Yesterday, I was fortunate enough to interview Fun Home music director Chris Fenwick in the house of the Circle in the Square Theater itself. It has been interesting to me how many music directors have the luxury of choosing precisely what kind of work they want to do. Many, like Chris, have never had to do audition piano, coachings, or copy work. We had a fantastic conversation about the show, about Broadway, and about my project. Chris was interesting to me not only because of my love of Fun Home, but the extensive work he has done off-Broadway with Michael John LaChuisa, one of my favorite composers. Chris is a conservatory-trained classical pianist, another interesting and varied background to add to my list of music directors I have interviewed (now at 10!) I also received my email interview questions back fully answered from Joseph Church.
We then had another Gumbo rehearsal. We’re almost done teaching music and I still can’t believe how much rehearsal work I am doing. I am playing, teaching, and doing so much more than I’ve ever done as an assistant because this show is so demanding. I’m having the most positive experience at this show and I can’t wait for the presentations on Monday and Tuesday.
The rest of this week is just staying busy with Gumbo and starting to work on my write-up for this project.