100 Days of Practice: Day 1 Comments

So, I’ve decided to get on the #100daysofpractice bandwagon.

Stagedoor Session 2! Into The Woods! 2 1/2 weeks until performance…

No quite pit blacks because I’m in jeans. But still excited to be playing tonight for Nunsense at @stagedoormanor ! These kids have worked hard and I’m so proud!

My office for the next 3 days. Looking forward to Nunsense at @stagedoormanor !

Needed something for the road trip. I’ve heard good things about this book!

Pretty sure this was all a stone plaza last time I was here. (For those who hadn’t heard, there’s a temporary park at Lincoln Center all simmer)

Took me a week but we all knew this was inevitable. #librarycard @nypl #knowledgeispower #books

Very excited to be playing my first church service (and first music job) in New York today. Substituting at this beautiful church in Brooklyn. Thanks to Nick Guerrero for hiring me!

The face of a guy who, 10.5 hours later, is officially a New York resident! (Not ready to call myself a New Yorker yet)

I have plenty to work on, especially as I’m now a resident organist at a church, plus preparation for grad school auditions (more on this during my “Year in Review” post on Monday).

But there’s a rather unique twist to mine: I’m a multi-instrumentalist, and at least one of my instruments is not easily available for me. I have only limited access to the organ, so I can’t practice it every day.

My understanding of the challenge is that I should be putting in daily, consistent work. So I’m broadening my definition of practice to keyboard skills in general. So I will make a point of describing what I’m doing each day, but be prepared for a lot of pictures of one of my organs, or of the many and various keyboards and pianos I have access to at school.

I won’t post to this site every day, but I’ll be posting to instagram, so follow me there if you want to see all the details.

See you on Monday for a year in review!

The Best Laid Plans

Well…hello.

It’s been a bit since I wrote here. In fact, from what I can see of my publication dates, it has been almost a month. A lot has happened in that time. Here’s a quick run-down:

• Thanksgiving 2018. I had actually scheduled a post for this day, but I never finished editing it for publication. The gist of it was this:

I am thankful for my loving family and friends, for the actors and musicians I’ve worked with over the last year, and for the incredibly fortunate life I have to to be able to do this and to pursue it.

• Church Organ at Advent Lutheran Church. This has been a big focus of my life in recent weeks. As I begin working regularly, I’m having to spend more time developing skills and picking up repertoire for Preludes, Postludes, and Offertories. This was quite a challenge at first, but I’m finding that my pace has increased as I’ve gotten familiar with the instrument.

• Application to Arizona State University. I submitted my application on the afternoon of November 30, just before the December 1 deadline. I am still waiting to hear back. One of my references sent me a copy of her recommendation letter and I was really honored by the glowing terms she used to describe my work.

• Magnolia West Choir Concert. This past Thursday was our annual “Merry Mustang Show and Auction” at MWHS. This concert is a huge undertaking, as it is one of our main fundraisers for the year. In addition to the longest concert of our year (about an hour and a half), we present a silent auction of gift baskets made by our students (and constructed by the head director), and a live auction of decorated Christmas trees by parents. All of this money goes toward student scholarships. It’s a genius idea, and I’m always excited to see how it goes. This year was quite stressful, as we seemed to be a little behind the curve on things. The two days leading up to the concert I didn’t even have time to stop for lunch between paperwork and rehearsals.

• Pride and Prejudice at Fourth Wall Theatre Company. I returned to my favorite local professional company to see “Pride and Prejudice” in an adaptation by Kate Hamill. I still haven’t read the book so I can’t comment on comparisons, but my two companions were intimately familiar with it and seemed to have a good time. It took some liberties with the plot in the interest of time and comedy but it was, as always, well-acted and exciting.

• Application to Shenandoah Conservatory. Last night, a friend helped me re-record the interview portion of my application to SU. I’m hoping to edit that together with video of myself leading rehearsals so that I can submit in the next few days. I know it’s well ahead of their January deadline, but I’d rather be done with it so I can enjoy my holidays.

Upcoming events are of course Christmas 2018 and New Year 2018-2019. I have Christmas eve services at the church that I will put on the calendar as soon as I have sorted out the repertoire. I need to make a Christmas list to send to family this weekend. I need to start making plans for the new year.

Oh and I need to continue to post here regularly…

Busy Few Days

Thanks to my faithful reader for reminding me that I’ve been lax in posting on here. It’s been a busy few days and I’m still recovering. I’m not sure I can coherently reflect on what’s going on in my life. I feel like I’m still running ahead of things, and I will finally have some recovery time this week and weekend.

