How Music Made the Monster

I just finished the run of Frankenstein at Hudson Guild Company. It was a fun experience playing “The Baroness" Frankenstein who is quite bossy and pompous (no type casting comments!). Jim Furlong, who runs the arts program at the Hudson Guild, wrote the original play, inspired by the two films ("Frankenstein" and “Bride of Frankenstein"). As we rehearsed, I have to admit I was kind of afraid that the show would end up being pretty campy. And, of course, you just can’t help having a little “camp" in Frankenstein. It’s such a cheesy story really! But I was worried for Jim that people might laugh in places he really didn’t want them to. Then, he made the brilliant decision to hire Daniel Bennett (http://www.danielbennettgroup.com/) to create a live soundtrack for the play. With the help of an interesting set and great acting, the soundtrack made a huge difference to the show. I have never been in a stage play that made use of this. It had the effect of helping the audience realize what was “scary" and what was “humorous", working exactly the way a film or TV soundtrack does. It was super fun to watch Daniel at work. He played five or six different wind instruments - bass clarinet, clarinet, flute, oboe, saxophone and maybe something else I’m forgetting at the moment. He basically composed the whole show himself. My favorite sound effect was the “electricity" hum he created with the bass (baritone?) clarinet on a steady tone. It was very hard on his lip, but it was super super cool in the scene where Doctor Frankenstein electrifies the monster. Daniel and I have become friends and he was sweet enough to invite me to sing with his fabulous Daniel Bennett Group at Tomi Jazz on May 25th. I’m pretty excited about joining him. And I hope this won’t be the last time a director makes use of a live soundtrack like this. I’m definitely going to keep it in mind for future directorial efforts. Check out Daniel’s jazz music at http://www.danielbennettgroup.com/ and I hope you’ll join us at Tomi Jazz 8-10:30 on May 25. 239 East 53rd Street, New York.