May 5, 2026. The 2026 Tony Award nominations were revealed.

The show I’m in got nine of them.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball:

• Best Revival of a Musical

• Best Direction of a Musical

• Best Choreography

• Best Featured Actor in a Musical — André De Shields

• Best Scenic Design of a Musical

• Best Costume Design of a Musical

• Best Lighting Design of a Musical

• Best Sound Design of a Musical

• Best Orchestrations

Nine departments. Nine crafts. Nine different teams who put something real into this production. The industry looked at all of it and said: we see it.

I want to say something specific about that last one — Best Orchestrations.

This isn’t exactly the same Cats score you remember.

The original orchestrations by Andrew Lloyd Webber and David Wilson are the foundation. But what Trevor Holder and Doug Schadt built on top of that foundation is what makes this production sound like nothing the original ever did. Trevor served as Beats Arranger and Producer. Doug was the Music Producer. Together with Lloyd Webber and Wilson, they went inside a score that everybody thought they already knew and rebuilt it from the ground up.

New arrangements. Dance grooves that sit in the pocket in a way that I genuinely look forward to every single night. I’m in that pit eight shows a week and I still feel like getting up at the bows. It’s actually really cool to hear. That’s the music doing exactly what music is supposed to do.

The whole sonic world they created lives inside the ballroom culture this production is built around. It’s not a gimmick layered on top of the show. It’s woven into the DNA of it. That’s the work that got recognized. That’s why all four of them are on that nomination together.

Trevor is a colleague of mine. I’m in that pit eight times a week. I hear what he did to this score up close. The nomination is deserved.

I’ve been in this business 26 years. I know what it feels like when a show doesn’t get noticed. When the work just disappears into the run and nobody says a word. This isn’t that.

I also know what a Tony win actually does to a show. I was at Memphis when we won Best Musical in 2010. No major stars above the title. No built-in fan base from a movie or an album. We built that audience one person at a time, word of mouth, night after night. When we won, something shifted. The visibility went up. People who had never heard of us suddenly had a reason to come. For a show like that, it mattered in a real and specific way.

Now here’s the thing about the revival category that I find interesting.

People generally already know these shows. They have a relationship with them before they ever buy a ticket. They saw the original. They heard the cast album. They know the songs. So a revival is working with a different kind of momentum than a new musical is. Cats: The Jellicle Ball pulled people in partly because they knew Cats and partly because they heard this version was something different. Reimagined arrangements. A whole new concept. A world built around the same bones but sounding and feeling like nothing the original ever was.

But here’s what the Tony race doesn’t always predict. When Avenue Q beat Wicked for Best Musical in 2004, everybody assumed that meant something. And maybe it did for Avenue Q. But Wicked is still here. It’s one of the biggest shows in Broadway history. Avenue Q eventually closed, went to New World Stages, and I know that run well because I subbed there and it was a great experience. But the trophy didn’t tell the whole story either way.

Some shows run because they win. Some shows run because people love them and keep coming back regardless. Sometimes both things are true at once. It’s complicated and it’s always been complicated.

So here’s how I actually feel about all of this.

Ragtime is on that ballot. The Rocky Horror Show is on that ballot. Both are running with full companies. Musicians, crew, wardrobe, everyone. It would be nice to see Cats win. But the truth is, I want every show on that list to stay open as long as it possibly can.

When shows run, people work. That’s it. That’s the whole thing.

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When an award extends a run by six months, that’s six more months on a contract for a drummer who needed it. For a bass player. For a sub who finally got their foot in the door. I know what it looks like when Broadway goes dark. I know what it feels like to watch a show close and wonder what comes next. Ain’t Too Proud closed in March 2020. The checks stopped coming. Everyone in that building went home and waited.

We waited a long time.

Then the shows came back. Ain’t Too Proud reopened in the fall of 2021 with the rest of Broadway. And then we closed again in January 2022.

I didn’t have a Broadway show again until Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

That’s four years. Four years of figuring out what you are when the thing that defines you isn’t available. I kept moving. I did a million things in between. I taught. I built Broadway Drumming 101 into something real. And the thing I’m most proud of from that entire stretch is finishing Broadway Bound and Beyond — a book I wrote because I didn’t want anyone else to go through those four years without a roadmap.

So when I say I want every show on that ballot to run, I mean it the way someone means it when they’ve been on the other side of it. Not as a sentiment. As a fact about how this industry works and what it costs when it doesn’t.

Congratulations in advance to whoever wins. What I care about most is that we’re all working. That the curtain keeps going up. That the musicians in every one of those pits gets to keep doing this.

