Got a theater gig for this summer... looks like fun!

alparrott

Diamond Member
Goes to show it's all about who you know! I have been off the gigging scene for most of a year as I work on finishing my Master's degree and deal with the pace of my day job. In the music business, disappearing for that long can be the death of you, so I've showed up at a blues jam here and there, sat in with a few people for one-off things on Saturday evenings... you know, just to keep my face and name out there. I also check in with my buddies at the music store and make it to other musicians' shows and events when I can.

One of these muso friends heard that a local theater producer was looking for a drummer for a local revival production of "The Rocky Horror Show". He called up the guy and recommended me, gave him a quick rundown of stuff I've done. The guy hired me over Facebook, in essence. I'll be doing the gig through August.

Odd that almost 25 years since I was going twice a weekend to yell at the screen at the Dream Theater in Monterey, I'm returning to this material, playing alongside session pros, in my new hometown. It's been a blast working through the score and dusting off my memories of this music.

Lessons that we can all take away from this:
1) Don't let your memory fade away if for some reason you are not able to play out. Stay minimally active in the scene, but make sure you are still doing the networking so that an opportunity doesn't slip by you.
2) Listen to just about every bit of music you can with an ear towards playing it someday. You never know.
3) I'm really glad I can read. Granted, there's no drum part in the score, but I'm grateful to be able to use the score to follow along and make my own notations. It's far easier than having to remember two hours of music on the fly!

Also, as far as I know, the musicians are not required to wear fishnets. Although if that changes, I'll be certain to put up pics.
 
Good for you - how fantastic!

Also, as far as I know, the musicians are not required to wear fishnets. Although if that changes, I'll be certain to put up pics.

Glad to hear it. About putting up the pictures, I mean. I think you should take the initiative anyway.
 
A little bit of updating on this gig.

I've been playing through the score recording as pretty much the only playing I do for the past month. I think I could do about 90% of it from memory now, although that's what the score is for.

The producer has decided to in fact go for the "punk rock" look that was used in one of the revivals. So I'm letting the hair and beard grow out a little bit, the better to sculpt, style, and color. Pictures will obviously happen.

Right now I'm trying to decide between my two primary snare drums for the show (although I may just take them both and throw one off to the left on a stand with a towel on it for a nicknack holder and switch out as necessary). Betty, my Ludwig Standard Aluminium snare, has got just a bit more pop and snap to her, and she's proving slightly more responsive snare-wise. Veronica, my Pearl Sensitone BOB, has (of course) a bit more body, and I trust the hardware on her a scoche more than I trust Betty's P85 strainer and internal muffler that's been known to rattle a little.

Finally, check out the very cool stage setup we'll be using! The actors will be right in the middle of the audience and right on top of the VIP seats. Wish I could watch it out front once =)
 

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A curtain and what appears to be a projection screen.
 
Congrats! Rocky Horror would be a fun gig.

As for fishnets, well, I've worn some crazy things on stage, but never fishnet stockings. haha.



Odd that almost 25 years since I was going twice a weekend to yell at the screen at the Dream Theater in Monterey,.
You know that's where the band took their name from? Never knew anyone who actually went there though.
 
Al, you're like Superman - a master multitasker! What's the masters in, BTW?

That friend of yours is a good 'un too, giving you the recommendation. Photos with or without fishnets would be good.
 
Congrats Al! I'll bet thats going to be a fun gig. I absolutly love the soundtrack, I was actually listening to it earlier on Pandora. I haven't yet seen Rocky Horror on stage yet, just the shadow cast at the movies. It is certainly on the bucket list though.
 
Al, you're like Superman - a master multitasker! What's the masters in, BTW?

Masters in Education with a concentration in Educational Leadership -- fits the day job, natch.

DED, I was a faithful attendee of the Dream Theater's midnight showings of Rocky Horror all through 1990-1991. I did not learn of the band until much later in life, and I have no idea if I ever bumped into Portnoy, Sr. there, or whoever it supposedly was.
 
Also, I decided this was apropos for the gig.
 

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Sounds like a great project to be involved in. Some great songs to play from the movie soundtrack. The late great B J Wilson played drums on the soundtrack.
 
Well,

I have tone thing to say, and that's...








Dammit, Janet.
 
UPDATE: Well we had two band rehearsals for the show, and for a total of an hour and change of music, spending 6 hours on it together was probably about right. For those of you familiar with the RHS, it's all pretty much straight-ahead 50's and 60's style doo-wop and rock; the complexity (as with all theater gigs) comes from the stops, the cues, the integration of the actors and their choreography and lines, and the non-intuitive phrasing that has to take place to make the whole thing work (i.e. a 7-measure or 9-measure verse instead of an 8-measure verse).

The show will be done in the "punk" aesthetic, and as in the 2001 Broadway revival (as you can see from the above diagram) the band will be behind a semi-transparent scrim for the show (with the scrim lifted for a couple of numbers such as "Hot Patootie"). So the band is supposed to also dress "punk". Well, I had been growing out my hair to spike or mohawk or some such, but I can't think of anything less punk than a bald spot (see pictures below), so in a few moments my wife will be shaving it all back off.

Now is when my high score on the "drum nerd" quiz thread actually pays off, as the 2011 score requires a mark tree, cowbell, tambourine and bell cymbal -- all of which I have, as a card-carrying geardo.

As of right now, Betty (the Ludwig aluminum Standard snare) is looking like the main snare, with an Evans G-Plus on there for a meaty thwop; Veronica (the Pearl BOB Sensitone) is in reserve in case Betty has a blowout.

Full everyone rehearsals begin tomorrow, with opening night on Thursday next. I'm pretty stoked -- this is going to be a LOT of fun!
 

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Wow. I thought you guys had already started the gig and you've been doing shows all this time. Where have I been? Rehearsals? You don't need no stinkin' rehearsals ;)
 
All bets are off on drum nerdness for pit orchestra work. Frequently lots of "toys" are needed. I have acquired most of mine over the years because I have gotten tired trying to borrow them.

Sounds like it's going to be fun. Have a good time.
 
Nice gig to get. and nice rig.
Is that a old Slingerland Aluminum snare I see? I just got one off ebay, as an alternative to an Acrolite sound. It sounds good but has bizarre construction (knife sharp bearing edge), haven't dialed it in yet.
 
Nice gig to get. and nice rig.
Is that a old Slingerland Aluminum snare I see? I just got one off ebay, as an alternative to an Acrolite sound. It sounds good but has bizarre construction (knife sharp bearing edge), haven't dialed it in yet.

Nope. It's a Ludwig Standard in Aluminum -- their non-Acro aluminum snare. I had been looking for an Acro for a dryer 80's pop sound, and when a local kid told me he had one, I was shocked to find out that he actually had a Standard -- much harder to find. I traded an old steel piccolo for it (which I picked up over 10 years ago for $75). I find myself coming back to this little gem; even though my Pearl BOB is a great-sounding snare, the Standard has a very Acro sound to it that I love.
 

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Set up, running through rehearsals... what a talented cast! Wanted to post a YouTube vid of our lead actress, Alix, doing Janet's solo that leads off Act Two, but in a very cool unplugged way. Take it away, Alix!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QZUF3APtuU0

And here's the set in place in the pit, miked up and ready to be abused for three straight weeks. Never been so happy to have an IEM setup -- except when the sound guy doesn't mute the actors' headsets when they go to the loo. (Yes, happened today. He routed it to the house as soon as he realized what was happening.)
 

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