The Nutty Professor's DANNY YOUNG Knows What He Wants To Be When He Grows Up

Danny Young grew up in the small Wisconsin town of Viola (population 500), the son of a band director, so it should come as absolutely no surprise that he's now plying his trade as a professional musician-a drummer, to be exact-who finds himself part of the blue-ribbon orchestra playing a brand-new Marvin Hamlisch score every night during performances of The Nutty Professor, A New Musical now onstage at the Tennessee Performing Arts Center.

As committed to his job as any of the other people who bring the show to life every performance, Danny Young is thrilled to be working with comedy legend Jerry Lewis (upon whose classic 1963 film comedy the musical is based-and who directed the brand new musical that features book and lyrics by Rupert Holmes), who is one of his childhood idols and to be playing alongside some of Nashville's finest musicians.

Under the direction of conductor Stephen Kummer, who has a lengthy resume of Nashville productions to his credit, the band (who are given their moment in the pre-Broadway spotlight when they come onstage atop Tony Award-winning designer David Gallo's gorgeous bandstand) is largely made up of hometown players-after all, where better to find the best musicians than in Music City USA?-including Barry Green, Paul Carrol Binkley, Jimmy Bowland, Matt Davich, Robby Shankle, Doug Moffet, Jennifer Kummer, Jeff Bailey, StEve Bailey, Bobby Brennan, Pat Coil and Ron Sorbo. True, some of them are from other cities (like bassist Brennan, for example), but they will now and forever be known as "Nashville players" what with the experience of The Nutty Professor under their belts.

Danny Young has been part of The Nutty Professor since early on: "I've been working with the cast since the start of rehearsals and have also been working with the dance composer and orchestrator writing the drum book for the show. It's a crazy process being in dance rehearsals writing the drum book."

It's customary for a drummer to be on-board early in the development of a new musical in order to get the rhythm and the beat just right and it's clear from talking to Danny Young that he's savoring every moment of his own Nutty Professor adventure, which has him back in Nashville for longer than a day or two. He's called Music City USA home for the past two years, but work has taken him all over the country (most recently he was part of the touring orchestra for Young Frankenstein-with a cast that included BroadwayWorld.com Tennessee Theatre Award winner Britt Hancock and Nashville's own Graham Keen).

After a week of preview performances gave the show's creative team a chance to see how it works in front of audiences (tinkering and tailoring the production for public consumption ahead of its intended Broadway transfer), The Nutty Professor opened on Tuesday night to thunderous ovations and near-unanimous praise from critics. Danny, the hard-working drummer who might justifiably be called "the arbiter of rhythm," somehow found time to talk to me about his work on the show and the impact it's had on his own future career aims and ambitions.

When did you become interested in the drums? Having a band director as a dad made it pretty certain I would be involved in music somehow. I always loved the drums in music and at a young age was constantly tapping on anything I could reach. I think the tiny Muppets drum set I got for Christmas when I was around five probably made me fall in love with the drums.

My brothers, sisters and I would put on shows in our basement and I was always the drummer. When I finally convinced my parents I was serious about it, they surprised me with a real drum set for Christmas. That was not only the best, but also the most life-changing Christmas present I ever received!

How did you make the move into musical theater? I have to say playing musical theater was never my "career plan." when I made the decision to pursue drumming for a living. It just sort of happened to be honest.

Like many young musicians I dreamed of being a famous funk or rock drummer, but I realized early on what a long-shot that career choice could be. I felt if I wanted to make it anywhere in music, it was most important to have experience in as many styles and genres as possible, so when the opportunity to play drums for Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines came up, I jumped. I was hired as the show band drummer playing the production and guest entertainer shows which really helped me focus on playing shows consistently night after night, and being able to sight-read and perform a show with little to no rehearsal.

After two different six-month contracts out of Barcelona, Spain, I got word that Royal Caribbean planned to open the Broadway show Hairspray on the largest ship in the world, the Oasis of the Seas. I went straight to my computer and e-mailed the bookers to inquire on the drum spot. It was already sadly, so I moved on and forgot about it.

A few months later our music director called me to the office. He said, "How would you like to fly to Finland to play Hairspray on the world's largest cruise ship? The drummer just canceled and they start rehearsals in four days!"

I was ecstatic and of course said yes. I absolutely loved playing the show and soon after was asked to work on Chicago, which was opening on the sister ship of the Oasis, Allure of the Seas about a year after. With those two shows added to my resume, soon I was asked to join the national tour of the Mel Brooks musical Young Frankenstein. Amazing how one stroke of luck completely changed the direction of my career within a couple of years. I can honestly say I never saw it coming but I couldn't be happier for where it took me.

