In the demanding realm of Off Broadway musicals, composer Ian Yan is quickly distinguishing himself as a behind-the-scenes force to be reckoned with. A native of Hong Kong, the New York-based multi-instrumentalist is currently serving as the Score Manager for the distinguished Public Theater company’s hit show “The Harder They Come,” a rollicking stage adaptation of the 1972 indie cult film that successfully introduced Jamaican reggae to the general public. "THTC," staged at Public’s Newman Theater (from which the venerable troupe has launched such critical titles as “Hair,” “A Chorus Line” and “Hamilton”) is a runaway smash, having sold out its entire run so quickly that the show was extended to accommodate popular demand.
The energetic Columbia University graduate eagerly pursues involvement in every aspect of musical theater and always impresses his colleagues. Typically, Yan’s exceptional musical capacity quickly expanded his duties in “THTC.”
“I was recommended to the Music Assistant position by a fellow theater musician and had a short phone interview with Music Supervisor, Kenny Seymour,” Yan said. “He was impressed with me and, after landing the project, I negotiated to upgrade my role to Score Manager as it more fit the extent of my contributions. After demonstrating in rehearsals that I am an adept pianist, Seymour asked if I was interested in becoming a sub for the Key 2 chair in the orchestra, and I said ‘yes.’”
While Key 2 Chair sub is essentially an understudy for the orchestra’s second piano seat performing only on select dates, Score Manager is a particularly demanding role, as Yan explained: “I was responsible for tracking and noting any changes that would happen in the room to the score during rehearsals—of which there were many. These changes could be, for example, different notes for harmonies, different lyrics, adding or removing measures to fit for choreography, or sometimes transcribing entire new songs and reflecting all these changes an updated piano/vocal rehearsal score for the Music Director, [done] in real time.”
But the ambitious young composer thrives on challenge, and he more than rose to the occasion during eight-plus weeks of rehearsal. “Throughout this entire time, I was at the Public Theater six days a week and was directly involved with almost every facet of the rehearsal process,” Yan said. “Once we got into tech and previews, I was responsible for also tracking changes and reflecting them in the scores, coordinating primarily with our Music Copyist to ensure that these changes are reflected not just in the rehearsal score, but in all the orchestral parts for the pit band.”
“The production has been successful commercially — we sold out our run very early on and had to extend a week, and tickets for those are selling out quickly too,” Yan said. “While some reviews of the show were lukewarm, they were all unanimous in saying that the music and cast performances were the highlight of the evening.”
With his characteristic penchant for exceeding expectations, Yan’s professional momentum is building fast; when he’s not at work composing his new show, his ceaseless tide of musical pursuits (conducting, serving as a musical director, copyist, arranger in a variety of stage and studio settings, live performances)has him always on the move. Additionally, he’s preparing for his upcoming duties as Music Assistant at the high-profile “Broadway Cares” annual fundraising event “Broadway Easter Bonnet” and participating in the prestigious Musical Theater Writers Collective—for which he was personally selected the acclaimed librettist and lyricist Sam Carner, just the latest in a burgeoning number of key professional alliances.
“Overall, ‘The Harder They Come’ has been a very positive experience,” Yan said. “I learned a lot as this was the first time I was a part of an extended rehearsal process, and I’ll be making my Off-Broadway debut in the next week or two as the Key 2 player. I met a lot of very talented people, and impressed them enough that they have already talked about bringing me on to their future projects.”
Yan’s path is clear and it’s an exciting, steady ascent.