BROADWAY AND BEYOND: There have been renewed efforts for more inclusive orchestras on Broadway. DanaTylerTV went backstage at two musicals where the conductors said they're helping other musicians break barriers.
Tyler spoke with Hough in his dressing room before a recent matinee performance.
"I think having a Black female teacher teach me Chopin... I didn't realize how amazing that was when I was 8, 10, 12, 15 years old. And she put me in places where I could see people who look like me -- in my church. But then when I went to that theater, I was the only one," Hough said."I'd be lying if I said no. It's something that, it's a phrase that I heard a lot growing up, that you have to work twice as hard to get half as much.
"We're trying to get historically marginalized people of color the ability to be seen, to be heard, just to get in that inner circle, which is very tight and very closed off," Hough said.In 1945, Everett Lee became the first Black man to conduct a white orchestra on Broadway."On the Town" was a breakthrough. The Wheeling, West Virginia, native is in that state's"Hall of Fame." Lee died Jan. 12 in Sweden at age 105.
"We had been talking, meeting up still and he said, 'Would you be interested in subbing on this show?' And of course, I said yes. So I got the, a copy of the book of music from him. And I kind of went from there. It was an incredible, just priceless opportunity to get from a mentor of just saying, not just I'm going to teach you some things, but I'm going to actually help you get a place in this industry," DeMaio said.
Webb started playing as a child growing up in Neptune, New Jersey. He was just 4 years old when he began studying classical piano. "'Jam,' 'Black or White,' these are songs that are energy," Webb said."I wanna go through the roof every time we do that finale, I really, really do, because I know people are having a great time."