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Monday, October 14, 2024
SIX's Elena Bonomo Shares Her Journey From Sandwich Artist to Broadway Drummer
Playbill: The international hit musical SIX is celebrating its third anniversary on Broadway this month at the Lena Horne Theatre, and drummer Elena Bonomo has been with the production ever since its October 2021 opening.
SIX the Musical opened on Broadway at around the time that I was learning to play bass in my high school’s jazz band after being in the percussion section of the marching/concert band. As a young woman teaching herself to play bass without much knowledge of other female bassists to have as role models, I saw the existence of the SIX on-stage band and thought, ‘you know, if they can do that, there’s no reason that I can’t too.’ So, when I read Elena Bonomo say that she hopes to be an inspiration to young woman musicians, my response is, you totally are! I also found it interesting hearing about the drummers usually being isolated in a separate room for noise control. It makes me wonder how they are able to see the pit’s conductor. Is there a window into the pit? Do they have a video feed of the conductor running to the room? I also wonder where the room is located, since I know that many Broadway theatre venues are relatively small buildings.
The part about the sound control room for drums was very interesting to me, because it makes perfect sense!! I mixed a show with drums in it once, and we only mic'd the kick drum and left everything else acoustic because it just didn't need it. The overall sound balance with guitar, vocals, and bass was good though. So, this leads me to believe that the reason that the drums are in a separate room is not for sound control in the sense of audio balance, but maybe more so to protect the hearing of the other people in the pit. The drummer can wear earplugs and still play just fine, but for the finer instruments, like flutes or violins, you can't play them with earplugs in! You must hear what you're doing. And you can't do that if you're in a pit with a drumset and it's reverberating in that tiny, enclosed space.
This article about Elena Bonomo’s journey from a Subway “sandwich artist” to Broadway drummer is so cool to hear! It’s exciting because she’s not just a musician, but she's also breaking barriers as part of an all-female band in a really great musical, which is SIX. When I saw SIX for the first time in 2022 with my best friend, it was truly phenomenal. I know it's popular internationally too, so I really wanted it to live up to the hype, and let me tell you, it did. We got really lucky with our seats; everything was played beautifully, the tech was amazing, and honestly, it was just such a great watch. If I had the money to see shows that often, I would go again and again! I really loved hearing about how Bonomo got her start, especially with being mentored by Neal Smith, who really helped her shape her music career. This mentality of putting in the effort and trusting the process really resonated with me, and it's something I hope to use when I start my career in theatre!
Elena Bonomo’s record is impressive! To go from ‘the Cocoa Rhythm Factory’ to a small rock band to Berklee College of Music, all the way to Broadway is quite a feat. Not to mention, I absolutely l love the idea of the ‘Ladies in Waiting’ of SIX, I never knew that that was a thing! It’s so fun when shows have an onstage band, and I think it’s particularly fitting that it’s an all-girl band for SIX. The quote Bonomo recites by Neal Smith resonated with me: “Take care of the music, and the music will take care of you”. Though I’m not a musician, I plan on going into an artistic field, and think in a similar fashion to Smith regarding any type of art form. I appreciated Bonomo’s advice at the end of the article regarding enjoying the journey - the goal is to never stop growing!
4 comments:
SIX the Musical opened on Broadway at around the time that I was learning to play bass in my high school’s jazz band after being in the percussion section of the marching/concert band. As a young woman teaching herself to play bass without much knowledge of other female bassists to have as role models, I saw the existence of the SIX on-stage band and thought, ‘you know, if they can do that, there’s no reason that I can’t too.’ So, when I read Elena Bonomo say that she hopes to be an inspiration to young woman musicians, my response is, you totally are! I also found it interesting hearing about the drummers usually being isolated in a separate room for noise control. It makes me wonder how they are able to see the pit’s conductor. Is there a window into the pit? Do they have a video feed of the conductor running to the room? I also wonder where the room is located, since I know that many Broadway theatre venues are relatively small buildings.
The part about the sound control room for drums was very interesting to me, because it makes perfect sense!! I mixed a show with drums in it once, and we only mic'd the kick drum and left everything else acoustic because it just didn't need it. The overall sound balance with guitar, vocals, and bass was good though. So, this leads me to believe that the reason that the drums are in a separate room is not for sound control in the sense of audio balance, but maybe more so to protect the hearing of the other people in the pit. The drummer can wear earplugs and still play just fine, but for the finer instruments, like flutes or violins, you can't play them with earplugs in! You must hear what you're doing. And you can't do that if you're in a pit with a drumset and it's reverberating in that tiny, enclosed space.
This article about Elena Bonomo’s journey from a Subway “sandwich artist” to Broadway drummer is so cool to hear! It’s exciting because she’s not just a musician, but she's also breaking barriers as part of an all-female band in a really great musical, which is SIX. When I saw SIX for the first time in 2022 with my best friend, it was truly phenomenal. I know it's popular internationally too, so I really wanted it to live up to the hype, and let me tell you, it did. We got really lucky with our seats; everything was played beautifully, the tech was amazing, and honestly, it was just such a great watch. If I had the money to see shows that often, I would go again and again! I really loved hearing about how Bonomo got her start, especially with being mentored by Neal Smith, who really helped her shape her music career. This mentality of putting in the effort and trusting the process really resonated with me, and it's something I hope to use when I start my career in theatre!
Elena Bonomo’s record is impressive! To go from ‘the Cocoa Rhythm Factory’ to a small rock band to Berklee College of Music, all the way to Broadway is quite a feat. Not to mention, I absolutely l love the idea of the ‘Ladies in Waiting’ of SIX, I never knew that that was a thing! It’s so fun when shows have an onstage band, and I think it’s particularly fitting that it’s an all-girl band for SIX. The quote Bonomo recites by Neal Smith resonated with me: “Take care of the music, and the music will take care of you”. Though I’m not a musician, I plan on going into an artistic field, and think in a similar fashion to Smith regarding any type of art form. I appreciated Bonomo’s advice at the end of the article regarding enjoying the journey - the goal is to never stop growing!
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