On a tree by a river...

If you recognise the quote from a song in the title, award yourself one D'Oyly.

It's from Tit Willow, courtesy of Koko in the Mikado, and it's there for two reasons:

One is that I'm an incurable Gilbert and Sullivan fan, and spent a couple of happy seasons working with the D'Oyly Carte in London.

The second is that we're moving house, with a garden that has a willow tree by a river.

The river actually runs through the garden, and through the river itself runs the Welsh/English border. The house itself is about 10 feet into Wales, and is on a Site of Special Scientific Interest.

So why the move? Are we retiring?

Absolutely not! In fact our schedule is busier than ever. We've been on the lookout for a training retreat for years, and this year we had the opportunity to upsize to a six-bedroom house in the most beautiful setting (that's part of our garden in the photo). For photographs and more details, have a look at the Vocal Process eZINE edition 40 (visit the Vocal Process homepage and click on the amazing appearing box to get your copy delivered straight away).

We'll be back in London every fortnight coaching in the West End, working with actors, singers, teachers and performers, offering technique lessons, audition coaching and repertoire, and vocal rehabilitation. We've put the dates for our singing lessons up to April on a new live online diary, and the spaces are already booking up. You can see what we're doing from January by going to the Vocal Process Private Consultations page and clicking on the live coaching calendar link.

Incidentally, we're running a "competition" in the eZINE (edition 40) for Christmas. You can either to send us a Happy House Move email or to add a caption to a photograph of Jeremy and Gillyanne. The prizes are a copy of Gillyanne's new book Singing Express 1, and any one of the Vocal Process DVDs.

Check it out, and send us an entry by December 20th!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Little boxes, little boxes

There's been a long silence on my blog, and now I can tell you why.

We've been negotiating a house move for almost six months, and finally the day has arrived.

It's only really because we have the packers in to put the house in boxes that I've got time to sit and write today.

More about the house in a later blog, but first let me tell you - if you ever move house, be kind to yourself and pay the removal company to pack for you!

For the last week we've been fretting about having things put away or collected together in one organised pile to make things simple. I was all for packing the house before the packers arrived (you know, you clean the place ready for the cleaner?).

Anyway, the packers arrived at nine this morning, and by 12 they had a third of the house packed (and we're in a four-bedroom house at the moment!). In fact, we went shopping, and came back to find another room completed.

One of the fascinations of moving is discovering things you've been saving that you haven't used for years. In my case it was 23 years of accounts and diaries. And letters and programmes and floppy disks...

Fascinating to read and remember the jobs I've had in the past. My first job (Carmen Jones at the Crucible Theatre in Sheffield), my first West End job (The Sneeze with Rowan Atkinson), my first Musical Director job (Notre Dame at Sadlers Wells and the Oxford Fire Station), and the hundreds of contracts I'd done as a rehearsal and audition pianist (Les Mis, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, La Boheme, Rigoletto, Carmen Jones, Moby Dick the musical, and a host of others.

Once I'd got over sitting in a heap reading my past life, being astonished how I survived on such a small income, and even getting emotional over some of the stuff (and people) I've worked with, it was time to shred. Needless to say we had to buy another shredder. Very satisfying, particularly shredding the people you don't like.


Of course, professional removal firms don't have any emotional attachment to your stuff, so as far as they are concerned, they just wrap it and put it in a box.

It's an exhilarating time, if you leave the packing to the professionals!

The Vocal Process "opening your throat" techniques appear on the new sell-out Constriction and Release Training DVD
The brand new voice training DVD Nasality and the Soft Palate has just been released!
The Vocal Process website has 280+ pages, including a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)

Winning a part in Les Miserables

Excellent, poignant article from Susie Boyt in the Times recently.

As a Les Miserables itinerant musician for several years, this article really does capture the excitement and the unexpected seriousness of life behind the scenes in a West End show.

I remember my very first job in the West End, understudying the solo pianist in Rowan Atkinson's Chekhov party piece - The Sneeze (I've written about it in previous blogs). I was expecting excitement, parties, games and cameraderie in much the same way as Susie describes in her article.

The reality is similar but different. No parties after the show if you've got to run for the last train to Tunbridge - no games and indolent afternoons if you have to pick up the kids from school before the warmup.

But the cameraderie is definitely there. I still meet people who were in those productions (I'm astonished to say, 20 years ago), and we still greet each other like long lost family members - which in a funny sort of way, we are.

