Yesterday, I assisted Dan in producing the Arizona Music Fest’s production of The Last Five Years by Jason Robert Brown. I’ve got to say that this musical is by far my favorite in recent memory! If you’re not familiar with the show (like I wasn’t), the story follows Jamie and Cathy throughout “the last five years” of their relationship together. What’s innovative about it, is that Jamie’s story is chronological starting when they first meet while Cathy’s story starts at the end, their divorce, and progresses in reverse. 
Mouse Productions (Dan’s company) was responsible for the entire event, most importantly live sound and lighting. 
Turns out Dan’s long-time friend and former maestro for the Phoenix Symphony Orchestra, Robert Moody, made his singing debut last night as the lead male character, Jamie. I met Bob a few years ago when he asked me to write a piece for a family series concert with the Phoenix Symphony.
It was a looong day. Dan and I arrived at about 8 AM to set up EVERYTHING and ran cables and set up lights for the rehearsal later in the morning and afternoon.
Jan, who played Cathy, was a fantastic singer and a fantastic actress. Her performance was quite moving. 
Bob showcased his acting and vocal skills as well as the career-focused, self-oriented husband.
Speaking of mad skills, meet Jonathan Ivy (aka, Jivy), last night’s pianist. This guy was asked Wednesday to sit in for another pianist who couldn’t make it to Arizona because of bad weather in New York. The guy rocks the piano. And why shouldn’t he? He is lead keyboardist for the classic rock cover band, The Instant Classics. Oddly enough, they also do live band kareoke and are popular among many corporate events. *Myspace* 
The rest of the ensemble was rockin’ too. A few of them were even brought in from other states like California and Utah specifically to perform in the event.
The night went off without a hitch. Needless to say, by the time Dan, his girlfriend, and I striked the lights and everything else we set up, loaded the trailer and got home, I went to Amazon.com and bought the original soundtrack. This was definitely one of my favorite events helping Dan.
Late last night (which I guess would be earlier this morning) I put the finishing touches on my latest piece for concert band, Turkey in the Straw. It’s still in the draft and reworking stages, but I’m excited to say that I finally have some kind of product that plays from beginning to end with relative cohesiveness! It’s been a surprising challenging struggle writing this piece, a sort of metaphorical cockfight (… but I guess that would be roosters, not turkeys…). Ideally, it should have been a “grade 3″ level piece, but, like everything else I’ve written, it quickly exploded into a “grade 4″. This isn’t a bad thing — I just suck at writing music for younger players which is ironic because I could probably never play what I write anyway. I’m finally excited, though. It’s also been difficult to see the “bigger picture” of the piece that now inspires me greatly. I’m hoping to have a final draft by Spring Break. Then, it’s off to MBM for their stamp of approval…
