Over the past year, I have had the opportunity to helm two fabulous cabarets with director James Beaman: What a Man! Goldie Dver sings Anthony Newley, and Still Going Strong: Richard Skipper Celebrates 60 Years of Hello, Dolly! Both have been wonderful collaborations with unique performers, each of whom have personal and authoritative connections to their subject matter. I've also gained two dear friends as a result. As an arranger and a cabaret music director, I feel like I am hitting my stride! Please support Goldie in her pursuit of another MAC award for this fabulous Tribute Show.
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In the Spring of 2004, I played piano in the pit of Reading High School's production of Little Shop of Horrors; it was the second of three shows I accompanied during my tenure there. Fortunately, the Broadway Revival starring Hunter Foster and Kerry Butler was playing in the city, and RHS sponsored a bus for us to go see it, and I did. Fast forward 20 years, and I'm serving as music director for the same show at a dream regional house, starring the one and only Latrice Royale as Audrey II, with none other than Hunter Foster at the helm, directing the show for the first time. Everything about the production was a gift: Dynamite cast, rockin' pit, wonderfully supportive staff, great reviews, and a beautiful locale. I even got to visit with my cousin Danika, some Greylock friends, and spend my birthday in Acadia National Park with Chrissy. 10/10 LET'S DO IT AGAIN.
In my second year of working full-time as a piano bar entertainer, I have been recognized by the Manhattan Association of Cabarets with a nomination for best piano bar instrumentalist. I am very honored to be named alongside these fine folks, all of whom I consider friends and colleagues. The awards ceremony, for which I happen to be serving as music director, will be on April 15th, at Symphony Space. PIANO BAR INSTRUMENTALIST — DOWNTOWN
GERRY DIEFFENBACH / The Duplex, Stonewall, Don’t Tell Mama KENNEY GREEN-TILFORD / Marie’s Crisis BRANDON JAMES GWINN / Marie’s Crisis, The Duplex, Don’t Tell Mama MARK OLESZKO / Stonewall DAN PARDO / Stonewall, Marie’s Crisis FRANCA VERCELLONI / Marie’s Crisis Wow, it's been a while since I updated anything here on the ol' website. In the last two years, my theatrical highlights took place in consecutive summers at the Cape Playhouse, in Dennis, MA. The Fantasticks, in 2022, directed by my old pal Dave Elliot, who was also serving as the Cape's Artistic Director that season, then the small-cast version of Camelot in 2023, helmed by a new collaborator for me, Josh Walden. Two dream scores, with great casts and pits. It doesn't look like I'll be returning for a third consecutive summer this year, but new and exciting things are on the horizon!
Just before the new year, my friend and frequent collaborator, Eli Bolin, contacted me to see if I was free to music-direct a cabaret with comedy writer, podcaster, singer, and creator/star of Hulu's Difficult People, Julie Klausner. They were writing a couple songs together for the show, and her go-to MD, Jon Spurney, had moved to Los Angeles during the pandemic. I jumped at the opportunity, not knowing exactly what it would entail. But Julie and I proved to be great creative partners, and fast friends. And after a sold-out run at both Joe's Pub and City Winery, I can easily say it has been one of the most rewarding projects in recent memory; certainly, the best post-pandemic concert I could have hoped for. As I was finishing up our third iteration of A Connecticut Christmas Carol at Goodspeed this past December, I was suddenly approached by my friend and colleague Ethan Heard, faculty directing advisor at Yale School of Drama, to step in last-minute to music-direct a new production of the cult musical Alice by Tom Waits and his wife, Kathleen Brennan. The story behind the show was perhaps as interesting as the musical itself, and both were new to me. With a concept by legendary experimental theatre creator Robert Wilson and a libretto by famed author and translator Paul Schmidt in the early 90s, Alice opened in Hamburg, Germany, before touring around Europe and very briefly at BAM before disappearing like the titular character down the rabbit hole. Waits began folding in songs from the musical into his live sets before recording a concept album in 2002, but the recordings were all in his voice, with little to no connection to their onstage antecedents. The only artifacts from the famed European tour (outside perhaps a few protected archival recordings) only exist online due to the songwriter's car being broken into in late 1992. Enter director, Logan Ellis. Ellis, who grew up both as a Tom Waits fan and a classical violist, had a few connections to the piece before choosing it as his graduate thesis at Yale School of Drama. A mentor from his days in a youth symphony happened to be the violinist on Tom's concept album; she was also his cousin, and provided him a means of contact. Schmidt, who wrote the (German) libretto when it toured