The instrument’s sound is hard to replicate, putting the trombone in demand; ‘It’s good for so many things.'
Broadway, looking to regain its prepandemic audiences, is relying on boldface names such as Hugh Jackman, Daniel Craig, Sarah Jessica Parker…and Mike Boschen.
In “Hadestown,” trombonist Brian Drye appears on stage and interacts with the cast. In “Chicago,” trombonists Bruce Bonvissuto and James Burton III have coveted places on stage with the rest of the orchestra. “We can feel very viscerally the energy coming from the audience,” says Mr. Bonvissuto. Other tunes let him play in a jazzy or more romantic vein. He stays in the pit, but his presence is constantly felt.
Mr. Boschen, a native of the Philadelphia area, has been wedded to his trombone since he picked up the instrument in third grade—it was either that or the cello, since both were suited to his height. He went on to study with trombonists in the Philadelphia Orchestra and then trained at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, N.Y., and the Juilliard School in New York City.
“He knows how to make something a comic moment or make it a jazz moment. It’s an art to what he does,” says Patrick Vaccariello, music director and conductor of “The Music Man,” who worked with Mr. Boschen on previous shows.