Another Season in Books

Tonight, I am playing for the opening night party for the TUTS production of Best Little Whorehouse in Texas.  This marks the end of the second season of me playing these events.   It is always a thrill for me to play anywhere downtown because it's my little taste of what playing in New York must be like!

Houston's Theatre Under The Stars (TUTS) produces six musicals every year, and every opening night, they host a party at a restaurant that is attached to the theatre and invite their VIP patrons and the cast to come have appetizers and drinks.  For this event, they also hire a couple of local singers to come by and sing a song or two with me at the piano with the hopes off it turning into an "open mic" type of feel.  It rarely turns into a true open mic, but many times, it turns into a free-for-all with the cast of the shows.  It's a ton of fun, and you never really know what's going to happen.  However, it is fun for me to try and predict what the night is going to be like based on what show is opening.   For example, the opening night party for La Cage was a VERY different experience than the opening night party for White Christmas. 

I have met a lot of very cool people, and gotten to also keep my sight reading skills fresh by sight reading several songs each of these nights.  Believe it or not, there's a lot of pressure in sight reading songs for singers who are singing for music theatre patrons and other performers.  

Tonight ends my second season worth of playing these parties, and I've already been asked to play for a third season.  So thankful to be able to play the piano for a living.  I never thought that I would ever be paid for doing something that I always did for fun growing up anyways.   When we were growing, my brother and I would sit at a piano for hours some nights playing and singing through music theatre books, and I never had any idea how that was preparing me for what I get paid to do now.  I will always be thankful for those nights!!

Peace Out,
Luke