The MST Q&A: Music the Doctor Ordered

Janel Badrina has been working with MST since 2000. As both Stage Manager and Sound Designer, she has made quite a mark on our productions. You might remember her rockin' sound track for The Pie Dialogues a couple of seasons back, the swinging touches she added to last season's The Last Night of Ballyhoo or the bluegrass sound of the Oklahoma Dust Bowl in Driftwood.

This season, Janel starts us off in the classical mode as she fills turn of the LAST Century London with the sounds of composers like Saint-Saëns, Prokofiev, and Rachmaninoff for THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA. Let's learn a bit more about Janel as she fills out the MST Q&A...

Full given name: Janel Joy Badrina

Hometown: Houston born & bred!

Zodiac sign: Gemini

What inspired you while preparing for this production? The composers from this era (Impressionism & late Romantic) - which also happens to be my favorite time period in classical music. I was especially inspired by Claude Debussy (my favorite composer) and Modest Mussorgsky's Pictures at an Exhibition. I love the way Mussorgsky paints with music - you can almost see the pictures just by listening to the music!

First Houston show ever saw: National Tour of The King & I (with Yul Brynner) - I know it's not a Houston show, but it was the first show I remember seeing in Houston.

Current show you have been recommending to friends: The Doctor's Dilemma of course!

Favorite post-show meal: Champagne (does that count?)

Favorite show tune: It varies - at the moment it's "Breeze Off The River" from Full Monty

Performer you would drop everything to go see: John Mayer and Yo-Yo Ma

MAC or PC? MAC! (was that a serious question?)

Most played song on your iPod: You're asking me to pick 1 song??? 4 of my most played (at the moment) are "Tainted Love" (Marilyn Manson cover), "Jesusland" (UNC Loreleis cover), "All Will Be Well" (Gabe Dixson Band) and "Encore" (Jay-Z + DJ Danger Mouse)

Last book you read: Harry Potter & The Deathly Hallows (I'm prepping for the movie!)

Must-see TV show: Glee, West Wing, Gossip Girl, Battlestar Galactica (the recent remake)

Last good movie you saw: It's been so long since I've seen a movie, I can't remember...

Pop culture guilty pleasure: Twitter and Foursquare

Favorite board game: Cranium

Favorite cereal: Captain Crunch with Crunch Berries

Special skills: Doing just about anything in stilettos (scaling ladders, hanging lights, scene changes, chasing down actors, etc.)

Most “happy mistake” on a production: Finding muzak versions of Tool, Marilyn Manson and Led Zepplin which I then used as background music for the restaurant scene in Pie Dialogues. I was determined to get some Tool and Manson somewhere in that show!

Worst job you ever had: Data entry for a research project at MD Anderson. That was one of the most boring and mind-numbing jobs I've ever had! I dozed off a few times mid-entry. Thank goodness I never fell asleep on the keyboard!

Preview audiences really wanted to know what the music selections for THE DOCTOR'S DILEMMA were. Here is a list from Janel of the pieces selected for the production proper. Sorry, no preshow or intermission here.
First Half
Top of Show - Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals - No. 10 "Aviary"

Act 1 – 2 - Sergei Rachmaninoff: Preludes, Op. 32/5 - Prelude In G

End Act 2 - Sergei Prokofiev: Symphony No. 1 in D, Op. 25 (‘Classical’), 4. Finale: Molto Vivace

Second Half
Top of Act 3 – Claude Debussy: Suite Bergamasque, IV. Passepied

Act 3 – 4 - Franz Liszt: Consolation in E Major, S. 172

Act 4 – 5 – Antonín Dvořák: Serenade In E Major Op.22, 2. Tempo Di Valse

End of Show/Curtain Call - Camille Saint-Saëns: Carnival of the Animals - No. 14 "Finale"

And that's the word on the street!