Industry Insider: John Miller
For more than three decades,
John Miller has worked behind-the-scenes on Broadway
as a music coordinator. He is currently represented
on Broadway by Jersey Boys and Rock of
Ages. A bass player by training, he also has sat
in the orchestra pits of many shows.
John has a new CD out this
spring: Stage Door Johnny: John Miller Takes on
Broadway. When we heard about the album, we
e-mailed him with some questions about his role in
bringing musicals to the stage, and how he got into
the business. Here are his answers.
What exactly does a music coordinator do?
The music coordinator is a part
of the music team consisting of the composer,
conductor, music supervisor (when there is one) and
orchestrator. Sometimes I’m asked early on to
recommend conductors or orchestrators, and
occasionally sound designers. But more often, once a
conductor is onboard, I work with the team to help
find the perfect musicians that all agree would be
the best fit for the musical needs of that specific
show. This is one of my favorite parts of the job.
It’s a great feeling to be a part of giving work to
deserving musicians.
Then I help set up all the
details for the orchestra rehearsal schedule. We
prepare all budgets, payrolls, contracts and help
find the most cost-effective ways to give the music
team exactly what they want, making sure that all
musicians’ union rules are followed.
Once a show is up and running,
we maintain it by overseeing musician’s substitutes
and publicity appearances, and organizing the cast
album and road show when there is one.
How did you fall into this role?
After getting my degree in the
string bass at the University of Michigan in the mid
1960s, I returned to NYC and started working as a
freelance musician. One of the artists I was lucky
enough to record with was Cy Coleman, who asked me
to be the music director and one of the performers
of his show I Love My Wife, for which our
four-piece combo won a Drama Desk award.
Then in the early ‘80s he asked
if I wanted to be the contractor of his new show,
Barnum, coming to Broadway. I said no. Cy looked at
me and said, “I’ve got to give it to some schmuck,
I’d just as soon give it to you.” So I decided to
give it a shot. Cy was thrilled with the band; I
took it very seriously but I was flying by the seat
of my pants. To my surprise I dug it, and happily
the phone kept ringing.
What was your most memorable show to work on?
As a jazz bass player, I’ll
never forget the first time all the musicians played
the score of City of Angels. No one who was
there will forget. And as a rock bass player,
hearing that opening chord to The Who’s Tommy
is unforgettable. From the first rehearsal of The
Producers through closing night, working with
Mel and his entire team was what you might expect:
ridiculous good fun for everyone.
I’m not sure what music I was
listening to in the 80’s, but it wasn’t White Snake.
So I’m currently having a ball getting to know all
these great tunes in Rock of Ages. The
challenge for me in this show was to help put
together a 5-piece band who not only play this music
convincingly, but who live it and look it. So my own
personal goal was to put together a group who had
never played as a band, and have them sound like
they’ve been on the tour bus for years with endless
amount of sex, drugs and rock and roll. Goal
achieved!
How did this new CD come about?
When I’m through wheeling my
bass around the city, and my work as a music
coordinator is over, I make my way home late at
night and lean the bass up in the living room
corner. My wife and our dog are asleep. The night is
peaceful. I pick up the guitar -- the Martin my
parents gave me when I was 12. I turn on the TV to
watch a movie…anything, and begin to play.
Nothing in particular, just
some chords, or some fragmented lines. Gradually,
they begin to morph into a groove. The groove always
came first and that would lead me towards one of
these great Broadway classics. Then the arrangement
evolved from there.
I love each of these songs, but
I feel as though I didn’t actually pick them -- they
somehow picked themselves. Each one surfaced from
down deep in my earliest memories and affections and
kept me and the Martin company with late-night,
relentlessly seductive guitar grooves.
* * *
From the Broadway Fan Club (www.BroadwayFanClub.com).
© 2009 The Broadway League
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