Musical Theatre Advice from Wicked Music Director Dan Micciche

CS Music recently had the opportunity to host a masterclass featuring Dan Micciche, the current music director/conductor for Wicked on Broadway. He offered some wonderful advice during that class that readers can learn a lot from. Here is a portion of the question and answer session, and if you want to listen to the entire class, look for the link at the end of this article.

Question: What advice do you have for classical singers who are looking to cross over into musical theatre later in their career?

Dan Micciche: I would get into a teacher who understands, obviously, your technique, but has a very strong background in music theatre contemporary singing. There’s a bunch of opera singers that I’ve worked with that have transitioned, and the main thing I find with them is usually the vocals aren’t an issue. They’re very responsive to technique notes and changing timbre or tone. But the way of diving into the interpretation of the material and the way they present it is very different and I find that’s where they have the most work to do; to pair things down and not have to spell out emotions and make things conversational. There’s a student of mine that I constantly have to tell, “Stop singing, stop singing.” It sounds beautiful! But just how would you say it? 

So that’s the best advice I can give is to find a vocal coach that understands the best of both worlds, especially the world that you’re going into. And again, picking material that really connects to you emotionally that also shows you off vocally.

  If you’d like to connect with Dan Micciche, he is offering the following: vocal coaching, song interpretation, audition technique, conducting technique, and Broadway Industry Q&A. Go HERE for more information. Or read more about him HERE.

Q: What person in the theatre community do you look up to and why?

DM: That’s a good one. There’s too many to name just one! Stephen Schwartz is someone I really look up to and is a good friend of mine, as well as Stephen Oremus who’s my boss and a very good friend of mine. They inspire me. I know it sounds silly but I love Liza Minelli. She is everything! Just because of how raw her performance is. And there are so many other people! There’s a lot of musicians in the orchestra I look up to with amazing careers. Just anyone I can learn something from. That’s something we all need to remember. We can never stop learning. Pick and choose things that we hear from everyone. But those are a few people that I admire and look up to. 

Q: Working with different Elphaba’s, how do you help them find their own individual way of becoming the character?

DM: I work very closely with Lisa Leguillou, the associate director of Wicked, as well as the PSM (production stage manager) of the show. So the three of us and the dance captains work with the principles and the ensemble daily when we put them in new. There’s a way to sing the score of Wicked. Notes, rhythms, phrasing, all that stuff. After putting in fourteen Elphabas there’s a lot of technique and vocal tricks we teach, as well as a lot of them work with Joan Lader who is hands down the guru of Broadway. So there is constant communication with them on how to learn to sing the score healthily eight shows a week. Then, like so much of what we’ve talked about in this class, it’s balancing both worlds, like when in the score are things not so sung and you open things up and make it more communicative. 

So there’s little tricks and spots that we go over. With principles like an Elphaba we usually have four weeks of rehearsal which is unheard of for other Broadway shows. When I went in as a replacement for Chicago I had six hours and I was 21. So! It’s very different! It’s a wonderful luxury and another reason why I love working on this show is they give them a lot of time to be in rehearsal.

Q: I’m looking for a new vocal coach. I’m trying to work on my belt and I’m struggling to find a vocal coach who teaches things properly. So do you have any advice on finding someone you can trust and that is teaching the right principles?

DM: There are so many different coaches. You can research and google. There are some people in the city that I send people to. I do my own coaching on the side as well. You just want to do your research. If you hear a name, you google them and see what their credits are like. For example, in New York there are your top people like Joan and Deric Rosenblatt and Matt Farnsworth, there’s a bunch of different people. But that also goes with how much you want to spend. There are a lot of smaller coaches that are a lot more reasonable. You can also shop around, take a lesson with them. Some people click and some people just don’t.

I personally would look at credits and credentials and see where they’ve taught or who that person has worked with, that would mean something to me. But then try them out! Because there could be an amazing coach and you just don’t like their demeanor. And that doesn’t mean they’re bad or good, it just means they’re not right for you.