"Bad Day" from DELAYED
Elaine Pechacek
Elaine Pechacek, a New York turned Florida native, started her musical career when she picked up her first instrument, the clarinet, in the 4th grade. Before attending Southeastern University in Lakeland, Florida earning her B.A. in Music Education with additional post studies in Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Central Florida, Elaine pursued not only the clarinet, but also the bassoon and saxophone along with vocal performance. During her years in college she had the honor of playing bassoon for two years with the popular South Florida Palm Beach Pops Orchestra and two years with the prestigious South Florida Youth Symphony. Also during her time in college she had the privilege of touring nationwide two summers with New Covenant Ministries singing lead vocals and playing keyboard. In her years during and following college for a combination of 8 years Elaine has held positions as Music Director and Worship Leader with several different religious organizations including the Assemblies of God, Church of God, and the nondenominational organization CIC. She was often called upon and recognized for her contemporary orchestrations of traditional church and hymn music. Before leaving the Central/South Florida area for two years to work with DWStudios in Tulsa, Oklahoma, Elaine performed as a Lyric Soprano with the Lakeland Choral Society and has had the honor of playing significant operatic roles in Die Zauberflöte (The Magic Flute), Pirates of Penzance, and with ensemble Carl Orff's Carmina Burana. Elaine is currently the owner and operator of Music From The Heart Studio located in Orlando, FL where she coaches a full range of students from professional studio artists, Disney and Universal Studio Performers to those just starting their musical journey. Elaine not only teaches proper vocal techniques but also instructs piano, orchestration/song writing, clarinet and saxophone. In addition to her combined 10 year teaching career Elaine works currently as a studio vocalist, musician, and arranger for private recording studios nationwide such as Digital Juice, Energie Studios, and Sony Records. Elaine currently is a member of MTNA, NATS, and the New York singing teacher's organization NYSTA. In 2008, Elaine completed her new musical entitled WHEN, an original musical currently in workshop phases. While finishing WHEN Elaine began work on DELAYED with co-collaborator Katie Hammond which debuted in March of 2010 as a full staged reading. Elaine and Katie have worked together since August of 2007, and together they have performed several cabarets in the Orlando, FL area. Since work began on DELAYED in late 2009, Katie and Elaine have continued working on additional projects including: SEASONS, their second musical, which they showcased as a musical preview cabaret in August of 2010 and which will also was presented in reading form by OCUStripped of Oklahoma City University in their new musicals festival in February of 2011. GIRLIE PARTS, a female cabaret song cycle series, which was featured in Katie and Elaine's cabaret: TWO DRINK MINIMUM on February 21, 2011 at The Duplex in New York and then finally, TEMPS, a new musical comedy confronting the insanity of working for a temp agency. Elaine is excited to see what the future holds and hopes that you, their audience, enjoys listening to their material as much as they enjoyed writing it!
Katie Hammond
Katie Hammond, a Michigan native, earned a BA in theatre from The College of Wooster, in Ohio. Shortly after graduating, Katie moved to Chicago to pursue improvisation. She attended the improv conservatory programs at The Second City and The iO Theatre (formerly Improv Olympic). After finishing her studies at iO, she was invited to join a Harold House Team, and played with Night Fight for two years. Her independent improv team, Radar-7, performed in the city for four years, and their final show headlined at the Minneapolis Improv Festival. She also improvised all over the Chicago area as part of the ensembles of pH Productions, No Shoe Zone and Improv Unlimited. During her time in the Windy City, Katie worked in advertising and radio broadcasting, and performed in various regional and city theatres doing musical and straight theatre. Some favorite roles include; Leading Player in Pippin, Viola in Twelfth Night, Peggy Sawyer in 42nd Street, Boo in Bark! The Musical, Lisa in Debbie Does Dallas, The Musical and Myrtle Mae Simmons in Harvey. Katie relocated to Orlando in 2007 to work for Walt Disney World, and was a proud cast member of the Citizens of Hollywood. As a fulltime improviser at Disney’s Hollywood Studios, she also judged The American Idol Experience, and hosted a game show at EPCOT. In downtown Orlando, she was a member of the professional ensemble for SAK Comedy Lab. Katie created and continues to teach a very popular improv comedy workshop for women; LadyProv. It is because of those workshops that Katie was asked to be a part of the documentary, “Women Aren’t Funny”. In 2007, Katie reenergized her writing career with the sketch group, The Executives. After writing and performing in their second hugely successful show at the Orlando Fringe Festival 2009, The Executives were honored to win the Patron’s Choice Awards for “Best Sketch Comedy Show” and “Favorite Show in the Venue”. Recently, she was seen in FOURplay, the Improvised Musical, at the Winter Park Playhouse, and spent a month making up a new full length musical every night. Katie made the move to New York City in August of 2010, and was cast in the amazing arts education improv and sketch group, The Story Pirates. In the Big Apple she spends her time auditioning, writing, attending classes at The Magnet Theatre, and working a day job in publishing. Katie met Elaine Pechacek in August of 2007, worked with her as a vocalist, and together they performed several cabarets in the Orlando area. They started writing and work-shopping DELAYED in late 2009, and presented a full staged reading in March of 2010. They held a music preview for their second original musical, SEASONS in August of 2010, and look forward to seeing it tour the festival circuit in 2011. Elaine and Katie are currently working on two additional projects; Girlie Parts, an all female cabaret cycle, and TEMPS, a new musical comedy about the ins and outs of working for a temp agency. For more information on Katie, please visit www.katiehammond.com.
