Growing up I used to love watching murder mysteries. One of my favorite cartoons was Scooby-Doo because every episode involved a mystery.

I also always wanted to work in the entertainment industry. My mid-career path led me to the world of advertising, just like Darrin in Bewitched. In 2006, I began working at one of NYC's top Broadway ad agencies as their Office Manager, and remained there for 13 years! 

When I heard about Frank Fraver Verlizzo's new Retro Broadway Mystery Series, my interest was piqued. I loved that his debut novel, Scenery of the Crime, was inspired by his time working behind-the-scenes in the Broadway advertising industry, creating some of the most iconic show posters for Broadway musicals and plays.

His book incorporates two of my favorite genres, Broadway & Murder Mystery. I can't believe all the time I spent working in the Broadway advertising world, that mine & Frank's path's never crossed, but I am thrilled that our roads have finally connected!

In this interview, Frank answered my call to share:

• When he realized designing Broadway show posters could turn into a murder mystery series
• How his design skills parlayed into writing
• Behind-the-scenes stories about designing some of the most iconic Broadway show posters
• What advice he would give someone who was considering their second act career change
• So much more

Connect with Frank: Website, Facebook, Retro Broadway

In Scenery of the Crime, the Broadway stage becomes a creative—and deadly—playing field for a killer with chutzpah and a fertile imagination.

Set against the vibrant backdrop of Broadway in the mid-1970s, theatrical ad execs Vic Senso and Bettie Balboa find themselves navigating the far-from-glamorous world of backstage Broadway when several bizarrely executed murders rock the community.

Behind the beautiful scenery lurks a myriad of potentially life-threatening hazards, raising the question: has there ever been a stage-related “accident” that was actually a coverup for murder?

Scenery of the Crime is available at all major online book sellers including Amazon & Barnes and Noble.

1. After 5 decades in Broadway advertising, creating some of the most iconic show posters in the business, you decided to become an author. At what point during your career did you realize your experiences would make a great novel? For over five decades, I was kept too busy coming up with visual concepts for poster campaigns and working on designing newspaper ad layouts for Broadway shows to ever consider tackling the writing of a mystery novel.

However, there was no lack of interesting characters and unusual situations I observed while working at my first job in the Sardi's building. Blaine Thompson was the largest theatrical ad agency on Broadway. It was a very informal office and the art department seemed to be everyone’s favorite hangout.

Producers, actors, designers, and other artists often strolled in for some conversations before an ad meeting. Without question, a wide collection of interesting characters among them. That’s not including the parade of press agents, general managers, company managers, various assistants, interns—the list was endless, and fascinating.

In 2020, during the pandemic, although I was still designing, attempting to create a retro murder mystery involving a fictional theatrical ad agency in 1975 was something I decided to try in order to entertain myself. It’s very much like putting together a puzzle. 

2. Once you chose to write a book, how did you decide you wanted to write a murder mystery as opposed to another genre? As a kid, I loved murder mysteries. My mom was also a fan of the genre. She was an avid reader and always had a book in her hand. Although she consumed a variety of genres from histories and romances to thrillers and classics, I was hooked on Agatha Christie, Erle Stanley Gardiner and Ellery Queen.

In 2020, I decided to indulge myself and try my hand at creating my own. Over the years, I’d written advertising copy and radio spots for various theatrical productions whenever the writers at the agency were too overwhelmed with the volume of work.

Since I’d spent my entire career creating artwork for Broadway and Off-Broadway productions, it was an insular world in which I was continually fascinated. And, it was ripe with possibilities for a murder mystery.

3. Before we get too far into your debut book, Scenery of the Crime, let's start at the beginning. How did you get into designing posters for Broadway shows? I am definitely a New York City kid. Born in Manhattan, raised in The Bronx. I attended the High School of Art and Design in Manhattan, and commuted to college, Pratt Institute in Brooklyn. I was always fascinated by the movie and Broadway theatre advertising billboards in Times Square and in the subways. I wondered where they were created.

At Pratt, one of my professors was David Edward Byrd. As it happened, he himself was in the process of creating the artwork for the Sondheim-Goldman-Prince Broadway musical, Follies.

Upon graduation, David referred me to Blaine Thompson, the premier theatrical advertising agency in NYC. The art director there, Morris Robbins, liked my work.

I was hired in the production art department bullpen. That was where it all began for me.

The first Broadway show poster
Frank designed 

4. What was the first show you designed the advertising poster for that made you go, "I can make a career out of this"? Right out of the gate, I knew I wanted to make a career of designing for theatrical productions. I’d been hired for my “dream job” and felt extremely fortunate to be a part of the art department. I would read new scripts that came into the agency and would try my hand at designing posters for them. The only person to ever see them was my boss, who was a terrific mentor and guide.

From both David Byrd and Morris Robbins, I learned how to distill a three-hour stage production into a two-dimensional graphic image that captured the essence of the show, could interest potential ticket buyers, AND be a viable advertising tool.

All of that, while maintaining a sense of fine artistry and strong design that had been somewhat lacking in the preceding years. I was lucky.

My first printed poster was for a David Merrick production. It just happened to win the Tony Award that year for Best Play. It was Tom Stoppard’s Travesties. Not a bad start.

