BONUS! Making & JULIET Sing w/ Dominic Fallacaro

Summary

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Broadway Breakdown – BONUS! Making & JULIET Sing w/ Dominic Fallacaro

Podcast Host: Matt Koplik
Guest: Dominic Fallacaro (Music Director, Orchestrator, Arranger for & Juliet)
Release Date: June 26, 2023

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Episode Overview

This bonus episode of Broadway Breakdown spotlights the making of the smash Broadway musical & Juliet, with a deep dive into the show’s musical heart. Matt Koplik welcomes Dominic Fallacaro, Tony-nominated orchestrator, arranger, and music director of & Juliet. The conversation explores Dominic’s musical origins, his journey from jazz and pop into theater, the creative intricacies of adapting Max Martin’s iconic songbook for the stage, and the unique challenges of bringing a jukebox musical to transatlantic success.

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Dominic Fallacaro’s Musical Background and Path to & Juliet

00:22 – 05:06

• Dominic’s lifelong passion for music began with classical piano but quickly branched into pop and jazz.
• He moved to New York to study jazz, immersing himself professionally in bands and recording studios.
• Early career highlight: Producing a Grammy-winning children’s album in 2016 with Tim Kubart, leading to work with Sesame Street and songwriter/producer Bill Sherman.
• Theater was a new world for Dominic: "Everything has been sort of figuring it out as I go, but it’s been lots of jobs that I do separately all have to fire together for theater." (01:54)
• No significant theater background before & Juliet, aside from high school musicals. Entry into the theater world was a rapid, immersive crash course, leveraging advice from theater professionals like Bill Sherman and witnessing shows from the pit and rehearsals (Wicked, Hamilton, etc.).

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Collaborating on & Juliet: Adapting Pop Songs for the Stage

05:06 – 11:29

Entering the World of Max Martin

• Working with Max Martin was a primary draw: “Learning from him sort of everything from synthesizer sounds to working with vocalists in a recording studio ... just every facet of musicality was really, yeah, like, life changing.” (06:42)
• The process was highly collaborative, with input from the director (Luke Sheppard), book writer (David West Read), and musical team.

Transforming Iconic Songs: The Case of "…Baby One More Time"

• The “I Want” moment for Juliet reimagines “Hit Me Baby One More Time” as an Adele-esque, emotive ballad.
  • “We started the process, Bill and I, of thinking about it as a very like guitar-driven kind of like songwriter kind of thing... and then one of our other sort of magic tricks in orchestration is how can we give you the DNA that you know of that piano thing and then present it… in an unexpected way.” (08:19)
  • The iconic piano riff is reworked into string and bass textures to surprise and move the audience.
• The core philosophy: honor the original melody (thanks to Max Martin) while taking narrative and emotional risks.

Unused Material and the “Embarrassment of Riches”

• Max Martin’s catalog meant dozens of songs were considered; many were cut, including deep cuts from Pink (“I Don’t Believe You”) and others, during the workshop process to serve the story best.
  • “There are three other musicals of stuff that is on the cutting room floor.” (10:30)

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Navigating Transatlantic Productions and Cast Adaptations

11:46 – 15:21

• The show originated in London’s West End, then went to Toronto before Broadway. Each production meant substantial but targeted tweaks.
• Adapting arrangements for different casts:
  • “You always want to let someone shine as themselves the most... a lot of the originality comes in their delivery that gets us in and out of the songs.” (12:26)
  • Small musical modifications (riffs, endings) suit unique talents, but the foundational structures proved robust across actors.
• On Lorna Courtney (Broadway’s Juliet): “That voice is showstopper. It’s absolutely amazing... Max just sort of looks over and is like, I guess we should do it again.” (15:21)
  • Max Martin was impressed with Broadway performers’ efficiency and vocal prowess.

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The Challenge and Joy of Jukebox Musicals

15:21 – 19:02

• Adapting familiar pop hits for musical theater demands balancing audience expectations with new narrative and emotional beats.
• Process often involved deciding whether to present songs “exactly as you know it” (e.g., “It’s My Life”) or to subvert audience assumptions with bold new arrangements (e.g., “Whataya Want from Me” for Francois and May).
  • “There’s a lot of times when Bill and I try to do the trick of...we’re giving it to you exactly as you know it, or...how far away can we go with it?” (16:30)
• The emotional universality and melodic power of Max Martin’s songs allowed the writing team to be daring.

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Audience Reactions & The Art of Theatrical Surprise

19:02 – 24:39

• Dominic relishes watching the audience experience “aha” moments as favorite songs begin—most notably with “I Want it That Way.”
  • “There’s nothing like getting to ‘I Want It That Way’ where you sort of hear the collective like, ‘Oh, like, we’re going here…’” (19:13)
• Host Matt discusses similar audience surprise with Mamma Mia!’s “The Winner Takes It All,” noting the strategic placement of hits to maximize narrative and emotional payoff.
• Crafting musical “buttons” and tension:
  • “The applause is something that you can not manufacture, but you can be strategic about when that happens and how you sort of button certain songs or move through things.” (23:31)

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Inside Broadway Music Direction: The Unexpected and the Routine

24:39 – 27:43

• Dominic reflects on the “octopus arms” nature of Broadway MD work: juggling band leadership, teaching actors, adjusting for subs/swings, maintaining sound and tech, and running notes mid-show.
  • “Developing the split-your-brain-into-four-parts skill set is definitely a new and surprising part of things.” (27:27)
• Admiration for the dexterity and reliability of pit musicians, who might play multiple Broadway shows in a week.

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Tony Recognition and the Orchestration Process

28:06 – 31:14

• Dominic details the “gauntlet” of Tonys season: press, TV performances (“Good Morning America” at 5 a.m.), and prepping the show’s Tony performance.
• Tony night itself:
  • “You show up for the red carpet super early and…orchestration is pre-telecast…sitting and clapping and soaking it in.” (30:36)
  • Getting to see other musicals’ work for once.
• Being part of the Broadway community, including highlights like jamming with Sara Bareilles during a “Ham4Ham” event.

