on May 25th, 2008Music Director
I’m fairly active in musical theater in the Bay Area. I lead the Board of Directors at Altarena Playhouse, the Bay Area’s oldest continuously-operating community theater (founded 1938), and I have served as Music Director for many productions there. You will probably find photos of me in that capacity on Altarena’s web site.
I’ve also served as Music Director for the Haste Street Players and the Custom Made Theatre Company in San Francisco, where I music directed the 2007 production of Assassins that was chosen as a “Top 10 Bay Area production” by TalkinBroadway.com and recommended by the SF Bay Guardian as a “Notable Theater Production of 2007″
Theater History and Practice
I recently gave a talk at the RAD Lab that included a brief overview of the history of this indigenous American form, its role in commenting on and presenting American cultural identity, and what it takes to get a musical “from the page to the stage” (i.e. the production process).
Music Director’s Cheat Sheet
I’m also continuously working on a book, So They Talked You Into Being Music Director, about how to Music Direct a community show, including a lot of things they don’t teach you in school, even if you have a music degree.
Free download coming to this page soon.
My Music Director Gigs
I’ve been Music Director for Chicago (Altarena 2008, Baker House Productions 1989), Assassins (Custom Made Theater Co. 2007), The Last Five Years (Altarena 2007), Merrily We Roll Along (Altarena 2006), You’re A Good Man Charlie Brown (Altarena 2006), Cabaret (Altarena 2005), The Man Who Saved Christmas (Altarena 2006), Oh My Godmother! (Altarena premiere 2005 & full production 2005), Company (Altarena 2004, Haste St. Players 1998), Bye Bye Birdie (Baker House Productions 1990), Guys & Dolls (BHP 1988).
I’ve been Assistant Music Director and/or Arranger for Oklahoma! (Contra Costa Civic Theater 1998), and I’ve played the piano or piano/conductor books for A Chorus Line, Cabaret, Grease, Into the Woods, Joseph…Dreamcoat, and I’m intimately familiar with many, many more.
