The Sustainability of Darrin Newhardt

Titon states “sustainability stewardship is not just about the music; it is about the people who make music” (Titon, 31). Darrin has created quite a name for himself in the city of San Antonio. Do I believe he has a sustainable career? Yes. I think it takes a very talented person to be able to sight-read complicated music and simplify it while improvising to get to the next section without throwing off the inexperienced vocalist. Also, one thing I have noticed in this city that is also true for the theatre scene in San Diego, people have respect for those who have been in the business for a long time. In other words, there will always be some sort of work for someone who left on good terms who was talented and apart of the “in crowd” in community theatre. Darrin is a very well known and well liked performer so I believe as long as he is wanting to do work here he will be able to find it.

            Broadway Nights has been such a success that only a few months after it began it became so popular that another theatre called Darrin and Rebecca asking them to bring the show to their theatre and away from the Woodlawn. Like Darrin said, there is nothing like Broadway Nights in San Antonio, as of right now it is very popular; however, if it should close I would expect another theatre to open up something similar. If it were to close that would imply that the “Cast Members” were part of the reason it closed. So I don’t believe that Darrin would be immediately commissioned for the copycat show, but I believe his talents still make him a strong contender to be considered. Based off of “Misty” and seeing his cover up for the mistakes vocalists have made and continue to play is something I am envious of, but it is not a talent that is uncommon. Here in town Darrin has admitted that he doesn’t have to promote himself as much. But that is only with his theatrical and liturgical endeavors. He will have to start promoting himself more if he would like to be taken seriously as a composer and start holding concerts of his works. Although, he does have many connections with possible donors and supports in the theatre world that would gladly support him in his compositional dreams if he asked them to. Darrin has several other compositions besides his church songs that could potentially be successful. He will have to release more “performance ready music” in order to hold a concert.  His church works like “Commune With Me” are simple enough for the congregation to follow, and musical enough to be played by other churches. There is a beauty to things that are simple. However, despite having connections outside of the state Darrin will still have to work twice as hard to be as successful as he is here if he were to move.

            I believe that Darrin is somewhat of a local “celebrity” many people know of him. It doesn’t make him extremely wealthy, but it gives him enough money to live comfortably. The path that Darrin has chosen isn’t one that most people are brave enough to take because of the constant uncertainty of “when will my next job come?” but I believe Darrin has overcome this and thrived in the city of San Antonio.

                                                                  Works cited

• "Broadway Nights." Facebook. Accessed November 8, 2014.     https://www.facebook.com/BroadwayNightsSA/info?tab=overview.
• Caruso, Jim. "Castpartynyc.com." Cast Party. January 1, 2004. Accessed November 14, 2014. http://www.castpartynyc.com.
• "Ella Fitzgerald - Misty." YouTube. September 21, 2009. Accessed November 17, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rPOlakkBlj8.
• Newhardt, Darrin. Interview by author, Woodlawn Theatre. Nov, 11, 2014.
• Newhardt, Darrin. "Vocal Coaching by Darrin Newhardt." Facebook. Accessed November 11, 2014. https://www.facebook.com/pages/Vocal-Coaching-by-Darrin-Newhardt/91780287480.
• Newhardt, Darrin. "Darrin Newhardt." YouTube. Accessed November 12, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/user/DNewhardt/videos.
• Newhardt, Darrin. "Darrin Newhardt." SoundCloud. January 1, 2011. Accessed November 14, 2014. https://soundcloud.com/darrin-newhardt/.
• Pardue, Elise. "Elise Pardue." YouTube. Accessed November 10, 2014. https://www.youtube.com/user/EliseMarieStar1/videos.
• Titon, Jeff. "Sustainable Music." : In China. November 15, 2009. Accessed November 10, 2014.    http://sustainablemusic.blogspot.com/2009/11/sustainable-music-in-china.html.
• Titon, Jeff Todd. Worlds of Music: An Introduction to the Music of the World's Peoples. 5th ed. New York: Schirmer Books ;, 1984.
• Whener, Kurt. "Woodlawn Theatre | San Antonio | Live Performance Venue." The Woodlawn Theatre. Accessed November 8, 2014. http://www.woodlawntheatre.org.