Today’s podcast takes up the underlying reasons why there are so few women drummers working on Broadway musicals. I spoke to two amazing drummers, Dena Tauriello and Rosa Avila, to find out why they were the only two women drummers working on Broadway and off-broadway prior to the shutdown of all shows last year.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-things-through/id1549480774?i=1000511460948 or Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts

Some of the topics we discuss include:

• Their thoughts as to why there weren’t many female drummers during their formative years.
• Did they have women drum teachers, and if not, why was that the case?
• Should broadway have half of the drum chairs be filled by women? If so, why?
• Is total equality the goal? What about other groups of people? Should there be a proportional representation of other groups? (black, Asian, Latino, gay/lesbian, etc.)
• Is the lack of women drummers working professionally primarily because of sexism and discrimination, or are there other factors?
• What are some of the blatant sexist encounters they’ve experienced over the years and how were they affected?

Dena Tauriello began playing drums at the age of eight. For 20 years, she worked with NYC rockers Antigone Rising who toured relentlessly, made numerous TV appearances, and served as cultural ambassadors to Israel, Palestine, and Vietnam. She’s worked with Rob Thomas (from Matchbox 20) as a member of his “RT Quartet.”

She has been featured in Modern Drummer, Drum! and Sticks ‘n’ Skins, a photography book about the drumming community.

Just over two years ago, Dena made the switch to Broadway after landing the chair for Head Over Heels featuring the music of the Go-Gos. Since then, she has also held the chair for Kristin Chenoweth’s For the Girls, Magic Mike and Galileo (reading) and was a sub at The Cher Show.

Before the shutdown, she held the chair for the off-Broadway revival of Little Shop of Horrors and was set to sub at Six on Broadway.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-things-through/id1549480774?i=1000511460948 or Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts

 

 

Rosa Avila was born in Germany and spent her childhood in Mexico and Austria. She began playing drums at age 16 and completed her education at Musicians Institute in Los Angeles, California.

When she graduated in 1991, Rosa was presented with the Outstanding Student of the Year award and received the Human Relations Award.

Rosa performed with legends like Ann Margret, Debby Boone, The Lennon Sisters,  Shari Lewis, Elkie Brooks, Glen Campbell, and Petula Clark. In 1992, she began her association with Andy Williams, with whom she performed until 2009.

In 2018, Rosa had the pleasure of holding the drum chair at Summer-The Donna Summer Musical on Broadway, and in 2019 she played on four shows: Chick Flick, Broadway Bounty Hunter, Love in Hate Nation, and For Colored Girls at the public theater.

Listen on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/think-things-through/id1549480774?i=1000511460948 or Spotify, Stitcher, Pocket Casts or wherever you get your podcasts.