"'Music has consequences, ' a wise teacher once told a young David Loud; so does a story well-told and a life fully-lived. I lost count of how many times I laughed, cried, and laugh-cried reading this wonderful, wry, intimate, and inspiring book. David wields a pen like he wields a baton, with perfect timing, exquisite phrasing, and enormous heart."
-- David Hyde Pierce, actor, Frasier, Spamalot, Curtains

"Beautifully written, filled with vivid details, braided with love and loss and wit and the perspective of someone with an utterly unique story to tell."
-- Lynn Ahrens, lyricist, Ragtime, Once on This Island, Anastasia

"Luminous and surprising, an extremely honest memoir of a life lived in the world of Broadway musicals, by one of the theatre's most gifted conductors. I can't think of another book quite like it."
-- John Kander, composer, Cabaret, Chicago, New York, New York

Unforgettably entertaining and emotionally revealing, Loud is pitch-perfect as he describes his path to the podium, from a stage-struck kid growing up at a school devoted to organic farming and mountain climbing, to the searing formative challenges he faces during adolescence, to the remarkable behind-the-scenes stories of his Broadway trials and triumphs. Skilled at masking his fears, Loud achieves his dream until one fateful opening night, when in the midst of a merry, dressing room celebration, he can no longer deny reality and must suddenly, truly, face the music.