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How do you take an already brilliant play paired with a creative concept designed to immerse the audience in the time and place, and further elevate the experience for the audience? We’re thrilled to feature Tanner Harrod as the composer and live musician of The River Bride. Tanner worked closely with director Alex Rodriguez and participated in the rehearsal process to weave his music seamlessly into the world of the play, adding depth and atmosphere to the storytelling. We sat down with Tanner to talk about his creative journey, his approach to composing for the stage, and the collaborative process behind bringing this production to life.
Q: In reading your bio and visiting your website, you’re living a full creative life as a professor of music, composer, and a gig musician. What drew your younger self to music and inspired you to take this path?
A: Some of my earliest memories are as a child at my great-grandparents’ house. They had an upright piano, a keyboard, and my first guitar was one that belonged to my great-grandfather. I was also very fortunate to grow up in a school district in the Dallas, TX area that supported the arts, so I grew up playing French Horn and Guitar in the school band programs. It was in high school that I began composing, initially for our jazz ensemble. Those early musical experiences certainly inspired me to pursue music, and especially teaching music, as a career. I’m incredibly blessed to now be an Assistant Professor of Music at Peru State College (go Bobcats!) where I get to talk with students about music all day and where my work as a performer and composer is very much supported by my administration.
Q: How did you become connected to The River Bride project and what attracted you to it?
A: I was very fortunate to play guitar for Waitress last year during Season 100, which is where I met our director, Alex Rodriguez. When I applied to be a guest composer for Season 101, it was Alex’s idea to attach me to The River Bride. I don’t think we ever discussed me writing for another play this season, it was a pretty instant connection in his head that I would write for this show.
Q: What was your initial approach to the music composition for the play? Looking for insight on the earliest stages – where/how you started and the process as the rehearsal cycle evolved.
A: The initial step began with a deep dive on the script. I was pretty careful to avoid any videos of previous productions to keep things as unique as possible to our telling of the story. I sketched a couple of musical ideas and made notes of the places in the script that I felt were most needing music, but I had a much clearer picture after the table read with our phenomenal cast. Hearing them bring the words to life for the first time really help crystalize moments in my head.
Q: How did the cultural setting of the play, rooted in Brazilian folklore influence your composition?
A: I’m certainly no expert on Brazilian folklore, and I don’t attempt to present the music in this show as an authentic portrayal of Brazilian music. Most of my previous experience with the music of Brazil has been through the jazz studies programs that have been a part of my education. In our show, the two most directly connected musical elements to Brazil are the nylon-string “classical” guitar, which is often used in styles like the bossa and samba, and the percussion elements at the beginning of the play that are also connected to various Brazilian drumming patterns.
Q: About the elements – river and water – and relationships. How does your music support, reflect, or refer to those throughout? Do you approach your composition as supporting the story, commenting on the story, or speaking as if it were a character in the play?
A: During the show I play four instruments in the guitar family—the nylon-string acoustic guitar, a ukulele, an electric guitar, and a charango. Each of those instruments are tied to either specific characters, or certain motifs that run throughout the play. As the instrument most closely associated with Brazil, the nylon-string guitar is very much tied to the people of the village, basically most of the cast with the exception of Moises. When Moises is driving the action on stage, we hear the ukulele instead, another instrument with nylon-strings, but still visually (and sonically) different than the guitar. I use the electric guitar, with a variety of effects, for moments involving the water and the mystical elements of the play that are associated with the river. Finally, the charango is used only in one scene of the show. It’s an instrument native to the Andean Mountain Range of South America, that appears for the first time when Sr. Costa comments on the river carrying “rainwater from Bolivia.” Charangos have 10 strings and are tuned similarly to the ukulele. I use the instrument in a scene between Sr. Costa and Moises, highlighting their similarities to one another by giving them closely related instruments.
Q: Were there any specific emotional moments in the play that you felt needed to be highlighted through music and how did you approach those moments?
A: I don’t want to give too much away, please come see the show! What I will say is that this play is very much about relationships, and in those intimate moments between characters there is usually music supporting them.
Q: How did you collaborate with the director, cast, and other creative team members to ensure that the music aligned with the overall vision for the production?
A: I’ve been involved with the show from the beginning, so there was a lot of time to incorporate music organically over the rehearsal process. Any time you hear pre-recorded singing, that is our cast who made those recordings! We would take time during rehearsals to learn music, and then worked with our sound designer, John Gibilisco, to record and edit the tracks into what you hear every night (I even sing on a pre-record of the “fishing song” that plays during the pre-show if you get here early enough!). We knew that we wanted to mask as many of the modern visual elements as we could. That decision means that the speaker for my electric guitar is hidden behind a wall of vines (made by our wonderful set designer, Nora Marlow Smith). It also means I play the show memorized, instead of having a music stand like I would in most musical theatre shows.
Q: Director Alex Rodriguez shared that you were part of staging rehearsals. At what point was the music layered into rehearsals and did your music evolve throughout the rehearsal process or perhaps the performance cycle?
A: In the first couple of weeks, I would come in about every other rehearsal. Actors would have time to stage a scene, and then I would come observe, make notes, and then go home and compose. Gradually, I began playing during the rehearsals, and we had a lot of time to experiment with different musical ideas in different moments. It was an incredibly collaborative environment. Sometimes, Alex would ask for music in specific moments. At other times, I’d ask to try something, and we’d go from there. I would venture to say that we basically had the structure of the music established about 2 weeks before the show opened. Once opening night happens, the show is basically “frozen,” and we don’t make any sort of major changes. That said, the show isn’t exactly the same every night, a line might change its pace, or the audience reacts in a new spot. It’s the joy of live theatre to have a slightly different experience each night.
Q: You’re playing live vs. laying down tracks. What entered into the decision to play live every night vs. lay down a recording.
A: When Alex signed on to the project as a guest director, one of the first things we talked about was having me play the show live. As a theatre guitarist, this idea was super exciting to me. When music is played live, it can react to what’s happening on stage, allowing for a more natural and authentic theatrical experience.
Tanner playing guitar during the performance.
The River Bride is on stage in the Howard Drew Theatre through September 14, 2025.
