Life in the Pit

39. Programming Keyboards for Theatre Part 2 - John Eldridge: keyboardist, music director

Modern keyboardists in theatre can't just turn on their instrument and play the book.  There are often several hours needed for preparing the keyboard for the sequence of sounds and effects needed for a show.  Those effects have gotten more and more elaborate  John Eldridge is the owner of  Stage Sounds, a company that specializes in over 100 shows of downloadable preprogrammed keyboard files for MainStage software, with more titles each month, and additional services being developed.  He returns to follow up on a great conversation begun on Episode 38.  This episode gets more into the modern keyboardist's world, WHY shows have gotten so complicated, and how theater companies and music directors need to adjust their mindset to how one should plan a show.   And again, John's company might be the answered prayer to all the opportunity cost you'll be investing.

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  You can also donate through the website.  This podcast is currently ad-free, so all donations are gratefully appreciated.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

 

38. Programming Keyboards for Theatre Part 1 - John Eldridge: keyboardist, music director

If you've never played a keyboard for a modern musical, you may be wondering what the big deal is with programming.  If you HAVE played keyboard for a modern musical, then you know!  John Eldridge of Boston, MA definitely knows.  After spending hours preparing his keyboard for an upcoming show, he got the idea to save and rent his work to save future keyboardists the huge opportunity cost that is spent here.  He created the company Stage Sounds, a company that specializes in over 100 shows of downloadable preprogrammed keyboard files for MainStage software, with more titles each month, and additional services being developed.

John talks about this mysterious but fascinating aspect of a theatrical keyboardist's life that has gone from non-existent to a MAJOR part of the job in a few short decades, including his experience as a staff keyboard programmer for the NYC off-broadway production of Ride the Cyclone. Thanks to such a great conversation, this is presented in 2 parts, with part 2 coming next Friday!

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  You can also donate through the website.  This podcast is currently ad-free, so all donations are gratefully appreciated.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

 

37. Symphony Orchestra with Theatrical Touches - Ingrid Keller, executive director

Ingrid Keller is the executive director of the Western Piedmont Symphony Orchestra.  Prior to this, she grew up acting in theatre, playing roles such as Eponine in Les Misérables, Vivienne in Legally Blonde, and Snoopy in You're a Good Man Charlie Brown.  She studied in London, and has lived in Seoul.  Her theatrical background and diverse experience with culture has influenced her programming for the WPSO, including audience-immersion events inspired by recent Broadway plays such as The Legacy Gala and the Downton Abbey Experience.  She also represents many performing arts group in talking about how the orchestra has remained functional through the pandemic.  Although she is not an active pit player, she has pit experience at probably the youngest age of any previous guest.

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

36. "Just Keep Working" - Louis B. Crocco, percussionist

Playing on national tours for 25 years in shows such as White Christmas, Bombay Dreams, High School Musical, Miss Saigon, and more including a Japanese tour of Rent should all be enough to discuss in one episode.  That's a full career as a touring percussionist with some major shows.

However, he's also worked extensively as an actor/singer, a choreographer (or "moveography" as he calls it) and director, an AEA certified Stage Manager.  But since all of that was on hiatus, he started his own podcast network and is the creator and host of two sports podcasts: Loyal Littles Podcast and The Upset Special.  He's an NFL fan, and I questioned him in advance about who he had picked for the Super Bowl.  We now know that the Tampa Bay Buccaneers beat the Kansas City Chiefs.  How did Louis do on his picks?

Why does he do so much?  It's because of his 3-word life statement, "Just keep working."  That he does!

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

35. "Learning on the Job" - Mike Lasley: music director, keyboardist, percussionist

Mike Lasley is an instructor at NC A&T University, and is educated as a percussionist.  In theatre, he most often serves as a music director and/or a keyboardist.  He has also been on stage as a lead actor.  Finally, he has gained experience as a member of the board of directors for High Point Community Theatre, and offers insight into the what a board does and how that shapes his perspective as a music director.

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

34. Pregnancy Brain and Percussion - Christina Lowder: percussionist, drummer

Christina Lowder is a percussionist near Greensboro, NC who plays a lot of shows for the renowned theatre program at Elon University in addition to other venues.  She talks about being a woman on an instrument historically stereotyped for guys, shares a story about being sick and not sure if she'll make it to the end of a show (a story that will get reprised from a different perspective in Episode 35), and playing a show while pregnant.

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

33. "Catastrophe Mitigation" - Eric Eakes: violist, personnel manager

Eric Eakes plays the viola, and is a doctoral student at the University of Miami.  In addition to playing for shows and other performances, he also is the personnel manager for the Henry Mancini Institute Orchestra.  We talk about that job and being a theatre musician in South Florida.

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

Ask the Music Director part 4

The fourth and final (at least for now) installment of Ask The Music Director, where we answered questions you asked of music directors.  We have music directors representing schools, community theatre, touring shows, and Broadway productions in this series, representing NYC, Chicago, Boston, DC, Cleveland, Kansas City, Greensboro, and Tennessee.

The questions answered in this part are:

“What do you actually listen for at mass auditions when there are so many shows that need cast?”

“How do you decide tempos?”

“What are the most important skills a pit drummer must have for an Music Director?”

If you have a question to ask, or happen to be a music director who would like to participate in future questions, please contact me through the contact page at www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast 

Thank you for your support in 2020!  You can follow on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Please share and offer us a rating and review

32. Disney, Mamma Mia, and Summer Stock - John de Haas: keyboardist, music director, composer

John de Haas has worked at Walt Disney World as a musician for 20 years and counting.  He talks about about what it's like to work there, and how one might go about getting a job there or elsewhere in the company.  He also has played keyboards on the Mamma Mia national tour, worked with kids in Orlando area schools, music directed regional theatre in central Florida, and composed and premiered multiple musicals such as Halloween: The Musical, Theme Park Diva, Tappin' and Yappin', Just This Once, and more.

You can follow him on Facebook at https://www.facebook.com/JBdMusic.  Most of his musicals are available to stream or download.

Follow the podcast on Instagram, Facebook, or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.

31. "Anytime is a Good Time" - Kini Slaughter, Flutist, Event Coordinator

Life in the Pit gets way outside the pit itself this week, but this still is potentially of great value to either established pit musicians or especially music students.  Kini Slaughter plays the flute and understands the world of the performing musician, but a few years ago she turned to making a career on the administrative side of the arts.  This is one of the longer episodes, but one where a lot is discussed.  The first half of the episode talks about Kini's journey as a musician and we get into practice techniques and philosophy.  Around the 35 minute mark, we talk about working in arts administration, what goes into event planning, touching up your Linked-In page, polishing your resume, using the concept of "industry interview" to get into the field of your choice, and how to generally be organized in your goals.  

Whether you want to incorporate the mindset skills into the pit itself, or want to find a day job in the arts while you work part-time in the pit, or just want to have some good skills that can translate to any aspect of your life you want to improve, this is a great first full episode to start the new year!

Follow the podcast on Instagram or Twitter @LifeInThePitPod.  Visit www.davidlanemusic.com/podcast for more info or to send feedback regarding the podcast.  Please leave a rating and a review.  Thank you for listening.