Click here to read the rest of Susie Boyt's article I Won A Part In Les Miserables

Susie Boyt is the author of My Judy Garland Life, which was book of the week on Radio Four over the Christmas period.


Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ to sign up for the free eZINE and get your copy of the free ebook 86 things you never hear a singer say
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
And the new Vocal Process MusicalStore is open for business throughout the New Year period: http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/products/MusicalStore.htm

Death of a legend

One sad note from the merry Christmas period.

Few people in my opinion deserve the epithet "legendary". But it's a word that I'm happy to use in combination with one name - a legendary performer who died today.

I saw Eartha Kitt perform on the London stage in the West End revival of Follies, and it's one of a handful of occasions where I actually wanted to stand on my seat and cheer.

An astonishing performance from a hell of a performer.
When she sang "I'm still here", you really believed it had been written for her.

(OK, I'm British and a bit shy, I didn't stand on my seat, but I felt like I could!)


Sometimes the magic is there, even for a professional critic like me - watching a performer totally committed to the art and the technique.

I'm happy to have seen her perform live... Thanks for being who you are - no-one can be any more.


Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ to sign up for the free eZINE and get your copy of the free ebook 86 things you never hear a singer say
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.
And the new Vocal Process MusicalStore is open for business throughout the festive period:
http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/products/MusicalStore.htm

The new Musical Store from Vocal Process

I've just created a new addition to the 200+ pages on the Vocal Process website.

Since we're a company that specialises in Musical theatre (theater) training, I thought it would be a good idea to create a one-stop shop for resources on Broadway and West End musicals.

The new Vocal Process Musical Store has 3 departments:

1. Musicals Recordings has almost 500 CDs of soundtracks, original cast albums and possible audition songs. You can search the department for your favourite cast album or just browse for ideas on songs or artists that you can use as audition songs. I've included a number of anthologies and pop/rock/contemporary artists as I encourage my private coaching clients to look at pop songs for musicals audition repertoire ideas.

2. Songbooks and Scores has almost 500 books of music related to theatre singing and musicals. I've included a few classical albums since actors are occasionally called upon to sing more classically, depending on the type of musical. One of the roles in The Light On The Piazza needs a more operatic sound, so I've included a couple of tenor aria books and a few opera scores for that purpose. The majority of the scores and songbooks are linked to musicals and productions including the latest shows in the West End and on Broadway. You can search this department for your ideal vocal score, or just browse to get ideas for shows and songs you can use in your singing auditions.

3. Recommended Reading has a handful of high-level background reading books. This is where I've put all the anatomy and physiology, acoustics and performance skills books that Gillyanne and I have read and recommended. I've also asked a few of my voice trainer friends to suggest titles for this section. If you have any ideas for technique/voice science books that you think would fit the section, just add a comment or send me an email via the Vocal Process website.

The Vocal Process Musical Store is powered by Amazon (the British version) and updates every day. Let me know if you think I've missed anything off, or if there's a new department you think I should open.

Click on any of the above links to visit the Store, or go to the Vocal Process website, click on Products and then click on Vocal Process Musical Store. The store will open in a new window, and will be the most up-to-date version.

Be sure to support us!

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ to sign up for the free eZINE and get your copy of the free ebook
86 things you never hear a singer say
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Auditioning For Musicals: Working Through The Recall System

Here's the third of three articles I wrote on the process of auditioning for a West End or Broadway show.

As a vocal coach specialising in successful singing auditions, I know that the auditioning process can be either a dismal failure that actors want to hide from, or an opportunity to present your work to the same knowledgeable people in a well-defined sequence of events. This article describes working through the recall system, and how a coach can help performers through the different recall stages.

Auditioning For Musicals: Working Through The Recall System

When an actor, singer or dancer auditions for a show, it is very rare that they are cast on the first hearing. With thousands of actors singers and dancers looking for work, the recall system is a necessary evil. (One of our clients in the UK had to go through 9 recalls - all at her own expense - before being cast in the show.) This article describes the different stages of auditioning, and how I coach performers through the system.

I'm assuming that you have either succeeded in or bypassed the preliminary stage of auditioning, the open call (or cattle call), and completed the first full call.

Getting a recall means that the company has decided you might fit the part and are at approximately the right level for them. They want to find out more about you and how you deal with the material in the show. They will usually give you music and script for the roles they want you to audition for.

