Andy Monroe

I am excited to present to you my first pianist of this series, Andy Monroe. The pianist is a very important part of the training. Any dancer will tell you that a good class must have good musical accompaniment. I was lucky to have great musicians for class throughout my training. We had excellent pianist at LaGuardia High School. That is where I first met Andy. Andy is a singer, songwriter, and dramatist based in New York City. When life allows, he plays piano for dance classes at the best schools in New York. I have been in class with him at Juilliard and The Ailey School as well. Every time we walked in and saw Andy at the piano, all the students got instantly excited. We knew we were about to DANCE!

Andy is not your normal dance pianist. He is special. When the mood is right Andy will also sing while he plays! This is not a common thing in a dance class. It is not just singing though… I would say it is more like harmonizing with the piano. You can’t make out the words, just a beautiful improvised harmony. It is amazing. I remember the first time he started to sing in my dance class. When I heard his voice, my eyes went directly to him. I was so mesmerized by his voice that I missed my turn to go across the floor. His music is vibrant and full of passion. His voice fills the room with energy! He was present in the class. He listened closely to the teacher and emphasized notes or beats to guide us… or to challenge us. I’ll just say this…Elisa King’s Graham class with Andy on the piano…I lived.

Of course he is not only a dance pianist. His albums, “Joyful Noise: Disc One”, “Joyful Noise: Disc Two”, “Rain”, and “Songs For A Winter Night” are sold internationally. He is the composer for a musical adaptation of Dan Savage’s comic memoir “The Kid”, which premiered in 2010 at The New Group under the direction of Scott Elliott. Andy won the 2009 BMI Foundation Jerry Bock Award for Excellence in Musical Theatre and the 2010 Outer Critics Circle Award for Outstanding Off-Broadway Musical. His musical short “The Life and Times of Joe Jefferson Benjamin Blow”, has been produced regionally and he also wrote the short musicals “Sally Peaches”, “La Rhonda”, and “Elevator Music” as part of his participation in 4@15 at The York Theatre, where he also participated in their NEO4 Concert.

He co-wrote the song “My Science Project” (lyrics by Jack Lechner) which was sung by Rosie O’Donnell on her HBO special, A Family Is A Family Is A Family”. He also wrote the music and lyrics for “The Tragic And Horrible Life Of The Singing Nun” (book and additional lyrics by Blair Fell), which was presented in the 2006 New York Musical Theater Festival. His work has been performed three times in the annual Bound For Broadway Concert at the Kauffman Center, NYC. He is the recipient of the 2001 BMI Foundation Jerry Harrington Musical Theater Award for Outstanding Creative Achievement and was a 2007-8 Dramatist Guild Fellow. In 2011 he received a Jonathan Larson Grant from the American Theater Wing. He is a member of both the BMI Lehman Engel Advanced Musical Theatre Workshop and the BMI Librettists Workshop.

In addition to his work as a composer, lyricist, and playwright, he has been creating music for dance in NYC for thirty years. He has worked at The Paul Taylor School, The Ailey School, The Juilliard School, and The Limon Institute, among others. In 1999, he founded his recording and publishing company, Compact Risks.

Now that I am in my professional career, I realize how amazing my experiences were in NYC. I was so lucky to grow up with these amazing artists around me. To all of the students or professionals that have the pleasure of being in class with Andy at the piano – enjoy it now. Thank you, Andy, for your many years of inspiration. Your music has touched me deeply.

When you were little, what did you want to be when you grew up? Did you always want to do what you’re doing now?

