McDowell works as a freelancer, composing music and writing pieces for various theaters. "The bulk of my work is theatrical writing," he says. "I have directed choral works in Denver, and worked for many years with the Seaside Music Theater in Daytona Beach, Florida. I haven't yet reached the point where I am satisfied with the work I have already written and that keeps me going."

Though he lives in Astoria, this avuncular composer and musician thinks of himself as an "adopted member of the community." He says, "The involvement of the community enriches the experience for everyone, including me. I think this is a different kind of success. The warmth of the people makes my work truly worth the effort."

Bob has been associated with the Main Street Theatre since 1985, when he moved to New York from Atlanta, Georgia. "We found him through a friend," says Nancy Howe, who runs the theater with her husband, Worth Howe. "He is a fabulous musician, composer and arranger and I think he is more talented than a lot of people on Broadway."

"This is my 16th show and each one gets better than the one before," says Bob. For Dickens's A Christmas Carol, which opened last weekend and continues through Monday (December 18), Bob has used his computer to produce a digital recording of the music. "Until last year when I used the technique in Lion in Winter, I had a computer that did nothing more than word-processing. Now, I have an iMac, which is a simple computer but powerful and fast enough to create the music I need. I now feel as if I have a recording studio at home," he says.

For the production, McDowell has taken traditional carols that are merry and changed them to convey dark times. "I have tried to show the darker side of things. Dickens's London – dark and Victorian, with poor people and ghosts – is what I was thinking of when I did the pieces. The audience is familiar with the tunes and will understand the changes."

McDowell admits that at first some people had reservations about the quality of the synthesized music. "I could see that they thought we might end up getting a karaoke version of A Christmas Carol, but I think those fears have been allayed. I know that there is something wonderful about a live orchestra, but in a theater this size, that generally means just a piano, so the digital music is the next best substitute. It is surprising what you can get out of it. There will always be live orchestras on Broadway, but this is good for a small theater that runs in the basement of a building. A lot of musicians are scared that this technique will put them out of business, but they forget that Broadway has a tradition of live music, which is why we pay $85 for the seats. Here, we have always had just a piano, so the approach for this production has varied the experience for the veterans. Some performers thought it would be tough to adjust but the craft of the recording is to make it adjust to singers."

Diana Brill, the show's choreographer, endorses Bob's views and loves the way he worked in a collaborative fashion to create music for A Christmas Carol. "Bob is the perfect professional. He understands perfectly how to make the script come alive and gives you exactly what you need for the show. I have worked with him for over 15 years and, though this is the first time he has written original dance music, he is good at so many things that his experience and talent have produced the finest quality work," says Diana.

Worth Howe thinks that the CD called Carols, produced by Bob for the show, is exceptionally good. "Bob is a marvelously talented man. His music is melodic, interesting and always fits the moment."