UMaine alumna reeds the room with “The Addams Family” touring musical
(all photos courtesy Megan Howell)
She is neither creepy nor kooky. Neither mysterious nor spooky. She’s not even altogether ooky. And yet, one recent UMaine alumna has still managed to become a part of the iconic Addams Family.
The national tour of The Addams Family musical, that is.
Megan Howell graduated from UMaine’s music education program just a few years ago, but after getting her master’s degree in multiple woodwinds and a fateful audition, she is now a touring pit musician, helping to bring large productions to life night after night in venues all across the country. Along the way, she’s also paying visits to educational institutions to share her experiences, offering masterclasses, coachings, and Q&A sessions to aspiring student musicians.
Howell, along with tourmate Josh Roberts, will be paying just such a visit to her alma mater on March 25, offering a masterclass at 1 PM in Minsky Recital Hall for students ahead of that night’s performance of The Addams Family at the Cross Insurance Center in Bangor.
In the following Q&A, Howell talks about her path to becoming a professional musician, her experience on the road, her time at UMaine and much more.
When did you know you wanted to be a professional musician?
It’s funny, I don’t know that it was ever a conscious decision that I made, “becoming a professional musician.” In school, music was always the subject I was best at and, when it came time to decide what I was going to study at college, music was the obvious choice. I majored in music education, and thought for a long time that I would go straight into teaching, but the pandemic hit during my junior year at UMaine and completely changed my plans. It was not being able to play for a year that made me realize how much I loved performing, so I decided to pursue a master’s.
During my last semester, an opening for a reed position on the Little Women national tour was advertised and I auditioned on a whim. I was hired a few days after that and was on the road two weeks later. It was such a blur, but I was able to make arrangements to finish my degree from the road. The music director from Little Women invited me back for The Addams Family this year, and here we are! I never went into this expecting to be pursuing performance full time, but a mix of solid preparation and good timing has allowed me to do so since graduation.
How did you wind up playing for a touring show such as this one? Do you have previous experience with this kind of work?
The audition process for jobs like this is very fast paced. Most companies are looking for videos of you playing, rather than live auditions, so I spent my master’s recording almost every performance I did so that if an audition ever came up, I always had something ready to submit. When the opening for Little Women came up, I was able to quickly put together a few clips of me playing the required instruments and sent them to the company within a few hours. The producers reviewed my tapes and sent me some excerpts of the show to record and send back so they could make sure I was a good fit for the material. Within a few days I had an offer! The Addams Family is produced by the same company as Little Women, so it was a much easier process – the director knew me from last year and invited me back for this show!
What is your role in this particular pit orchestra? How long have you been on the road?
I play Reed 1 on this tour, and for this show that calls for flute, piccolo, Bb clarinet, and alto saxophone. Reed books are numbered differently to band or orchestral parts. Reed 1 doesn’t necessarily mean “first chair” or “section leader” – it just means it’s the upper woodwind part, and then the instruments will get lower the further down the list you go. Flute is my primary instrument, so most of the gigs I get are for Reed 1 or 2 because there tends to be more flute/piccolo features on those books.
We began our tech and dress rehearsal process the second week of January, but the cast had about three weeks of rehearsals before Christmas. We opened on January 17th in Waterbury, CT and have been on the road ever since!
What does a typical day on the road look like for you? Is there even such a thing as a “typical” day?
It’s true that every day is a little different, but most follow a pretty typical schedule. On a travel day, we load the bus in the morning, usually around 8 am, and start driving to our next city. We have an hour lunch break about halfway through, usually at a grocery store, and sometimes another shorter stop in the afternoon if it’s a longer drive. We arrive at the hotel around 3 pm and unload the bus. After checking in, we typically have about an hour before we head to the theatre for sound check. The cast does a safety walk of the stage while the band gets set up. We run a few songs with just the band and make adjustments based on the space. After us, the cast checks their mics individually, and then we do a full company sound check of all of our big numbers (“When You’re An Addams,” “One Normal Night,” etc.). This ends about an hour before the show starts, at which point I like to find a quiet space to finish getting a good warmup in on all my instruments and then have something to eat. We do the show and then, if it’s our last night in a venue, we pack everything up as soon as the bows are done. We head back to the hotel, usually getting back around 11 pm, go to bed, and wake up and do it all again the next day! Luckily, we don’t travel every single day. When we’re at a theatre for more than a night, we’re able to explore the area a bit during the day.
How did your time at UMaine help prepare you for your current career?
I learned so much, not only as a musician, but as a human while I was at UMaine. While my time in grad school helped me hone and polish my skills, UMaine built the foundation my career is now launching from. While at UMaine I was able to continue my education in things outside of music as well, developing critical thinking skills through the Honors College, building leadership skills as a Resident Assistant, and making connections with others through student teaching. I am so grateful for the vast range of experiences I had at UMaine, within the School of Performing Arts and beyond.
You’ve made similar stops at other institutions over the course of the tour. Why is it so important to you to engage with current music students?
I think, for me, it feels important that I show students that anyone can do this kind of thing if they put in the work. I’m originally from Mount Desert Island; growing up in a small town I never thought that this could be what I was doing someday. Ultimately, where you start doesn’t define where you’ll end up – it’s about the journey you map out for yourself. I love doing the coachings because I love to teach and share what I’ve learned, but I especially love the Q&As because that is when I get the opportunity to tell students that this could so easily be them as well one day.
What advice would you give aspiring young musicians who seek to follow a path similar to yours?
- Take the risk. Take the audition, send in the application, move across the country – whatever you’re not sure about right now, just go for it. So many of the things that led me to where I am now were decided on a whim (and followed up with careful planning). Sometimes the decision that feels the scariest ends up with the most exciting results.
- Find something that brings you joy that isn’t music. Music will always be my greatest source of joy but, now that it’s my job, it can also be a source of stress. And that’s normal! Find something you can turn to when you need a breather. I like to run, swim, and spend time outside.
- Never stop learning. As musicians (honestly, as humans) we are lifelong learners. There will always be new techniques to try, new theories to consider, new perspectives to explore. You don’t have to be in a classroom to be learning something new about the world.
She may not have anticipated the direction music would take her, but for Megan Howell, as with so many, the expected path is not always the one that is followed. As the song goes, “When you’re an Addams, the standard rules don’t apply.” There’s nothing standard about Megan Howell.