by Brian Li on Saturday, April 28, 2012
I’ve been done with sophomore year for a few days now. It feels somewhat unreal. The thought that I’m almost halfway through college isn’t the most comforting thing ever. Time is passing way too quickly. School’s over, but I’m still keeping busy. I’m currently playing Keyboard 2 for a production of Seussical. It’s my old high school’s spring musical, and I always enjoy going back to play. The show’s very fun, and the fact that we’re using Keyboard Patch Solutions for sound patches makes my life much easier. Closing night is tomorrow evening, and I start tech rehearsals for a production of Legally Blonde next week. Yup, I’m definitely keeping myself busy. Here’s a photo of the setup.
Keyboard Setup in the "Seussical" Pit
Random story… I dropped my iPhone 4 the other day, and the screen shattered. It landed on it’s back, and I still have no clue how the front shattered. Anyway, I went to Apple and paid a little over $150 for a replacement. The accelerometer crapped out on me today for some reason. Restoring the phone to the latest software version did not fix the problem, so I’m going to assume it’s a hardware issue. I lost my jailbreak, but restoring was the only way troubleshooting route after multiple reboots. I’m going to go to Apple again tomorrow. If the phone starts working again, I’m not going to be a happy person. Regardless, hopefully I’ll walk out with a working phone. I wonder if they’ll give me a refund for the screen protectors I bought the same day… Again, I won’t be a happy person if they don’t.
Another photo to share – this one’s from The Wedding Singer eight days ago. I miss it already.
The Pit from NU Stage's Production of "The Wedding Singer"
It’s late. Time for bed.
by Brian Li on Sunday, April 22, 2012
I just realized I forgot to write about my trip to Wicked’s orchestra pit on Broadway. We went on a much deserved weekend trip in New York over Easter weekend. My main stop was Gershwin Theatre on Broadway – the home of Wicked. Thanks to the wonderful Ben Cohn, I got to sit in the orchestra pit for a Saturday evening performance.
Our meeting time was 7:45 at the stage door. I arrived about half an hour early. I walked around the theatre complex a few times, and pretended to be a tourist entranced by the amazing Broadway lights. I was actually secretly looking for the stage door which I could not find. After walking around the square four times, I actually ran into Ben. It was about 7:50 at that point. We walked over to Starbucks to grab a quick drink before heading into the theatre.
Walking through the Wicked stage door was one of the defining moments of my life. It sounds cheesy, but I felt some sense of serious inspiration and motivation. We went down a couple flights of stairs. The walls were decorated with name tags of past cast members. It felt like some kind of internal hall of fame – very cool. I probably met a dozen people in the span of two minutes – just quick introductions because everyone was getting ready for showtime. I got to meet Dominick Amendum, the conductor. We all chatted in his room for a while, and then Ben took me over to the orchestra pit.
My mind was blown. The pit was so awesome. Guitars, bass, drums, and percussion were on the right side of the conductor. The winds and strings were on the left. The three keyboards basically surround the conductor. It was cramped, but there was so much technology everywhere. I thought about how awful it would be if the sprinkler system went off. I hope they have insurance. Ben set up a chair next to his keyboard for me (a few inches next to an extremely expensive mandolin), and a pair of headphones to listen to the full mix through the Aviom mixer. There were two monitors on top of the piano – a conductor cam and a stage cam. Ben plays on a MIDI’d Yamaha acoustic upright. It’s attached to a computer running Brainspawn Forte with a bunch of synth patches. I really love how Wicked uses a real acoustic piano in the pit – “real” instruments are getting rarer and rarer.
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by Brian Li on Sunday, April 22, 2012
This was a relaxing weekend. Opening night and closing night of The Wedding Singer was last Friday, and not having rehearsal and show-related things to do everyday makes me feel awkwardly empty. There were definitely a few moments in the four months of show preparation where I was just completely overstressed, but playing and seeing the final production made it all worth it. The show went very well. It was honestly the best run we had done, and I’m so proud of everyone involved. The fact that we only had one show made everything even more emotional, and I got teary on the way home. I really wish we could’ve had more than one night. I am glad that I no longer have to pack three keyboards into a car everyday. That’s definitely a nice change. I regret not going to the cast party afterward. I think I should’ve been there, but I had to go home to practice and prepare for Seussical!
Time to study for finals. One more week…
by Brian Li on Sunday, April 15, 2012
I’m tired, burnt out, and my seasonal allergies are starting up. Despite all this awful nonsense, I feel some sense of peace. School is finally winding down, and I’ll have a few weeks off before summer semester. The past few weeks have been absolutely nonstop – school, work, rehearsals, and homework. Over the weekend, I thought a lot about how much everyone in The Wedding Singer has grown the past few months. I’m not going to pretend I know most of the cast personally. I don’t. What I do know and what I did observe is the transformation that took place since the first rehearsal. I’m always amazed how these shows pull themselves together. I would say it’s magical if I believed in magic.
Tech week is coming up. I feel like I should mentally prepare myself, but I’m not sure how to do that. For piano concerts, I usually take a nap right before I have to perform. This happens backstage, and it always helps me get into the right state of mind. Musical theatre is different, though. I’m trying to think about moving all the equipment back and forth each day. It’s always better when I think about it beforehand. It makes the actual activity less shocking and more bearable. It’s mostly just a pain. I should just stick with the flute – nice and light.
I have no clue what this post was about. I’m exhausted, and I just felt like typing something. Time for some show promotion. Everyone should come watch The Wedding Singer at Northeastern on 4/20. It will be great and wonderful, and I’m accepting applications for a group of people to help me move my keyboards after…
by Brian Li on Friday, April 13, 2012