In these days of Coronavirus, do not shy away from Emergency The Musical because it is about a hospital. “Un-Block The Music” can tell you…the show is so…..much more than that. If you have been reading this blog and listening to WFYL 1180 AM’s From Bullets To Broadway, Anatomy of A Show, hosted by Sgt. Dan McCaughan, you have heard all kinds of music, both poignant and fun. Focus this week is the Male Nurse character; the beefcake in the show! He’s funny and ya gotta love him.
Much of the Emergency soundtrack you have heard up to now comes from the early days of the show’s creation before it was cast, but this week you got to hear Kevin Hack who portrayed Male Nurse in the New York run of the show last year. Kevin also recently participated in a new Zoom Reading in the last couple of weeks.
As part of the broadcast this week, Kevin talked about his musical theater path and the roles he played before he auditioned for Emergency. While his musical theater expertise seems second nature, it truly was not a career he thought he would have. “I didn’t get into acting and singing or theater at all until I was about 17 or 18 years old.” He had opportunities as a young teen to pursue a career in ice hockey, but he admits, he lacked the drive and quit. His friends, Kevin says, were probably not the best influences, except for one who took him away from it all. “She said, ‘we need boys for the school musical. Audition!’. I laughed, but said ‘sure.’ They were doing Les Miz. I had to learn how to sing the week before the audition!” His friend’s brother was the middle school music teacher, and he gave Kevin voice lessons for three days. He auditioned for the role of Enjolras and got it. “From there, in 2009, it was a domino effect. Everything fell into place. I didn’t grow up in the best financial situation, so I had to make friends and find mentors because I couldn’t really afford it. I had people take me under their wing, and I am forever indebted. And they are proud of me.”
If you listen to the music in Emergency, you most definitely hear different kinds of musical influences. Not every singer can handle different genres, but Kevin has portrayed all kinds of characters. “When I learn music, I surround myself with only that type of music You can’t be in a studio and sing Aerosmith music when you have to sing West Side Story 8 times a week!” Once you have a specific genre of music in your body, he says, it is almost robotic and becomes part of you.
When the Corona shutdown happened, Kevin was on the tour as the Swing in Beautiful The Carole King Musical. FYI, the Swing, is the understudy, but not to one character, to all of the characters. Beautiful has 9 male parts. “We had 10 days of rehearsal in NYC before the tour began. The first 3 days. I cried every night… ‘I can’t do this!’ I had to listen to how all of the artists sing her songs so I could match the styles. There were so many different artists that I had to replicate.” Just think of the song “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” Kevin had to learn both Righteous Brothers parts, high and low. “I had to listen to the nuances in their voices to be able to do that.” Kevin was told that he was the first person in the 6-year history of the musical (including Broadway), that has done every sing role in the show. As the swing, he was everyone’s cheerleader, and after he learned it all, he was able to enjoy the performances…kind of like Emergency’s Male Nurse.
As Emergency’s music writers, Dr. Jeff and Jacob Foy had to listen to other types of music for inspiration. “When dad and I are beginning to write a song, we have to decide what it is about. Then we have to decide how should this sound. We pull up different songs with different styles that we know. ‘I will say…I think it should sound like this.’ Then dad will pull up songs that he thinks it should sound like. And, we try to find something in the middle to figure what the song will be.” “Male Nurse” is kind of like grifter rock, Jacob laughs.
Jeff said, “we continue to work on the music of the show.” In fact, they did a Zoom Reading a couple of weeks ago that Kevin was a part of. And, they came up with two more songs. The show has changed so much from its initial state, and the Foys would like to do an official soundtrack recording, but they need to figure out the logistics of recording at this time.
How did the reading go? “It went great, “Jeff said. “But, readings are a double edge sword. On one hand, they expose moments of weakness in writing, but they are so good for development.”
If this article intrigues you…as it should….you can hear the rebroadcast of this episode on Saturday, August 22 at noon. And, for past episodes, go to https://www.1180wfyl.com/ and hit “podcasts.”
