From Classic To Contemporary

Purely by coincidence, Florida-based Eric Alsford is the musical director of record for two shows currently up in Western New York: the Artpark production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, and the Buffalo United Artists / Downstairs Cabaret presentation of Bathhouse: the Musical.

The shows could not be more different from each other.

Disney’s Beauty and the Beast is a stage recreation of the beloved animated family film. Bathhouse: the Musical is a cheerful and very adult romp through a gay bath house.

“They called me to invite me to play for the Buffalo dates of Bathhouse,” says Alsford, “and when I realized there was an overlap with the dates for Beauty and the Beast, I was so disappointed, because I am always looking for opportunities to work in Buffalo!”

A Western New York native, Alsford has been a South Florida resident for ten years, and the tropics have been very good to him. He has music directed an astounding range of shows: Grease, Songs for a New World, Cabaret, The Full Monty, Bat Boy, Blood Brothers, Pete ‘n’ Keely, and Altar Boyz among them. He has twice won the prestigious Carbonell award, recognizing excellence in South Florida professional theater, for Floyd Collins and for Aida, and has received numerous other nominations. He also music directed Beauty and the Beast in South Florida.

Indeed, he works constantly at home, and away from the Gold Coast, he has worked regionally at North Shore Music Theatre outside Boston, Arkansas Rep, Ogunquit Playhouse in Maine, Solano Repertory Company in California, and Drury Lane Theatre in Chicago.

A graduate of the Eastman School in Rochester, it would seem that Alsford always wanted a musical theater career. While he was still a high school student at Kenmore East, he worked on all of the musicals: Peter Pan, 42nd Street, and Carnival, playing the piano. He participated in the old Ken-Ton Musical Theater Workshop. As a very young man, he appeared in shows with Upstage New York—which is where he met Randall Kramer, director of the Artpark production of Beauty and the Beast. He did community theater in Niagara Falls and he played the piano as the only male member of A ... My Name is Alice for BUA in the early 1990s, and subsequently provided musical direction for the company’s production of 10 Percent Revue.

It was a combination of hometown advantage and out of town experience that got him the Artpark engagement.

“I’ve worked with Randy (Kramer) and with Lynne (Kurdziel-Formato), the choreographer, many times. Because of that and the fact that I’d done Beauty and the Beast before, Artpark called me to do the show.

Geography again played a role with Bathhouse. Produced by the Rochester-based Downstairs Cabaret, the production made its debut with a two-week engagement in Orlando with Alsford as the music director.

“Actually,” confided Alsford, “the show has been very successful and the tour just keeps going and going. There’s been a change of cast since I first rehearsed it, and I haven’t actually worked with any of the boys who are doing the show in Buffalo. They’ve been with it since June.”

South Florida continues to be a good base for Alsford. It was there that he struck up a friendship and professional relationship with Danny Goggin, creative of the Nunsense phenomenon. “We’ll be doing the 30th anniversary of Nunsense with Sally Struthers as Reverend Mother,” says Alsford, who has done the show numerous times, including with Cindy Williams and in an all-male version with Greg Louganis. He played the Florida engagements of the Mamma Mia! tour, and has worked at Boca Raton’s Caldwell Theater, including appearances onstage as the pianist in Terrence McNally’s homage to Maria Callas, Master Class, and working with Amanda McBroom on Heartbeats.

So how is the Artpark Beauty and the Beast coming together?

“Musically, it’s going very smoothly,” says Alsford, “and I have a big orchestra, twelve pieces, so it sounds good. But we are putting the show together in two weeks, with all those costumes and technical effects, and that’s a challenge. The set is rented from Wichita and it’s beautiful, but huge – we have 44 set changes!

Still, Beauty and the Beast must be ready for this weekend. According to Alsford, before the show even opens it has outsold total ticket sales for last year’s record-breaking Aida.

“I’m not surprised,” says Alsford. “It is a family show.” And he proudly adds that audiences will not be disappointed: “It is very well cast and will look gorgeous.”

BEAUTY AND THE BENEFIT

The cast of the Artpark production of Disney’s Beauty and the Beast has decided to cart their talent downtown for a cabaret evening to benefit Benedict House on Wednesday, August 20th at Shea’s Smith Theatre, 660 Main Street. The evening of song , hosted by Lisa Ludwig and Loraine O’Donnell, begins at 8 p.m. Benedict House is a residence providing care and services for individuals with HIV/AIDS in our community.