And if you’re reading this trying to figure out how to get into one of those pits yourself, that’s exactly why Broadway Drumming 101 exists. I want to help you get there. And I want you to stay there.

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway credits include Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and Cats: The Jellicle Ball, with additional credits spanning tick, tick…BOOM!, The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, and subbing on Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the Tony Awards. He has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

The Drama Desk Awards nominations came out, and Cats: The Jellicle Ball landed seven of them.

Outstanding Revival of a Musical. Outstanding Direction. Outstanding Choreography. Outstanding Costume Design. Outstanding Lighting Design. Outstanding Wig and Hair. And a Featured Performance nomination for André De Shields.

Seven nominations across seven different departments.

I’ve been in this business 26 years. I’ve played shows that nobody noticed and shows that everybody talked about. The nominations don’t always come. When they do, you feel it differently from inside the building.

Nobody in that pit is playing for a trophy. But when the work gets recognized — the direction, the choreography, the design, the performance — it means the whole thing landed. The room felt it. The industry felt it.

That’s the show I’m sitting inside eight times a week.

People ask me what it’s like to play Broadway. This is part of the answer. You’re not just a drummer in a chair. You’re part of something that either reaches people or it doesn’t. When it does, the whole building gets acknowledged — not just the names above the title.

Seven departments. Seven nominations.

That’s the Jellicle Ball.

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway credits include Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and Cats: The Jellicle Ball, with additional credits spanning tick, tick…BOOM!, The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, and subbing on Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the Tony Awards. He has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

I opened Substack this morning and saw something I wasn’t expecting.

Broadway Drumming 101 is #43 Rising in Music.

I want to explain what that actually means, because it’s not just a number.

“Rising” means the platform’s algorithm has started showing Broadway Drumming 101 to people who’ve never heard of it. New readers are finding it on their own. The publication is growing beyond the people who already know it exists.

That only happens one way — the people already here have to be engaged enough that the platform notices.

You did that.

If you’ve been reading, listening to the podcast, or forwarding a post to a musician you know — that’s why this moved. Nobody stumbles onto a Rising ranking. Someone has to care enough to show up consistently, and then tell somebody else.

That’s you.

So thank you. I really appreciate it.

One more thing — I added a new section to the site. You’ll see it at the top: Resources — The links that actually matter.

It’s a curated list. Not a dumping ground. Every link is something a working Broadway musician can actually use.

Bookmark it. Share it with someone who needs it.

https://broadwaydrumming101.substack.com/p/resources

Clayton​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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My last opening night was Ain’t Too Proud: The Life and Times of the Temptations. That show closed, reopened, and closed again. By January 2022 it was done for good. A show I believed in, that I thought should still be running. Four years away from Broadway will make you think about a lot of things.

But this business doesn’t owe you anything. It will test your patience in ways you didn’t sign up for. There are long stretches where nothing is happening and you start to wonder if it ever will again.

And then the phone rings.

Cats: The Jellicle Ball. The Broadhurst Theatre. Opening night.

Twenty-six years. Every rehearsal, every sub gig, every conversation with someone who knew more than me and was generous enough to share it. You do the work, you stay ready, and when the right people and the right opportunity finally show up — you better be prepared.

That’s the whole thing. That’s the career.

And that’s exactly what Broadway Bound and Beyond is about. Part memoir, part practical guide — but really it’s everything I know about being a professional musician in New York City and building a career that lasts. The mindset, the relationships, the pit, the business side, the negotiation, what happens when the show closes. The stuff most music schools never touch and nobody tells you until it’s too late.

Readers are calling it full of strategies they wish they’d known years ago. One reviewer put it simply: for students, it’s a glimpse into the future. For professionals, it’s what you need to know before you step into the pit.

That covers just about everybody.

To celebrate the opening of Cats: The Jellicle Ball, I’m giving you 50% off for the next five days — but only at signaturebrandworks.com.

Use code JELLICLE50 at checkout. Signed copies included.

The book is also available on Amazon, Barnes & Noble, and wherever books are sold online. But the 50% off? That’s only at Signature.

Sale ends April 22.

signaturebrandworks.com

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway credits include Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and Cats: The Jellicle Ball, with additional credits spanning tick, tick…BOOM!, The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, and subbing on Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the Tony Awards. He has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

Karl Latham on instagram

A few days ago, my colleague and friend Damien Bassman sent me a text:

“Yeah, man! Mazel tov! Top spot in the IM Monthly newsletter.”

I hadn’t seen it yet.

Then my own copy of International Musician arrived — the official publication of the American Federation of Musicians, the union representing professional musicians across the U.S. and Canada. I saw it for myself. Then a few more texts came in from colleagues who’d spotted it too.

