I have opinions about playlists!
I’ve spent a long time curating my Bryan vs Music playlist, and of course I’ve spent even more time curating my preshow playlist that I bring with me when I run tech for indie spaces. One of my standard moves is to take the preshow playlist of the space I’m in and save any songs I don’t immediately recognize to my own Spotify. In this way, my playlist contains little pieces of all the places I’ve been. In the arts & literature world you might call it a palimpsest. Like most things it is in a constant transitory phase.
The music needs to start 15 minutes before the first audience members start rolling in. There’s always the odd chance some squirrelly 22-year-old has been sitting in their car for a half hour waiting for the doors to open. Let’s say the show starts at 7:00. Doors are at 6:30. You should have music going by 6:15 just in case.
For our hypothetical 7:00 show, you can play whatever you want, within reason, up until 6:45. We’re looking for things that are moderately high energy, things which the performers and FOH people enjoy. But really, sky’s the limit here. One of my favorite things to do is play the music the bar/kitchen staff is listening to, and slowly transition it into show music. For instance, I walk in and they’re playing some Iwrestledabearonce or Tony Danza Tapdance Extravaganza. Okay, grindcore is going to scare away the bridge and tunnel crowd, along with anyone over 60 or so. So maybe I cue up some High on Fire or Dillinger Escape Plan, but by 6:15 I’ve made it to “War Pigs” by Black Sabbath or “Raining Blood” by Slayer. By 6:45 it’s “When the Levee Breaks” by Led Zeppelin or “Sugar We’re Going Down” by Fall Out Boy. And suddenly we’re gearing up to go into show mode.
6:45 to 7:00 we’re in show mode, which means we’re setting a tone for the rest of the evening. This tone will carry over into the intermission and postshow, unless there’s some huge jarring musical interlude. Most places are going to want generic pop or indie rock, something unobtrusive that can be bumped up at a moments notice for an intro. Some places want smooth jazz or classical. Not what I would play, but then again it’s not my theater. If you’re going for more of a hip 90s new-UCB vibe, you can throw some hip hop or punk into the mix. Always check in with the powers that be whether you can play songs with explicit lyrics. The hip hop may also scare away the bridge and tunnel crowd; let’s be real, improv audiences often skew whiter. Going back to the topic of being ready at a moment’s notice, take note of songs that have long intros or outros. Maybe skip them altogether. You don’t want any dead space in your preshow that may cause a weird moment of dead air right before the groups run out onto the stage.
A personal pet peeve of mine: don’t just play music you like! There’s a time and a place for highlighting your insufferable musical snobbery; fifteen minutes to showtime isn’t it! That’s what 6:00-6:45 and the intermission are for. No the point of the fifteen minute leadup to showtime are to get the crowd H Y P E. Now is the time for Top 40 radio hits, the kind you sing along to on road trips. Think of it like a sporting event: when in doubt, blast Jock Jams.
Speaking of Jock Jams, Gary Glitter’s been cancelled. Remember to periodically cull your playlist, lest your meticulously handpicked tunes leave a sour taste in any audience member’s ears.
Intermission: queue up one intermission’s worth of songs, plus ten minutes. You will almost always have to hold for ten minutes. If you were paying attention to the show, which you should have been, you may have a song or a number of songs that were alluded to by the performers. These will make up the first 1-5 songs you play during the intermission. The intermission playlist should sit at the halfway point of “continuation of preshow” and “vibe set by first half of show.” If the kids immediately went to Wackytown, you can excise the smooth jazz in favor of something more upbeat. If the show went grounded and heavy and suburban-slice-of-life, save the glitchstep/hyperpop for later.
Now you’re in the home stretch! For postshow, queue up one final upbeat jam, followed by any additional songs referenced in the show, followed by soft stuff that suggests a quick exit. Think of this like the end credits of a movie: first you get the End Credits Song! And then as you’re filing out, you’re gonna hear some chase scene and fight scene music. The last thing you’ll hear as you’re leaving will probably be the orchestral version of the main characters love duet from the second act. That’s the vibe we’re trying to provide for the end of our theatre experience. You told them it was going to be a wild ride, you let them know just how wild the ride was, and now when all is said and done you can be like “hey remember all those wild parts of that ride? Here’s something to refresh your memory…” but by this point it’s probably been another half hour and the stragglers really have to leave. This is where classical music is your friend. Classical music in a theater setting subconsciously indicates to everyone that it is time to go home and stare at the fireplace in quiet contemplation.
Speaking of subconsciously: it is very unlikely that any audience member could put into words the effect the music has on them. They may not even notice. Unless you’re an absolute freak like me, you probably haven’t spent more than five minutes thinking about the music that plays throughout a night of improv. But, like many other aspects of art, we recognize the awkward silence and we notice when something’s off. Tonal shifts can be jarring, and may create a situation where the performers have to dig themselves out of a hole. Our job as a technical improviser is to support the show as best we possibly can. This is especially true during the show but extends out in all directions, in much the same way that a restaurant’s Michelin stars depend as much on ambiance as well as the actual food.
And much like a restaurant, a good rule of thumb is to have triple the amount of music as the length of one standard evening at your theater, as a minimum. This is an unspoken rule of playlist curation for public-facing businesses. Our show lasts 4 hours, and there’s two of them. 8 x 3 = 24 hour playlist. Sounds daunting but it’s easier to fill that time than you think.
Once again here’s this thing. I hope it works out for you.