These are some beautiful shells. I played them recentky at a reading for a new musical called “Diana.”

We spent a week creating parts for the show. It was intense at times but a lot of fun because I got to work with David Bryan again.  He not only wrote the music for the musical Memphis that I was in from 2009-2012, but he is also the keyboardist for Bon Jovi

He’s great to work for. I know what he is looking for when it comes to certain drum grooves. He appreciated the fact that when he references songs like “Rag Doll” by Aerosmith or “Paradise By The Dashboard Lights,” I totally understand what he wants and where he is going. If he talked about playing a song that has the feel of a song in Les Miserables, I’d be lost. Rock songs? Yeah, I’m all over it.

He also knows how to write catchy tunes. I was singing them all week long. It was a great show. I hope it eventually comes to broadway. We’ll see.

These drums? A breeze to play. I haven’t really looked into Tama, but I think I’ll have to check more of their products out.

The team behind the Tony-winning Best Musical Memphis has reunited. Nearly ten years after their first collaboration bowed at Broadway’s Shubert Theatre, book writer Joe DiPietro, composer-lyricist David Bryan, and director Christopher Ashley will premiere an early version of their new musical Diana this summer as part of the Reading Festival at Vassar & New York Stage and Film’s Powerhouse Theater.

Tucked away in upstate New York—and closed to critics—the trio will test the waters with the developmental reading. The story starts with a bit of Diana’s childhood before focusing on her 1981 marriage to Charles, Prince of Wales, and their subsequent separation. “Diana was 19 when she got married. Imagine yourself: 19 years old, most famous person in the world,” DiPietro tells Playbill. “She had this princess fantasy and when her fantasy came true, she realized fantasies don’t always play out the way you want.”

The majority of the show centers around Diana in her 20s, and DiPietro and Bryan emphasize they’re on the hunt for a new, young powerhouse actor. “Diana is a big role,” says DiPietro, “and there’s a lot of talented young people out there. We’ll find someone.”

http://www.playbill.com/article/what-we-know-about-the-broadway-bound-diana-musical