That’s usually how this kind of thing happens. You don’t go chasing it. It finds you through the people you’ve worked with.

Then my friend and incredible drummer Karl Latham posted this on Instagram:

“Very happy to have my copy and didn’t even realize until I was reading it that I was quoted. I’m grateful that my opinion matters to maestro Craddock. I’m a peripheral Broadway musician, and there are many Broadway heavyweights quoted in this resource. It’s a guidebook for anyone interested in a Broadway drumming career and the music business in general.”

Another text came in — this one from Calvin Jones, my bandmate at Cats: The Jellicle Ball, who plays bass in the orchestra. He’d seen it in the paper and just got his own copy.

That’s the point of the whole thing.

Broadway Bound and Beyond wasn’t built on theory or guesswork. It was built on real conversations with people actually doing this work. Karl is one of them. So are many others — colleagues I’ve worked alongside, learned from, and respected for years.

These aren’t opinions from the outside looking in. These are working musicians. Broadway veterans. People who’ve sat in the pit, navigated the sub lists, built relationships over decades, and figured out how this business actually operates.

Their words are in this book because their words are worth something.

When the people you respect recognize it, that means a lot to me.

The book is available now at broadwayboundbook.com, Amazon, and Barnes & Noble — and coming soon to bookstores at several colleges, music schools, and conservatories across the United States.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway credits include Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and Cats: The Jellicle Ball, with additional credits spanning tick, tick…BOOM!, The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, and subbing on Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the Tony Awards. He has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

Opening night is here again.

I don’t take that lightly.

I’ve been through a few of these now, and one thing I understand clearly is that nothing in this business lasts forever. No Broadway show runs indefinitely, even though some have had remarkable runs. The Lion King has been going since 1997. Chicago since 1996. Those are the exceptions, not the rule.

Most shows don’t last like that. Most careers don’t move in a straight line either.

It’s been seven years since my last Broadway opening night. Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations opened in 2019. A lot has happened in between. Work, growth, setbacks, wins, and a lot of time spent figuring things out. That’s part of being a professional musician. There are ups and downs, and if you’re honest about it, sometimes there are more downs than ups.

That’s exactly why I started Broadway Drumming 101 in 2021. I saw how this business works, and I wanted to build something that helps people understand it and navigate it.

Now I’m back for another opening night with Cats: The Jellicle Ball. I’m very aware of what this moment means.

I’m thankful.

Thankful to play alongside the musicians in this show. Thankful for the dancers, singers, and actors on that stage every night. And just as important, thankful for everyone behind the scenes making it all work. Wardrobe. Hair and makeup. Electricians. Carpenters. Sound. Lighting. Props. Ushers. Ticket takers. Security. House management. Production office. Assistants. Production managers. Designers. All of it.

Since February 9, I’ve been watching this whole machine come together. There are moments where I have to stop and take it in. I’m under the stage doing what I do, while everything is happening above me. That’s not something I take for granted.

At the same time, I’m realistic. I don’t know where this goes. None of us do.

All we have is right now.

Fishbone is one of my favorite bands, and I’ve been listening to them a lot when I work out. There’s a song they have called “All We Have Is Now.” That idea has been sitting making me think. It’s simple, but it’s so true. You have to stay present, even while preparing for what’s next.

I often listen to Dr. Wayne Dyer for that reason. When I feel like I need to be grounded and centered, I go back to his audiobooks. One thing he talks about is that thoughts are things. What you focus on matters. The thoughts you hold shape what shows up in your life. So I try to stay focused on what I can control and what I want to build.

At one point, playing drums on a Broadway show was just a thought. Now I’ve done it four times. Memphis: The Musical. Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill. Ain’t Too Proud – The Life and Times of the Temptations. And now Cats: The Jellicle Ball.

That didn’t happen overnight. That’s over 26 years of work.

So if you’re reading this and you want to do this, understand what it takes. Understand the ups and downs. But also understand that it’s possible.

When the opportunity comes, be ready. And when it does, appreciate it.

I’m looking forward to tonight. The show, the energy, everything that comes with it.

And then I’m getting back to what I’ve been building.

Because this isn’t just about having a Broadway show.

It’s about understanding how to get one, how to keep one, and how to survive when it’s gone.

That’s why Broadway Drumming 101 exists.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Make sure you follow the Instagram @broadwaymusicians - you'll see all of the players who are on Broadway shows there!