In the meantime, here’s what’s going on:

• Last weekend I saw “Jesus Hopped the ‘A’ Train” at Fourth Wall Theatre Company. There was a lot to reflect on, and I hope to do so more at length soon. My main impressions: an incredibly compelling show and an excellent cast and production. I highly recommend it.

• My students performed a concert last night, which was well-received. I’m glad to have a first performance behind us, and a second one coming soon. We sing at the football game next weekend, and then we have been invited to Men’s Choir Festival at Sam Houston State University in a few weeks.

• I’m preparing for a trip to visit one of my options for graduate school. That will be next weekend, after the football game performance.

• Teaching is going well. My students are progressing as expected, and even ahead of my schedule.

• I’m continuing to practice piano and prepare for my graduate auditions. I’m also assisting a friend with his college voice lessons. I’m generally trying to do more

I thought I would get less busy when my last show ended! But between this and a social life, I feel barely able to stay on top of things. I already feel sleepy.

Seriously, though, I intend to get back to writing somewhat regularly around here very soon.

Post-Show Thoughts

Its’ been a bit since I posted. Part of that excuse is the busy schedule of a show, plus a full time job. But now that Seven Brides for Seven Brothers has closed, I have time to reflect.

Looking Back

It’s been a fairly crazy (for me) summer. I had an ill-fated trip to the Grand Canyon, a micro-vacation to Austin, and an eventful, extensive rehearsal process for a musical.

The last one was of course the biggest part of my schedule. Rehearsals 4 days per week left little time for anything else in the evenings. The show was a massive success, selling out more than half of our 10 performances. I’ll update the show page soon with pictures and more info.

Toward the end of the summer, I made it a goal to have one new artistic experience every week. Previous sights included trips to the Museum of Fine Arts Houston, Island ETC in Galveston, and my first show at The MATCH.

Of course I also inaugurated this blog. Now that the show has closed, I have time to stop and think and reevaluate.

Looking Forward

For the first time in nearly three years, I don’t have a show coming up. It’s still taking a time to settle in.

I’ve been music director and/or pianist for 12 shows since fall of 2015. In that time, I’ve gained a lot of knowledge and experience on how to work with singers, directors, musicians, and the challenges of a musical theatre score.

I still have a lot of room to grow, and I’m looking forward to trying that now that I have a little time to focus myself. I want to do more score study, more piano practice, and more observing of other musicians.

I’m back in piano lessons, and after a recent exciting day as an organ substitute, I’m thinking of getting back in to organ lessons as well. I also recently came into possession of an accordion, so that may be in my future too.

I’m looking at attending graduate school if I find a program that I like and that will let me in. Doing some campus visits this fall, and applying. I will know by March or April of next year.

In the meantime, I have a choir to direct and I’m seeing another show this week. I made recordings of my playing piano so I can do some self assessment. I just bought a new score. The Woodlands Chamber Music Project is going to pick up. I’m reading more and exploring more.

So look forward to seeing new posts here!

What I'm Reading

On Saturday, I went up to the Newton Gresham Library at Sam Houston State University. I love to go dig through their music library for interesting things, and this time I found a whole new section. Over in the corner near the oversized scores, there was a trove of reference books related to producing musicals.

I also went to up to the American Literature section of the library and checked out a few volumes of classic plays by American playwrights: Edward Albee, Arthur Miller, and Tennessee Williams. I'm already very excited about what I'm discovering.

The Man Who Had All the Luck by Arthur Miller

This was a quick read from the collected plays of Arthur Miller. Written in 1940, it was first produced on Broadway in 1944. It follows the life of David Beeves, a young man who somehow manages to get everything he wants through what seems to be sheer luck. When his girlfriend's father refuses to grant his blessing, he is killed in a freak accident, leaving the path free. David seems to be blessed in business and relationships, while his family and friends encounter the normal consequences of bad luck and bad choices.

The play has a lot of dramatic momentum, and as David realizes his seemingly impossible luck, he flirts with madness. I was really compelled by this storyline, and I could definitely see it continuing to play well onstage (As I was looking up the publication date, I found it had a few semi-successful productions, including a 2002 Broadway revival.

Little Musicals for Little Theatres by Denny Martin Flinn

This was a surprising book. I was really excited to see it, because I've recently had an interest in smaller, more adventurous musicals. This book contains pages and pages of musicals that don't have massive production values. As the subtitle says, it's "A Reference Guide to the Musicals that Don't Need Chandeliers or Helicopters to Succeed".

The book is split into three sections: book musicals, themed revues, and composer revues. I'm about halfway through the section on book musicals and I've already discovered more than half a dozen musicals I want to explore or maybe even direct.

