Update from the first couple months of living in NYC!

    Ok so I know I said I would update this blog more often, but I just haven't haha.Things were a little crazy and busy so now here is the first update from August to October.

    As I believe most of you know I finally made the big move to NYC permanently in August. I'm living with my girlfriend Jenn and we have a great apartment in Washington Heights, up at the very top of Manhattan. The place is amazing and the neighborhood is great because it's nice and quiet and doesn't have the fast-paced feel of midtown Manhattan.
   Since I moved up here in August I have worked on two projects. The first took place at the Wings Theatre on Christopher Street, about a block away from the Hudson River. The show was called "Topsy Turvy Loves" and it's basically a musical version of Gilbert's (of Gilbert and Sullivan fame) play "Engaged." The director, Robert Sickinger (who has worked extensively in Chicago and New York and actually was called "one of the best director's I've worked with" by David Mamet) took about 35 Gilbert and Sullivan songs and used them to tell the story of the play. In all honestly, it wasn't the most amazing piece of theatre but it's a start for me. I played Keyboards for it (aka Harpsichord and Organ) and it was a lot of fun. The reviews weren't so good, but I think it's mainly because you really had to know Gilbert and Sullivan music to be able to appreciate it. Here's a link to some info about it that was on: Topsy Turvy Loves

   The next project I worked on was a brand new musical called "Street Lights" and it was a show that got picked to be a part of the New York Musical Theatre Festival. I was chosen to be the assistant to the composer of the show, Joe Drymala. He actually had another show in the festival a year or two back called "White Noise" and he was also a speech writer for Howard Dean. The show is about a neighborhood and the group of kids who live there and the problems they face growing up in a rough neighborhood. The one thing they have is the Music Center where they hang out, but the city decides it's shutting it down so the kids come together to raise money to keep it open. There is other drama and such in it, but that's the basic story. The interesting thing about the show is that it's a hip-hop score, so pretty much R&B songs and rap. The music is great! Here is a link to the show's website: http://www.streetlightsmusical.com 
   My job was basically to put the score together for the show so that it could be played by the four-piece band. In working on the project, I met two great musician contacts. The first is the music director, Sonny Paladino, and he has played for the tour of "Dirty Rotten Scoundrels" and the latest Broadway production of "Grease" and is currently subbing the keyboard parts for "Billy Elliot" and "Mamma Mia." The second guy is Jeff Marder, the keyboard programmer, and he has worked on "Shrek", "Wicked" in LA and Broadway, and is currently going to be playing Keyboard 1 for "The Radio City Christmas Spectacular" show with the Rockettes. So hopefully by meeting these two guys I'll get a lot of work and will be playing on Broadway soon! Street Lights Photo Gallery

   Other than all of that, I haven't been doing much else but hanging out with Jenn and exploring the city. . Read the next post to check out what's been going on in 2010!