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for the upcoming Broadway musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball at the Broadhurst Theatre. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of the book Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include tick, tick…BOOM!, Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, along with extensive subbing on shows such as Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the TONY Awards, and has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

CBS Sunday Morning just ran a piece today on Cats: The Jellicle Ball — a reimagining of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s classic through the lens of New York’s underground ballroom scene.

I subbed for Bill Lanham on the 2016 revival. Like most shows I sub on, I watched it from the house first. I'd heard about Cats my whole life but never saw it — and I couldn't figure out how that show ran 18 years at the Winter Garden. Didn't make sense to me. Saw the movie too. My kids laughed through the whole thing, but not in a good way.

So when I got the call for this version before we opened at the Perelman Arts Center in 2024, I did some homework. I watched Paris Is Burning — the 1990 documentary that goes deep inside New York’s ballroom culture. If you’ve never seen it, it documents the ballroom scene of the late 80s, the houses, the competitions, the voguing. It gave me real context for what this world actually was. That’s also where I came to understand why Junior LaBeija is so revered. He was one of the central figures in that scene — a founder of the House of LaBeija and someone who carried real dignity and defiance in a world that had no space for people like him.

The thing that I remember most about Paris Is Burning was watching people who simply wanted to be seen, respected, and celebrated for who they were. The outside world didn't make room for them, so they built their own. Many of the people in that film died from AIDS-related illness, violence, or other terrible circumstances. To me, it gives the whole thing a bittersweet feeling, knowing how much they contributed culturally and how long it took for that world to be recognized.

I feel this production is part of that. They’re finally getting their shine — on Broadway, at the Broadhurst, in front of sold-out houses, and I think it’s really nice to see.

To be honest, when I first got the call to be a part of the downtown production, I thought this could either be the biggest flop in theater history or something really special. It turned out to be a massive hit at the Perelman, and that success brought us to Broadway.

This version is way better than what was done downtown. I’m in ‘the pit’ every night, and we’re still shaping it in real time. It’s interesting to watch coverage like this from the outside while we’re living it on the inside.

If you haven't seen it yet, I think you'll be surprised — even if you weren't a fan of the original Cats.

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for the upcoming Broadway musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball, opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 7th. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of the forthcoming book Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include tick, tick…BOOM!, Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, along with extensive subbing on shows such as Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the TONY Awards, and has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

I haven’t posted in a while. That wasn’t laziness.

Rehearsals for Cats: The Jellicle Ball started February 9th. Over the past few weeks we moved into tech, and now we’re in previews. The whole stretch has been cast rehearsals during the day and shows at night. My days and nights have been locked in ever since.

I’m going to write about all of it. The full process, start to finish. And I want to share some things I noticed this time around that I hadn’t paid close attention to before. Details that even people who’ve been in this business a while don’t always stop to think about. I think you’ll find it useful.

But something happened tonight I didn’t want to sit on.

One of the things that makes this show special is how many people are making their Broadway debuts. It’s really something to see. The excitement on their faces is real and it never gets old.

Robert Silk Mason plays Mr. Mistoffelees in our show. Tonight he was out, and his understudy Kendall Stroud went on for him. Tonight was Kendall’s Broadway debut.

I was doing what I always do after a show. Packing up fast, heading out. Then Kendall came downstairs, ran into some of his castmates, and I stopped to watch what happened next.

He was crying. Not from stress. Not from nerves. From joy. He’d just made his Broadway debut. He was hugging people, taking it all in. I jumped in too. You could feel exactly what that moment meant to him.

It took me straight back to Memphis: The Musical way back in 2009. It was my own Broadway debut.

I was coming out of one of the hardest periods of my life. A bitter divorce, navigating co-parenting with someone who wanted to make my life as difficult as possible. It was a lot to carry. But at the same time, I found myself part of something that had no business being as good as it was. That show was the little engine that could. Started with an out-of-town tryout in Seattle. Got to the Shubert and just kept building. Next thing you know, four Tony Awards, including Best Musical.

Landing that show was the beginning of one of the best chapters of my life.

Memphis had a song called "Memphis Lives in Me." Simple title. And completely accurate. That cast, that run, that whole experience — it got into your blood. I never left it fully behind when I walked offstage each night. Ten years later the producers pulled everyone back together for a reunion at the Cutting Room and the room felt exactly the same. Same love. Same people. You don't forget something like that.

Memphis lives in me and it sure does for most of us who were part of it.

And here’s one more thing about that show I don’t talk about often. Right around the time Memphis was closing in 2012, I happened to meet the woman I would eventually ask to marry me. After what I had just been through, I honestly didn’t think I’d ever say those words again. The marriage I had gotten out of was that bad. That chapter had left a mark.

But 14 years later, things change. People change. And sometimes life surprises you in the best way possible.