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Musical Influences, Future Projects, and Advice

32:08 – 45:20

• Exposure to diverse pit setups and technological approaches (e.g., Wicked, Dear Evan Hansen, Hamilton) has deepened Dominic’s interest in marrying tech and live musicianship.
  • “I want to break stuff…like, how could we execute this with live musicians in a theater setting…” (33:54)
• He’s now collaborating with younger writers, keen to “break things” musically in future projects.
• Genres: Jazz is a passion, but pop remains his first love—especially the intersection of electronic and acoustic sounds, as exemplified by “the disco renaissance” in current pop.
  • “I love pop music…I love things that have some sort of marriage between electronic components and some sort of band components…” (35:09)
  • Host and guest both admire the lush string work in Dua Lipa’s “Dance the Night” (Barbie soundtrack).

Weekly Challenges and Broadway’s Demands

• The biggest weekly challenge is adapting to cast changes, swings, and keeping the show consistently fresh while managing personnel curveballs.
  • “The sheer relentlessness of Broadway is very difficult and very demanding. But it presents you with these human beings that are unreal.” (39:17)

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Key Quotes & Memorable Moments

• On adaptability:
  “You always want to let someone shine as themselves the most.”
  (12:26, Dominic Fallacaro)

• On collaboration with Max Martin:
  “And then to have these very trained Broadway singers come in both in the West End and over here and show up. Do take one lights out... Max just sort of looks over and is like, I…guess we should do it again.”
  (15:21, Dominic Fallacaro)

• On audience response:
  “There’s nothing like getting to ‘I Want It That Way’ where you sort of hear the collective like, ‘Oh, like, we’re going here. This is where we are going.’”
  (19:13, Dominic Fallacaro)

• On the art of musical tension:
  “Allowing that kind of tension and release in certain ways or subverting it is just as much musically a part of things as it is story part of things…”
  (23:31, Dominic Fallacaro)

• On the Broadway musical machine:
  “Developing the split-your-brain-into-four-parts skill set is definitely a new and surprising part of things.”
  (27:27, Dominic Fallacaro)

• On building a music career:
  “Anything that you want is behind the door of discomfort in a lot of ways. Like, anything good is behind that initial barrier and the act of doing and kind of stepping past that initial kind of pang of discomfort…”
  (43:53, Dominic Fallacaro)

• On community:
  “I don’t do this alone ever. I think building community and finding your artistic community and just your friend community is such a big and invaluable tool of everything…”
  (44:32, Dominic Fallacaro)

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Fun & Personal Insights

41:34 – 45:20

• Dominic began work on & Juliet in 2017, with two years of international workshops before launching in the West End.
• Favorite London spots: The Coral Room (cocktails), Bao (bao buns), typically walking everywhere in Soho during tech and recording.
• On saying yes: Both Matt and Dominic emphasize openness to new experiences, especially those beyond one’s comfort zone, as key to building a creative career.

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The Episode Closes With:

• Dominic’s advice for young musicians/theater aspirants: Say yes, step into discomfort, and build a supportive, challenging community.
• Dominic’s contact:
  • keyofdom.com
  • Twitter: @keyofdom
• You can find Dominic at the Sondheim Theatre with & Juliet for the foreseeable future.
• Closing musical selection featuring Lorna Courtney’s powerhouse vocals.

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For & Juliet fans, jukebox musical lovers, and anyone curious about the modern Broadway creative process, this episode offers rare, detailed insight into what it takes to make a pop-driven show sing night after night.

Transcript

[Dominic Falacaro]

All you people, can't you see? Can't you see how your love's affecting our reality? I may run and hide when you.

[Lorna Courtney]

Scream in my name all right.

[Matt Koplik]

Hello, all you theater lovers, both out and proud and on the DL. And welcome to a bonus episode of Broadway Breakdown on. I am your host, Matt Koplik, the least famous and most opinionated of all the Broadway podcast hosts. And we've got a very special guest today. This gentleman is a Tony nominee for, I think it's safe to say one of the biggest hits of this current Broadway season. And a lot of that has to do with his work as music ranger, orchestrator, and music director of one and Juliet, as I like to call it, Ms. Juliet. So please welcome Dominic Falacaro. Hi, Dominic.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Hello. Good to be with you.

[Matt Koplik]

Good to be with you as well. Do you mind if I call you Dom?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I don't.

[Matt Koplik]

Do people call you Dom all the time?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Of course.

[Matt Koplik]

Do they call you a Dom blonde?

[Dominic Falacaro]

No. No. Although I was told in college a very nerdy joke that I was meant to lead a septet, so it could be called Dom7 as like a kind of chord which is very deep pull. Very. Just playing to crickets. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, listen, if there's anything I've learned about doms, they do like to pull. So there we go. So you went for, like a nerdy music reference, as is your want, and I went full on gross, sexual, as is my want. And that's what's going to make this bonus episode so special. So, Dominic, talk to me for a second. What is your history on the music scene? Like, how did you get started and what was your career prior to Unda Juliet?

[Dominic Falacaro]

So I've been playing piano for my whole life since kindergarten. And I studied classical and then I got more into pop and jazz music and I came to New York to study jazz and to basically just try to hack it as a professional musician. And I always, more than anything, liked being in the recording studio. And so any band that I could play in that would also get into the recording studio, I wanted to be a part of. And early on, I met someone that was very passionate about children's music, my now good friend Tim Kubart. And we began making records together, one of which won a Grammy in 2016. And then from that, we started writing music for Sesame street, where I met Bill Sherman, who's the supervisor of that show. And then Bill was working on and Julia at that stage, and he sort of roped me into this crazy world. And so theater was Very new to me. Everything has been sort of figuring it out as I go, but it's been lots of jobs that I do separately all have to fire together for theater.

