I just got back from spending three weeks in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia with McCoy-Rigby and Poets Road International's Production of Peter Pan. It was exciting to be in a new place, and challenging to be in a country that has had almost no musical theatre before our arrival.
We arrived and I spent almost the entire first work day hoping that eventually a drum set would arrive, as promised, from our in country producing partners. As you can see above, it did! While a Yamaha Rydeen beginner drum set and Sabian B8 cymbals weren't what I was hoping for, they worked with a little help from the gear I brought from home.
I gotta say, the drum set would have been fine if I could have found professional heads to go with it. That's a whole different saga for another time, though.
I gotta say, the drum set would have been fine if I could have found professional heads to go with it. That's a whole different saga for another time, though.
On our days off, we did get to explore Riyadh a bit. This is Deera square, which has been turned into a cultural hotspot, at least during the Riyadh Season Festival, of which our show was also a part. It is directly across from the Masmak, an important fortress in Saudi history.
While we saw impressive projections on the buildings, food trucks, pop up restaurants, performances from international groups and shopping, Deera square used to be the place where they carried out public executions until 17 years ago. This fact made the mood slightly more somber as we took in the sights.
While we saw impressive projections on the buildings, food trucks, pop up restaurants, performances from international groups and shopping, Deera square used to be the place where they carried out public executions until 17 years ago. This fact made the mood slightly more somber as we took in the sights.
This is Brent Crayon, our music director. One of the more difficult parts of the trip was a shockingly high rate of hospitalization. Members of our company got the flu, lost their voice, tore their meniscus, and one even got her abaya caught in the wheels of an ATV and rolled over herself. In all some 11 people went to the hospital.
Brent got maybe the worst of it. He contracted pneumonia and spent the last week of our stay in the hospital. Because we were already on a very tight musician budget of only three, that left us with few options to continue performing shows.
Thus came my promotion to "Emergency Associate Conductor." A battlefield promotion, if you will.
Brent got maybe the worst of it. He contracted pneumonia and spent the last week of our stay in the hospital. Because we were already on a very tight musician budget of only three, that left us with few options to continue performing shows.
Thus came my promotion to "Emergency Associate Conductor." A battlefield promotion, if you will.
You can see I also had to continue covering a significant portion of the percussion sound effects as best I was able. I also still played Toms for the two Indian dance sequences. Here's my setup for the final week of shows.
While it was exciting to experience a new country, I'm very glad to be home.
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