One of the many hidden gems of this community is show choir pianist Eddy Clement who has anchored the backup group behind the powerhouse Los Al High show choir for 21 years. Normally Clement has hours of rehearsal before he and his crew play the tunes before a live audience.
He didn’t have that luxury a few weeks ago. When Musical Theatre West was about to make their first performance since the pandemic shut things down, their pianist was involved in an auto accident just hours before their debut at Long Beach State’s Carpenter Theater. So the call went out to Clement who rushed down to LB State, conferred with the other members of the backup group and without any rehearsal, basically sight-read the score on the fly and saved the performance.
This is no surprise to local music aficionados, well aware of Clement’s talents which earned him a Los Al School District Employee of the Year award in 2018.
The Press-Telegram’s Rich Archbold has the more recent story.
Rich Archbold: Los Alamitos High pianist saves Musical Theater West production