[Matt Koplik]

So. Okay, first of all, I love how you just casually threw in that Grammy win and then moved right along because you were on to bigger and better things already. That's like me saying. And then, you know, I won my Pulitzer, but, you know, I had more things to do in 2018. What was the Grammy for?

[Dominic Falacaro]

So it was for producing the best children's record in 2016.

[Matt Koplik]

Ah, I love, I, I love that you're out there or were out there. I don't know if you're still doing it. Producing quality content for the children. We need to make sure our children are smart and cultured.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, absolutely. I, I, you know, like, a lot of. I owe basically anything cool that's happened in my life to just sort of saying yes to interesting things and things outside of my comfort zone. And meeting someone that was very passionate about children's music and, and wanted to bring kind of pop into that universe, that was my sort of duty in that space. And we've been making music together for a long time now. And it was sort of the same thing for Julia, albeit a very different medium. It was like, how can you translate the world of pop and kind of bring it into the theater space?

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. So then what was your. Did you have any experience with theater at all prior to end Juliet? Were you just sort of a passing fan?

[Dominic Falacaro]

So I think it was, you know, in high school, I was a sponge musically. If it was music, and it could also get me out of doing other classes, I wanted to be involved in it. So I was in, you know, jazz band and other things like that. But I was. I played the French horn. I did every choir that I could possibly do, and then I did every high school musical that was around just because, again, it's music and a chance to kind of be making stuff. So, like, did some South Pacific and Into the woods and stuff like that, but I don't think I really, like, did a big foray into what theater really is until. Until Aunt Juliet, where I sort of. This job came into my life. And then I got sort of dispatched around on a master class of going to see Broadway shows really quickly. So I saw an insane amount of shows in a very short period of time early on, and just trying to get my kind my head around it. And it's been a very. A wonderful world to kind of get immersed in.

[Matt Koplik]

Absolutely. So then when you started working on N Juliet with Bill Sherman. What was one of the first lessons you were told while working on the music for it?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, I think one of the. So that's twofold. One of which was because I knew my job would be being music director, and so I not only got to see some shows, but I would meet with the MDs of them afterwards. And I got to also watch certain shows from the pit. I sat in the pit at Wicked. I sat. Like, just very cool kind of things to be immersed. And I sat in a rehearsal for Hamilton, like, just very cool. Just kind of dive into the deep end. And it was watching very talented MDs on all these shows, how they disseminate notes, how they sort of interface with a cast and sort of what they're listening for to keep ensemble vocals tight and interesting. And then how to sort of. You're. You have so many amazingly talented people, and then your. Your job is to sort of like, elevate their talent and also maintain this sort of the. This music that requires a lot of precision because so many people are moving around and. And all this stuff. So watching them give notes was very fascinating. And then part of this other job that was. Was great was meeting Max and getting to work with Max Martin, who. Which was kind of the biggest interest for me in going on this journey in the first place, and learning from him sort of everything from synthesizer sounds to working with vocalists in a recording studio to just. Just every facet of musicality was. Was the really. Yeah, like, life changing.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. So, okay, I'm gonna. We're gonna go all over the place. Welcome to the pod, Dominic. We go all over the place.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Love it.

[Matt Koplik]

I want to ask you sort of as an example, and maybe you don't remember the details of this one. You can choose a different one if you'd like. But I'm trying to think of a way to talk about the collaborative process on End Juliet, because it is a jukebox musical, so the songs were already written. And we have a libretto by David West Reed. Libretto for any first time listeners here who maybe came on here due to Dominic. The libretto is the script. Just in case anyone doesn't know the lingo, but, you know, we have our introductory song for Juliet, which is Hit Me Baby One More Time. And it's not done the way the song is usually done. It's done a little more like. Honestly, like an Adele power ballad. It's. It gives me very first half of Rolling in the deep vibes. There we go with like a little. With I don't know, like a little heavy opera in there as well. Not that she's singing opera, but, you know, like, that kind of intensity.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, there's a drag.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And so that moment, what is. How does that moment come to be musically? Does it start with. David already has it in the script that that's a number that he really think fits there. And then you and your collaborator come together and go, okay, how do we make this work? Or is there something that someone else goes, I feel like I hear it this way. Like, what is it? Sort of everyone's throwing spaghetti at the wall and seeing what sticks. How does. How is that working?

[Dominic Falacaro]

So for Baby One More Time, I think early on we knew, what if that was the I want moment? What if that was Juliet sort of reclaiming and how can we make this song, you know, Britney at that age and Juliet at that sort of similar age? How can we make that sort of the, like, deep in your feels kind of thing? And I think something that Luke, our director, and David, the book writer talk about a lot is dare to be serious and to really, really take it seriously and go from the text. And so I think we knew what if we tried to deliver the most credible version of this song? And so hit Me Baby One More Time starts with a very iconic piano, the bom bom bom. That's like such a gut punch of what everyone knows is that song. So we're like, okay, piano is the start. So what if we take you as far away as possible and we're going to lead you with other instruments. We're not going to lean on the piano. So we started the process, Bill and I, of thinking about it as like a very, like, guitar driven kind of like songwriter kind of thing. And then one of our other sort of magic tricks and orchestration is how can we give you the DNA that you know of that piano thing and then present it with other instruments and kind of give it to you in an unexpected way. So that piano licks gets disseminated to our strings, it gets disseminated to the bass, and it becomes sort of the heartbeat of this song. And if you go and listen to our version, if you see the show, this, like, dun dun dun dun is the way we're sort of interpolating the. The iconic Max Martin piano into an orchestral setting. And so it started with story, it started with the script, and then it. It's Bill and I sitting together by a piano and by a guitar in this case, and sort of hashing it all out. And just. Yeah. Seeing how far away we can kind of toss the boomerang and see if it still works. And the nucleus of everything is the melody. Max's incredible melodies are the glue that allows us to be daring and go far away.

