‘Those Aren’t Words You Hear Everyday’; Burrow Discusses Touring with Hamilton
Jason Burrow: Thank you so much for having me. I’m super excited to be here.
JH: All right, so, first off, tell us what you’re doing right now. Explain what it means to be the associate music director with a touring production of “Hamilton.”
JB: So, there are three tours out right now, and I’m in the Phillip Company. They named them after characters in the show, so there’s an Angelica tour, and a Phillip tour, and I think the third one is the funniest – it’s called “and Peggy” because, in the show, when the sisters come out they say, “Angelica, Eliza and Peggy,” so the third tour is called “and Peggy.” So, I’m in the Phillip Company, and as the associate music director, I play in the pit for the show every night. We travel with 10 musicians, and there are two keyboards – two pianos – the conductor plays keyboard one and then I play keyboard two for most of the shows, but then one to three shows a week I also conduct the show and then I play the keyboard one. And October was my conducting debut, so that was a big milestone for me.
JH: Yeah, that’s exciting. So, how did you find out about this opportunity?
JB: So, I lived in New York City for a long time and, like you said, I taught at NYU, and I was really fortunate to work in a few different educational spaces. And one of them was at Marymount High School in Manhattan, and I got to work with their amazing theater department. It’s a Catholic girls school, and so what they do is, they put on a pretty big musical every year and then invite other schools, like boys schools, to come over and audition for the boy’s roles – and still, sometimes, you know, the girls will play a boy role because that, you know, that’s fun. And so I had a friend and colleague from that text me, actually, in August of 2021 and she said, “Hey, my friend is the contractor who contracts all the musicians for ‘Hamilton,’ and I think they’re looking for keyboard piano types. Are you interested in that? It’s for a tour – would you, would you go on tour?” And it was one of those like, “Sure, yeah, that would never happen.” You know, like, of course, you just always say “yes.” So I said, “Yeah, of course,” and I sent some YouTube links and I sent my resume, and so that kind of passed the first audition. And then the contractor sent me this packet of music to learn, and I had to video those songs, which was about 10 minutes of music, including me playing the piano but then also having to rap some of the raps while playing. And I was like, “Why are they?” I said, okay, well, I guess that makes sense because if I’m going to be a music director for this show, they have to know that I actually understand the mechanics of that or can successfully do that to be able to then teach it or give a note about it. So, I thought, okay I did that. And I recorded the 10 minutes and got some good feedback for it, and we emailed back and forth a few times, but nothing came of it. And they were very nice and actually emailed me, you know, a month later, like, “Hey, we ended up going a different route.” And, you know, that’s actually super generous – sometimes, you just don’t hear anything. So, that was that, and I thought that was the whole story. And I even told my students about it this past year that, like, you never know when something’s gonna come up. You just kind of keep on working and keep on preparing, and you do whatever. And it didn’t work out for me, and that’s okay too, but I learned a lot even from just recording. So, cut to May of this year, and I got an e-mail from the contractor again saying, “Hey, we’re looking again, and we still have you on file — would you be interested in starting that process again?” And, again, I thought, yeah – I mean, yes, I’m interested, but it will never happen, so – sure, yeah, okay. So, I had to go through some auditions; they sent me a couple of pages of very detailed notes about my video that I had made, including notes about the rapping, like rhyming and stuff, that they wanted to hear differently. And then I did an hour-long Zoom audition callback with the associate music supervisor of all of “Hamiltons”— like, he travels through every “Hamilton” and manages the music for them. Later that week then I had a phone call with the music director of this company – just as like a, you know, a next step, and they called me on a Friday and said, “Hey, we’d like to offer you the associate music director.” And I literally was like, “Hang on, can you just say that again? Can you just repeat that?” because those aren’t words you hear, you know, every day… ‘the associate music director of ‘Hamilton.’” Anyway, needless to say, I’m still in a like a ‘pinch me’ moment of having this happen. This is really cool.
JH: And remind me how long this lasts. How long is this tour?
JB: So, the university has been amazing about this. I called my chair, Michael Rhea, and he is just the best and he was like, “Okay, we’re going to figure this out. I don’t know how we’re going to figure it out, but we’re going to do it. I don’t know what officially.” So, the university actually put me on a yearlong sabbatical, so that I can…so that I can be with the tour for a year. So, I joined in June of 2022, and I will…it’ll be about a year. So, I’ll be back on campus in August of ‘23.
JH: So, as a faculty member, how does this enhance your work back on campus?
