Daily Inspiration: Meet April Alsup

Today, we’d like to introduce you to April Alsup.

Hi April, we’re thrilled to have a chance to learn your story today. So, before we get into specifics, maybe you can briefly walk us through how you got to where you are today.
My parents had different ideas on how to best live your life. My father was a company man (40 years). He worked at Dupont as a chemist and carpooled about an hour each day; on the other hand, my mother was mostly a housewife who believed it was important to reinvent yourself every 10 or 15 years (artist, nurse, lab technician, realtor).

She liked to travel and experience new places and was always planning some sort of new adventure. I think the contrast was a perfect fit for them and helped them both achieve their goal of living one’s best life. Dedicating a lifetime to a single profession and “keeping your nose to the grindstone” enables a certain mastery of your craft, but we all know the expression “a rolling stone collects no moss,” and exploring alternative ideas can lead to a positive impact on your overall goals.

I’ve been writing musical theatre works my entire life, but in that time, I worked at MAGI, the company that produced the computer animations in the original movie “Tron” for Disney, then integrated the 3D modeling technology into CAD (computer-aided design) software where it revolutionized the way engineers design products. I founded Viewmark, one of the first web design firms in the country, and met Tim Bernes Lee at the MOMA awards ceremony in San Francisco, where our company won New Media’s “best education” website.

Yet, I never seemed to take my eye off writing music theatre works, and while those other careers provided for my family, I always found ways of utilizing them to support my theatre projects, too. Is it by chance it matches my parent’s strategy? Could it be coincidence? Is it a roadmap for others to follow? I think it is all of the above.

Can you talk to us about the challenges and lessons you’ve learned? Looking back, would you say it’s been easy or smooth in retrospect?
Life has all sorts of peaks and valleys and everyone has struggles along the way.

The key is to learn from your mistakes and keep moving forward; metaphorically speaking, we all make choices on which doors to walk through in life. I feel lucky that each door has opened up more opportunities and presented new experiences that I could learn from, which has helped me move closer to my overall goal of creating meaningful musical theatre works. I don’t get easily swept away and have never been “star-struck” by celebrities.

When I see something I really like, I pursue it, I work hard and try not to look back. I’m a team player who was never really very talented. It’s important to have something in your life that is your own. For me, it has been music. It takes me away and has truly been a godsend.

Thanks for sharing that. So, maybe you can tell us more about your work next?
My mother would say that “life is a stage,” and she was right. I’m like her that way, an observer of sorts, when I go to a museum I spend more time looking at the people looking at the art, rather than looking at the art itself. I enjoy examining real experiences and then trying to recreate them for our stages. I’ve been writing music theatre works from a young age. I find it a place to cope, a place to connect, a place to exist.

Growing up near Parkersburg, West Virginia, in the 60s and 70s, there was always some sort of music project going on. At our school bus stop, everyone carried a musical instrument of some kind. Mine was a flute, but everyone knew me as the piccolo player. People label me an “American Musical Theatre Composer, Librettist, and Lyricist,” which seems fair, but that just means I like storytelling and working with a melting pot of different music genres, traditions, and styles. I studied music composition at Marietta College and Peabody Conservatory of Music.

While in college, I worked as the house pianist on the Becky Thatcher Riverboat, where I played Broadway show tunes and songs from the American songbook. Following graduation, I toured with L.A.’s #1 80’s band, “The Twisters,” and one of Hollywood’s most pretentious glam bands, “Joshua.” More recently, as a member of the Central City Opera board of directors, I’d like to say I helped steer the organization to greater emphasis on American Music Theater. Today, I’m busy with family and friends, my musical theatre projects, and supporting the Denver performing arts community as a whole.

Is there a quality that you most attribute to your success?
For me, success is like a traveling automobile, where I’m the driver, and my passengers are genuinely enjoying the ride. Ralph Waldo Emerson said, “Life is a journey, not a destination.” Find your passion and go for it.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.alsup.org
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/aprilalsup/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/4alsup
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/aprilalsup
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@alsupmusic
• SoundCloud: https://soundcloud.com/aprilalsup