Today we’d like to introduce you to Chris Brent Davis.
Chris, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
My grandmother started taking me to see shows at the Fox since I was around four to five years old. To this day, I still can’t remember if I saw Peter Pan or Beauty and the Beast first, or if it was a performance of The Nutcracker by the Atlanta Ballet. Every year, I could count on tickets to something for a birthday or Christmas present, or both. She’s a big part of the reason why I am where I am today. No one else in my family had ever pursued a career in theater, but her favorite musical was Sweeney Todd.
As soon as I was old enough (five years old), I auditioned for my first show singing the song “Tomorrow” from Annie. We couldn’t find my karaoke track on the cassette tape in the audition room, so I sang a cappella. And the rest is pretty much history from there. I could not get enough musical theatre. I’m pretty sure I burned through at least three copies of the Joseph… Technicolor Dreamcoat VHS’s, and eventually was gifted it by my aunt for Christmas one since it was her VHS’s that I was burning through.
After I graduated high school, I had my first summer stock job playing one of the brothers in Joseph…Technicolor Dreamcoat at the Jenny Wiley Theatre in Prestonsburg, KY, then I was an 18-year-old “teen” in the local Teen Ensemble for The Sound of Music with Theatre of the Stars. At 19, I got to share the stage with not one, but two iconic Annie’s, Andrea McArdle and Alicia Morton (from the ’99 Disney remake, starring Audra MacDonald) in a show at the New York Musical Theatre Festival. Then at 21, I got to meet one of my high school idols Rachel Potter when we both were cast in a regional production of Spring Awakening at freeFall Theatre Co. in St Petersburg, FL. That production showed me that I wanted to be a music director, instead of an actor.
So I shifted focus and just started taking on as many music direction gigs as I could. In the spring of 2015, I was working with the current Apprentice Company at Serenbe Playhouse on their showcase, when the music director for that summers production of Evita had to pull out of the production. On the spot, I was offered the position and began a four year journey with Serenbe that would include landing a helicopter for Miss Saigon, conducting an orchestra across a lake for Titanic, and timing out an overture to a fully working carnival for Carousel. But as with anything, the time came for a change. Luckily, City Springs Theatre Company has welcomed into their ranks as resident music director, and I have gotten to work on a number for extremely fulfilling projects already, including Hairspray, Mary Poppins, and most recently, Holiday Inn. If this is too much, feel free to edit it way down. Haha, I forgot headphones on my flight this morning, so I’m just trying to kill time.
We’re always bombarded by how great it is to pursue your passion, etc – but we’ve spoken with enough people to know that it’s not always easy. Overall, would you say things have been easy for you?
While I always felt comfortable in my skills as a music director, I did feel like I had to do a bit more proving of myself than I might have if I’d had a college degree. Even once I was old enough to have a degree, people will always raise an eyebrow if they find out you don’t have one. There were many reasons why I did not go to college right away. This is not something I recommend. For years, I have been telling anyone who asks, “Go to college, if the opportunity presents itself. Do not take a gap year (or years), if you don’t have to.”
All of that considered, I feel very lucky to have had the opportunities I have had at my age. I’m going into my fifth consecutive year as a resident music director for a regional theatre company. This is the kind of stuff I could have only dreamt of doing as a kid. I am constantly stopping myself when it gets crazy or hectic to remind myself how wild of a ride it’s all been.
Tell us more about your work.
Apart from me feels like being a music director is a 50/50 split between being a cheerleader and being an athletic coach. Because I spent the first part of my career without a college education, I have adopted an “anyone who wants to do this can do this” mentality. Recently, I had a cast member describe music rehearsals with me as group voice lessons. There is nothing better than when an ensemble grasps onto the idea that they don’t have to sing quietly to blend and that it’s ten times more exciting when they’re all singing full out like an actual Broadway chorus.
On the other side of the music direction, I try to be diligent about making sure that any music outside of the vocals is just a much a part of the storytelling. In the past twenty or so years, a lot of musicals have gotten to a point where it’s nearly all music from downbeat to curtain, even if the audience doesn’t realize it. There is so much to be navigated when composers write underscore or scene change music that is catered to the Broadway staging. But for me, that’s what’s fun about working regionally. When the circumstances are different, the creative team has to work together to figure out how a section of music is going to incorporate into our version of a story.
Has luck played a meaningful role in your life and business?
I like to joke that most of my career is made up of gigs that I got because someone else had to pull out. And each time, I managed to turn that one gig into at least one other gig, if not years of gigs in more than one instance. Remember Serenbe? There was also a job at the Christian Youth Theatre of Atlanta that led to an incredible community theatre production of West Side Story which felt more like summer stock, and a majority of the cast has gone on to have established careers in theatre (including Broadway debuts, Hamilton alum, and a local Burlesque staple), plus a five year stint writing a cabaret for Stone Mountain Christmas. All because I was taking over gigs that others could no longer do.
A friend of mine once said to me, “What’s meant for you will not pass you by.” And I can confirm, if you’re doing the work and putting in the time, things will happen for you. It’s not going to always be what you want, but it will always be what you need. You just have to be open to the universe helping you along the way!
Contact Info:
- Email: coaching.cbd@gmail.com
- Instagram: @chrisbrentdavis
Image Credit:
Jake Pearce Photography (First Photo)
Ben Rose Photography
Mike Wood
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