JB: Oh my gosh, it’s…it’s so much. I’ve always been a teacher. I…I love being an educator. I also clearly am a performer, but my goal…I love having a new experience, because it means I get to then take that information back to my students. And this was…I’ve never toured before, and I’ve never really worked on a production of this scale before. I mean, it’s the largest and – whatever, you know, like – it’s the most popular musical in the world right now, you know. So, I’ve never really gotten to work on that scale before. I’m so fortunate to get to do shows at the university and to get to do shows at Theatre Squared in Fayetteville, and typically, you know, a show run at U of A is a couple of weekends, because we’re an educational theater, and a show run at Theatre Squared is typically about a month — maybe five weeks or six weeks. And, so, I’ve only ever done maybe 30 or 40 performances of a musical my whole life, because I’ve always been in that educational theater, and so already…I think last night’s show was my 104th show of “Hamilton.” Because I’m keeping track. And I will play something around I think, like, 400 shows or something before I come back. So, just the knowledge of how to maintain that — getting to meet the people in the business who are at the top of their field, getting..for me to give feedback to my students and say, you know, like this is, this is legit, this is how this goes. This is an example of what you have to be able to do or, you know, just real-world application of what we’re teaching.
JH: Okay, great. Do you have a favorite song from “Hamilton?”
JB: Oh my gosh…I love “Wait for It.” I think “Wait for It” is my, it’s my favorite. There’s something about Burr ‘cause he’s such a human character with…he’s so flawed. And I love the writing that Lin Manuel Miranda wrote. Everyone is so…there’s no, like, hero. There’s no savior – everyone’s human, you know? But he’s saying, like, I’m going to wait for it…I’m gonna, you know, I’m in the right place, I’m in the right time, I’m going to do this. And, you know, I’m 41 years old and this happened to me now, you know? And I’m a tenured professor at a university, and I love that job, and I was not actively looking for this, you know. Although we, you know, as professors, we do look for these research and creative opportunities – some during the school year, but also during the – well, sabbaticals — and during the summer. So, you know, always with an ear to the ground but not actively looking, and for it to happen now has been a little bit like “whoa,” um, a little surreal and…and pretty amazing. But, like, I’d kind of written this off, you know? I kind of thought, like, well, that’s okay – that, that exact experience just is not going to happen for me, and that’s okay, because I have lots of other fabulous experiences at school and throughout. Anyway. So, I think “Wait for It” really speaks to me, because, like, it feels…it feels a little bit timely for me also.
JH: Yeah, right place, right time. So, you’ve said before that this is your research. Tell me what you mean by that.
JB: Well, in the university lingo, we talk about research/creative. You know, because we’re an R1 institution, and so research is a huge part of what we do. And, so, what does that mean for an arts professor? What does that mean for an arts department? Because we’re so different from a biology department, where like I’m studying a heart cell, and I’m testing a new medication on heart cells, and then I’m publishing a paper, I’m doing research –maybe even in conjunction with another department or with another university – and I’m publishing. So, it’s this very tangible thing, which is wonderful, and ours can be a little bit less tangible. So, this is my research. I’m out in the field. I got to meet the keyboard programmer for “Hamilton” – for all of Broadway shows right now. He came into town and was tweaking some things for us, and that’s like meeting a rock star for me. You know, this is like meeting a researcher, like a scientist for me: getting to see how the show runs, how the sound department runs, how the microphones work, how the stage measures, how all of that works is, you know…this creative experience is my…is research in the university speak world.
JH: Okay, got it. So, last question…What’s your favorite performance memory? So, would it be one of the performances I mentioned, like, at the beginning of this in your introduction? I mean, Mariah Carey and Christmas songs – that’s really awesome. Or is there a U of A theatre experience that stands out? Or is it something related to “Hamilton” right now, because you mentioned that, you know, you just had your first time conducting?
JB: I mean, I can’t, of course, just pick one. Yeah, some of those…some of those like amazing, surreal moments of singing, “All I want for Christmas is you” with Mariah Carey…like, that’s crazy. And “Hamilton” right now. I have a family, and they’re in Fayetteville, and I miss them like crazy. This is insane, you know. We are always Facetiming. I have two kids, and my wife as a theater teacher at Bentonville High School, and she worked on Broadway for lots of years, and, so, is completely supportive of all of this, but it’s hard. And so hearing a song like “Dear Theodosia” in the show where they’re singing to their kids every night…and, like, some nights that hits really hard, and some nights it’s okay, you know. That would be a strong performance memory right now. You know, also, I will say one of my favorite…this is a little bit more general, but one of my favorite rehearsals is the final rehearsal with a university show right before we go into tech, because there’s something so special about what we’ve created in that rehearsal room before we add the next level of elements, you know? So, that…I have some really strong, some really strong fond memories of getting to see my students also, you know, up there taking risks and making such big, great choices and stuff. So, I know that’s a little general, but…
JH: No, that’s great. That’s great. All right, well, thank you so much for joining us today, and yeah, good luck on the rest of the tour, and that’s all for today. Thanks, Jason!
JB: Thanks so much for having me. I really appreciate it.
Matt McGowan: Short Talks from the Hill is now available wherever you get your podcasts. For more information and additional podcasts, visit arkansasresearch.uark.edu, the home of research and economic development news at the University of Arkansas. Music for Short Talks from the Hill was written and performed by local musician Ben Harris.
