Show notes
This is part TWO of my interview with Joe Choroscewski. In today’s chat, we discuss:
* Effective ways to contact drummers who are working on Broadway musicals.
* Getting the opportunity to sub for Tommy Igoe at The Lion King.
* Subbing at Avenue Q on Broadway and securing the off-Broadway chair.
* His experience with Heart and Lights at Radio City.
* How he landed the chair at The 2021 Radio City Christmas Spectacular.
* How he subbed on 22 Broadway musicals and juggling SIX at one time.
* Why Jeff Pocaro is his favorite drummer and why.
* What the most difficult shows he’s played in his career.
Joe was the drummer for the groundbreaking run of Avenue Q at New World Stages (2009-19), which carried on the legacy of the Tony Award-winning “best musical” for many years after the original Broadway run. He also had stints assuming the chairs of the Broadway productions of both Finding Neverland (2016) and Promises, Promises (2010). Joe’s Broadway subbing credits are vast, comprising over twenty productions including The Lion King, Wicked, The Book of Mormon, Legally Blonde, Beetlejuice, Beautiful - The Carole King Musical, Frozen, and Newsies, to name a few. He also worked extensively with the Radio City Rockettes for four years, developing a new production show for Radio City Music Hall. On the touring front, Joe was on Joseph And The Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat starring Patrick Cassidy, with additional tour credits on the first national productions of Avenue Q and Monty Python’s Spamalot.
Joe is frequently the drummer of choice for various popular entertainers such as “The Countess” Luann de Lesseps (from “The Real Housewives of New York City”), Mario Cantone, and Heather Headley. He has toured with Clay Aiken, of American Idol fame. Joe has also drummed for major concerts in theaters and renowned clubs by artists such as Sutton Foster, Cheyenne Jackson, Chita Rivera, Ryan Silverman, Natalie Weiss, Michael Urie, Becki Newton, Telly Leung, Ariana DeBose, Adam Pascal, Andrea McArdle, and Hugh Panaro. He also is the regular drummer for Sarah Stiles (TV, Broadway Tony nominee), and Kate Rockwell (Mean Girls), and appears on both of their solo album releases. On the cabaret club scene, Joe has frequently appeared with award-winning performers Natalie Douglas, Christina Bianco, and most recently in the comedy show of Michael West as “Kenn Boisinger”, as well as Natalie Joy Johnson, a.k.a. “Miss Natalie”. He has also proudly played multiple major benefit events for Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS, including The Gypsy of the Year, Easter Bonnet, and Red Bucket Follies.
In addition to these productions and concerts, Joe has been a guest drummer with the Princeton Symphony and Allentown Symphony and was in the showband for multiple cruise ships for both Carnival and Norwegian Cruise Lines. In regional theater, Joe has played concert presentations of famous rock musicals for ACT of Connecticut at the Ridgefield Playhouse. Over the past two decades plus, Joe has covered gigs in a vast array of venues from NYC area weddings, to children’s music programs, to hard rock cover bands, to workshops of new musicals in development, to contemporary church music, to jazz trios, to name a few.
On the educational front, Joe is widely recognized as a featured guest on Tommy Igoe’s best-selling DVD “Great Hands For A Lifetime.” He has been a guest clinician at schools and music lesson studios in the area and has taught private lessons for 22 years. Joe has a Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies performance from the University of North Texas College of Music, one of the nation’s top programs. At UNT, Joe studied with Ed Soph for six semesters, and back in New Jersey he studied extensively with Tommy Igoe at his home studio. He feels very fortunate to have studied privately with two of the most revered drum educators in history.
Joe lives in Somerset County with his wife of fourteen years, Giana, and their two boys and three dogs. Outside of music and theater, Joe is a big fan of Major League Baseball and is an avid runner.
For more: https://www.drummingjoe.com/
Clayton Craddock, the drummer of the hit broadway musical Ain't Too Proud. He hosts the Broadway Drumming 101 Podcast and has played drums in several hit broadway and off-broadway musicals, including "Tick, tick…BOOM!, Altar Boyz, Memphis The Musical, and Lady Day At Emerson's Bar and Grill. Also, Clayton has worked on: Footloose, Motown, The Color Purple, Rent, Little Shop of Horrors, Spongebob Squarepants, The Musical, Evita, Cats, and Avenue Q.
You can follow Clayton on the following social media platforms:
Instagram
TikTok
YouTube
For more: claytoncraddock.com
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