I don't always agree with his opinions on the shows I do know (such as his low opinion of Falsettos), but it provides plenty of food for thought.

What else is there?

I don't know how far I'll get this week, but here are the rest of the things I checked out.

• The Collected Plays of Arthur Miller Volume 1 (1944-1961) containing All My Sons, Death of a Salesman, An Enemy of the People, The Crucible, A Memory of Two Mondays, two versions of A View from the Bridge, and The Misfits
• The Theatre of Tennessee Williams Volume 1 containing Battle of Angels, The Glass Menagerie, and A Streetcar Named Desire.
• The Collected Plays of Edward Albee Volume 1 containing The Zoo Story, The Death of Bessie Smith, The Sandbox, The American Dream, Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf?, The Ballad of the Sad Cafe, Tiny Alice, and Malcolm
• So You're the New Musical Director by James H. Laster
• From Assassins to West Side Story: The Director's Guide to Musical Theatre by Scott Miller
• Making a Broadway Musical: Making it Run by John D. Mitchell

Can you sense the theme? I don't know if I'll get through it all, but plays are a quick read. 

Coming Together

Somewhere early in Act 1 of Chay Yew's play "Porcelain", the young man at the center of the plot tells his psychiatrist "We're not so different."

John is a young, gay, Chinese man. He is addressing an older, straight, white man. And his point is that he has been made to feel like an outsider because of those differences. This is especially true in early 1990s London, where the play takes place. He cries out for empathy and for understanding, but because he's human he struggles to make himself vulnerable.

I saw the production by Caduceus Theater Arts Company last night, and this scene struck me as a clear message in the show. There were several other scenes that returned to this topic. Near the end of Act 1 John complains about being either ignored or fetishized for being Asian in a world of white men. Or when a TV interviewee pushes back against the reporter's attempts to paint gay men as perverts, unacceptable in society.

It's an incredibly intense show. This intimate production was physically exhausting to watch (and I was actually shaking at times). I encourage anyone who has a chance to see it. But consider it rated R for its intense portrayal of sexuality and violence, and for a lot of swearing. 

---

We're All Human

One topic that is on my mind a lot these days is empathy. Empathy is the ability to not just understand, but identify with the situation another is in. It is difficult to do, but it's very important in being able to relate to others.

In this day and age, we look for categories. We look for ways to find people we are similar to, and to be away from people who are different from us. We categorize ourselves as "us" and "them". These divisions, whether they be sexual, racial, or political, allow us to feel good about ourselves and judge others.

The problem comes when we decide that not only are we better than "them", but that something about them is fundamentally wrong. It's easy to slide from "I don't like you" to "You are worthless". This slide isn't obvious. But when we use dehumanizing language, when we compare people to animals (pig, dog, or monkey are common), when we describe people in terms of their traits (impugning someone's weight, race, or sexual orientation), we minimize them. They're no longer human.

When someone is no longer human, they are no longer deserving of respect. And when respect goes, so does the ability to talk to each other. And when we can't talk, we can't agree. And when we can't agree, society collapses. It's every man for himself.

How do we develop empathy? We can only do it by observing others and seeing how they are similar to us. Theater gives us a unique insight into people in a way other media doesn't.

Art as a Teacher

Seeing shows like Porcelain, experiencing the trials and pains of someone like John Lee, helps to build empathy. Yes, he's gay, Chinese, and young. Yes, we may be none of those things. But when he describes feeling lonely, we know what loneliness feels like. We share in that. We can share his anger, his pain at being rejected by the man he loves.

And when we are stuck in a room with him, we are forced to confront those emotions along with him. We don't have a barrier to protect us. When he tries not to cry, we have to hold back tears. When he curls up in the arms of his lover, we can both understand his joy and see the visible discomfort in the other man's body language.

This is a strength of theater that's unique. Television has time constraints that prevent it from getting too deep (though it can develop character arcs over the long term of a season or series, if it's not cancelled). Movies often have to have mass appeal, and the sense of scale is a different kind of distancing mechanism.

In a live theater, you have a real, life-size human in the same room experiencing feelings in real time. A good actor or a good play confronts you in a way you can't avoid. A powerfully projected emotion cuts through the facade and the distance that we'd like to create. There's just no denying a man breaking down crying in front of you. Or a woman raging against the injustice just done to her. He is just a man. She is just a woman. No more, no less. Just like us.

In short, what I'm saying is that good theater helps build empathy. And empathy is sorely needed in this day and age. More on that in a future post.

For other empathy building media, check out Queer Eye on Netflix.