The Drowsy Chaperone

2020 drums

The drum book for Drowsy is pretty straightforward to play and has lots of fun sounds. The space for the show was limited but it worked really well to have all the toys on a tray over my kick. The instrumentation for this production was also limited: two keys, an EWI player who covered important solo lines and colors from all the wind books, and myself. I was able to incorporate all non-pitched percussion from the percussion book into my part, except castanets, which the conductor played during “Aldolpho.”

You can see how we were positioned on a platform above the stage. Under us is the backstage pass through walkway for actors. It’s about four feet deep. The stairs for my entrance are more a ladder.

I included my mock setup at home because you can see the toys and cup chimes more clearly in the light.

2020 percussion

After finishing a month of The Drowsy Chaperone at The Firehouse Theatre, I got to switch gears and play The Drowsy Chaperone for two more weeks! Ok but seriously, I got to switch books and play percussion this time out.

This show has a wonderfully fun percussion book, and fortunately I was able to keep it all acoustic. I had enough room for all the instruments and created a setup that worked for me to see the conductor while playing most parts of the show.

There are lots of quick changes, one in particular from vibes to bells where I would hold the pedal down as I turned around to face the bells. The best solution would have been if I could place the bells over the lower timp so the line vibes-bells-xylophone would remain unbroken. It just wasn’t possible in the restrictions of my space to do so. You can see in the shots in the rehearsal room that I originally had the vibes and bells switched, but again it worked a bit easier to change that in the actual space.

The last few photos show how I use parts from the Gibraltar electronic mounting system (and my own adaptations) to hold my Deagan 844 xylo secured to a plywood base. I can control the angle and height, and it makes it easier to place within setups.