Tell me about how you became part of the Nutty Professor company…Landing the drum spot for Nutty Professor was really a classic example of right time, right place. I sat with Sean McDaniel in the pit of Book of Mormon this past April, and when he heard I was based in Nashville he asked if I had heard of the new musical opening there. Having been on the road for the past eight months I was a little out of the loop, but all I needed to hear was Jerry Lewis, Marvin Hamlisch and Rupert Holmes.

Being local, I thought I might have a small shot, so I started researching and getting in contact with those involved in finding the musicians. After sending out resumes, getting recommendations, multiple phone conversations, e-mails and a whole lot of luck, I was offered the spot. It just so happened the day I got the offer was my birthday as well!   

I know you were part of the process of developing the musical early on-how did that come about? It's pretty common for drummers to be in the dance rehearsals along with the cast and rehearsal pianist, but since this is a new musical there were no drum parts written. Having played a number of dance-heavy shows in the past, I realized the importance of having a drum part that complimented the choreography. Since I knew I was going to be in dance rehearsals, I decided to volunteer to write and arrange drum parts for a majority of the songs.

The creative team, including composer Marvin Hamlisch, orchestrator Larry Hochman, dance arranger David Dabbon, and musical supervisor/vocal arranger Todd Ellison, and conductor/pianist Stephen Kummer were gracious enough to say yes and I was pretty much given free rein to decide what went into the drum score.

You wrote the drum book--what exactly does that mean? And will your drum book be part of the musical from here on out? I guess the best way to answer this question is to describe the process of how I went about writing the drum book. When I started rehearsals I received a copy of the piano score so I could see the general style and feel for each piece of music.

As I watched choreographer JoAnn M. Hunter teach the cast, I began placing appropriate hits (or accents) on the drums that would complement the choreography, while not taking away from the musicality. None of this would have been possible without the help and support of JoAnn Hunter or David Dabbon. They were truly instrumental in the formation of the drum parts and making it all work together.

By the end of the day, we would finish a couple songs so I would go to a coffee shop, pull out my staff paper and pencil, and hand write the drum parts that had been created that day. All my parts were sent to composer Marvin Hamlisch and orchestrator Larry Hochman who would also come into rehearsals to watch, listen, ask questions, and get any information they needed to take what we had created in a tiny dance studio and turn it into full band/vocal arrangements for the stage.

This was one of the most interesting and incredible processes I've ever been involved with. One of my favorite memories of this whole process was walking into the first day of band rehearsal in Nashville and seeing the printed scores of drum parts I had hand-written. Then getting to hear those drum parts in context with the wall of sound created by our incredible band was just about breathtaking! It was such an honor to get to work with Larry Hochman; largely because he was so supportive and trusting in my work. I cannot thank him enough for allowing me to be such a big part of this process. 

What's the importance of establishing the rhythm for a show's score, percussion-wise? I would say the most important thing in creating drum parts for a show is finding the right balance between creating drum parts that are stylistically appropriate, while finding ways to complement the choreography. Yes, you want to accent kicks, jumps and dips because it makes everything seem that much more energized, but on the other hand you don't want it to turn into a three-ring-circus. Granted, The Nutty Professor is a very silly show at times so there's lot of "camp" thrown into the music on purpose, but the rhythmic support system always needs to be there even when helping enhance the choreography.

What's been the most interesting part of this experience for you? I would have to say the most interesting part of this experience for me has been being able to watch the show grow from virtually nothing to what is now. It's unbelievable to what was accomplished with only five weeks of rehearsals. I must say I'm not sure how it all got done, but it just says that much more the incredible team that was put together.  

Are you likely to continue with the show if it moves on to bigger and better things? I guess the short answer to this question would be yes. I feel we have an amazing show and I plan to continue with the show if it moves up. As we all know in the entertainment industry, one should never count their chickens before they hatch. On that note, I am ecstatic to have eggs at all and I am content just letting them incubate for the time being!!

When the Nashville production closes, what will that mean for you? I have just confirmed an apartment in New York, the car is rented, and I'm ready for the 15-hour drive when the run ends at the end of August. Until I know more on the plans for the show I'll be in New York attempting to continue playing drums for a living. Nashville has been amazing and I will miss my friends here dearly, but now that I finally know what I want to do when I grow up, I think it's time to make the next big move.

• Tickets for The Nutty Professor are on sale now at www.tpac.org or by calling the TPAC box office at (615) 782-4040. The show runs through August 19.

photo credit: Rick Malkin

 

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