{"id":25552,"date":"2023-02-02T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-02T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/?p=25552"},"modified":"2023-12-20T17:37:15","modified_gmt":"2023-12-20T23:37:15","slug":"feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/","title":{"rendered":"Feature: Parker ’20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t
\n\t\t
\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t

Morgan\u00a0Parker\u00a0\u201920 has been preparing for her Broadway debut since fifth grade.<\/p>\n

On Dec. 18, she realized that dream. Parker, who grew up in the Salina area, debuted as a substitute in the percussion chair in the orchestra pit for\u00a0MJ the Musical<\/em>\u00a0at the Neil Simon Theatre, which has 1,467 seats.<\/p>\n

That number is significant because by definition, a theater in New York City with fewer than 500 seats is considered off-Broadway. Parker had fallen just one seat shy of that debut Nov. 30, when she subbed as the lead drum and percussion chair for\u00a0Fiddler on the Roof in Yiddish<\/em>\u00a0at New World Stages in the heart of New York City\u2019s Theater District. New World Stages seats 499 people.<\/p>\n

\u201cBeing a sub, especially a drummer\/percussionist, is probably one of the hardest jobs out there,\u201d\u00a0Parker\u00a0said. \u201cI am not involved in any of the rehearsals after the show starts performing. I am allowed to go in and watch in the pit a couple of times, and I was able to obtain a recording of the show from the pit\u2019s perspective. Basically my job is to practice ungodly amounts of hours with that singular recording and the book that the percussionist has given me. That way I can practice as real-life as possible, because I go in and play it cold.\u201d<\/p>\n

Parker\u00a0graduated from Kansas Wesleyan in 2020 with degrees in Percussion Performance and Music education, with a minor in Secondary Education. This past May, she earned a Master of Music in Percussion Performance at New York University.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen I went and played it (Fiddler<\/em>\u00a0on Nov. 30), that was the first time I had ever performed the show, the first time I had ever played it with any of the orchestra members, with a live conductor, with the actors on stage,\u201d\u00a0Parker\u00a0said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEveryone who was in that orchestra and onstage is so used to hearing that regular guy, every day, eight shows a week. It\u2019s some pretty big shoes to fill,\u201d\u00a0Parker\u00a0said. \u201cThe conductor came up to me at intermission and said, \u2018You played really well. I\u2019m really impressed. Thank you so much for your prep.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

The pressure was on, having been given fewer than three weeks notice that she would be subbing for the matinee show Nov. 30. Now she\u2019s set to sub a handful more times.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s one of those, \u2018It\u2019s no big deal but you really need to nail everything,\u2019\u201d\u00a0Parker\u00a0said with a laugh. \u201cYou can\u2019t blink. But with the amount of prep I had going in, I wasn\u2019t nervous, I wasn\u2019t anxious. I could hear the music happening just by looking at the page. It was that ingrained in my body, in my muscles and in my ears that I knew exactly where I was going.\u201d<\/p>\n

A look at\u00a0Parker\u2019s performance r\u00e9sum\u00e9 lists more than 30 shows in which she has sat either drums or percussion or both. From\u00a0Vaughan Williams\u2019 Symphony No. 9 in E minor\u00a0<\/em>with the New York Repertory Orchestra to\u00a0In the Heights\u00a0<\/em>at Theatre Salina, her range is wide and has given her a solid baseline on which to prepare herself for when the call comes.<\/p>\n

Playing for\u00a0In the Heights<\/em> during her freshman year of college was intense but convinced her to set her aim on Broadway.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just remember that work convincing me that I wanted to put all my effort into pursuing music, and specifically, Broadway studies,\u201d\u00a0Parker\u00a0said in 2019.<\/p>\n

In between musicals, she has gigs with individual musicians, teaches percussion and works as a stage manager for the New York Pops, among other organizations.\u00a0Parker\u00a0is a two-time DownBeat Student Music Award winner for Asynchronous Blues\/Pop\/Rock Group \u2014 Graduate College with NYU\u2019s Pop\/Rock Ensemble.<\/p>\n

