And even before Phantom, we know some "sweetening" (i.e. vocal tracks designed to boost or assist the onstage sound) was used in Company (the long "we LOVE you" in the opening number), Follies (several numbers, documented in the Ted Chapin book, plus the opening of "Live, Laugh, Love" as notated "on tape" in the score) and La Cage Aux Folles (the last section of the title song). La Cage also has a few sections of music meant to be prerecorded, to sound as if they are being heard "backstage."
And of course, "Hey There" in The Pajama Game could not be done without the prerecorded voice on the Dictaphone machine.
Bernstein's Mass opens with a sequence "performed" by voices on various prerecorded tracks. Also, the jukebox in the drugstore in West Side Story (the bit of "Mambo" played during the scene at the end with Anita) is meant to be prerecorded.
The original production of Man Of La Mancha used a prerecorded track of the "Inquisition Theme" wherever it was used in the show - the orchestra parts still include this music on the last page of the scores, with the intent that it be recorded, not played live.
And more recently, the opening numbers of Kinky Boots (the "Price And Son" jingle) and Avenue Q are prerecorded, just for a few very exposed examples. |