[Matt Koplik]

Were there any concepts or ideas you guys tried out that didn't end up making it into the show?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I think Max's catalog is an embarrassment of riches. There's three other musicals of stuff that is on the cutting room floor. So there are some previous drafts that have semi love to your new lover in there. There's certain things that. There's certain songs that just ended up not playing as well. There's a moment that I missed musically, but it didn't serve the story quite as much. And so it didn't stay. But there was a ballad in Act 2 that featured a sort of deep cut of Max, this Pink song. I don't believe you. It was Shakespeare and Romeo sort of singing that about, you know, sort of a lull in Act 2 and singing about their respective partners. And so I miss. I miss certain things like that. And there are certain things that hit the floor. But it's all, again, through the workshop and kind of development process of just like, do we need it? Do we absolutely need it? And there's certain things that just don't, you know, don't make it.

[Matt Koplik]

Well, the good news is that because of Max's catalog, and I'm sure you guys have a whole bunch of others that you tried out that didn't make it, you have enough cut material for a second album and you can call it. And.

[Dominic Falacaro]

And Juliet. Yeah, yeah. Double ampersand. Exactly.

[Matt Koplik]

We're. So the show opened in the West End, comes to across the pond, and actually, you guys went to Canada first, right?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, Toronto.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. And then to. And then to Broadway. Were. So, I mean, whole. And obviously, like, the show is mostly set because you know that it works. You're not going to overhaul the whole thing, but you do have a whole new cast of actors who, you know, have to both be adaptive to the production as it exists, but also the production kind of has to bend a little bit to what new people bring to the material. How do you handle that as a music director? And then were there maybe any alterations for certain actors, maybe voices or personalities or things like that?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, I mean, you always want to let someone shine as themselves the most. And I think if you, like, shout out to Miriam in London, who was an amazing read on Juliet was just so amazing in that part. And we've Developed it so much around her. And Lorna here is such a different read on it. And I think it's a testament to the songs that, like, not a lot of stuff needed, like, oh, throw. Throw all the keys out. Everything's so wildly different. But it's just sort of their unique voice as they find their way through it. You know, specific, tangible, musical things are. Some of the riffs at the end of Roar are slightly different, or there's a little bit of things here and there that are a little bit modified for each person. But I think it is just allowing a lot of the originality comes in their delivery that gets us in and out of the songs. We didn't have to do a lot of legwork within the songs to change for our cast. I will say we did. In thinking about bringing it over here, it was another opportunity to upgrade and kind of like, what do we really need to stay? And so we shaved, I don't know, a few minutes off the show as we came here and just, you know, do we need this chorus in the middle? Do we need this little bit of thing? And so just a little bit of tightening. And that's what we found out through working with these actors here.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, that's great. I mean, it's always good to kind of take every new production as an opportunity to see what else can be adjusted, which is nice. This isn't a you question. It's just a thing that I actually really like about the casting of Lorna. When I saw it, I was actually surprised. I had never heard her voice before, and it was really nice to hear a very full, mature sounding voice on these pop songs, because you always go into these things and you're expecting everyone to, you know, do a Britney or, like, you know, get very pingy. And Lorna, you know, has this incredible range, but it's a very full voice. And I'm like, oh, a woman. I love it. Yeah.

[Dominic Falacaro]

I mean, it's amazing. That voice is showstopper. It's. It's absolutely amazing. I think that was as sort of a tangent. That was one of the coolest parts about working with Max on the cast recordings is that, you know, Max is used to writing and developing these songs with the artist, and you're sort of figuring it out as you go. And it's built for their voice. And recording a vocal can take, you know, a full day. It can take a long period of time. Max gets super detailed and into the weeds. And so then to have these very trained Broadway singers come in both in The West End and over here and show up. Do take one lights out. Like, just fully, fully crush it. And Max just sort of looks over and is like, I. I guess we should do it again. Maybe once more. I guess, like, just did.

[Matt Koplik]

Did he say maybe one more time? Come on, baby, one more time. Yeah, yeah. The other thing that I enjoyed about your guys's arrangements for this is there is kind of a. It's tricky to do jukebox musicals when it's not about a specific artist. Right. Because when it's, you know, the Neil diamond musical or the Cher musical, performers then go, okay, well, I can try to make my voice sound like the artist, but when it's something like and Juliet or Mamma Mia, it's often Broadway singers, people who are trained to have a specific kind of sound, however flexible that might be. And so you do have to kind of adapt these songs that we're used to hearing a certain kind of glossy way and then making it fit for this kind of singing voice. And so I thought that that was a very impressive endeavor. Was there a song that was particularly hard to crack in that respect or was, like, hard to find a way in either through the story or through the sound?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Well, I mean, so much credit is due to David West Reed, who sort of, you know, we were given such free rein with Max's catalog and, like, the fact that, you know, there are mega, mega hits that we don't use, and there are some, like, deeper cuts that we do use. It was always about, like, what works best kind of in the story. I mean, we take a big Britney song and play it in front of the harpsichord. You know, it's. It's like we're. We're only going for, like, what is maximizing story punch all the time. I think we were all very much. It was an amazing creative team to be a part of because was always like, a best idea wins kind of thing. And I think a lot of that editorial process of, like, does it work? Was a lot in song choice. And right away, we knew something was right or going to work. I'll remember David coming in, bringing what he want from me in and realizing, oh, my gosh, this absolutely buttons up Francois and May's story and kind of heightens the tension. I think that's a good example, though, of. There's a lot of times when Bill and I try to do the trick of we sort of pick two routes with how we start a song. There is the. We're giving it to you exactly as, you know it. Like, with if it's. It's My Life, you're hearing the exact talk box sound, you're hearing that exact iconic sound. And then the other kind of camp is the wait, are they actually doing this one? Like, how far away can we go with it? And so what do youo Want From Me has a very iconic kind of guitar intro. And so we're like, we're not going to start with that. And something that Luke, our director, was talking about is that it needs to feel like an argument right away. It needs to have constant motion. And. And so I developed sort of this guitar pattern over many edits and trial and error with the cast. And sort of, you're making it in real time with the actors. And so that's one of the coolest parts of it. And I think, again, it's a testament to Mac songs that, you know, these songs work in so many people's voices because just the melodies are so iconic. And the fact that, you know, you have so much of Max's catalog is Young love and about just like. Yeah, like first love and very like intense high drama feelings around that. But we have Teenage Dream, which is like one of the most essences of those feelings kind of being sung with our older generation of actors delivering that message. So I think right away we're always into like, how sort of challenging your expectations around those songs.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, Staying trying to get one step ahead of the audience, for sure. Is there a particular moment in the show where you can hear that entire audience react to a song starting that they weren't expecting?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Oh, man, it's amazing to watch an audience watch it. So part of my duties as a music director is to not only play the show, but on a regular basis, step out into the house and kind of listen to it, watch it, kind of give notes and feedback. And in that process is just one of my greatest joys, which is watching people watch it. And I think there's nothing like getting to. I want it that way where you sort of hear the collective like, oh, like we're going here. Like, this is where we are going.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Dominic Falacaro]

