A Plethora of Pianos

Posted by Phyllis Chen, pianist--

We are now in our last week of previews of Coraline! What a truly unique collaboration it’s been so far. As a musician, I work mostly with other musicians and composers, but for this show, the experience has given me a glimpse into a different world.  It’s demanded the creativity and talents of so many different artists. It’s been truly amazing to see. 

Since Coraline’s arrival at the Lucille Lortel Theatre, the multiple-piano set-up that I perform on has become a very comfortable playground for me. I love having access to a prepared piano, adult piano, and three toy pianos all at once. Actually, it reminds me of my own apartment. I have been playing toy and prepared pianos for more than ten years. Stephin Merritt's prepared piano, however, is probably the most intricate and detailed I’ve ever worked on. 

It’s also rare for me to work with a prepared piano for such a long period of time. Certain preparations move around or pop out during performance and these adjustments need to be repaired and maintained on an ongoing basis. Twisting a screw or other item in the piano’s strings by even a tiny bit is enough to change the pitch of the note. And for Coraline, it’s very important to maintain the instruments, since they are both playing tonal music and accompanying the show’s singers! The scoring is sparse but detailed and beautiful. There are really no words to describe it. 

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