Europe in the 90s, was a professor at Yale later in life, and released the English translation in a university publication. With rights approved, a talented creative team, and a cast of MFA candidates, Logan just needed someone to take on the musical reins, after a student music-director had to step down due to illness. Logan and I had a great chat on the phone, and I was brought on board. There were no theatrical arrangements or orchestrations for the show whatsoever; the only materials given to us by the music publishers were what I call "songbook" arrangements, based off the 2002 concept album, and a couple lead sheets of incidental tunes. The music didn't match the libretto, nor did the materials specify the gender of characters, or vocal designations. My favorite detail was a list of instruments (some quite obscure) that Waits used in his recording, and instructions that basically said, "have fun!" That may seem frustrating, but it was very liberating to the team; we had the freedom to basically do whatever we wanted. I reconstructed the score from the ground up, trying to preserve some semblance of the "Tom Waits Sound" while making the arrangements approachable to the audience, and in service of the book. I was given six talented student musicians, and wrote an orchestration to feature them as best as I could. Thankfully, my work was deemed a success, with some especially kind words from my old boss, Michael O'Flaherty, who came in from Goodspeed to see the show Opening Night. Concept by Robert Wilson Music and Lyrics by Tom Waits and Kathleen Brennan Libretto by Paul Schmidt Directed by Logan Ellis Music Direction, Arrangements, and Orchestration by Dan Pardo Costume Design by Meg Powers Scenic Design by Anna Grigo Lighting Design by Riva Fairhall Sound Design by Dakota Stipp Projection Design by Brittany Bland Production Dramaturgy by Evan Hill Technical Director: HaoEn Hu Stage Manager: Bekah Brown Photos by T. Charles Erickson. CAST Sola Fadiran Robert Lee Hart Daniel Liu Ilia Isorelýs Paulino John Evans Reese Julian Sanchez Jackeline Torres Cortés Adrienne Wells Jessy Yates. BAND Jillian Emerson – Cello Nate Huvard – Guitars/Banjo Dan Pardo – Piano/Celeste/Concertina/Melodica Some press about ALICENew Haven Review: 'Call Me Up in Dreamland: Review of Alice, Yale School of Drama' "Filtering the adventures of Alice through Waits and Brennan’s Beat carnival sensibility provides a curious and delicious oddity not to be missed. Then filter those songs through arrangements by music director Dan Pardo as sung by some fine voices from the Yale School of Drama that lend them the heft and glow of opera and Broadway and that indeed should be attraction enough.” –Donald Brown, New Haven Review Yale Daily News: 'Watch Her Disappear: A Review of Alice at Yale School of Drama'
Of all my collaborations with the great Eli Bolin (Found, Co-op, Wally Flynn, Volleygirls, Skippyjon Jones, In the Air, Schmoozy Togetherness, etc.) the most exciting and high-profile project came this summer in the form of a children's musical variety show, helmed by one of the biggest names in comedy, John Mulaney. After the success of Original Cast Album: Co-op, which garnered both an Emmy nomination and cult fandom, John called on Eli again to write songs for his newest Netflix project, John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch. Co-written with John's longtime SNL collaborator Marika Sawyer and directed by Documentary Now founder Rhys Thomas, the special dropped on Dec. 24 after a lot of anticipation and an aggressive media blitz, including a billboard in Times Square! Starring John, 15 incredible kids, and an impressive list of guest stars (Jake Gyllenhaal, André de Shields, David Byrne, Richard Kind, Annaleigh Ashford, and Natasha Lyonne), the show quickly earned a 100% Fresh Rating on Rotten Tomatoes, and jumped to the top 10 Spotify soundtracks. I music-directed the special alongside Mike Pettry, who orchestrated and produced the album; Mike has been another one of Eli's frequent collaborators through the years, having worked on Found, Volleygirls, and an original Christmas piece called The Last Song of Eddie Scourge. Perhaps the greatest gift of the entire special was the trust that John gave me and Eli to hire our own musicians and background vocalists. We utilized the talents our favorite people, including Found alumni Orville Mendoza and Nick Blaemire, Story Pirates bassist Brendan O'Grady, and our amazing wives, Allison and Chrissy. Reviews:"“There’s so much care and craft in Sack Lunch Bunch. All the musical numbers work, and occasionally they’re breathtakingly good.” – Kathryn VanArendonk, VULTURE THE NEW YORK TIMES: A Comedy Special for Kids That Gets Their Dark Sense of Humor "The highlights are the stylishly shot musical numbers led by these youngsters, including a Busby Berkeley-inspired ode to noodles and a little bit of butter, the only food worth eating, according to Orson Hong, a white-suited kid who delivers his song with irresistible panache." – Jason Zinoman, THE NEW YORK TIMES