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He came out of NYU convinced he should already be playing Hamilton.

He isn’t playing Hamilton.

He is subbing seven Broadway shows at once.

That didn't happen because he sent the right email. It happened because he ran after a stranger with a stick bag outside the Broadway stage door of Book of Mormon. That stranger was Dan Berkery.

They talked, stayed in touch, and built a real relationship. So years later, when MJ on Broadway had an emergency — the sub tested positive for COVID 90 minutes before curtain and nobody else was available — the call went to Dan. Dan was already booked. But he knew exactly who to pass the name to. Noah ran to H&M in Times Square to grab black clothes, got to the theater with 45 minutes to spare, flipped through the charts, and sight-read act one of MJ on Broadway in front of a live audience. One conversation outside a stage door changed everything.

Over time, his name got around. Now he's one of the busiest subs on Broadway — currently covering seven shows, and by the time you read this, maybe eight or nine. The seven: Ragtime, The Great Gatsby, Just in Time, Wicked, 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee, Chess, and Death Becomes Her. That's not luck. That's years of showing up, staying ready, and never burning a bridge.

He’s still learning. Still building. And I have no doubt that his own Broadway chair is coming — it’s just a matter of time.

In this episode, Noah breaks down exactly how he built his career.

We get into the networking — not the theory of it, the actual mechanics of how relationships in this industry form and pay off years later. We talk about the touch problem: what it actually takes to juggle seven shows without dropping any of them. How to take a conductor’s note without pushing back. And what he’d tell the 22-year-old version of himself who came out of school thinking he was already behind.

He wasn’t behind. He just hadn’t started yet.

Noah Hadland: https://www.instagram.com/noahhadland/

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Two Resources If You’re Serious About This

The first is free.

The How to Land a Broadway Gig Roadmap breaks down how the industry actually works — the key players, how sub lists function, how to build relationships that lead somewhere. Grab it instantly at broadwayboundbook.com/roadmap when you subscribe.

The second is The Broadway Sub Playbook — $7.99 at signaturebrandworks.com.

From the moment you get the call to show day. How to study the score, build your sub book, take the conductor’s notes, and walk into that pit like you belong there.

Want the full picture? Broadway Bound and Beyond is available everywhere books are sold online. Signed copy at signaturebrandworks.com.

Clayton Craddock is the drummer for Cats: The Jellicle Ball on Broadway at the Broadhurst Theatre. He is also the founder of Broadway Drumming 101 and the author of Broadway Bound and Beyond: A Musician’s Guide to Building a Theater Career.

His Broadway credits include Memphis, Lady Day at Emerson’s Bar and Grill, Ain’t Too Proud, and Cats: The Jellicle Ball, with additional credits spanning tick, tick…BOOM!, The Hippest Trip: The Soul Train Musical, and subbing on Rent, Motown, Evita, Avenue Q, and the Hadestown tour.

Clayton has appeared on The View, Good Morning America, The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon, The Today Show, and the Tony Awards. He has performed with artists ranging from Chuck Berry and Ben E. King to Kristin Chenoweth and Norm Lewis.

www.claytoncraddock.com

Get full access to Broadway Drumming 101 at broadwaydrumming101.substack.com/subscribe