by Priscilla

Apr.24, 2009, under Blog

I am the musical director of Priscilla and my job is to help teach the cast all the songs in the show, the harmonies, melody lines, how they fit with each other and how to deliver them. In the rehearsal period I will oversee that everyone is singing what they should be, when they should be. When we move into the theatre I will ensure the band are doing everything in time. Once the show is up and running I do a combination of conducting, playing the piano, nodding cues and making sure that the musical element of the show is how it should be.

Richard Beadle - Musical Director

On a daily basis I will go around to the company and give them feedback on the previous performances. I will tell them when they are great, because it’s always good to start with a positive, but I will highlight if they were a bit flat or off key and try to determine if there was any reason for that. We also have different musicians who come in to cover people on holiday, so we have to make sure that they are playing the right thing and blend with the rest of the orchestra.

There can be quite a lot of pressure in the job, because everything is cued from the music. For example the guitar player might not know exactly where he’s coming in as he’s swapping from his acoustic guitar to his electric guitar, so I will nod him in at the right time. I cue the band one by one and I will also cue the principles. The screens on the front of the dress circle are for the company and they will take their cut offs (when to stop singing) and their entries from them. In a number like Macarthar park, we start with Tony singing and then we move to Jason and then the Divas. They will all take their cues from monitors in the quick change area where they are changing into costumes. The DSM (deputy stage manger) has her own screens to cue the lights, the bus, and the revolve exactly to the music on my cue. A delay of a second and the audience will notice, as a lot of the gags and set ups only work when they’re cued perfectly.

Monitors showing the Musical Director

I have worked on other shows like Grease, but this is a much bigger show - there are so many people and a lot of music. Because there is a lot of underscore it is very filmic. ‘The journey,’ which is the piece of music after we reveal the bus, is all underscore. The characters sing different Kylie songs over the top and I have to move the music to fit the dialogue. There is only one section where I have time to breathe, because the show is so music heavy it’s very demanding for a musical director.

My favourite musical elements of the show include Macarthur Park. Musically it is great to play and by that point the band is really cooking. The look of the number, all the green, the cupcakes, the girls and Jason in his pyjamas is fantastic. Boogie Wonderland is a musician’s dream, a funky disco classic, and Downtown is a funky arrangement of what is originally a much slower song. Downtown opens the show and watching the Divas come down over the harbour bridge and the audience erupt sends a shiver down your spine.