CHICAGO SUN-TIMES: John Mulaney & The Sack Lunch Bunch” is a brilliant, multi-layered piece of performance art. "If you only watch one hour of television this week, make it this ridiculously silly comedy special from Big Mouth's John Mulaney. John, who has no kids of his own but seems to have a general understanding of how they work, made this variety kids program featuring musical numbers, skits, and scenes of John just hanging out with young'uns. There were at least three parts that were so funny that I was left gasping for air and nearly died. It was worth it, and I will risk my life again." – Tim Surrette, TV GUIDE THE WALL STREET JOURNAL: John Mulaney and the Sack Lunch Bunch: A Children's Show for Grown-Ups THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER: John Mulaney, some huge guest stars, and a group of talented kids bring a quirky, hilarious, musical children's TV special to Netflix "The songs are complex and catchy, producing earworms in an assortment of genres, guaranteed to leave you either humming full tunes or just repeating the phrase "Let's all see what's on kids' minds / The guest star's name is Richard Kind" from the opening song over and over again." – Daniel Fienberg, THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER "A sincere showcase for talented children's unblemished imaginations, John Mulaney's Netflix special makes for a sharply funny send-off to 2019" – Ben Travers, INDIEWIRE THE AV CLUB: The Sack Lunch Bunch is an unconventional package, but its ingredients are pure John Mulaney "The real highlight of John Mulaney & the Sack Lunch Bunch, however, are the musical numbers... The songs are weird but funny, and never resort to cheap jokes or gross-out humor, as much as comedy writers seem to think that children saying inappropriate things is the height of hilarity." – Gena Radcliffe, THE SPOOL For the first time in four years, I was able to stay in NYC over the summer, music-directing the Off-Broadway show I Spy a Spy by Jamie Jackson (book and lyrics) and SoHee Youn (music and lyrics). Directed and choreographed by Bill Castellino (Cagney, Desperate Measures, among others) it was a charming romantic comedy with elements of farce and pathos, but didn't quite find its audience, despite a fun, eclectic score and some terrific performances; we closed early, on August 10.
Last week, I came back from conducting a completely revamped production of Working at ACT of CT, a beautiful theatre in Ridgefield, celebrating its inaugural season. Led by Artistic Director Daniel C. Levine, Music Supervisor Bryan Perri, and Executive Director Katie Diamond, ACT was able to get special permission from the legendary Stephen Schwartz, who is both a Ridgefield resident and a member of their advisory board, to make serious rewrites to the book, and conduct 12 new interviews with local workers. They were beautifully integrated into the show through the use of a truly impressive video and projection design, making the musical a contemporary celebration of American Workers, instead of a time capsule period piece, which is a trap of the performing Working in its original version, written in the late 70s. For me, the score still holds up tremendously well, so that stayed lovingly intact, with some minor structural changes, one new arrangement, and the inclusion of two newer songs written by Lin-Manuel Miranda for the 2011 London Revival. With a versatile cast of six and a four-piece rock combo, I was so pleased with how the show sounded. I was also lucky to work alongside my wife Chrissy, who served as the standby for all three female tracks. THE NEWTOWN BEE: ACT Production Employs Updated, Localized 'Working' to Great Effect "The cast is uniformly strong and vocally gifted. A live orchestra, under the direction of Dan Pardo, is superb accompaniment for the skilled performers." TALKIN' BROADWAY: Everything comes together beautifully in ACT's production of WORKING "The off-stage orchestra sounds fabulous, led by the masterful music director Dan Pardo, and, incredibly, even the individual songs written by so many different composers form a unified whole." NEW HAVEN REVIEW: Reworked WORKING Works at ACT of CT "With such a range of musical collaborators, the songs are varied in their styles, but all land with a snap, and the unseen musicians pack a punch for what is essentially a rock band." BROADWAY WORLD: WORKING at CT of CT "The talented live orchestra is led by conductor Dan Pardo on keyboards, and also features Matt Hinkley on electric and acoustic guitars, Arnold Gottlieb on electric and acoustic bass, and Dennis Arcano on drums and percussion." Was so happy to return to GOODSPEED MUSICALS this winter to spend a second holiday season conducting A Connecticut Christmas Carol, written by two of my mentors, Michael O'Flaherty and Larry Fecho. Directed by the great Hunter Foster, it was a nice mix of new and old. Some notable changes:
As an added bonus, Bob was kind enough to sit down with me and have a chat for my web series, Pardo's Turn. If you haven't seen it yet, please enjoy! |