BILL ASHER
What do musically inclined parents do when their son has a speech impediment? – send him for singing lessons! At age 3, Bill Asher started voice lessons with Loretta Powell, and though he couldn’t even read yet, he developed a love for music that would define his life path. At age 10 he started piano lessons and by the time he was in Lunenburg Middle/High School, he was involved in singing, acting and accompanying their after school music and theatre productions on a regular basis.
Bill graduated from Lunenburg High School in 1985, married his high school sweetheart Sharon, and moved to Maine where he became the Music Director for the Bar Harbor Dinner Theatre. After the birth of their three children (Sarah, Emily and Jeremy) they moved back to Massachusetts, with the goal of finding permanent work doing what he loved. To that end, Bill attended the Thayer Conservatory at Atlantic Union College, majoring in Music Education. He began teaching general music at the Oak Meadow Montessori in Littleton where he had the earth-shattering revelation “that not all kids like to sing.” Wanting to share his own passion with others with similar interests, Bill began looking for other ways to use his musical talents.
It soon became apparent that skilled accompanists were in great demand in Central Massachusetts and Bill found himself working “in the pit” for productions at Leominster High School, Stratton Players, Central Mass Repertory Theatre, Wachusett Theatre Company and at Theatre at the Mount. His first gig at the Mount was Annie Warbucks in 1995 when he was hired to fill in for a pianist who had become ill. Recognizing his talent, TAM immediately signed him on as accompanist for the 1996 Will Rogers Follies. While in rehearsal for Will Rogers, Bill was involved in a major car wreck and sustained a traumatic brain injury that left him with serious neurological problems. While day to day activities like dialing a phone were beyond him, Bill miraculously was still able to play the piano and was back at rehearsals within only a short time. Bill says that it was music that kept him going during his long recovery and he became a valued part of the TAM staff working both as an accompanist and as a music teacher at the Mount. Over the next several years, Bill served as Music Director for 16 or 17 Theatre at the Mount productions including Fame (2000), Footloose (2002), Schoolhouse Rock (1999), and Mr. Popper’s Penguins (1998), to name just a few.
For the second time in his career, Bill stumbled into an opportunity to “fill in” as an accompanist/music director when the Music Director for Children of Eden at Seacoast Repertory Theatre suffered a back injury. SRT was quick to snatch Bill up and he moved his family to Portsmouth, NH to become SRT’s resident Music Director. Working with an equity company presented new challenges, new opportunities and a network of connections in the professional theatre. This network opened new doors, including the chance to work as Music Director for Forever Plaid at the Ogunquit Playhouse. In the face of financial difficulties, SRT began to focus more on less expensive non-musical productions, and the connections Bill had made proved to be invaluable.
In October of 2006 Bill was hired by Holland America Cruise lines to play keyboard and train as Music Director for their 3 performing groups – a show band, nightclub ensemble, and deck band. He then moved to a position as Music Director for Texas Family Musicals in Granbury and Galveston where he helped to develop an authentic recreation of a Vaudeville show that had played at the Galveston Opera House 100 years earlier. Filling in during the summer months back at SRT, Bill then became Music Director at the Broadway Palm Dinner Theatre in Fort Myers, Florida for the winter months. His credits there included: Funny You Don’t Look Like a Grandmother, Monky Business and Forbidden Broadway.
Upon his return to Fort Myers in fall of 2008, Bill was disappointed to learn that the downturn in the economy had affected Broadway Palm and that he was laid off. Broadway Palm producer Will Prather was sympathetic to Bill’s plight and tried to get Bill work in other venues. Through Prather’s connections Bill was hired for a short term gig as rehearsal pianist for the National Tour of Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang which was “teching” in Fort Myers before its scheduled opening in Fort Lauderdale. The “tech” process took approximately 60 hours to complete (for a 2 hour show!) Bill departed Fort Myers having given his resume to Chitty Chitty Bang Bang Music Director Lee Stametz and Music Contractor Sam Latfiyya. Only a few days later, Bill’s “big break” came when Latfiyya called to offer him the job of Keyboardist for the “Big League Productions” National Tour. Bill joined the Chitty-Chitty Bang Bang tour in Toronto in January and will travel to more than 20 cities including Boston, Baltimore, Dallas, Philadelphia, Atlanta and Denver before the tour ends in August.
Bill feels blessed to have found such success at a time when Broadway, Repertory and other professional theatre organizations are struggling. Where his path will take him after the tour is unclear, but we are certain that just like the “fantasmagorical car” in Chitty Chitty Bang Bang, he will be flying high!