If the production company haven't given any music or instructions, but has asked you to sing your own choice for them again, my advice is NOT to take new songs "to show something different" but to polish the same songs that were sung in the first audition. I also advise wearing the same clothes - after all, it's that song, that performance and that clothing that was appropriate enough to get you the recall, so why jeopardize your chances?

During a coaching session for auditions, we focus on the song, the character and the story - what's the package that we're selling? This technique, used for first auditions with your own choice of song, can be applied to the recall. We'll explore the songs the casting panel has provided, identify the style elements of the show and incorporate them into the song (and your voice). We'll also nail the personality aspects of the character, and experiment with dialogue and scenes to carry the character through singing AND speaking to produce a cohesive performance.

That's the first major hurdle. But the second recall is different again. By this time you will probably have been given not just the music but also some clues or advice on how the company wants the character to be played. In coaching for the second recall, we might experiment with different readings of the song based on different subtexts. It's important in the second recall that you give a clear performance, but can remain flexible as an actor.

The third recall is usually a more flexible event. You now know that you are at the right level and appropriate for the role. Often in the third recall the director and musical director will work with you in detail. This is the time to listen and experiment! Occasionally other auditioning actors will be brought in to "match up" a potential cast. My coaching sessions for the third recall are much more focussed, using information and hints given by the panel.

For example, working on auditions for the musical Spring Awakening recently, one of my clients was looking at three different roles and had been given very specific instructions from the directors for all three songs. So we worked on more aggression and bite in the consonants for one character, a more fluid, lyrical feel with some musical style tweaks for the second, and a hypnotic, sexually dominant feel for the third.

Another client was working on recalls for Mamma Mia and was up for two of the three leading ladies. So we worked on the dialogue for each character, identifying and shaping the differences between the two roles, finding the essence of their speech patterns, speed of delivery, pitch range and characterisation. Then we carried those differences into the songs to give a complete, identifiable package for each of the leads.

By the time you get to the fourth, fifth or sixth recall, you will have a relationship with the casting panel, and they have more time to discuss what they want to experience from you. You should be able to find out if there are any weaknesses in your presentation, and what you can do about it. Experimentation is vital here so know your material!

Occasionally at this point, it's less about you and more about the casting panel being in disagreement about what the role requires. Perhaps a show originates on Broadway and comes over to the West End (or vice versa). In these cases there is often an American casting contingent who might have very different ideas. Just stay calm and do what you do. Be prepared to change everything that you have done so far. Stay focussed and open, and listen very carefully to what you are being told. In the rare event that you receive conflicting information, follow the advice of the person with the highest authority!

And if you don't get any further in this particular journey, remember that the casting panel in your country has already approved your performing and will remember you for other shows.

Auditioning for jobs is a fact of life for the actor singer dancer. Once you become more successful at singing auditions, casting directors start to see you in other roles and you can bypass the first stages of auditioning (although even for the stars auditioning never goes away - "Would you like to pop in for a chat and a little sing?").

Landing a role in a Broadway show or getting a West End lead can be incredibly rewarding. Working the Recall System in this way can help you understand the process and get you there quicker.

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Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos (featured on the BBC and broadcast to an estimated 44,000,000 people). Sign up for Jeremy's free newsletter containing original interviews, pre-release offers and receive your BONUS free copy of "86 things you never hear a singer say" at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Auditioning for Musicals: What To Do In The First Audition

Here's the second of three articles I wrote on the process of auditioning for a West End or Broadway show.

For actors singers and dancers, auditioning for musicals is a way of life. But what if this is your first musicals audition? How do you behave, what do you have to do, and how should you prepare? This article focusses on the first (private) audition in the process of auditioning for a musical

Auditioning For Musicals: What To Do In The First Audition

You've got an audition for a musical theatre show. What do you do and what do you aim to achieve?

First, let's explore what an audition is for. For the casting panel, it's an opportunity to see new people, or to remind themselves of familiar people. It's a chance to see who and what is out there, to make decisions about casting, and to match up different actors to make a company. For you, it's an opportunity to let the casting panel get to know your performing ability, hear you sing and see you in your choice of character.

Now let's explore what the first audition is not. It's not a true performance - the audience doesn't applaud, they haven't paid to see you, there are no lights, no costumes and no makeup (other than what you have brought with you). It's not a complete show either, as the panel will expect to watch you come in as you, then change into character in front of them. And finally, the first audition will not get you the job. That may sound odd, but in reality West End auditions and Broadway auditions can go on for up to 9 recalls spread over several months. And on large-scale musicals you definitely won't be cast on the strength of your first audition.

