One of the things I love about being the musical director for SATURDAY'S VOYEUR is that it's very different than musically directing a typical musical production at any other theater. Usually, when I musically direct, say, OLIVER, GUYS AND DOLLS, INTO THE WOODS, or any other established show, I get all the materials I need from the publisher to put the show up as quickly as possible. The composer has already composed all the songs, underscoring, and scene change music. The orchestrator has already orchestrated the music for the orchestra. The copyist has already written out all the individual parts for the cast, and each orchestra member; I just hand out the music. The "creation" has already happened. All I have to do is rehearse it, shape it, and give it my own interpretation as a musical director and conductor.

Not so with SATURDAY'S VOYEUR. With VOYEUR, not much has been created, musically-speaking, when I come on board a couple months before rehearsals start. Al and Nancy will have a rough version of the script for me to read, and they'll have most of the songs chosen with the new lyrics typed out in stanzas, but that's it.

From there, I put on my Arranger's Hat, collect the songs and figure out what sort of arrangement will work for each song. What will the song sound like? Often, the tempo, the feel and the form of the original version of the song isn't quite right in the context of the scene, so adjustments have to be made so that it IS right for the action.

Then, I have to put on my Copyist's Hat, go to the computer, and typeset the melody and the words so that they can be printed off for the cast to learn the music. While I'm at the computer, I usually end up taking off my Copyist's Hat, and putting on my Orchestrator's Hat, and create the parts for the band to read as well.

And for the next couple months, that's my full-time job: switching back and forth from Arranger's Hat, to Orchestrator's Hat, to Copyist's Hat.

Then rehearsals begin and I pick up yet another hat. For several hours a day, I wear the Musical Director's Hat and I teach the music that I've spent the past couple months working on. You would think that I can retire my other hats now, and concentrate on wearing just the Musical Director's Hat, right? But, such isn't the case with new works. Actually, the pace quickens rapidly.

The problem is that as a song gets "on it's feet" (i.e., the actor starts performing the song with all the blocking or choreography in the context of the scene), Cynthia, Nancy, the cast, and I all start to get a ton of ideas on ways to make the music fit better with the script, or to make the music enhance the humor of the scene, etc. "Kevin, what if the music does this..." "OH! And how about..." They're all great ideas, and there's no way I'm going to say "no" to them. We have to at least try them out.

And so begins what I sometimes refer to as a "sprinted marathon." For the next several weeks I'm up at the crack of dawn. I boot up my computers on my way to the kitchen to get my coffee. I come back a few minutes later, coffee in hand, and start working on VOYEUR music. I get as much done as I can before rehearsal starts, print off that day's new arrangements, and go to rehearsal. I spend the next several hours collecting more ideas for changes and improvements, I test out songs in various keys so that the actors can have the songs in the keys that will best fit their voice, I take note of cuts and rearrangements in the script that effect the music, scene change music that needs to be created, etc., etc., etc, and come home with a laundry list of things that need to change in the score. As soon as I get home, I get a quick bite to eat, boot up my computers, and make the improvements as fast as I can until it's time to go to bed. Then the whole thing starts over again the next morning. Occasionally, maybe two or three times during the rehearsal process, there's so much to do and so little time to do it that I don't even bother going to bed.

It's a lot of work, BUT the result is very worthwhile. Out of a disparate collection of songs from different artists and eras comes a complete and unified score that integrates seamlessly with the script. When all the preparation is over, and I can look at the finished product, it's very satisfying to be a part of a brand-new work such as this.

And, now that we're in performances, and I only need to wear my Musical Director and Conductor hats, I love listening to our fantastically talented cast perform these songs each night. I never get tired of "Chindi" or "She's a Lady" or "Grubby," just to name a few. Never. I enjoy performing them every single night. Of all the VOYEURS I've been a part of, I think this cast, collectively, has the most musical talent and best musical instincts of any other VOYEUR cast I've worked with. And, in the end, that's the most important element. It doesn't matter what you write on paper if you don't have the talent in place to execute it well. But, if you have a talented cast like the one we have this year, they can take the music you write on paper and make it something fantastic to listen to. It's been a lot of fun creating this show with them, and it's been a great summer performing the show with them every night.

And, as I sit here with my Musical Director hat on, I couldn't ask for anything better than that.