Sondheim did reach out to me directly and approved the changes that we had made to the score: cuts, changes of feel, changes of vocal range, changes of vocal arrangements in some of the choral moments. We never tamper with melody or melodic contour. We never tamper with the accompanying harmony. Beyond that, we’re limited by how much counterpoint we can achieve with my two hands and the other instruments that we have on stage.


TS: Can you give us a flavor for how you collaborated with Noah Brody and Ben Steinfeld, the co-directors?


MC: I will try. The reality of how the rehearsal room works is it is democratic in terms of the airing of ideas, brainstorming for how to stage things, discussion of what characters are doing, what is happening in a scene. People who are not in a particular scene make observations about what is going on, a change that they saw somebody try and what was interesting about it, what maybe didn’t work about it. That’s not a dynamic that will work for every show and every group of actors. But with this particular cast it is brilliantly successful, and very stimulating. It’s the most fully participating room of actors I’ve ever been in, which is really saying something.


TS: So when they decided to bring some people in from outside the company – the understudies, for instance – were you involved in that casting process?


MC: I was involved. I also went through a process of being vetted, interviewed, tried out, and then ultimately hired. I was outside the company until I became part of it. So I’ve had experience with Fiasco from both sides of the audition table, so to speak.


Casting understudies was a challenge. Of course, hiring understudies for a show that’s already happened is always a challenge. Because what we do in our production has become so connected to the specific abilities of our 10 actors, finding four actors who can cover them reasonably well is a daunting task. The instrumental aspect of the show has been the one that had to give way. If we can’t find someone who plays this instrument for this role, especially the bassoon that Liz Hayes plays (she plays Jack’s mother), then we’ll have to come up with another solution. We’re creative people; we’ll come up with something.


TS: Can you talk about playing Sondheim? Is this the first time you’ve played a score of his?


MC: I’ve played many of his shows. His music is made with such integrity of purpose, such excellence of craft and such passion for the story that it is rewarding to play every time. At home alone, in a piano bar, on a Broadway stage -- it is always rewarding to play. His writing is layered and multi-faceted, and he takes great care to make sure that everything is there and works on every level. All I have to do is remember that I am the luckiest person in the world because I am on stage playing his music.


TS: Is there a part of the score you love playing every night?


MC: There are a few parts that stand out. Some of them stand out because it was so challenging to reduce the intricate orchestral arrangements. That’s the case with “Your Fault” and “Last Midnight.”


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Then the ones where we’ve transformed the music in some kind of way like “Hello, Little Girl” and “Giants in the Sky” -- the way we use the instruments and the way we characterize the music is not what people are accustomed to. The whole show feels like playing chamber music, which it literally is because there are one to ten singers, one to eleven singers including me. Everybody has an essential part to contribute. We collaborated on this and made it together.


TS: What rarely-seen musicals would you like to music direct and/or conduct?


MC: City of Angels. The Secret Garden. Once Upon a Mattress. Mame. I love those shows.


TS: Do you have any advice for a young person who might want to be a music director?


MC: Learn to play piano, improvise, become a singer. Understand how to harmonize your voice to somebody else’s. Understand how singers sing and how they learn. Understand other instruments and the jobs that other people do in the theatre. Regard music as text and devote yourself to the study of how musical text serves character, emotion and story.•


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