Is there a God? No one can prove it, but the experience I’m about to describe suggests that there might be, and that He/She likes me.
I always enjoy teaching in Las Vegas because the students are of a different stripe. I call them “glitzy carnies” with no disrespect intended – on the contrary, I think they’re uniquely cool. The showbiz they’re in is a certain world of its own, and this is reflected in their humor and approach to performing. Each is what some would call “a piece of work.”
On this last day of class we all were eager for the culminating performance of our
Continue reading The Musical Improv Show That Providence Made Possible
Corporate shows scare me for multiple reasons, though the cash and the non-show working conditions are so often sublime (I love to travel and stay at high-end hotels and resorts).
Challenge number one: The client usually wants the show to include improvised hilarity “customized” to the company, the president of the company, the product, and so on. This kind of thing is of course a big selling point for some comedy troupes, but in my experience the customizations fail a lot. Not always, but often. The performers may do the best anyone could, but the audience members may not
Continue reading “Cabaretto” in Miami – A Client Request I Should Have Declined
The holiday season is traditionally a hectic time for musicians, scrambling to cover the wealth of available gigs. I did a lot of piano playing as usual, and this time I also got a job writing music for Marc Warzecha’s ”Kwame a River: the Chronicles of Detroit’s Hip-Hop Mayor.” The show is a satirical look at Kwame Kilpatrick’s colorful reign as mayor. Marc Warzecha wrote the book and lyrics, and in November he asked me to be the composer. Rehearsals began on December 15, 2008 and the show opened on New Year’s Eve.
Jenaya Jones Reynolds as Carlita Kilpatrick takes a swing at
Continue reading Kwame A River: The Chronicles of Detroit’s Hip-Hop Mayor
This performance is perfect. Jenny applies every trick in the book to improvise a funny song, and takes complete possession of the audience. She begins with “Won’t you be my koala ?” and here comes the romantic power ballad.
The song structure is solid as can be: verse/verse/bridge/verse. No meandering whatsoever.
“Won’t You Be My Koala?” (the thematic line) is placed at the top of each verse and left out of the bridge. This procedure is present in one of the games I teach students to play as they learn song structures.
This thematic line is explored and heightened throughout the song, never veered away from
Continue reading Simple Song Structure Hits Jackpot in Las Vegas
This is an example of excitingly organic musical improv expertly tempered with solid technique to create a well-organized, theatrical piece. The sections are very clear:
A “preamble,” during which Lani fishes for a catchy idea that she can turn into a chorus.
Then the “chorus” materializes, followed by
A “spoken interlude” which launches cleanly into
the recurrence of that chorus.
A “bridge” section comes along and takes us climactically RIGHT back into a final section,
the chorus. This time around, the chorus becomes a soaring conclusion to the song. Overall, it’s no particular “song form” or formula; it’s just the singer using great musical sense as
Continue reading Great Use of a Chorus in an Improvised Song