Parker\u00a0began studying under Dean Kranzler, KWU\u2019s director of percussion ensemble, in fifth grade and remained with him throughout high school and into college.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a true joy to see Morgan realizing her dream to play on Broadway,\u201d Kranzler said. \u201cShe did things the right way; now it is paying off. I\u2019m so very proud of her and I wish her the very best!\u201d<\/p>\n

To keep up with Parker, follow her on Instagram @morganparkernyc or at morganparkernyc.com.<\/p>\n

To read an earlier profile of Morgan, see\u00a0www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-marches-to-the-beat-of-her-own-drum\/<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Story by Dan Froehlich and Jean Kozubowski<\/span><\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":25553,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[150,176],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25552","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-alumni","category-fine-arts"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nFeature: Parker '20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream - Kansas Wesleyan University<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Feature: Parker '20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream - Kansas Wesleyan University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Kansas Wesleyan University\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-02-02T17:00:00+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-12-20T23:37:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1440\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"810\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"kwu_rhinde\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"kwu_rhinde\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9c7dcb398d32dc0c207e9d37afccce\"},\"headline\":\"Feature: Parker ’20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-02T17:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-20T23:37:15+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\"},\"wordCount\":6,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Alumni\",\"Fine Arts\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\",\"name\":\"Feature: Parker '20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream - Kansas Wesleyan University\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-02-02T17:00:00+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-12-20T23:37:15+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg\",\"width\":1440,\"height\":810,\"caption\":\"Photo of woman on broadway\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Feature: Parker ’20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/\",\"name\":\"www.kwu.edu\",\"description\":\"Discover The Power of AND at Kansas Wesleyan University!\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Kansas Wesleyan University\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2_KWU-logo.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2_KWU-logo.jpg\",\"width\":1472,\"height\":510,\"caption\":\"Kansas Wesleyan University\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9c7dcb398d32dc0c207e9d37afccce\",\"name\":\"kwu_rhinde\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef84932143ba377611e41650c529b3024890bd1e41007f6f64c727f25f1fa06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef84932143ba377611e41650c529b3024890bd1e41007f6f64c727f25f1fa06?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"kwu_rhinde\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Feature: Parker '20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream - Kansas Wesleyan University","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Feature: Parker '20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream - Kansas Wesleyan University","og_url":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/","og_site_name":"Kansas Wesleyan University","article_published_time":"2023-02-02T17:00:00+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-12-20T23:37:15+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1440,"height":810,"url":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"kwu_rhinde","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/"},"author":{"name":"kwu_rhinde","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9c7dcb398d32dc0c207e9d37afccce"},"headline":"Feature: Parker ’20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream","datePublished":"2023-02-02T17:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-20T23:37:15+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/"},"wordCount":6,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#organization"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg","articleSection":["Alumni","Fine Arts"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/","url":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/","name":"Feature: Parker '20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream - Kansas Wesleyan University","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg","datePublished":"2023-02-02T17:00:00+00:00","dateModified":"2023-12-20T23:37:15+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-content\/uploads\/Parker-for-story.jpg","width":1440,"height":810,"caption":"Photo of woman on broadway"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/about\/news\/feature-parker-20-realizes-lifelong-broadway-dream\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Feature: Parker ’20 Realizes Lifelong Broadway Dream"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/","name":"www.kwu.edu","description":"Discover The Power of AND at Kansas Wesleyan University!","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#organization","name":"Kansas Wesleyan University","url":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2_KWU-logo.jpg","contentUrl":"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2_KWU-logo.jpg","width":1472,"height":510,"caption":"Kansas Wesleyan University"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/fe9c7dcb398d32dc0c207e9d37afccce","name":"kwu_rhinde","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef84932143ba377611e41650c529b3024890bd1e41007f6f64c727f25f1fa06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7ef84932143ba377611e41650c529b3024890bd1e41007f6f64c727f25f1fa06?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"kwu_rhinde"}}]}},"publishpress_future_action":{"enabled":false,"date":"2026-01-30 12:36:24","action":"change-status","newStatus":"draft","terms":[],"taxonomy":"category","extraData":[]},"publishpress_future_workflow_manual_trigger":{"enabledWorkflows":[]},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25552","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25552"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25552\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":31975,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25552\/revisions\/31975"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/25553"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25552"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25552"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.kwu.edu\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25552"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}