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Romeo & Bernadette - Jon Berger

Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.

Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.
Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.
Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.
Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.
Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.

"Orchestrator Steve Orich (from Jersey Boys) wrote a fun drum book intended for all acoustic drums and percussion. Initially the Sound department was concerned about controlling the volume in our very small black box theater so we opted to have me play on Roland V-Drums. Steve, however, insisted we keep all the percussion effects on acoustic instruments including using an acoustic crash for any light cymbal rolls, and an acoustic snare drum for playing with brushes. I was happy to try this combination but voiced my concerns about the over head microphones amplifying the ambient V-Drum stick on pad 'ticking' sound. Fortunately, the band is set to the side of the stage and behind thick curtains. As we teched the show we soon found that my concerns would not be an issue at all.

I suggested we have a Roland SPD-SX Sampling Pad at the ready to load any or all the percussion sounds in case there were any imbalance issues. So far we are not needing to use it. The balance between these two opposing mediums seems to be blending very well in the house.

I am using a Roland V-Drum TD-50 drum kit. I did all the V-Drum programming myself by simply editing and combining internal factory kits and available internal cymbal sounds.

Because of limited time to learn the show and program I opted to find and use one kit for the entire show. The score combines small snippets of Medieval music, some Big Band Swing, 2-Beat, Classical, a bit of 60's Rock, and R&B.

It is a limited one month run with a determined push by our wonderful producers at AMAS Musical Theater to hopefully move us to an open ended run at a larger New York City Off-Broadway house.

The musical concerns the famed Romeo, who finds himself in 1960 Brooklyn, chasing a girl he believes is his beloved Juliet. The girl is not Juliet but rather a foul-mouthed daughter of a crime family in this spoof of Shakespeare’s timeless tale.

Book and lyrics by Mark Saltzman, with music adapted from classic Italian melodies.

Direction and Choreography by Justin Ross Cohen. Lighting Design by Ken Billington. Musical Direction by Aaron Gandy. Orchestrations and Arrangements by Steve Orich." 

Snare:

  • Ludwig 1970's 5"x14" Supraphonic Snare Drum

Percussion:

  • Remo Valencia Bongos with Mondo Heads
  • Gretsch 1945 Orchestra Bells
  • TreeWorks Tre35 Classic Chimes with Damper Bar
  • Steve Weiss Bell Tree
  • Meinl Signature Luis Conte Shaker
  • Pearl Clave Block Low
  • LP ES-2 Salsa Cha Cha Bell
  • LP Cyclops Tambourine with Brass Jingles
  • Miller Machine for Finger Cymbal
  • Ron Vaughn Ascend Wood Block Medium
  • Toca Castanet Machine
  • Chinese 10" Taiko Drum
  • Grover Pro Miller Machine
  • Grover Pro 6” Bronze Triangle
  • Zildjian Finger Cymbal

Cymbal:

  • Paiste 18" Masters Extra Thin Crash

Hardware:

  • DW 2000 Series Bass Drum Pedal
  • DW 6000 Series Snare Drum Stand
  • DW 9000 Series Cymbal Stands (2)
  • Stix Tube Stick Holder

Sticks/Mallets:

  • Vater V-CEM40MH Concert Medium Hard Mallets
  • Vater Fusion Hickory Drum Sticks
  • Vater VWTR Wire Tap Retractable Brushes
  • Malletech OR45R Bell Mallets
  • Miller Machine Triangle Beater
  • Steve Weiss Small Triangle Beater

Electronics:

  • Roland TD-50 V-Drums
  • Apple IPad 7 with forScore Sheet Music Software
  • Apple Pencil
  • K&M 19791 Universal iPad/Tablet Holder
  • Etymotic ER4PT In-Ear Monitors with Custom Fit Ear Buds
Jon is a proud endorser of Drum Workshop Drums and Hardware, Paiste Cymbals, Remo Drumheads, Vater Percussion, Etymotic Research, and Drumtacs.

Romeo & Bernadette - Off Broadway - Jon Berger
January 2020

Jon Berger’s setup for the 2020 Off-Broadway Premier of Romeo & Bernadette: A Musical Tale of Verona and Brooklyn at A.R.T./New York Theatres in New York City.

"Conducting a National Tour is incredibly challenging, but so rewarding. Stepping on to the podium with a new orchestra every few weeks really keeps you on your toes. Every player responds differently so you are constantly adjusting to get the desired result. I would compare it to playing a multi-percussion piece where the instruments are constantly moving."
"After a grueling four years at SUNY I still had one theory class left to finish. I was really depressed. A classmate of mine recommended me for a tour of a Broadway show. This completely changed the course of my life."
"When I first got the call to start working on Ain’t Too Proud - The Life And Times Of The Temptations, I was curious about which era the show was going to focus on. Their career began in the early 1960’s and they’re still releasing albums today."
"The timpani tunings are the real challenge of The Little Mermaid. Changing pitches must be done by feel, that was my biggest challenge. Memorizing the mallet parts was also very necessary."
"As you can see in the pictures, I prefer to have as much 'stuff' right in front of me, as close as possible. Because there are so many instruments close in, I have mounted a music stand off of the tom mount.
"Different from the tour, the original Broadway production had acoustic drums, an acoustic set of timbales, and an acoustic tambourine - the tambourine is now programmed in the SPD-SX."
  • 2 min read

Gene Krupa's drum solo from "Gene's Blues" from the album Gene Krupa and Buddy Rich released November 1955.

Steve Jordan's drum solo from the title track of the album Casa Loco.
Robbie Ameen's drum solo from the track "Spring Fling".

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