For me, it all started with the music. I was the five-year-old kid at The Nutcracker who wanted to see the musicians in the pit during intermission. This carried forward to my being absorbed by the Great American Songbook—songs performed by Ella Fitzgerald and others—when I was in my late teens, and on to the actual musicals after that.

Finding Jesus Christ Superstar in my mother’s record collection was amazing. I went on to channel that passion for the music into an undergraduate and two advanced degrees: flute performance and music theory. My undergraduate college, Shenandoah University, had an excellent musical theater program. I ended up playing flute and piccolo in the pit for Sweeney Todd for no credit on top of an already massive course load simply because I wanted to.

It was fantastic to be a part of the magic making. Seeing the show every night from that angle was a visceral experience. Sweeney Todd is still my favorite show; it’s so rich, musically. Later, I worked at WRMR/WCLV-AM with many of the Cleveland greats and continued my love of the treasures of the Songbook. This is still the music of my life, the music I most often choose.