When I was little I was ALWAYS playing the piano—years before I took lessons. We had a piano in the house because one of my older sisters was taking lessons. Then out of nowhere, little Andy was on it, going to town—haha! I had (have) one of those ears that can just pick things up, so I used to play songs I’d hear on the radio or TV without ever having seen the music or worked on them beforehand. My parents thought this was astonishing, and I guess it was—especially in small-town Iowa—but I never felt like I had much to do with it. It was a gift. Basically, music is a very small language. There are twelve pitches that repeat in octaves up one side of the piano and down the other side. Somehow I figured this language out at the age of four or so, and was suddenly playing all sorts of things with increasingly complicated arrangements. I never thought of it as learning or practicing. I was having fun and entertaining myself. I just loved music. But later, when my parents took me to actually have lessons, I only lasted about a year. It was so HARD. Learning to read all the notes and their rhythmic values and suddenly, because my music reading skills were so poor, having to go back to making music with only one hand and play simple arrangements was tedious and boring. It took all the fun out of music and made it WORK. I couldn’t do it. I just wanted to PLAY. So I would spend maybe a half hour total each week actually practicing my lesson, compared to endless hours of my own „free“ playing to entertain myself. My teacher finally told my parents they were basically wasting their money—that maybe they could try again in a couple years, but at that time I lacked the discipline. My music reading skills are STILL not good to this day, which is why I can’t play in a Broadway pit orchestra or any job that actually pays MONEY—haha! No, my skills are compositional and improvisatory, which is why I’m limited to jobs like playing for dance classes or playing show-tunes at cocktail parties. (My music notation skills have improved, however, since I’ve been working on writing musical theatre for the past 15 years.)

Andy’s Favorite Things

Favorite Things to eat?

Mmmm, I love pasta. Brown Sugar Cinnamon Frosted PopTarts cold—right out of the box. Eggnog. (I don’t actually eat these things with any regularity or I would be big as a house, please understand!) But really, is there anything better than just good bread and butter?

Favorite Books?

The Weekend by Peter Cameron. The Secret History by Donna Tartt. Giovanni’s Room by James Baldwin. To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee. The Kid by Dan Savage. The Complete Plays Of Edward Albee.

Favorite Movies?

The Graduate. Five Easy Pieces. Midnight Cowboy. Tootsie. Stardust Memories. Alice Doesn’t Live Here Anymore. Ordinary People. Cabaret. Kramer Vs. Kramer. La Dolce Vita. You Can Count On Me. Paper Moon. Annie Hall.

Favorite Dance Piece or Show/Musical or both?

Well, since my focus outside of playing for dancers is writing musical theatre, I’ll list my favorite musicals…
The Fantasticks. A Chorus Line. Company. Carousel. Gypsy. The Light In The Piazza. Avenue Q. Sunday In The Park With George.

I like dancers who…

Are fearless AND nuanced.

I am afraid of…

Heights. Big time.

A dance piece should…

Entertain. Intrigue. Inspire.

Something you like to do other your current job?

As I mentioned briefly, I’m currently writing musical theatre. I tend to write intimate shows with casts of five or less. I love a show that really puts you through the emotional wringer. I believe theatre is best when the stakes are high and the characters are at turning points in their lives. Otherwise, why am I there?

One of the happiest moments in your life?

I met my partner about nine years ago when he was co-producing a show that I was writing the score to. We became fast friends and discovered we shared opinions on art, sense of humor, politics, really nearly everything. We started spending nearly all our free time together. Very early on, it was clear that he was interested in me romantically. However, I thought my interests in him were only platonic, not at all sexual, and that we just didn’t have that „spark“ I had always looked for in a potential mate. He was very patient, though, and remained my friend while I dated others—and often told him about it (well, he would ask!). This went on for about a year until one time when he inquired about a date I’d had the previous evening and I replied effusively about how terrifically it had gone—and wow, though he was not trying to show it, he was crestfallen. And it hurt me to see him feel that (because unbenownst to me, in all this time, he had quietly crept into my heart and taken up root there…). I said to myself, „Hey, what’s wrong with you? Why aren’t you giving this wonderful guy a chance?“ So the next time I went over to his place to watch Project Runway, I just took my toothbrush. It was a calculated decision: I was going to find out if this „platonic“ relationship had the potential to be more. And the next morning—and here’s the part about being one of the happiest moments—it was clear. I was indeed in love with this guy. It was sexual, it was romantic, it was exciting—and I almost missed it because I had decided it wasn’t „right“ for me!

One of your most unusual or coolest experiences?

I was invited to present 25 minutes of one of my original musicals to Stephen Sondheim as part of a Musical Theatre Writing Master Class. Afterward, here I was, getting comments from this legend—the greatest living writer of musicals, and my personal idol since I was a boy—and he told me (in front of a public audience!!!) that my lyrics came completely from character; that there was no trace of the author within them, and as he said, „coming from me, that is very high praise indeed.“ I’ll say! I was reeling!

One of the most embarrassing moments in your professional career?