Remember that the company wants to know how skilled you are, how well you inhabit the character, how well you deal with being on stage, and whether you are the appropriate professional level for the production. So the key points are to appear professional, well-prepared and confident with your material. And for the first audition it's vital for an actor, singer or dancer to use song material that's suitable for their casting, voice and abilities.

Let's examine some of the common mistakes that auditionees make. Singers might be confident of how they sound, but don't think about character or story. In musical theater, this is a complete no-no. Yes, you might have a lovely voice but we're interested in your character's journey through the song. Musical Theater differs from opera or song recital in that the music serves and heightens the text, and characterisation is vital. Conversely, actors might be very confident of their subtext and characterisation, but might not have a solid vocal technique. While strong character decisions can carry an actor through dodgy vocalising, remember that this is a musical genre, and usually you will be performing 8 shows a week or more. For your own sanity (and the sanity of those around you), it's imperative that your vocal technique is strong and clear enough for you to sustain and repeat what you are doing accurately and without strain. If not, a single cold can knock your performance sideways. For dancers who are used to expressing themselves in movement, using words and music can be a real challenge. And since many dancers start very young, learning a solid technique in a new discipline can seem like a mountainous task. It's important for dancers to find voice, text or singing teachers who are able to adapt their teaching styles to the dance-trained body and mind. Choose repertoire that you have a physical connection with, pieces that you feel they can play with. And don't be afraid to move during an audition - you don't have to stay rooted to the spot!

When coaching a singer/actor/dancer for the first call, the sessions usually focus on choosing repertoire that suits your physical and energetic casting, and helping you find (and maintain) your very best performance of it. We will also deal with the various problems surrounding auditions using your own-choice songs - presenting YOUR version of the song to the pianist in 15 seconds or less, how to find the focus of your song and get into character instantly, interacting with the panel, even altering your performance of your familiar repertoire to suit the style of that particular show.

Sometimes you can alter the subtext or storyline of a song to fit the show that is currently casting. If you have to sing just a 16bar excerpt or a cut version, your storyline will be different anyway - it's not a good idea to try playing the full song journey if you're only singing half the song! You might focus on the one aspect of the character that appears in that extract, or impose a journey on the music, or bring an event that happens later in the full song into that particular musical moment. So if you are using the same song for the cattle call and the first full audition (also known as the privates), you will almost certainly need more than one mental map of the song.

Once you have found good songs, a session from a qualified coach can help you find your own version of the material, and lead you to create living, sustainable characterisations that use your best talents and assets. With songs that match your casting, good performance skills and a professional attitude, you will definitely be noticed.

And what do you aim to achieve in the first audition? To get the first recall.

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Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos (featured on the BBC and broadcast to an estimated 44,000,000 people). Sign up for Jeremy's free newsletter containing original interviews, pre-release offers and receive your BONUS free copy of "86 things you never hear a singer say" at http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/


[You are welcome to reproduce the article on your website or blog provided you include the author name, biog details and website link at the end of the article.]

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

Auditioning for Musicals: The Cattle Call

Here's the first of three articles I wrote on the process of auditioning for a West End or Broadway show.

If you want to audition for Musicals on Broadway or in the West End, and you don't have an agent, you need to go to the open call, known as the Cattle Call. This article describes the cattle call, what you need to take and what you need to do to succeed.

Auditioning For Musicals: The Cattle Call

There are new musicals being written every year, and long-running shows being recast regularly. But there are thousands of actor singer dancers seeking work in musical theater. You want to be heard for roles in these shows but you don't have an agent. Where do you start?

Every year, production companies run open calls. They are particularly useful if the show is new or in an unusual genre (grunge/folk/rock or Tuvan throat singing), if there is a serious lack of actors with the relevant casting requirements (ethnic casting or tightrope juggling), or if the casting directors simply want to know what's out there at the moment. Open calls are usually advertised in the theatre press (The Stage newspaper in the UK is an example). The open call can be quite a demoralising process (not for nothing are they called "cattle calls"), so this article will help you prepare for them.

The first thing you'll see when you arrive is a long queue. Depending on how popular the show is, the queue could be three times round the block, or just a small crowd. Be prepared to stand in the queue for several hours. Even 15 years ago, professional singer friends of mine were kept waiting for 7 hours on the auditions for nuns in The Sound of Music.