And sort of like. Like in sort of watching the, like the, The. The light bulbs all go. Go off above people's heads about. Okay, I. I understand what we are doing now.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Which is great.

[Matt Koplik]

Did you ever see Mamma Mia. On the stage?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I did, yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Okay. Was it early in the run, Late in the run? Do you remember?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I saw it. I. I saw it in the West End, actually. So it was sort of all together, different production, but yeah, So I saw.

[Matt Koplik]

It in the West End, too. My listeners have heard me tell this story, but you haven't heard me tell this story.

[Dominic Falacaro]

No, no, no.

[Matt Koplik]

My listeners are gonna have to just deal with it. So I first saw Mamiya in the West End when I was, like, nine or 10. I didn't know Abba. I didn't know what to expect. It hadn't come to America yet. I was. I famously did not like it because I didn't like. Everyone was clapping and singing along. I was like, this is not proper theater etiquette. Little baby, me and his, like, sweater with his grandma. And then in the two years between London and Broadway, I came to. Sorry, in the West End, not on the West End. I have learned that it is in the West End. We say on Broadway. But I have a listener who's from England who's worked in the West End, and he goes, matthew, it's in the West End. So I'm trying to train myself. Yeah, I'm trying to train myself to say that. So in those two years, I got to know ABBA better, and I learned more about sort of what their famous songs were. I got more into them, and I learned that Winter Takes it all is, like, top five most famous ABBA songs. Probably even, like, top three up there with Dancing Queen and the title song. And the Playbill for Mamma Mia never lists the order in which the songs come. They just tell you what the songs are going to be. So the audiences know what's going to be in there. And everyone's waiting for the big ones. And they do Mamma Mia and Dancing Queen and Chikatita. They do all that in Act 1. They get all the big ones out in Act 1, and then Act 2, you know that Winner Takes it all is coming, but by the time that it happens, everyone's so invested in the plot, they forgot that they were waiting for it. And similar to Frankie and May, Donna and Sam have this big argument after slipping through my fingers. It's this big book scene. And Sam goes, donna, listen. She goes, I don't want to talk. And the entire audience just went, ah. Because it was a combo of, okay, this is when the song's happening. I forgot I was waiting for the song. Perfect moment. And I heard a couple of those moments at Aunt Juliet. And sometimes it was a trick that David would do with lyrics. For example, the reprise of I Want it that Way in act two, when I know Larger Than Life opens Act two opens act one. What's the song that the boy band does in Act 2 with Shakespeare, Frankie.

[Dominic Falacaro]

So they sing Everybody.

[Matt Koplik]

Everybody.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, that's a. Again, act two has a few jokes that are, like, two hours in the making. Dubois. Dubois.

[Matt Koplik]

Exactly.

[Dominic Falacaro]

I mean, yeah, spoiler, spoilers. But, yeah, the Dubois du Bois. And yeah, the fact they sing it's going to be May. Like, yeah, just things that take a while to pay off. And again, all credit to David. That was in, like, the first draft of the script I ever had. So, like, he. He knew we were. We were going and, like, we all knew what we were in for. And just. You always hope that it's gonna pay off in that way and bringing it to an audience the first time and sort of like, especially for. It's gonna be me. Like, that it. Sometimes there's, like, initial, like, polite applause and then, like the. Oh, my goodness applause.

[Matt Koplik]

