MAY 5 • 2022 | 49

looked back.
”
Though he always envi-
sioned going to college to be 
a psychologist or architect, 
Lodin, who was “always the 
pianist,
” went to the University 
of Miami as a music composi-
tion major before he left school 
after a year to go on tour as the 
musical director of a profes-
sional production of Godspell. 
That gig led to others includ-
ing touring with Andy Gibb, 
younger brother of the Bee 
Gees; playing club dates as a 
starving artist in New York and 
playing piano for Cuban per-
cussionist Mongo Santamaria.

A CROSSROADS
Then, one day in 1982, Lodin 
received two calls: one to 
go on tour with Diana Ross 
and the other to be a musical 
director for a new show called 
Broadway Dance Marathon in 
Israel.
“That was the fork in the 
road for me,” said Lodin. “I 
had never been to Israel, and 
I really wanted to go. By that 
time, I knew that I wanted to 
make a life in the theater. This 
is what I was meant to do.”
Lodin spent six months in 
Tel Aviv developing the musi-
cal during the 1982 Lebanon 
War. Lodin’s work in Israel 
led to getting the plum job 
of touring as Chita Rivera’s 
musical director for a year-
and-a-half. 
“Chita’s a force of nature,” 
says Lodin, who serves on fac-
ulty for the American Musical 
and Dramatic Academy 
(AMDA).
Complementing his musical 
composition and arranging 
background, Lodin had a 
successful career as a com-
mercial-jingle writer for more 
than 20 years. That experience 
led him to being hired by 
playwright James Hindman, 
who grew up in Michigan, 
for Hindman’s Popcorn Falls. 
Hindman hired Lodin to write 

a jingle for one of the scenes, 
which led to writing addition-
al music for that show. And 
from that collaboration, they 
joined creative forces to write 
the musical The Pin-Up Girls, 
which made its Michigan 
premiere at Meadow Brook 
Theatre on April 20.
“It’s serendipitous and all 
a fairytale on how things can 
turn out — rarely with a plan,” 
Lodin says.
Hindman and Lodin wrote 
the musical as an homage 
to those who have served in 
the military. When the long-
time friends, who entertain 
veterans at their local VFW 
hall, discovered a collection 
of letters from sailors, soldiers 
and airmen over the past 100 
years, they decided to put on a 
musical review.
“The musical is based on 
a trove of letters we found 
that tell beautiful stories. We 
wanted to write a love letter 
to honor the men and women 
who made a sacrifice to our 
country. It’s not political or 
from any one specific war or 
period of time,” says Lodin, 
who wrote several new songs 
for the show as well as rear-
ranging songs from the public 
domain to bring a fresh twist 
to the score. 
Audiences can look forward 
to old classics like “
Ain’t She 
Sweet” by Milton Ager and 
Jack Yellen, “Boogie Woogie 
Bugle Boy” by Hughie Prince 
and Don Raye, and “Someone 
to Watch Over Me” by George 
and Ira Gershwin to newer 
songs like “On a Bus to St. 
Cloud” by Gretchen Peters, 
originally sung by Trisha 
Yearwood; and Beyonce’s “
All 
the Single Ladies.”
“The letters told beautiful 
stories, and it was our job to 
find songs that augmented 
those feelings,” Lodin added. 
These true stories served as 
inspiration for every single 
moment of the show.” 

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