Music Direction for the Stage

A View from the Podium

Joseph Church

Exhaustive reference and resource for all musicians in musical theater
Written by one of Broadway's foremost music directors
Offers practical sections on vocal coaching, orchestral rehearsal, vocal and dance arranging, and underscoring and cueing of dialogue, amongst many more
Extensively illustrated with photographs and musical scores

Music Direction for the Stage

A View from the Podium

Joseph Church

Description

Theater music directors must draw on a remarkably broad range of musical skills. Not only do they conduct during rehearsals and performances, but they must also be adept arrangers, choral directors, vocal coaches, and accompanists. Like a record producer, the successful music director must have the flexibility to adjust as needed to a multifaceted job description, one which changes with each production and often with each performer.
In Music Direction for the Stage, veteran music director and instructor Joseph Church demystifies the job in a book that offers aspiring and practicing music directors the practical tips and instruction they need in order to mount a successful musical production. Church, one of Broadway's foremost music directors, emerges from the orchestra pit to tell how the music is put into a musical show. He gives particular attention to the music itself, explaining how a music director can best plan the task of learning, analyzing, and teaching each new piece. Based on his years of professional experience, he offers a practical discussion of a music director's methods of analyzing, learning, and practicing a score, thoroughly illustrated by examples from the repertoire. The book also describes how a music director can effectively approach dramatic and choreographic rehearsals, including key tips on cueing music to dialogue and staging, determining incidental music and underscoring, making musical adjustments and revisions in rehearsal, and adjusting style and tempo to performers' needs. A key theme of the book is effective collaboration with other professionals, from the production team to the creative team to the performers themselves, all grounded in Church's real-world experience with professional, amateur, and even student performances. He concludes with a look at music direction as a career, offering invaluable advice on how the enterprising music director can find work and gain standing in the field.

Music Direction for the Stage

A View from the Podium

Joseph Church

Introduction: The View From The Podium
Part I: The Music Director: A Job Description
Chapter 1: Music Direction Yesterday And Today
Chapter 2: Musical Stage Production
Chapter 3: Job Opportunities For Music Directors
Part II: Personnel
Chapter 4: The Production Team
Chapter 5: The Creative Team
Chapter 6: The Music Team
Chapter 7: The Performers
Part III: Preproduction
Chapter 8: Mounting A Production
Chapter 9: The Music: Assessment And Analysis
Chapter 10: Arranging For Music Directors
Part IV: Rehearsals 1: Singers And The Stage
Chapter 11: Overview Of Rehearsal Process
Chapter 12: Individual Vocal Rehearsals
Chapter 13: Ensemble Vocal Rehearsals
Chapter 14: Rehearsals With Directors And Choreographers
Chapter 15: Adapting Music To The Production
Part V: Rehearsals 2: Musicians, Technicians, And The Venue
Chapter 16: Orchestras And Orchestrations
Chapter 17: Instrumental Conducting For The Stage
Chapter 18: From The Studio To The Stage
Part VI: Performance
Chapter 19: Conducting In Performance
Chapter 20: Maintaining A Production And Preserving A Show
Chapter 21: Working As A Music Director
Appendix A: Putting It Together
Appendix B: Bibliography, Suggested Reading, And List Of Musical
Works Cited

Music Direction for the Stage

A View from the Podium

Joseph Church

Author Information

JOSEPH CHURCH is best known for his work as music director and supervisor of two groundbreaking Broadway musicals, The Who's Tommy and The Lion King. He has worked on countless other productions as music director, conductor, keyboardist, and/or arranger, on and Off-Broadway, nationwide, and worldwide, among them, In The Heights, Sister Act, Les Miserables, Little Shop Of Horrors, Randy Newman's Faust, and Radio City's Christmas Spectacular. Also an active composer, he has written for film, television, the concert stage, and over thirty plays and musicals.

Music Direction for the Stage

A View from the Podium

Joseph Church

Reviews and Awards

"If you're interested in the world of musical theater, I know you'll enjoy and learn from Joe Church's, Music Direction For The Stage: A View From the Podium."--Alan Menken

"It's a good thing Joe Church is around to tell us the real deal from the conductor's podium - you couldn't ask for a better guide!"-- Jason Robert Brown

"Being a Music Director for the theatre is an art that requires passion, taste, musicianship, and a powerful sense of playwriting. Really, someone ought to write a book about it - and now someone has! This is a brilliant, necessary and useful book, and you'll be happy you own it." --Richard Maltby Jr.

"An extraordinary achievement! Joe Church has created an insightful, informative guide which is sure to become the standard reference for music directors as well as an essential text for aspiring music directors. We've needed this book for a long time!"-- Brent Wagner, Chair, Musical Theatre Department, The University of Michigan

"Reading Church's work feels like settling in for a long, intimate conversation about the lessons he's learned, the disasters he's survived, and the triumphant premieres he's led...Church's passion, work ethic, and broad liberal arts mentality will inspire anyone interested in the arts. Whether you're involved in musical theater, or just appreciate what it takes to bring it to life, Church has much to offer, including setting professional and personal standards we all would do well to model."--Swarthmore College Bulletin