In Sondheim & Co., Paul Gemignani , Sondheim's long-time musical director, had this to say about the art of musical direction:

“The musical director of a show does far more than conduct the orchestra. One of the musical director's functions is to make sure the actors retain their characterizations night after night. You must develop a fairly close relationship with the people on the stage because ultimately you are the one who's in charge once the curtain goes up, regardless of whether the stage manager is c calling cues or keeping the show running from the back.

“You must keep the pace going with the actors. It's almost as though you're a performer and it's very important that you feel that you are part of the performance so that you can maintain a keen level of concentration. I may not look at the show every minute, but I listen to it all the time because the actors will do it differently every night and the only way to keep it cohesive is to feel their rhythms. A song might be in one tempo one night and a little faster or a little slower the next. Each scene has its own rhythm and if the rhythm should be down one night you may be able to help them pick it up a little bit, to get their energy up if they're tired.”

For Sondheim in September, we have a different musical director for each night and as well as having to take care of all of the above, the format of the series presents a whole different set of challenges. By definition the rehearsal opportunities will be limited and it demands a very special kind of musician to be able to tune in to over 30 different performers and 20 different numbers in quick succession. To make all the numbers work as intended. To make all the performers feel confident. To keep them all on track. To keep the music moving forward and not let the energy of one song bleed into the next. And as if that wasn't enough, we are talking about Sondheim here. The purely physical demands of playing two solid hours of Sondheim with NO BREAK - sobering. I think like all the performers in the series it was, to a certain extent, the sheer madness of this idea that made our stable of MDs agree to the challenge.

We have gathered probably the three best MDs in the city for this kind of thing. Having auditioned, or performed, with all of them I can honestly say that it wasn't until we had ALL THREE signed up that I knew we had a shot at something great.

When you audition, professionally, for a large role and you don't have your own pianist with you, there are a few seconds after you step into the room and have greeted everyone at the main table. You turn to your accompanist - whom you have probably never met - and you have just enough time to explain any unusual ideas and check starting tempo and then you're on and this 3 minute performance could secure you years of employment or keep you from ever working for that director again! Its in this fraction of time that you know - without ever really knowing how you know - whether your accompanist is going to be a friend or an enemy. Whether they will allow you to forget the music and perform your heart out, or spend the entire audition grinding your teeth and wanting to scream to the panel how much better you would be as the lead in their show if only they hired decent musicians. It's just a very particular skill. A combination of abilities. Reading on sight, Listening carefully, Being open to what the performer is doing and understanding the style and demands of the piece. Being sympathetic, musical, talented and experienced all at once.  So rare to find all of these qualities in one person never mind three.

If I am going on about this it is only because I am constantly amazed by how this actually works. I have been singing in the theatre for over twenty years and I still can't quite understand what a musician does to make the difference between 'playing the notes' and 'creating a performance'. Somewhere in the space between you and them it happens and its quite magical when it does. Those of you odd enough to have chosen this as a career will know of what I speak and if the rest of  you reading this would like to get an idea of how this happens then come and see Sondheim in September. We have three masters of the art!

Thank you all three of  you and for the rest please book soon as we are (happily) filling up fast.

Cheers

WK
 


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Sondheim in September is a charity event benefiting The Actors Fund Of Canada