To listen to Emergency’s music go to: https://www.emergencymusical.com/the-music. For archived blog stories even before the radio show began…just put “Emergency” in the search bar.
If you have questions, email me at dgalanteblock@gmail.com, or go directly to Dan at info@1180wfyl.com. If he reads your question on the air, you will win an Emergency T-Shirt.
As part of the broadcast this week, Kevin talked about his musical theater path and the roles he played before he auditioned for Emergency. While his musical theater expertise seems second nature, it truly was not a career he thought he would have. “I didn’t get into acting and singing or theater at all until I was about 17 or 18 years old.” He had opportunities as a young teen to pursue a career in ice hockey, but he admits, he lacked the drive and quit. His friends, Kevin says, were probably not the best influences, except for one who took him away from it all. “She said, ‘we need boys for the school musical. Audition!’. I laughed, but said ‘sure.’ They were doing Les Miz. I had to learn how to sing the week before the audition!” His friend’s brother was the middle school music teacher, and he gave Kevin voice lessons for three days. He auditioned for the role of Enjolras and got it. “From there, in 2009, it was a domino effect. Everything fell into place. I didn’t grow up in the best financial situation, so I had to make friends and find mentors because I couldn’t really afford it. I had people take me under their wing, and I am forever indebted. And they are proud of me.”
If you listen to the music in Emergency, you most definitely hear different kinds of musical influences. Not every singer can handle different genres, but Kevin has portrayed all kinds of characters. “When I learn music, I surround myself with only that type of music You can’t be in a studio and sing Aerosmith music when you have to sing West Side Story 8 times a week!” Once you have a specific genre of music in your body, he says, it is almost robotic and becomes part of you.
When the Corona shutdown happened, Kevin was on the tour as the Swing in Beautiful The Carole King Musical. FYI, the Swing, is the understudy, but not to one character, to all of the characters. Beautiful has 9 male parts. “We had 10 days of rehearsal in NYC before the tour began. The first 3 days. I cried every night… ‘I can’t do this!’ I had to listen to how all of the artists sing her songs so I could match the styles. There were so many different artists that I had to replicate.” Just think of the song “You’ve Lost That Loving Feeling.” Kevin had to learn both Righteous Brothers parts, high and low. “I had to listen to the nuances in their voices to be able to do that.” Kevin was told that he was the first person in the 6-year history of the musical (including Broadway), that has done every sing role in the show. As the swing, he was everyone’s cheerleader, and after he learned it all, he was able to enjoy the performances…kind of like Emergency’s Male Nurse.
As Emergency’s music writers, Dr. Jeff and Jacob Foy had to listen to other types of music for inspiration. “When dad and I are beginning to write a song, we have to decide what it is about. Then we have to decide how it should this sound. We pull up different songs with different styles that we know. ‘I will say…I think it should sound like this.’ Then dad will pull up songs that he thinks it should sound like. And, we try to find something in the middle to figure what the song will be.” “Male Nurse” is kind of like grifter rock, Jacob laughs.
Jeff said, “we continue to work on the music of the show.” In fact, they did a Zoom Reading a couple of weeks ago that Kevin was a part of. And, they came up with two more songs. The show has changed so much from its initial state, and the Foys would like to do an official soundtrack recording, but they need to figure out the logistics of recording at this time.
How did the reading go? “It went great, “Jeff said. “But, readings are a double edge sword. On one hand, they expose moments of weakness in writing, but they are so good for development.”
If this article intrigues you…as it should….you can hear the rebroadcast of this episode on Saturday, August 22 at noon. And, for past episodes, go to https://www.1180wfyl.com/ and hit “podcasts.”
To listen to Emergency’s music go to: https://www.emergencymusical.com/the-music. For archived blog stories even before the radio show began…just put “Emergency” in the search bar.
If you have questions, email me at dgalanteblock@gmail.com, or go directly to Dan at info@1180wfyl.com. If he reads your question on the air, you will win an Emergency T-Shirt.
Un-Block The Music 