Q: How do you get to Carnegie Hall?

A: Practice, practice, practice? Nope. Not if playing the piano is still sometimes a traumatic experience well into adulthood! Instead, do it in the most roundabout way possible!

Step 1: in 2011, have a short opera performed on a concert presented by a scrappy fledgling company run by a talented aspiring singer at a noisy bar in midtown. Most people will forget it immediately, but out of the haphazard experience, a few enduring collaborations emerge.

Step 2: Fall out of touch with most of the participants for approximately seven years. Meanwhile, the singer in charge of the company, which is on a prolonged hiatus of indeterminate length, goes on to become a luminary on Broadway and opera stages alike.

Step 3: In 2018, after years of unsuccessfully applying, have a reputable regional opera house finally workshop some scenes from a work in progress, thereby reuniting with the singer, who performs in said scenes and really likes them.

Step 4: Two years later, receive an email out of the blue from the singer with the news that he is planning a Carnegie Hall recital and wonders if you have any suitable work he can include.

Step 5: Pull out some old, cool but mildly embarrassing songs appropriate for his voice that he happens to like a lot.

Step 6: While the singer is busy touring in the intervening weeks, have a bright idea for a new project. Call a lyricist friend who would be perfect for the project, even though you have worked with him just once in the past 15 years, and he has since defected from New York City and the musical theatre scene altogether. He agrees that it is indeed a bright idea and can’t wait to get started, though it may be extremely difficult to pull off.

Step 7: Realize that this recital could be a great way to try out an excerpt from this new project, which will probably be better than the older material anyway. Convince the singer that this is in fact an exciting and preferable fit for the evening.

UPDATE:

And that, ladies and germs, is how Robert Maddock and I were scheduled to get to Carnegie Hall on November 30th with none other than the fabulous Zachary James! Unfortunately, Carnegie Hall is not going to be open in time for this performance to happen live. But Zach is clever and has a plan to present our new piece, Pinocchio’s Lament, in another format before long, so watch this space!