The latter half of Cab’s 2022-2023 season is a GO! Classes have only just begun, and we’re already bringing you a funky fresh new production to feast your winter break-rested eyes and ears on.
Our Spring Special Project for this year puts the SPECIAL in special project, haha. It’s an exciting change of pace that we haven’t seen the likes of at Cab in recent years. Get this— our Spring Special Project, “Diary of a Simpy Kid”, is an ORIGINAL musical with a book, music, and lyrics written entirely by Rutgers students Michael Trujillo and Anthony Graceffo, both of whom also co-directed the production.
Based on the beloved book and movie series “Diary of a Wimpy Kid” by Jeff Kinney, the show is a musical parody of the iconic characters we all know and love. It follows self-proclaimed narcissist Greg Heffley as he begins his first week of middle school and navigates all of the emotional turmoil that arrives at the start of growing up, along with a colorful cast of characters including his best friend Rowley, his angsty older brother Rodrick, and the new girl in town, Holly Hills, who Greg is crushing on. Complete with a wacky ensemble of parents, school bullies, and bandmates, hijinks, drama, and hilarity are all quick to ensue.
I sat down to talk with show runners Anthony and Michael about the process of writing “Simpy Kid”, and what inspired them to write it in the first place.
In April of 2022, Michael and Anthony teamed up to write the show when Anthony overheard Michael playing a demo for one of the songs he had been working on. Michael had gotten the idea for a “Wimpy Kid” musical a few days earlier, and had set to work on drafting up some ideas for a few different songs. When Anthony overheard one of them, he instantly wanted in, and the two began to collaborate on what would eventually become a full-fledged musical.
[Left to right] Michael Trujillo and Anthony Graceffo giving their directors’ speech for “Diary of a Simpy Kid”
Neither Anthony nor Michael had ever written a full-length musical before starting this process. “Does writing one song for a musical and then quitting because you get bored and lose interest count? I feel like no,” Michael laughs. For this project, however, the pair were immediately brimming with tons of ideas for fun, hilarious re-imaginings of the characters and scenes from the books, as well as several ideas for songs that the characters might sing.
“For me, I think my fondest memory of the writing was starting ‘The Cheese Touch’”, Anthony says. “I was pacing in the kitchen with a big, yellow notebook.”
“I remember I gave Anthony that chorus,” Michael laughs, “and he was like, okay, how do I make that fit?”
Anthony continues: “We started with the chorus, and then we had to write verses that fleshed out the story… I looked up the cheese touch scene from the first movie, and I tried to take the main beats from there and write them as a verse, in a kinda hiphop, spoken rap style.”
Anthony and Michael continued writing and developing their concepts for songs into full, fleshed-out numbers. Eventually, they had a first draft of the show that consisted of a collection of songs parodying specific scenes from the books and movies. However, Michael points out, the first draft was missing a clear plot because of this. “We were like, what could make this show interesting?” The potential for a through-line soon became clear to the writing duo. “This idea that Rodrick and Rowley are on a dating app— once we had that plot, and something to look forward to, we had to find out what would fit in this plot and what wouldn’t, and everything aligned itself.”
The writer-directors got to see their hard work once they finally got it in front of an audience. The reactions they got from people who were seeing the musical numbers for the first time were priceless to them. Michael gushed about how much he loved the way audiences received the song “Mom Bucks”, a jazzy, Fosse-style ditty that Greg’s mom sings toward the end of act one that parodies the conceit of the same name from the series— Greg’s mom gives Greg and his brother Rodrick “Mom Bucks” as a reward for doing various household chores.
““I love everyone’s reactions for “Mom Bucks”. I expected “Mom Bucks” to be good, but every day I look forward to the way everyone goes crazy. Those are the best reactions.””
More than anything, the two are grateful to the people who supported them throughout the process of writing and proposing their show. “I’m especially thankful for the reading committee at Cab for giving this show a chance,” said Michael.
Anthony doubled down on this sentiment. “I hope people remember it in future seasons so that they are reminded of what can be done when people are supporting each other and when people are taking things seriously— ‘cause even though this is a joke of a show, we took it really seriously… I hope that people recognize and remember what can be done when we all work together a little bit.”
The pair took a moment to express their gratitude toward the cast, without whom, they say, the show would not be what it is today.
““The most rewarding thing about brining [the show] to life was the cast, and seeing people embody the characters and play with the script and have fun with it. That was why we did it.””
Michael couldn’t have agreed more. He attributes the show’s sold-out run and overall success to the production’s phenomenal cast. “The fact that [the show] got so much praise and people are saying they want to come back and see it again speaks to not just the writing, but I think also to the talent of our cast,” Michael said fondly.
The creators also want to extend a special thank you to their music director Dustin Symonette, who arranged many of the numbers himself in addition to teaching the show’s music to the cast and pit.
When asked if they had anything else they wanted to share with our readers, Michael enthusiastically stated that he hopes the show inspires others to create their own original work, and that it serves to encourage them to express themselves through their art.
“I think that being a creative person and expressing yourself through your art is very important. I hope this show encourages people to love themselves, express themselves, and just have fun— like, who gives a f**k? You know what I mean? Zoo Wee Mama, motherf**kers.”
“Diary of a Simpy Kid” is SOLD OUT and plays its final performance tonight at 11:59pm.