What should you carry with you? Your resume or CV and a photograph are essential. If the photograph is not attached, make sure that both the resume and photograph have your name and contact details on. Photographs and CV details often get separated, and it would be horrible if the panel remembered your face but then couldn't find your contact details on the photo. A bottle of water is vital, and either a book or an mp3 player is useful to while away the hours.

You will give your name to the auditions usher or stage door manager, and the audition begins. If you're lucky, you'll have about 2 minutes to get on stage, introduce yourself and do your audition. If you're unlucky, you'll have 16 bars. If you're really unlucky, they will ask you for your best single phrase. How do you deal with this?

Remember that the purpose of this audition is NOT to get the job! If you're up against 1,000 people or more, nothing you can do will make you stand out enough to be offered the job on the spot. Your mission is to get asked back to the first call (the first invited call, as opposed to the cattle call). Therefore your task is to appear professional, calm and focused. That's it.

If you look professional (dress appropriately, perform to a good standard, interact well with the panel) you will be noticed. If you seem calm you will score points too - cattle calls are difficult situations with a lot of "unknowns" - like not know what time you're actually going to perform, and a vast number of people breathing down your neck! If you are focused, you'll be able to sing your piece to the best of your ability, and lock into the character immediately. Being focused really "reads" well on a theater stage, so the panel will notice very quickly how well you do.

When I'm coaching for the 16bar audition, the key is practise EVERYTHING. The walk in, the hello, the piece announcement, giving the pianist the music (or the backing track), the getting into focus, the 16 bars (decided beforehand, please!), and the exit. Everything matters, including the way you talk to the auditions usher. I work to help you choose song extracts that show your best (and it's not necessarily your loudest or highest), and to sing those extracts to the best of your ability.

Notice I haven't said what you should sing! Ultimately, in a cattle call your choice of song is less important than how you sing it. I have been on cattle calls where actors singing the weirdest songs have been called back for the next audition, simply because they sang it really well. In a situation like this you want to stack the dice in your favour as much as possible. Take a piece you know really well - that way if nerves strike, and you will still feel secure in your song.

Panels find cattle calls just as horrible as you do, and believe me, they breathe a sigh of relief when someone professional, calm and focused turns up. There usually are three piles in front of a cattle call casting panel. Yes, No, Maybe. The only pile you want to be in is the Yes pile.

And if you give a clear, focused, professional performance and follow the rules in this article, you're much more likely to get to sing in the next round and stay in the Yes pile.

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Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, and creator of the Voicebox Videos - featured on the BBC and broadcast to 44,000,000 people. He was commissioned by the DANA Centre at London's Science Museum to create a video on singing with a camera down his throat. Jeremy is fascinated by bringing technology and innate skill together. http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/


[You are welcome to reproduce the article on your website or blog provided you include the author name, biog details and website link at the end of the article.]

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

How To Find Work As A Professional Theatre Pianist

What kind of work can a professional pianist expect to find?

Obviously you can work as a recitalist, or join an orchestra as their resident orchestral pianist. But there's a hidden area of work that is both satisfying and fun.

I worked for almost 20 years in London's West End as a rehearsal pianist, and this article focuses on what a rehearsal pianist is, and how to become one.

A rehearsal pianist plays for the rehearsals of West End or touring shows, in the weeks of production before the band arrives. Any show that contains live music will need a rehearsal pianist, but the most famous examples are the big musicals. I worked on Les Miserables, Phantom of the Opera, Miss Saigon, Me and My Girl, Carmen Jones, and a host of productions both in the West End and on tour.

The contract usually runs for four to six weeks, from 10am to 5pm five or six days a week. During the technical week (the week before opening night or the first preview, when all the sets and costumes are added) the hours can extend quite dramatically - I would sometimes be working 12 or 13 hour days

As a rehearsal pianist you have to be very patient, and to enjoy watching the process of performance creation. In addition, you should be able to perform musical numbers repeatedly to a consistently high standard. And you need to like working with actors! You may or may not have a conductor there, and occasionally you are given the task of training the singers, or playing for the dance calls.

Most productions will have a minimum of two rehearsals each week. You may be called to work on the production during the run, particularly if there is no piano player in the orchestra.

How do you begin working as a production pianist?

