In this ShowbizU interview, composer, producer, and music director Kenny Seymour recounts his unconventional journey from singing jingles to Broadway, detailing early work on Fame the Musical, touring with pop and R&B artists such as Missy Elliott, Jodeci, and 98 Degrees, and his transition into musical theatre through mentorship from Harold Wheeler, leading to roles on The Wiz, Memphis, and The Tallest Tree in the Forest. Seymour explains how he evaluates new projects—reviewing demo recordings, scripts, and meeting the creative team—to gauge whether the work resonates with his strengths, and he describes the internal “red‑flag” feeling when a project doesn’t mesh. He clarifies that Broadway music directors belong to the Musicians Union Local 802 and discusses the personal timing of joining equity. Seymour outlines a typical pre‑production day, which can run from 10 am to midnight during tech rehearsals, and later settles into a set schedule of rehearsals, vocal brush‑ups, and matinee/evening shows. He compares collaboration with choreographers—focused on translating movement language into music—to work with directors, emphasizing both roles as storytellers. Finally, Seymour offers advice: prioritize mentorship, master reading and writing music while preserving feel, stay passionate and fully committed, and maintain professionalism and kindness in the collaborative environment.
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Composer, producer, and music director Kenny Seymour wears every hat you can imagine for the music department in film, television, and professional theater. He shares his journey and advice on how to make it in music.
Take us from little Kenny to I'm on Broadway Kenny.
To condense that whole story, because that gets a little bit long, I started off singing jingles when I was younger. From there, I did my first production, which was Fame the Musical at the Coconut Grove Playhouse. And from there I started touring actually outside of theater in like the musical realm of music director for artists like Missy Elliott and, uh, John May. I played with Jodeci for a while and a few other artists, 98 Degrees. And after that episode was over, um, I ventured into the musical theater realm And I was brought in by one of my good friends and my mentor, Harold Wheeler, who recommended me for The Wiz. And I was a dance music arranger along with Ron Melrose, who was the dance music arranger and the music director for that at that time. And from then on, I established a relationship with La Jolla Playhouse and came back to do Memphis. And now I'm on my third production, The Tallest Tree in the Forest.
You went from performer and then you flipped on the other side. Yeah. How was that transition?
Well, I think I'm always a performer at heart because I'm a pianist and I grew up surrounded by music.
And you did perform in Memphis.
I did perform in Memphis. I was a playing conductor aside from the parts when I conducted offstage, but there's a part of me that always loves playing on stage. I am a composer and an orchestrator by heart, But put me in front of a piano and it's just— it's showtime.
What normally— what do people give you to start reeling you in?
I sometimes would get some demo recordings. I would get the script. I'd read the script. It would be a phone conversation. Sometimes we'd meet, have lunch, and discuss the project and the vision for it and how I can help facilitate that. And the whole team that they're bringing together is like, oh, we're going to get this lighting designer, and we want to get this choreographer, and we want to get these types of people together. And from then you start to see a vision of where the project can go, and you go, yeah, I'd like to be a part of this. I can really dig this.
And what are those times where you— what are some red flags for you?
I don't know if I'm permitted to say that. You don't have to name names.
You don't have to get specific.
I would say something that just doesn't resonate with you. I think that your own internal warning system kind of goes off when you go, you know what, I'm not sure if what I do best blends with this project. I wouldn't say that the project is bad, it's just that it's probably something that I'm not— you know, it just doesn't seem like a mesh, right? You know, and when you're spending a lot of time with a creative team and a cast, you really want that blend because it's, it's, it's like a domino effect. It's when one person is, you know, out of sync, it can spread and it can cause a little thing amongst the cast, and everybody, everybody being on the same page really helps.
The nuts and bolts of that, let's talk about first of all what union would people join if they are the musical director on Broadway?
Okay, Local 802.
Okay. That's the Musicians Union of New York, and, um, and that would be anybody that's playing in the pit doing anything, they would join that?
Anything that's a union job.
For people that are breaking into the business, Sometimes it's a difficult decision of when to join, when not to join, because one of the benefits of being non-union is you can develop your craft, right? What are some milestones that might help people make that decision?
I don't— I think the time happens differently for every person. There are some people who do non-equity shows and, you know, they're comfortable with that, but then eventually they want to make the transition. They say, I'm not ready to join Equity yet, but then when they do that comes along as the next progression in their career. It's hard to say because it's very unique for every individual.
What's a typical day, the amount of hours you'll put in one of these shows?
A typical day in the pre-production process, it's long. I mean, you start off with the rehearsal process. Now, if I'm a music director and I'm doing dance arrangements, that's a whole other scenario. But as a music director, you're basically sitting while they go through different scene work and you're teaching vocals. Sometimes you'll have two rooms running at the same time. The director will be in one and you'll be in with the choreographer and the ensemble, or you'll teach vocals. It can go anywhere from 10 to midnight during the 10 out of 12s, you know, during tech. When you get there at 10 AM and they're basically— you're teching until midnight. So it can be very long in the beginning, but once the show starts running, I mean, you have a few brush-up rehearsals every now and then, but it's pretty much a set schedule, you know, depending upon what theater you're at and when your matinees are and how often you have vocal brush-ups. But 8 o'clock, 7 o'clock shows, and then two matinees, either 2 and 8 or 2 and 7, and sometimes a late matinee on a Sunday, like a 3. But it's pretty— it's a set schedule.
Can you describe your relationship between the choreographer and the director?
They work together. They're both telling a story. They're both very passionate about what they want. I've been fortunate to work with some really, really good directors and some really, really good choreographers. The relationship when working with a choreographer is, is a little bit more like live performance because if I'm working with a choreographer on a dance arrangement, I'm basically helping him facilitate getting a language for what he wants to use, what type of choreography, and then once he has that language, kind of interweaving it into the song or whatever number in the show they're working with. So that is different than sitting in a room working with a director and we're going scene to scene working through underscoring for emotional content and transitions, you know, a lot of times they come into play because a lot of the transitions are choreographed. So the relationship between the two, I'd say they're pretty similar, just with different performance dynamics.
What's some words of wisdom, advice, comedic anecdotes that you want to share with somebody that is passionate about this art form?
I think mentorship is really important. I think perfecting your craft in a musical theater setting, learning to read music. I cannot stress that enough. Learning to read it, learning to write it, but not letting one hinder the other. Keep your feel. If you're a player, keep your feel. But then sharpen up your reading chops, you know. As far as mentorship, I've been blessed with an amazing friend and mentor, Harold Wheeler, which is one of the giants in the industry, and he's been such a beneficial source of knowledge and wisdom. And there are certain things now that I'm passing on to other people, and because I realize the importance of mentorship Can you progress in the field without a mentor? Yeah, you can, but it definitely helps. And be passionate about what you do and commit to it. You know, don't do it, you know, halfway. If you're gonna do it, do it, you know. And be nice. Be nice. You don't have to be the mean guy all the time. You know, there's a time you have to crack the whip and say, okay, wait, let's bring it in, everybody, you know. But for the most part, you can be nice, you know, and have fun at what you do.
