And then when we announced that we were making this movie, I am very honored to say that Marc reached out to us — to me and Judd Apatow and Nick Stoller — and said that he wanted to write the score. We were just beyond thrilled about that. I mean, that really was a dream and is a dream. And he’s done a beautiful job. The music is gorgeous.”
For Shaiman, it was an opportunity to contribute to a historic moment in cinema. “This movie is important because the audience totally buys into this love affair that blossoms, and almost stops thinking about all the political and sociological ramifications,” Marc Shaiman says. “It’s just a good old fashioned romcom — just maybe a little raunchier than they’re used to.” His goal, he says, was for his music to let the film and the story shine. “I am a piano player and an accompanist at heart,” Shaiman says. “And for me, the movie is really a singer. I’m just finding the right chords and the right melodies to put under that singer to help support what they’re trying to express.”
For Eichner, watching the orchestra record Shaiman’s score proved to be unexpectedly moving. “To have grown up watching Marc Shaiman from afar and loving his work in the movies that I saw as a kid and the Oscars and all the award shows that he did and everything he’s done on Broadway and everything he’s done in every aspect of showbusiness, and to see how much time and effort he put into Bros is really remarkable,” Eichner says. “It really was blowing my mind. I think I cried 10 times over 48 hours, just watching the orchestra play the score.”
Eichner and Shaiman got to work together in a more direct way, on the song that Billy’s character, Bobby, sings at the end of the film. “The song at the end was purely Billy’s idea,” director Nicholas Stoller says. “We had originally ended the movie with a speech, but he wanted to have kind of a big show-stopping ending. We didn’t want to do something that was clichéd, but Billy came up with this idea of a country song. We shot it live, and Marc and his guitar player — who literally plays for Garth Brooks — played it live and it came together really well. A beautiful moment in the movie.”
About BROS
Universal Pictures proudly presents the first romantic comedy from a major film studio about two gay men maybe, possibly, probably, stumbling towards love. Maybe. They’re both very busy.
From the ferocious comic mind of Billy Eichner (Billy on the Street, 2019’s The Lion King, Difficult People, Impeachment: American Crime Story) and the hitmaking brilliance of filmmakers Nicholas Stoller (the Neighbors films, Forgetti
Starring Billy Eichner, the first openly gay man to co-write and star in his own major studio film, and Luke Macfarlane (Killjoys), the film featuring an entirely LGBTQ+ principal cast, including Guy Branum (The Other Two), Miss Lawrence (Star), Ts Madison (The Ts Madison Experience), Dot-Marie Jones (Glee), Jim Rash (Community), Eve Lindley (Dispatches from Elsewhere), Monica Raymund (Chicago Fire), Guillermo Díaz (Scandal), Jai Rodriguez (Uncoupled) and Amanda Bearse (Married …with Children).
The film also features appearances by Emmy winner Debra Messing (Will & Grace), three-time Emmy nominee Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and legendary four-time Tony winner Harvey Fierstein (Torch Song Trilogy).
Bros is directed by Nicholas Stoller and is written by Billy Eichner & Nicholas Stoller. The film is produced by Judd Apatow p.g.a., Nicholas Stoller p.g.a. and Josh Church p.g.a. (co-producer Trainwreck, Step Brothers), and is executive produced by Billy Eichner and Karl Frankenfield (Everything’s Trash).
The score for Bros is by Tony winner and seven-time Oscar® nominee Marc Shaiman, whose music has shaped some of the most iconic romantic films of the past three decades, including When Harry Met Sally, Sleepless in Seattle and The American President. The film is edited by Daniel Gabbe (The Sandman). The production designer is Lisa Myers (Awkwafina Is Nora from Queens) and the director of photography is Brandon Trost (Neighbors franchise).
