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Don Hopkinson
Vocal Range: Tenor 1 · Height: 6' · Weight: 185 · Hair Color: Brown · Eye Color: Brown · Training: Crane School of Music, NY · Special Skills: Pianist, Vocalist, Lyricist, Playwright, Arranger, Orchestrator, accents of the British Isles · Hometown: New York, New York · Born: 3/1/1965 · High School: St. John The Baptist DHS · College: SUNY, Potsdam/Crane School of Music · Occupation: Musical Director/Vocal Coach/Keyboardist/Composer
Don Hopkinson, Jr. has participated in nearly 200 shows, revues, concerts and cabarets. Having studied at the Crane School of Music, he is a Musical Director and Vocal Coach, Performer, Director and Producer. An accomplished vocalist, he has also been an instrumentalist on keyboards, saxophones, clarinets, oboe and harp. He ...Read More
Don Hopkinson, Jr. has participated in nearly 200 shows, revues, concerts and cabarets. Having studied at the Crane School of Music, he is a Musical Director and Vocal Coach, Performer, Director and Producer. An accomplished vocalist, he has also been an instrumentalist on keyboards, saxophones, clarinets, oboe and harp. He has written (and re-written) many arrangements and orchestrations.
In 2001, he premiered his first through-sung work, “Child of the Night – a gothic musical”, based on Bram Stoker’s novel, Dracula. Upcoming projects include a new musical version of Dickens’ “A Christmas Carol”, and “Light My Way” (a musical celebration of man’s fascination with the stars, written with collaborators Adam Williams, Vatican Lokey and Andrew Hobgood, which had it’s first public performances at the 2007 Orlando International Fringe Festival). With Vatican Lokey, he also created "The Tinseltown Follies" a cabaret celebrating the charm of holiday music from theatre, telelvision, and film which premiered in Orlando, Florida, in 2006. His next project is a musical adaptation of the story of Joan of Arc. At Walt Disney World, he has served as an arranger, orchestrator and keyboardist for ENCORE Cast Choir and Orchestra, as a keyboardist for the “Candlelight Processional”, and as an accompanist for rehearsals, workshops and auditions.
For Norman Small, Producing Director for Theatre Winter Haven, Don served as Musical Director, arranger/orchestrator and vocal coach for “Red, White….and Still Very Blue” (a remembrance of September 11th celebrating all kinds of American heroes), as well as productions of “West Side Story” “Jekyll & Hyde” and “Falsettoland”, “I Love You, You’re Perfect, Now Change” "Christmas, My Way - A Sinatra Holiday Bash", "All Shook Up", and their upcoming production of "Smokey Joe's Cafe" in January, 2009.
Over the years, Don has been a Musical Director/Keyboardist for Kids for Kids, Broadhollow Theatre Group, Music Theatre North, The Ocala Civic Theatre, The Civic Theatres of Central Florida, Celebration Players, The Osceola Players, Impact Theatricals, Mad Cow Theatre, Rollins College, Seaside Music Theatre, Children’s Repertory Theatre, and The University of Central Florida (to name but a few).
Don served as the Associate Musical Director and accompanist for “Bathhouse – the musical” (a Patron’s Pick and Best in Venue attraction at the 2006 Orlando International Fringe Festival), for which he will now be the principal arranger and orchestrator for productions in Toronto, Paris, London, and Johannesburg). He has performed as Pianist/Conductor for performances at the Starlight Dinner Theatre, as an actor and musician at Sleuths’ Mystery Dinner Shows, and has served as the Musical Director and Vocal Coach for the Orlando chapter of “Broadway’s Class Act”. Most recently, as Musical Director for Rush Trowel Entertainment, he accompanied Frenchie Davis (American Idol, “Rent” on Broadway) in a concert entitled “And I Am Telling You”, and created and arranged the vocal score for the new musical "Electric Youth", based on the music and lyrics of Deborah Gibson (an association he continues in 2009). He has musically directed “Little Shop of Horrors” for S.T.A.G.E. (a Cast Activities Theatre Group at Walt Disney World) and, in August 2008, he made his New Orleans debut as Musical Director for The Jefferson Performing Arts Society's 31st season opener, "All Shook Up", and followed that with JPAS' acclaimed production of "Return To The Forbidden Planet". For 2009, in addition to "Smokey Joe's Cafe", he will musically direct "Elegies for Angels, Punks, and Raging Queens", "Joseph and the Amazing, Technicolor Dreamcoat" and the New Orleans premiere of "The Tinseltown Follies". He will also be creating a brand-new cabaret experience and writing a new rock opera, "Voices". Most recently, Don was invited to be the principal accompanist, and a vocal coach, for SingLIVE USA, Orlando/Tampa.
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