When I moved to London in the late 80s I wrote 750 targeted letters asking for employment. Although most of the production companies no longer exist, the methods of contact I used are still valid.

Remember first that you're looking for companies or organisations that produce events, musicals, plays with music or short films, that would need a musician. In the UK, the place to start is the British Music Yearbook, published by Rhinegold and usually available in a good local library. Once you've exhausted the BMY, then Contacts, published by The Spotlight, has a good up-to-date list of repertory theatre companies.I also wrote to film and production companies (with the emphasis on Production) offering my services and asking them to keep my details on file for when they might need a film pianist.

Dance studios like Pineapple Studios in London are constantly hosting production rehearsals, and may be worth contacting. They won't provide you with employment but they have so many production companies hiring their space that they might be able to put you in touch with people needing your brand of skills. It may be worth approaching all the similar rehearsing venues in the area.

Another alternative, often forgotten, is to contact the West End Orchestral Fixer. An orchestral fixer will liaise with the producers of a musical to book the musicians for the run of the show. They will sometimes employ or recommend pianists for the rehearsal period, even if they are not booked for the performances. Once I was established on the scene, I got a great deal of my work from one West End fixer, who knew about or was involved in lots of productions. I didn't necessarily play in the production itself, but was hired for the rehearsal period and the "overlap time" between the bandcalls (in the final week of rehearsal) and opening night. There is an exclusive list of orchestral fixers approved to book West End musicians - if you are having trouble finding it - contact the Musicians' Union.

In a nutshell, think out of the box. I got the contracts by writing to as many people as I thought had the budget to pay me.

Did my mailout all those years ago get any results? Out of those 750 letters I received 49 replies, and one interview for a job in the West End which lasted for a full 8 months and led to a busy 20 years in and around London's Theatreland.

Good luck!

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Jeremy Fisher trains singers and performers to find and maintain their best. He's the author of Successful Singing Auditions, creator of the UK's first endoscopy video ebooks, and is fascinated by bringing technology and innate skill together. http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk

[you are welcome to publish this article on your own website or blog provided the author's biog and Vocal Process weblink above is included]

Visit http://www.vocalprocess.co.uk/ for the latest downloads:
the Vocal Process eZINE (free electronic magazine)
86 things you never hear a singer say (free ebook)
The Voicebox Videos DVD website tells you all about the Looking At A Voice endoscopy video series
The Vocal Process website has a series of free articles on vocal technique and style, memorising and different musical genres.

The story of my West End debut

I wrote in an earlier blog about my early experiences in the West End.

I had an email a couple of days ago from a fellow pianist wanting to know how I got into the West End business in the first place. I'll be copying you in on my response a little later, but in the meanwhile, here's the story of my West End debut.

My very first job was 8 months understudying on The Sneeze, a series of 8 Chekhov plays with a cast headed by Rowan Atkinson and Timothy West. I was covering the performances and doing the understudy rehearsals every week.

I had told the producers very early on that they simply weren't paying me enough money to sit in the theatre every night waiting to see if the pianist turned up. Instead, I would ring the theatre at 6.45 each evening (and 1.45 on matinee days) to see if I was needed.

Well, the eight months came and went, and nothing happened. In the last week of the run, we had our end-of-run party on the thursday night after the show in a posh West End club. It was Russian-themed with vodka and Russian food and was very exciting to someone newly arrived in London.

The next day I was actually in the local sauna, and at 6.45 I thought I'd better get out and ring the theatre. "Yes, you're on tonight, Michael's got food poisoning". At first I thought they were joking (it was April Fool's day after all) but they were deadly serious, so I threw on my clothes and ran to the theatre.

Of course the tubes were crowded and I arrived late, but they had held the curtain for me and made an announcement to the audience. So I ran across the stage, into the box and started playing the show, too frazzled to be nervous. Apparently Timothy West said "Oh, he's rather good isn't he?" After all, he had never heard me play!

All went well until the play The Sneeze, which is a silent play to Russian-style ballet music. I love playing this music, and I did extremely well until the last two pages. Apparently, I took the music rather faster than Michael played it, and everyone on the side of the stage watched as Rowan had to fairly throw himself around the stage to fit in all the business.

I'm glad to say that I got a big ovation at the end. In fact, some of the cast thought it was a set-up between me and Michael to give me a chance to play the show before it ended, but as I pointed out to them, if I'd known I was to play that night, I wouldn't have been in the sauna!


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