The road to opening night on Broadway is often long and comes with many bumps and bruises. Lots of cash, an open theater and great timing is needed to get to that point, but the creation of new shows is often fun. In my opinion, it’s one of the most exciting aspects of playing drums on Broadway.
Please don’t take my word for it. Check out a clip of Michael Keller saying the same thing on the Broadway Drumming 101 Podcast:
I've had the great fortune to have been the drummer on three broadway shows and two off-broadway shows. Some may say I 'originated the drum parts,' but the reality is that it's often more complicated. Some shows had written drum parts like 'tick, tick…BOOM!'; others, like Lady Day At Emerson's Bar And Grill, had slash marks due to it being jazz. When I helped create the parts for Memphis The Musical, it was often a collaboration between the songwriter, the dance arranger, the musical director, the orchestrator, and me. In the end, that show captured every aspect of my drumming, and I loved every single thing I played on that show.
The last musical I was on was Ain't Too Proud - The Life and Times Of The Temptations. I did my best to emulate the feel and groove of the original Temptations recordings from the late 60s and early 70s - which was so much fun. It made it less about originating a drum part for a musical and more about trying to stay true to the original elements - while at the same time, making room for the ubiquitous Broadway vamp scattered through the songs.
Most shows start out being one thing, but almost always, the music gets distilled into the format of musical theater. Check out what Clint De Ganon had to say about that aspect of playing on Broadway:
Recently, I've had the pleasure to work on two workshops of a new musical called BLISS. The musicians who worked on the workshops were invited to play on a few tracks to help promote the show.
One of the more interesting things about BLISS is the intent to emulate '90s pop. The songwriters wanted a Backstreet Boys feel to the songs, and they had us play them as if they were pop tunes. They might also distill these songs by the time it opens on Broadway - you never know. You'll hear a lot of drum programming mixed in with my drumming, but that is the sound of that era.
Here are a few songs they've released so far. The songs are catchy and memorable. The show seems like fun, and I hope whatever happens with the show's creators, they go on to achieve massive success.
I can't wait to see what happens next with this show. I wish them well.
For more about workshops, read more here:
Clayton Craddock hosts the Broadway Drumming 101 Podcast and Newsletter. He has held the drum chair in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill and Ain’t Too Proud.
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BLISS - A New Musical