| When Barry Manilow asked some top-of-the-line Broadway types to recommend a
music director for his new project "Harmony," one name kept coming up
-- Joseph Thalken.
"(I was told) that he was brilliant and that I'd be lucky to get
him," said Manilow in a telephone interview.
Now, Thalken, a 1980 Chaffey High School graduate, is directing the music of
Manilow at the La Jolla Playhouse. And it all started with a phone call from the
acclaimed mega pop star.
It was January, New York City. Thalken had just walked in from rehearsal --
the 35-year-old musician was conductor for "Victor Victoria," starring
Julie Andrews.
Thalken played the messages on his answering machine.
Beep "…Hi Joe. This is Barry Manilow…"
"OK, which one of my friends is playing a joke on me," said Thalken
to himself.
As the message played on, Manilow described his project "Harmony,"
a collaboration with Bruce Sussman. He wanted to know if Thalken was interested
in working on it.
"Of course, I saved that message," said Thalken from his temporary
home in La Jolla. He also returned the call and cut a deal with Manilow to
direct his score. The young musician director has been rehearsing the show which
premiered October 9 in La Jolla.
Besides rehearsing the singers, Thalken underscores music between scenes and
conducts the seven-person band. He also plays piano and operates the
synthesizer.
"Harmony" is centered round a true story of The Comedian
Harmonists. This six-man group made up of Jews and gentiles rose from unemployed
street performers in 1920s Germany to world-famous entertainers.
"They were the Manhattan Transfer of their generation. They were funny
and very, very popular," said Thalken. "And then Hitler came
along."
What happened then?
"You have to see the show to find out," he said, laughing.
"I'm not going to spoil it."
Thalken's laugh radiates. His tone is musical and playful even when he's
talking about his career. His artistic education began in the
Ontario-Montclair Unified and Chaffey High School districts and at the family
piano where he used to pound out harsh chords.
"My parents have always loved music. I come from a big family," he
said. Thalken has four sisters. "There was always a lot of music in the
house."
Then came piano lessons, community theatre in Pomona, marching band and high
school concert choir.
Thalken left Ontario in 1980 for Northwestern University in Evanston,
Illinois where he majored in music. Following college, he spent five years in
Germany and Switzerland before returning to the U.S. He's made New York his home
ever since.
Thalken's parents still live in his childhood home.
He remembers those who gave him the know-how to perform. His first piano
teacher was Joy Sites, a friend's mom. When he was older, he studied with
Margaret Kohn, who teaches at Pomona College, and her husband Karl, who taught
him theory and composition.
Though he loved music, Thalken never dreamed of pursuing it until his
junior year in high School.
"One of my high school teachers said, 'Have you ever thought of going
to Northwestern?'" he said. "I said, 'Where's that?" Thalken
laughed.
He described his musical background as a mixture of classical, show music and
jazz. "I was into a lot of the pop stuff that was around when I was a kid
too," he said, citing Barry Manilow and Elton John among his favorites.
Thalken is used to working with people of superstar caliber. At least, he is
now.
He worked briefly with Henry Mancini on "Victor Victoria" before
the great composer died. And he's worked on other shows in different capacities:
"Love, Valor, Compassion" and "The Heiress," to name two.
But when asked when his big break came, well, Thalken doesn't really know. |
