Gay stockdale

Showtime is 8pm, and tickets can be had HERE. So I switched to the Music program at the college.

After college, I was accepted into Lehman Engel’s BMI Musical Theatre Workshop, and not long after, I met Oscar-winning composer Henry Mancini, under whose mentorship I learned the craft of film music composition, as well as singing on many of Henry’s movies.

I began my film-music composing career working for the legendary director/producer Roger Corman, scoring Corman’s first “art” film (entered in the 1989 Los Angeles Film Festival), Dance of the Damned.

Around this time, I started working side-by-side with famed film and television composer Lalo Schifrin, arranging and composing cues for his various projects, including Sudden Impact, FX2, and Sam Peckinpah’s last film, The Osterman Weekend.

In 1990, I began composing music for the “Bad Boys of Magic,” Penn & Teller.

Since then the show has been performed in various theater companies all over the US.

As a performer and singer, I appeared in NBC’s Studio 60: Live on the Sunset Strip, I was an original member of the Brian Setzer Orchestra, and played a singing drug-dealer in the cult classic musical TV series Cop/Rock. But first, you have to be willing to learn.

 

Do you think there is something that non-creatives might struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?

Broadway is just starting to re-open, and concert halls and stages are turning their lights on again.

If you can’t make it to the 25th concert, come see me there.

As always, my partner-in-crime and co-host Danelle Stockdale and I will be bringing you our Safe @Home show this and every Tuesday at 5:30pm (Pacific Time) on my Facebook music page. Just click on this link:
GARY STOCKDALE, LIVE AT THE A-FRAME

Tickets sales are zipping along, so get yours now!

Do you think your parents have had a meaningful impact on you and your journey?

My mom was a singer, and actually did a record backed up by the musicians from Nat King Cole’s band. I was also the main US vocal contractor for Dreamworks’ The Prince of Egypt.
Along with that, I sang in such films as Star Wars: Rogue One, Avatar, The Simpsons Movie, Star Trek: Beyond, The Watchmen, 10, SOB, Planes, Antz, Matrix Reloaded, Polar Express, and TV shows such as The Family Guy, Ellen, and SpongeBob Squarepants.

I also sang on Neil Young’s album Living With War.

For the 2013 Oscars, I backed up Adele on Skyfall.

My original songs hit the charts with such artists as Angela Bofill and David Guthrie, and I arranged many records for jazz artist Keiko Matsui, and other Japanese artists.

I was the recipient of a BMI Award for Music Composition for my work on Penn & Teller: BULLSHIT!

And in June of 2016, I again teamed up with Spencer Green for Bumpersticker: The Musical at the Hollywood Fringe Festival which opened to rave reviews.

I continue to perform numerous shows in Southern CA and elsewhere.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

My philosophy is that to maintain a long career in music, one needs to be a “moving target:” that is, to be able to develop the skills to be able to provide a number of musical services to many different clients and projects.

If one should chance to become a Beyoncé or a John Williams, there’s not as much of a need to diversify, but the majority of those who have long careers in showbiz have had to adjust to changing times, changing technologies, and broaden the scope of what we can do. You have to develop a thick skin, bounce back from disappointments, and constantly keep learning, and working on yourself.

I always tell people that unless you truly feel you HAVE TO write, perform, dance, sing, etc. My show is opening the season, and it’s going to be very cool, with lots of new songs, and I’ll be performing with my great musician friends, Scott Breadmanand Carl Sealove. It was a bummer to have to wait over a year-and-a-half to do it again – but thanks to everyone who stepped up and got vaccinated, some of us can return to a semblance of normal life.