Of all the gigs you might have to play as percussionist, Broadway shows are some of the most complex. Each one is unique and has different demands as far as mastery of the percussion family. The modern theatre percussionist must be well versed in Orchestral, Latin, Jazz and all forms of ethnic percussion performance. Because of all the instruments involved you are compensated quite well. You must own most of the instruments so you can work out the shows before you get there for the one (yes, I said “one”) rehearsal.
Here are some percussion setups from my 40 years of pit playing for touring shows. Some of the pictures are from the run of the shows while others are from my practice studio. The shows are listed in alphabetical order.
Ain’t Too Proud
The story of the Temptations this show is really fun to play and consists of congas, bongos and small hand percussion. The show uses two percussionists.
You can see me play some of the parts live in this video
Beautiful
This musical is the Carole King Story. It features many of her great tunes as well as songs for the 1950’s-60’s leading up to her 1970″s success. I have played percussion as well as the drum set book on this show.
The Blumey Awards
I have been playing this awards show since 2012. It is a prelude to the Jimmy Awards in NYC where outstanding young theatre performers compete with each other in the Broadway show realm. Every year the setup changes since different shows are represented in the ceremony. It’s always a mix of drum set and percussion, played by one player.
Bring It On
This is sort of a funky marching band type show all about teen cheerleading. It’s actually a great score and fun to play. You have to have great rudimental chops to perform it.
Cinderella
This is an old-style show in that it combines the percussion and drum set books. It is a very challenging score, and you have to do most of it while sitting.
Dreamgirls
A great show to play, Dreamgirls is Motown influenced show about the female artists on that label. Unlike the other Motown shows such as Motown and Ain’t Too Proud this show uses lots of mallet percussion as well as the usual hand percussion.
Gentlemans Guide to Love and Murder
Another one-man percussion show.
Mary Poppins
This well-known show is very challenging with lots of mallet percussion and timpani. It is very much based in the orchestral percussion tradition, and you need to perform it with lots of finesse or the conductor might bite your head off!
Mean Girls
This show is based on the Tina Fey movie of the same name. It features lots of hand percussion and is a blast to play.
Motown the Musical
This very simple but fun show has 2 percussionists and mainly involves hand drums and other small hand percussion in one book and mallet percussion and timpani in the other. I have played both books.
Newsies
This show uses a bit of everything as you can see by the setup.
Shrek
This show uses a Mallet Kat to cover several mallet percussion instruments as well as timpani and sound FX. There are lots of hand drums in this show and the percussionist must be able to play these instruments authentically.
The Sound of Music
Another classic show combines the drum set and percussion books for one player.
South Pacific
Another classic percussion/drum set show with a gorgeous score. There is a particular type of light musical playing that is required to play these types of shows. The drum set is almost invisible within the sound of the orchestra. You can see an authentic Chinese tom tom that is featured prominently.
Spamalot
This show is so hilarious that some nights I had trouble playing my parts because I could not stop laughing. The show is so much fun to play. You see I have my running shoes on since there are lots of very fast instrument changes. This was my all-time favorite show to perform as I am a big Monty Python fan.
Tina, The Tina Turner Musical
This fun show is the story of the great Tina Turner. It features pretty much all of her hits as well as some older covers. The show is relatively simple, but you do have to play a few keyboard-like parts on the Roland pad.
West Side Story
This classic show is also one of the most difficult pieces of music you will ever have to play. The combination of classical and Latin percussion is not something all players can handle. It’s a massive setup with complex, soloistic parts on all of the instruments. I have played this show for five separate theater runs (around 100 shows) as well as the Symphonic Dances for full orchestra many times. It never gets old and it never gets easy.
White Christmas
This Irving Berlin show is full of great tunes and contains some very difficult xylophone parts including a very fast and difficult 16-bar solo. It always tours in December for obvious reasons.
Wicked
I have played this show for 5 separate runs of a month or more totaling well over 150 shows. It comes back to town every 3 years or so. It’s a huge setup but the show is well written, so everything is manageable. If you want to see me play the entire show check out this playlist on my YouTube channel. This show helped put my kids through college!
The Wiz
I played the 2023 run of this show before it went to Broadway. It’s a great book with a modern update. The show calls for lots of hand percussion with a little glockenspiel and some electronics on a pad. I saw the original run in NYC in the 70’s and this is much different from what I remember. Of course, I was only a kid at the time, but the hip hop element was definitely not a part of that version of the show. You will have to have your hand drum and other percussion skills up to par to do this one justice.