If you stay in this business long enough and do the work, something shifts. You stop just trying to make it and start becoming someone others look to. And one day you look around and realize your job now is helping the next person find their way up.

That’s where I am now. And honestly, I’ve grown to love that role more than I expected. There’s something about getting older in this business that shifts your perspective. The hustle is still there, but what drives me now is different. I want to be the person I didn’t have when I was coming up. The mentor. The guy who tells you what’s really going on so you don’t have to figure it all out the hard way.

That’s why I started Broadway Drumming 101. That’s why I wrote Broadway Bound and Beyond. Because the information exists — it just lives in the heads of people who’ve been in the business for decades and don’t always think to share it. I want to change that.

This is my fourth Broadway show. Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and now Cats: The Jellicle Ball. And watching Kendall tonight brought me back to a specific moment I’ll never forget.

The 2010 Tony Awards.

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We performed live on national television, and that night Memphis won Best Musical. I was out there acting a complete fool afterward. The party, the people, all of it. Then I got home, sat down on my couch, and watched the performance I’d taped. And it hit me. Not just that we’d won. But that I had played live on the Tony Awards and gotten to the top of my profession. That I was part of a show that had just been named the best on Broadway.

I sat there in that chair and started crying. Just like Kendall did.

A lot of people say all they want is to make it to Broadway. They just want to make their Broadway debut. That moment is real. It means something. And when it happens, slow down and take it all in. Don’t let it blur past you.

What I know now that I didn’t know then is that the moment doesn’t have to be the finish line. It can be the beginning of something even bigger.

I’m on my fourth Broadway show and it still feels good. But I feel it differently now.

There’s a concept called compersion — it’s the genuine joy you experience from watching someone else succeed. Not because it benefits you. Not because you had anything to do with it. Just pure happiness for another person’s win. I felt that watching Kendall tonight. I feel it every time someone in this cast steps into their moment. And I feel it when people who’ve been following this platform tell me they landed the gig, got the call, or finally made it to where they were trying to go.

That feeling is real. And it’s one of the best parts of where I am right now.

I’m mentoring people now. Through this platform, through the podcast, and through Broadway Bound and Beyond. I’m having conversations with musicians at every stage of their journey and helping them navigate the things nobody told me when I was coming up. The business side. The relationships. The mindset. The stuff that lives between the notes, and the shows.

I started Broadway Drumming 101 because I wanted to be the person I didn’t have. And writing the book was the next step — putting everything I know in one place so you don’t have to figure it all out the hard way.

I want you to feel what Kendall felt tonight. I want you to feel what I felt after the 2010 Tony Awards, sitting on my couch alone watching the performance I taped, realizing I had gotten to the top of my profession.

That feeling is out there for you. Go for it.

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for the upcoming Broadway musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball, opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 7th. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of the forthcoming book Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include tick, tick…BOOM!, Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, along with extensive subbing on shows such as Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the TONY Awards, and has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

I’m back in Midtown working on Cats: The Jellicle Ball, and it feels good to be here again.

The last time I was in town working on a Broadway show like this was 2019 with Ain’t Too Proud. I’ve done a few out of town productions since then, including Soul Train, but this one is Broadway. And hopefully it will be around for a while.

Over the years, a lot of people have reached out about grabbing coffee, talking shop, or just connecting. I understand it. When you’re building a career in this business, conversation matters.

Schedules always get tight. Mine included.

But until tech starts in March, I should be available around lunchtime through the end of February. Once tech begins, that window will probably close.

So if you’ve been meaning to connect, this is a good time. Pick a lunch spot, send the invite, and we’ll make it happen. I’d rather sit down for a focused conversation than go back and forth over long email threads.

You can reach me directly at:
info@broadwaydrumming101.com

And if you’re nowhere near Midtown Manhattan and lunch isn’t realistic unless you’re booking a flight, there’s another option.

My new book, Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career, lays out what it actually takes to build a sustainable career in this world. The mindset. The preparation. The business side. The parts people don’t always spell out clearly.

You can grab a copy on Amazon, or order a signed copy directly at signaturebrandworks.com.

Same conversation. Just in book form.

Maybe I’ll see you at lunch!

Don’t forget to check out some of the great resources I have in this section: REAL WORLD TRAINING STARTS HERE

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Clayton Craddock is the drummer for the upcoming Broadway musical Cats: The Jellicle Ball, opening at the Broadhurst Theatre on April 7th. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of the forthcoming book Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway and Off-Broadway credits include tick, tick…BOOM!, Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, along with extensive subbing on shows such as Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the TONY Awards, and has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com