Memoir Of Broadway Music Director Inspires Program Debuting Tonight In New York

The 50th anniversary season of the “Lyrics & Lyricists” series at 92Y in New York kicks off tonight with a program inspired by a new memoir of Broadway music director David Loud, Facing the Music.

Called the Ted Lasso of the theater business, Loud made his Broadway debut at 19 as the onstage pianist in the original production of Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along. He also appeared in Terrence McNally’s Master Class with Zoe Caldwell and Audra McDonald, and served as music director for the original Broadway productions of Steel Pier, The Look of Love, The Scottsboro Boys, The Visit, Ragtime and Sondheim on Sondheim.

Currently a teacher in the musical theater program at the Manhattan School of Music, he has also previously served as a “Lyrics & Lyricists” music director for shows honoring the collaboration of Sondheim and Hal Prince; Cole Porter; Frank Loesser and Burton Lane.

In his memoir, Loud poignantly and candidly explores his childhood in rural, upstate New York; his education at Phillips Exeter Academy and Yale; his theatrical career; marriage to his husband, Pedro; as well as his struggles with Parkinson’s disease.

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