Starting off this new venture with, what else, a retrospective. Professionally, summer 2025 has been a busy but very fulfilling period full of music directing, arranging, and performing.
May and June: Mrs. Dalloway
It was truly an honor to music direct and contribute some arrangements/orchestrations for the world premiere of 'Mrs. Dalloway', a new musical by the brilliant Lindsey Augusta Mercer. The cast was incredible and it was fun to get to know a new (to me) theater company in town.
Also - this show marked the biggest band I’ve ever conducted (fortunately an easy job when you hire stellar musicians and wonderful humans) and first time creating orchestrations for a show. I think I could get hooked….
July: Tin Pan Alley
When Cincinnati Opera approached Sarah Folsom and myself last winter about doing a Tin Pan Alley studio session collaboration, we were instantly excited but wanted to make sure we could put together a show that both had our classic QCC brand of authentic cheesiness™️ but was polished and balanced enough for the opera audience. We spent hours refining the set list and then gave each song a brand new QCC arrangement - the most new arrangements we’ve ever created for a single show. This plus the insane talents of Victoria Okafor and Simon Barrad as guest artists and the wonderful opera production team (sorry for asking for almost 100 light cues just for a cabaret concert!) added up to a show we were SO proud of.
(Doesn’t hurt that the Wilkes Theater at Music Hall is the best cabaret venue in town)
August: Grease
I was wary about taking on Grease after a long a busy summer, but will jump at any chance to work with Eric Byrd- not just a friend but a director and choreographer I have so much respect for. So in August we went on a field trip to Rydell High. The cast (mostly students from CCM and other area universities) was mind-blowingly good, the audiences were packed and loved it, the band sounded great, and under Eric’s direction we made a show where you loved the characters and the ‘Grease vibes’ and almost forgot how dumb of a show Grease really is.
Bonus- getting to work with TV icon Paige Davis, who millenials probably remember as the host of Trading Spaces in the early 2000s (but my millenial cast did not).
Shoulder
One exciting but not-so-fun thing from August was dislocating my shoulder- not ideal for a pianist / music director! Exactly 2 weeks from opening Grease, I was in the emergency room with my shoulder laying not quite in its socket after a weight-lifting injury. The ER team was great, and of course the Carnegie was most wonderfully supportive, bringing in a substitute pianist for several rehearsals while I healed and conducted with my left hand. Sling came off on opening night and luckily, a good physical therapist has me back to my regularly scheduled ‘Greased Lightning’ choreography, good as new 🙂
September
Looking ahead, September isn’t any less busy than the rest of the summer. The Jewish High Holidays are coming up, and I’ll be celebrating the new year for the 9th year in a row by accompanying the services at Valley Temple. Queen City Cabaret has a pretty stacked lineup, including 3 hours of music at Washington Park on Monday, September 29.
It’s my plan to post regular updates here, including upcoming shows, so check out this feed, follow me on Substack (https://substack.com/@matthewumphreys) and also subscribe to the QCC newsletter at www.queencitycabaretcincy.com to keep up-to-date on where to catch us next. Thanks for reading and happy music making!