Wow, I must say, there isn’t much I’ve been embarrassed by in my career, so I’ve been very lucky indeed! However, I do have this tradition of recording a winter song each year and sending it out to my friends, family, and associates as a sort of holiday card each year. I always select a song written by another artist, and it’s always a lot of fun interpreting them. Well, this one year, I decided to do two songs: River by Joni Mitchell, and Frozen River by Ben Wattt, who makes up half of the duo Everything But The Girl. My main focus was the second song—I was really only using a couple verses of the Joni Mitchell song as a sort of introduction to the other. So I decided to do something that would contrast the Frozen River arrangement, which was full-bodied, and conceived of this accapella arrangement for that little bit of River. Well, what I heard in my head was something challenging and original and—well, actually, I have no idea. All I know is, what it actually ended up being was sort of like a barbershop quartet meets 1970’s TV variety show chorus, slowed down and sung by slightly tone deaf undead zombies, and blasted in the most shrill manner imaginable. It captured absolutely NONE of the poignancy and ache of Joni’s beautiful song. It was just horrible. And the thing is, me and my sound engineer spent a LOT of time on it—and all of my budget. So the thing had to go out. Like that. All sucky and rancid—haha! Ah, well! That’s just how it goes sometimes! (A few years ago, when I took the first 15 songs from that series and released them as my fourth studio album, Songs For A Winter Night, I thought about re-recording that little section. But I guess by then, I’d gotten used to the little churning in my gut when those accapella vocals would start their horrific warbling, and I opted not to. So there it is now—for all posterity!)

Who has been the most influential person/people in your life? or Career? and why?

For writing musical theatre, it’s been Stephen Sondheim and Edward Albee. But aslo Pat Cook and Rick Freyer, who were the moderators the first year I entered the BMI Musical Theatre Workshop in 2001, and remain two of the smartest teachers I’ve ever known. As for the kind of music I play when accompanying dancers, well, I’ve been inspired by all kinds of music, really. I loved drawing from different styles and synthesizing them Monroe-style into something only that group of dancers is going to experience at that moment in time. We’re actually sort of creating it and experiencing it together.

One of the hardest things about your job?

Staying fresh. I’m so sick of myself—haha! Honestly, sometimes when I walk into a studio and I see those dancers’ eyes light up or hear them say „Oh, yay—we get you!“ I can’t help replying, „Really? You aren’t sick to death of me?“ Honestly, I try to bring something new each time, but I’m only human. What I don’t do well is „phone it in“ and I suppose that’s why those dancers often react that way to my presence in the studio. Though it always takes a CHOICE to bring energy—and believe me, it can be tough—what I must never forget is that energy begets MORE energy. It becomes cyclical. And then it’s no longer work. It’s fun. And though I may think, starting out, that that’s not where I want to be that day, soon enough I realize it actually IS. Pretty neat trick, huh?

Do you have any goals you still wish to achieve?

God, yes. I have a list of other original musicals I’ve conceived that I want to bring into the world. I actually have them listed on a page on a notebook that is usually open and sitting there on the piano as I’m accompanying dancers. I just want to always stay focused on that dream—on my little creative children. I also have a list of albums I want to release.

A question you want to know the answer to:

Ahhhh, the eternal question: Why are we here?

Dear aspiring artists,

You can only be on YOUR path. I have some writer friends who have done extremely well on Broadway as well as writing scores for Disney films, TV shows, etc. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve though, „Hey, I could do that! I have amazing talent. Why not me?“ Well, I’m NOT them. Their art doesn’t come out of me. My art comes out of me. My job is to keep my eyes on my path. NOT to win awards. Or fame. Or even necessarily money (that’s a hard one to come to terms with). In short, my job is not to acquire many of the things my friends have. My job is to stay focused on the art, to keep its vision and passion alive until it’s ready to be presented. It’s hard. But really, anything else is a waste of time and energy. Your vision has value. That’s more than enough to worry about.

–Andy Monroe

Photo Journal

Playing at the Paul Taylor Benefit Dinner

Photography by Ariane Hunter

Photography by Ariane Hunter

Photography by Ariane Hunter

Photography by Ariane Hunter

More info on Andy at www.andymonroe.com.You can hear a clip of his beautiful harmony on the homepage!!! Have you been in class with Andy? Have you seen Andy perform or seen his work? Share your stories in the comments below! Show him some love!

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