It'll vary sometimes, but that's not you guys. That's just an audience getting on your speed. I also remember when Juliet started Oops, I Did It Again, and Since youe've Been Gone, both times, it was. There was a specific crowd of women who were there. And when both of those songs started, it was sort of a. They wanted to applaud, but the song was already, like, well underway. And so they were like, I. I. So it was a. That excitement is a lot of fun, but it's nice to sometimes see when David's playing chess while the rest of us are playing checkers, you know?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, absolutely. It's really amazing. And I love. I think something that I'm proud of musically is. Yeah. That we sort of get you into some of those songs and you just sort of have to hold onto that energy and, like, keep that kind of pent up. And when sort of one of the most interesting things I learned getting into theater and really learning from Bill is the applause is something that you can not manufacture, but, like, you can be strategic about when that happens and, like, how it happens and how you sort of button certain songs or not button and kind of move through things and like. Yeah, I. I think allowing that kind of tension and release in certain ways or subverting it is just as much musically a part of things as it is story part of things. And sort of like, that we sort of leave you on pins and needles for the end of that's the way it Is and sort of like, let silence happen for a second and everyone sort of charged up and then we give you the ending of it. Yeah. There's lots of moments in the show that I'm very proud Of. Of like how we sort of navigate through. Yeah. Being so excited.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. I think. I don't think it's out of line to say that you can definitely figure out how to make an audience applaud. And when it only feels manipulative, when it's not done terribly inventively. When you see someone do sort of a very paint by numbers Bob Ross thing and you're like, I know you want me to applaud here, but I feel manipulated. Like. There was a very famous director, choreographer Michael Bennett. He did Chorus Line and Dream Girls and he was famous. He was known at the time for telling his cast when he would choreograph numbers with them, he goes, and then the audience is going to applaud right here. And they go, I don't know, Michael. Then the very first performance, they would applaud exactly when he said they would because he knew how to make a number. Bill to that. Now that you're in the theater, what has been some of the bigger surprises for you?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I think the biggest surprise to me is as music director, it's a very octopus arms kind of job. And so mding in my time before theater is really just running a band, working with the artist, bringing their songs into a live setting and making sure that things flow well with the band and everything from running rehearsals to giving out music and stuff like that. So a lot of details, but that's just like one very small component of a day to day in the theater. It's also like maintaining like teaching stuff to actors and giving notes and dealing with certain, like sound and technology things. There's, there's like 100 things that are happening during a show. And you know, part of playing in a pit on Broadway is that, you know, we have an amazing band shout out to the band, like they're. We have nine musicians downstairs. And, you know, part of being a working musician in the pit is subbing things out. And so you're also meeting other musicians that sort of come in and read your show and play your show. And I think a surprising element is like meeting some of these subs that come in and it's like, oh, yeah, I'm. I'm playing. And Juliet, I learned the book. I. I'm. And they do a great job on it. It's like, oh, yeah, tomorrow I'm playing on Some like it Hot and the next day I'm playing on this, and the next day I'm playing on like. The fact that someone can keep that musical Rolodex happening is very surprising. To me. But I think, yeah, the, the things that were new and surprising to me were also sort of the ability to both play the show consistently and like execute it perfectly in time and then also be like, oh, our cellist is new today and I should tell them that they should bring out that first solo and like take notes amidst doing other stuff, like developing the like split your brain into like four parts skill set is definitely a new and surprising part of things.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, absolutely. But now you know you have it and now that you've unleashed it, you can't put it back in the cage.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Unstoppable.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. On that note, we do have to take one quick break.

[Lorna Courtney]

You're the top.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah.

[Lorna Courtney]

You're an arrow caller. You're the top. You're a cool dollar. You're the nimble.

[Matt Koplik]

And we're back. Thank you for your patience in that break, Dominic. I mean, I know it was so long, but I got a lot of stuff done.

[Dominic Falacaro]

It's all right.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, he orchestrated a whole new show since then. Speaking of which, first of all, your efforts for this show did not go unnoticed. You got nominated for a Tony Award.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah. Thank you.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, that's. Well, I didn't say congratulations yet. Congratulations. I didn't say you deserved it. Now you do know your guys. Orchestrations and arrangements are fantastic. This was a very good year for orchestrations. I looked at the nominees. I'm like, I'm not mad about any of these.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, yeah. What were the capable of doing? It is, is very worthy. It's a really wild thing to sort of.

[Matt Koplik]

So I, I'm, I'm definitely an orchestration whore. Like, I, I love listening to different recordings of shows. You know, when a certain score gets a revival with all these new orchestrations, it's always exciting for me to hear how they're done. Sometimes I find that they're too big or too small or too rushed. But that's not necessarily an orchestration thing. That's a tempo thing. But still, it's the complexities of how an orchestra moves along with a score has always fascinated me and I've just come to appreciate it more and more. What was the process of the Tonys like for, you know, what was that road like?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I mean, it's fantastic. It's also a real gauntlet and very busy. I mean, we're fortunate enough to be nominated for. For a lot of different things. And with that comes performing on TV shows, which again is amazing. But showing up for Good Morning America is like a 5am call time, which is a Little different from a lot of other shows and things like that. It takes a certain kind of stamina, but, you know, getting ready for the Tonys. We were also lucky enough to perform at the Tonys, which was amazing. And so Bill and I tried to do a sort of like rejuzz number of roar and sort of add some orchestral flair to the band that we usually have. So, you know, we don't have a bassoon in our pit normally we don't have a set of trombones, but like, let's blow it out. Let's. Let's take advantage of the whole Tony's band and really like, do the thing. And I think what I'm proudest of with our orchestration stuff is that it's fusing the world of acoustic instruments in a band. Playing it with sort of the laser beams and beep boops that live inside a computer and in a recording studio and sort of like navigating between those two things or having those two things fire on top of each other.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. What was Tony night like for you?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Oh, goodness, it's a long day. You show up for the red carpet super early and you're doing all the things and then. Yeah, orchestration is pre telecast. You're there pretty early and yeah, sitting and clapping and sort of soaking it in and watching the performances. It's a very beautiful theater there. And it was. Yeah, it was great to sort of, you know, I play the show all the time, so I don't really get to see the other other ones. It was nice to see sort of a glimpse into some of the other. The other shows. It's like, okay, that's what they're doing. That's great. I love it.

[Matt Koplik]

Exactly. Was there anyone you met that left you particularly starstruck?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I will say, not necessarily at the Tonys, but we did a ham for ham the other week in preparation for the Tonys and get. Sit on the same piano bench as Sara Bareilles and sort of work out the boy band hits of our youth. Is great. Like, what a lovely moment to have. So that's the kind of stuff I love. Being new to Broadway. There is a very community first kind of aspect to this of like we are all kind of swimming in the same thing together and just watching actors support actors and musicians support musicians and kind of like stepping into that, that very like uber supportive community is. Is wonderful. So the fact that like, yeah, everyone was game to sing along to other. Other people's things, it was. It was great. It's a really like, positive Experience. So that's, I guess that's about as close to Starstruck because it's, it's just great to be around folks like that.

