The Carpenter Center, at Cal State Long Beach, filled up quickly last month with happy folks eager to see Musical Theatre West’s special revue, “It’s a Grand Night for Singing.”
The revue, which debuted about a week earlier, was MTW’s first production since it had been shut down for more than 18 months because of the coronavirus pandemic. Everyone was in a festive mood, all ready to enjoy an afternoon in person of popular songs written by theater giants Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II.
Everything was in place for the 1 p.m. showtime.
But then Paul Garman, the dynamic MTW executive director and producer, got devastating news — that threated to cancel the show.
Dennis Castellano, the piano accompanist, crucial to the show’s production, called to say he had been in a four-vehicle freeway crash on his way to the theater and wouldn’t be able to make the show. Fortunately, Castellano’s injuries were not life threatening, but he was shaken up enough that he knew he couldn’t perform that afternoon.
Garman was faced with the strong possibility that he would have to cancel the show.
“It would have been very difficult to put on the show without Dennis,” Garman said later. “There is only a six-piece band for this revue and the pianist holds everything together.”
This revue has little dialogue, with singers moving from song to song, featuring more than 30 songs from musical hits like “Oklahoma,” “South Pacific,” “The Sound of Music,” “Carousel” and “The King and I.” The pianist is critical in a show like this, not only playing the piano — but also directing.
Garman frantically started thinking of pianists he could call to fill in for Castellano. Someone suggested Eddy Clement, a seasoned piano accompanist who lives in Bixby Knolls, about 20 minutes away from the Carpenter Center, depending on traffic.
“I called Eddy and it was only 30 minutes or so away from showtime,” Garman said. “Fortunately, he said he was free and would try to get to the theater as soon as traffic would allow.”
Garman told Clement he would delay the curtain opening by 10 or 15 minutes to give him a little more time to get organized. As he usually does, Garman talked to the audience about the show. This time, he took a little longer by talking about the pandemic and explaining how the regular pianist had been in an accident and was being replaced by another person.
Clement, meanwhile, got in his car and sped to the Carpenter Center as fast as he could without getting a ticket.
“Wouldn’t you know it? I hit all the lights,” Clement said, “but I got to the theater with a few minutes to spare.”
His task was a daunting one.
He had to study more than 200 pages of music with arrangements he had never played before. And no time for a rehearsal.
Clement would have to completely sight read throughout the show. That also would be an amazing accomplishment.
But there was another problem: the location of the critical musical score book.
It was in Castellano’s car on the 405 Freeway, where the car had been crushed by a truck during the crash.
Castellano, who lives in Irvine, was about to get off the 405 at Palo Verde Avenue, at which point he would have been minutes away from the Carpenter Center had the crash not occurred.
Garman sent a member of the stage crew to the site to retrieve the musical score from Castellano’s daughter, who had gone to the scene to help her father.
Clement, meanwhile, had a hurried conference with the other five musicians.
There was no time to actually play any of the music. The other musicians told Eddy things to watch out for the tempo.
“He would literally be playing on the fly,” said one observer.
Besides the matinee, Clement also performed at the evening performance that night, on Oct. 24.
Lucy Daggett, a professional singer who has Clement as her accompanist when she performs, said his job filling in was “a monumental accomplishment.”
“There are extremely few piano players who are gifted enough to be able to completely sight read an entire score with no rehearsal, with a full, live audience watching and listening to every note,” she said. “Talk about pressure.”
But Clement was modest about his accomplishment.
“I just did my job,” he said. “I’m glad it turned out well.”
Was he nervous about performing on such short notice?
“I didn’t have time to be nervous,” he said with a laugh.
Playing the piano has been a part of Clement’s life since he was 7.
“I was jealous of my older sister who had been taking piano lessons,” he said. “I begged my parents for lessons and they said OK, ‘If you stick with it.’”
Besides the piano, he also became an expert with the French horn.
One day, Clement said, he got a call “out of the blue” about Los Alamitos High School looking for an accompanist for its choir. He took that job and is in his 21st year at the school, providing music for its perennial national champion choirs. In 2018, Clement was named classified employee of the year at Los Al.
At the time, then-principal Brandon Martinez said Clement was “a mentor, a teacher, someone working behind the scenes as a tireless advocate for students.”
If you were to remove Eddy from the equation,” the since retired principal said, “I don’t know that we would be as successful as we are.”
Clement, for his part, said he is a strong advocate for supporting kids in music “because it helps them in life.”
Castellano, retired head of music theater at UC Irvine, said he was disappointed that he couldn’t perform because of the crash.
It was the first time, Castellano said, that he’s missed a performance.
“But Eddy did a fantastic job,” he added, “and I called him to thank him for what he did.”
Castellano said he had “some aches and pains” from the crash, but was performing again.
As for the audience’s reaction to the surprise change in performers, Garman said, Clement blew them away.
“Eddy had a herculean task in front of him, but he performed brilliantly and the audience loved it,” he said. “Many told me later how exciting it was to be part of a once-in-a-lifetime experience and how they appreciated knowing what all went on behind the scenes.
“In the true tradition of the theater,” Garman added, “the show went on.”