The most challenging show poster
Frank designed

5. Out of all the show posters you have created:

• Which one was the most challenging to design?  Over the years, I’ve come to believe that if the producers and creatives involved in a Broadway show are having a great deal of difficulty deciding on the advertising artwork/graphic, the production itself is most likely experiencing the same ordeal. One of the most challenging was a play called Total Abandon, which addressed the sensitive subject of child abuse. It had a terrific cast led by a major Hollywood star. The seasoned producers had the agency spend weeks and weeks doing art presentations, revisions, a second presentation, a third, etc. No one could agree on anything. When the clock ran out, our New York Times ad deadline was due. All the cumulative art from the numerous ad presentations were collected in our conference room since a final decision had to be made. There was a staggering amount of artwork on display. The producers finally chose my simple graphic poster design. Ironically, that particular piece had been shown at the very first presentation months earlier. 
• Which one was the easiest to design? The easiest process: Sunday in the Park with George. Manny Azenberg and The Shubert Organization asked me, very early on, to design for the Sondheim-Lapine musical. The script consisted only of Act One. “What happens in the second act?” I asked. The answer: “We don’t know yet, but it takes place one hundred years later.” I created three concepts. The group immediately fell in love with one of them—the image that is still frequently used today.

6. Your debut book is called Scenery of the Crime. How long did it take you to write it, from idea to inception? From idea to inception, exactly one year. That included several drafts, playing around with the story structure, losing two characters, and adding an extra murder!

The easiest Broadway show poster
Frank designed

7. Scenery of the Crime is set behind-the-scenes of Broadway in the late 1970s. What was it about this time in Broadway history that made you want it to be the focus of your story? That era is emblazoned in my memory. While oftentimes I can’t remember what I did last week, that specific period of time in the late 70s is crystal clear to me. I can recall vivid details, quirky incidents, and industry gossip.

Having a behind-the-scenes glimpse into the world of Broadway was new to me—everything was incredibly glamorous and exciting. It’s when I experienced many of my early successes as a poster designer. It was a time when I was introduced to many people who remain very important in my life to this day. I began my design career in the mid-seventies.

One of my professors at Pratt Institute was David Edward Byrd. As it happened, he himself was in the process of designing the artwork for the Sondheim-Goldman-Prince Broadway musical, Follies. Upon graduation, David referred me to Blaine Thompson, the premier theatrical advertising agency in NYC. Being hired there in the production art department was where it all began for me. That era was truly amazing.

Broadway was experiencing a renaissance—an astonishing time to begin my career. It was filled with energy, excitement, and a sense of wonder. It is these experiences that were top of mind for me as I began creating the world of the Retro Broadway Mysteries!

8. What is one real life experience you can share with my audience that made it into the book? To put it in context, on Broadway in 1975, there was little-to-no direct mail efforts made to sell tickets for theatre, no technology yet in existence for e-blasts, and certainly no such thing as social media.

New plays and musicals just beginning previews were desperate for first audiences to start generating good word-of-mouth. Most seats were filled in those early performances by complimentary tickets distributed to industry insiders, family members of the production, etc.

In the first chapter of Scenery of the Crime, our main character is attending a first preview of a new play and sneaks out during the performance to use the mens’ room. In the lavatory, not only is he confronted by a wall of cigarette smoke, but by the fact that there were almost as many people hanging out in there than were seated in the orchestra level upstairs.

Frank Fraver Verlizzo's first book
Fraver by Design - Five Decades of Theatre Poster Art
From Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Beyond

9. What parts, if any, of your design career were you able to parlay into the writing process? I find that my writing process is similar to my designing process. I create the mystery story or the graphic design in layers. Getting the basic concept down, and then filling it in with all the details necessary. I am definitely tapping into all of my career experiences in my writing.

Many of my cast of characters are amalgams of the fantastic and quirky people I’ve had the honor with which to work and to meet during the course of a regular work day in the behind-the-scenes world of theatrical advertising for Broadway.

10. For the person out there who is contemplating their second act, what advice would you share with them based upon your own journey? Explore your passion!

During our regular careers, we make a series of compromises. We may not be in control of what it is we are working on or who we are answerable to. We do it because it’s WORK. It’s our livelihood; it provides our income.

A “second act” needs to tap into our dreams and desires. I always fantasized about writing a mystery novel. I found that during the COVID lockdown, I had an opportunity to explore that dream. Tapping into this creative impulse for me was freeing. I was writing for an audience of one…ME.

I was able to put aside all the negative thoughts that can plague us and simply write something that, as a lifelong mystery fan, I would want to read. For me, it was “curtain up” on Act Two!

11. What is something we didn't get to talk about in this interview that you'd like my audience to know about you? One of my secret passions is sketching and painting portraits. I can people-watch for hours. Since I recognized early on that I was never going to become the next John Singer Sargent, I switched my focus to graphics and graphic illustration. But, I’m hoping to get back to portrait painting at some point in my free time—whenever that may be.

Frank Fraver Verlizzo
Photo Credit: Jon Bierman

More on Frank Fraver Verlizzo:

Frank “Fraver” Verlizzo became synonymous with powerful and evocative storytelling through his poster designs. He designed poster art for the original Broadway productions of Disney’s The Lion King, Stephen Sondheim’s Sweeney Todd and Sunday in the Park with George, Ira Levin’s Deathtrap, Stephen King’s Misery, and the 50th Anniversary Celebration of Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap in London’s West End.  

His ability to capture the essence of a Broadway show in a single image earned him the prestigious Drama Desk Special Award in 1987. Playbill dubbed him, “the theatre poster legend.” A collection of his work: Fraver by Design—Five Decades of Theatre Poster Art from Broadway, Off-Broadway, and Beyond, was published in 2018.

Frank’s been a frequent guest speaker at such venues as The NY Public Library for the Performing Arts at Lincoln Center, The Drama Bookshop; BroadwayCon, Pratt Institute and Yale University.

Inspired by his mother, an avid life-long reader, Frank has been a devoted fan of books —specifically murder mysteries. In 2020 he began writing his own mystery series using his career in theatrical advertising as inspiration. The products of that labor are the books of the Retro Broadway Murder Mystery Series.