[Matt Koplik]

No, Sara Bareilles is definitely someone you can get Starstruck by. I, I, I recommend it for anyone who hasn't done it yet. Definitely meet Sara Bareilles and get a little struck by her. Well, in your, you know, I guess, research slash training for N Juliet. And then I don't know if you are still sort of doing any of this for any future projects, but have, are there any particular scores that you were exposed to during all this that you've now kind of come to glob onto? And not only that, but like specific arrangements and orchestrations? Yeah, you can think of.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Definitely. I think I love, my biggest thing is learning sort of the different sizes of bands in different places. And I guess part of my, like, experience before and kind of the nerdiness of who I am. I love seeing the ways of implementing technology in different spaces. So, you know, the kind of pit that Wicked is running is very different than what dear Evan Hansen was, is very different than what Hamilton is. And sort of like learning how they make the donuts for all of these is the most fascinating kind of component. And then talking to the people who make those sounds and like, from MDs about it, that's, that's so interesting to me because, you know, different orchestrators and different composers have different ways of, oh, we present the strings like this, or we're using this for a big dramatic moment. But to me, I always want to go like one notch deeper of like, what are we playing? What are we doing? Like, how are you executing it in the moment? And yeah, just like watching other MDs play their own shows is a very fascinating kind of thing. And for me, moving forward, I'm very focused on, I really am interested in all the stuff that seems sort of like, I don't know how you could pull that off with live musicians. Like, that's what I'm most interested in, stuff that we think of living in a studio setting or other more technology intensive things. That's what I get really excited about. And so as I start to think about the future and like, who I'm working with, it's like, I want to break stuff. You know, I want to always be in, you know, interested in and trying to figure out, like, how could we execute this with live musicians in a theater setting that would, that's super rewarding.

[Matt Koplik]

Do you have any theater projects coming up? You don't have to go into full.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Detail, but do you. So I am. I'm starting to work with a couple younger writers. And, yeah, it is very much focused as, like, a music production side first. And I'm able to, in a developmental process, be thinking of. Through the work of. And Julia of, like, this is something we were able to make work, and I know that we're able to make it work and then also look for new challenges of, like, how can we make this sound come out of the speakers? So, yeah, really trying to work with young writers who are interested in. Yeah. Breaking things. Sure, sure.

[Matt Koplik]

That's always good. What. What genres of music do you tend to gravitate towards? Because you. You had. You worked as a jazz pianist for a while.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, yeah, yeah. I still. I mean, I have a very soft spot for jazz music. It's. To me, jazz was like, the equivalent of trying to, like, speak Latin as someone that's very into words. It's like, if you can kind of become very fluent in this thing. Learning jazz was to learn that if you can really speak this thing, all the people that I admired sort of ended up on other people's records that I really admired. It's like, wait, the. The drummer on this was also the drummer on this, and they're on, like, kind of learning that if you can get to a certain cruising altitude, the world of music opens up to you. And I always liked that about jazz. But through and through, I. I love pop music. And so working with Max was a dream come true because I like Ace of Bass was one of my first CD purchases with my own money as a kid. I love pop music. I love. Yeah. I love things that have some sort of marriage between electronic components and some sort of band components, which is why I also love sort of this, like, almost disco renaissance that's starting to come back in vogue a little bit, where it's like, oh, my God, I'm hearing strings. I'm hearing all these other things, like, in a pop setting. Like, you're hearing Dua Lipa, but you're hearing, like. Yeah, like, on the floor and like.

[Matt Koplik]

Oh, I. I know exactly what you're talking about. The. The new Dua Lipa song for the Barbie movie. Yeah, there are. There's a full string section. I'm obsessed with it.

[Dominic Falacaro]

It's great. I love. I love that these things come together and, like, watching Max work with Lizzo and other things and, like, sort of. Yeah. Kind of taking a peek behind the curtain of how these things happen. I'm always interested in pop music, because pop music is such a wide umbrella. Like, someone can be so different than someone else, but it still is, like three minutes, 30 seconds or whatever it is. And it's just delivering you the truth as quickly as possible.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah, absolutely. And what makes what. What makes boundaries get pushed is when you sort of lean into what excites you and what sounds new to you. Every time someone says, you know, well, that's not really in the mold of what people do is like, yeah, well, it can be exactly. As long as it's good.

[Dominic Falacaro]

What was I going to say?

[Matt Koplik]

What is one of the challenges you face on a weekly basis with N. Juliet as you keep the show fresh and put people in?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, I mean, I think if you've seen our show, what the actors up there are doing is nothing short of phenomenal. And it's unbelievable the kind of work that they put in. I think one of the most amazing things. So, again, coming from outside the universe, like, I knew, you know, that there was the actors on stage doing it, and I knew there was some sort of crew. And the concept of like an understudy made sense to me, but I did not know what a swing was until being in this and sort of like learning that there are these absolute, like, magicians that can that chameleon into any sort of thing is really mind blowing. And so learning that infrastructure is like a blessing and a challenge. Because a challenge means, you know, someone's injured, someone's sick. Those are things that get thrown at you on a day to day basis. And you sort of deal with, okay, this person's going up as this. This person's going up on this. I should make sure to tell them that we're going a little faster on this song. You know, you're very like, it's all happening kind of in the moment and it's very exciting, but it's. Yeah, the thing that is difficult is also a huge blessing because you kind of meet these amazing human beings. We just brought on a new swing in the show and to watch someone learn all these things for the first time, it's amazing what they are capable of. And so it is both difficult because it's just the maintenance of this thing over a long period of time. I mean, a pop music concert or something like that is a thing that happens once and you watch it and it's like, okay, everyone sort of goes their separate ways. But this is like, all right, and set up for it tomorrow. Like, the sheer relentlessness of Broadway is very difficult and very demanding. But it presents you with these human beings that are unreal. So it's two sides of the same coin.

[Matt Koplik]

Absolutely. Absolutely. Well, we're happy to have you on Broadway. Thank you for coming to our community and crushing it.

[Dominic Falacaro]

It's lovely to be here.

[Matt Koplik]

I mean, you seem like a very lovely person, Dominic, but I'm sure there's a little part of you that has entered Broadway being, like, first time out. Nailed it. Not sorry about it.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, no notes. Yeah, it's great. It's all fantasy camp, like, working on and Juliet has been just rarefied air from the start of it. The fact that it came into my life as a. Would you be interested in doing a musical with all the songs of Max Martin? And I was like, okay, that sounds like it could be fun. And in my head, I'm like, yeah, I don't know if Max is showing up. And then the next day it's like, oh, we're having breakfast with Max. This is real. This is serious. And it's been those kind of pinch me moments through. Through six years of working on it, you know, it's been just kind of every part of it is wild.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. So that was actually was gonna be my. One of my last questions was, when did the project begin? But I guess 2017 was when you started on it.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, 2017.

[Matt Koplik]

So I know that was, what, two years of workshops before it eventually opened in the West End.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Exactly. Yeah.

[Matt Koplik]

Two years.

[Dominic Falacaro]

We did workshops in LA and New York. I mean, our first workshop, Kayala Settle, was in our first workshop. There's amazing people that sort of like, pass through the orbit of. And then she later performed it in the West End post returning from the break of COVID like, yeah, it's amazing. Sort of the people that pass through the Juliet ecosystem. And I also think it's going to be kind of the. Looking at the various graduating classes, I feel, again, very proud and humbled by the fact that if you look at our graduating classes through our development process, there's going to be people that go on to some absolutely tremendous things. I love how many Broadway debuts we have. And just kind of watching these folks go out into the world is amazing. But, yeah, two years in various places, and then we knew we were in London and we developed it over there, and watching British audiences watch it, and then the world sort of ended for a minute, and then we were lucky enough to come back over there and over here. It's. It's incredible.

[Matt Koplik]

Was London always the plan first, I.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Think, and, you know, going full circle, talking about mamma mia. I think that that sort of cadence was somewhat in the plan of like there was going to be some sort of loop going towards Broadway. And I think London became sort of the obvious choice at a certain point of working out some of the Shakespeare and seeing it up against a British audience and things like that. I think that sort of factored into it. And yeah, it was really cool to meet all the actors over there and our amazing band over there and all the folks over there. It was great to. I spent a good deal of 2019 living out there and it was a tremendous experience.

[Matt Koplik]

Amazing. What is a go to place for you in London when you're out there?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Ooh. Oh, my goodness. The Coral Room for cocktails. A fantastic spot. And I love going to a restaurant called Bao for their bao buns. It's absolute treat and a must stop if I'm able to swing over there.

[Matt Koplik]

What neighborhood were you staying in when you were out there? Or is it.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, sort of like in Soho, kind of close to all the theaters and stuff. I mean, it's. You're living such a, like, charmed life when you're over there for work. Like, you know, you're, you're. I'm commuting just by walking everywhere. It's an amazing, like, again, all fantasy camp all the time. So it was nice to sort of just. Yeah. Like, be so. I mean, because in the. In that stage of the development, you're doing so much work all at the same time. We were both in tech and like doing the cast album and like orchestrating stuff. Like those days are very long. So I'm very fortunate that we were like so close to everything because we were doing three days in the same day, kind of every day for a long period of time at that point.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. What you were saying earlier, which I really want to kind of loop back around to as we close out, is the idea of just saying yes to things and leaning into wherever the journey might take you. Because just because it may not be exactly how you thought it might be at the beginning doesn't mean it won't get to where you want it to go eventually. So I think that's a wonderful lesson for our listeners to take. For any listeners I have who are trying to break into the music scene either in pop or jazz or Broadway, what is some other advice you would give them other than just saying absolutely yes to absolutely everything?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, I mean, I think the power of yes is amazing in that like anything that you want is behind the door of discomfort in a lot of ways like anything good is behind that initial barrier and the act of doing and kind of stepping past that initial kind of pang of discomfort. So much of like life joys is behind that. So I recommend yes as a sort of attitude to get past that. And then the other thing that I think is a big part of it is that I don't do this alone ever. I think building community and like finding your artistic community and just your friend community is such a, a big and invaluable tool of everything because not everyone is up together. Some, you know, someone's up and someone is down and as I think the ability to challenge and motivate each other and be working on different things at the same time is very, very powerful. I'm very lucky to like, you know, try to keep a lot of things on the fire at the same time. And I think yeah the fact that it's, you know, there's one day working with an artist on a record and another day playing in a band and you know that all, all those sort of different hodgepodge of a life, of a musical life led to Broadway and those doors open to other interesting things. So I think surrounding yourself with supportive, like minded folks who are going to challenge each other is another big, big, big part of things.

[Matt Koplik]

Yeah. Preach Dom. I, I, I say that all the time myself. So thank you for affirming what I've been saying. Makes me feel good. Thank you Don. This has been absolutely fantastic. Thank you so much for coming on today for this episode. If do you want people to find you? If you do, where can they find you?

[Dominic Falacaro]

Yeah, I'm pretty easy to find. I, you know I'm keyofdom.com on the Internet and I still keep a Twitter somewhat active at key of domestic key of Dom.

[Matt Koplik]

Fantastic. And if you want to follow me, I'm on Instagram only at Matt Koplik usual spelling. You can give the podcast nice 5 star rating or review if you so please. You can catch Dom at the Sondheim Theater for the time being working at and Juliet, are you, are you there for the foreseeable future? Do you have a out?

[Dominic Falacaro]

I'm there for a while, yeah. I'm there for a little while.

[Matt Koplik]

So come say come come say hey to the dude if you can. We close out every episode, even this bonus episode with a Broadway diva. And I think to keep in theme with this episode, we're going to close out with the sultry mature tones of Miss Lorna Courtney, Miss Tony nominated Lauren and Courtney. Do you think that's Apropos.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Oh, absolutely. Any chance to hear Lauren is a treat.

[Matt Koplik]

Fantastic. Well, this is Lorna for you guys. And you can catch our next episode coming up in a few days. And that'll be it for now. Take it away, Lorna.

[Dominic Falacaro]

Bye.

[Lorna Courtney]

Loneliness is killing me and I must confess I still believe When I'm not with you I lose my mind Give me your side Hit me, baby one more time oh, baby, baby how was I supposed to to know.