| re: What are the most difficult shows for pit musicians? | |
| Last Edit: Chromolume 09:15 pm EDT 07/25/22 | |
| Posted by: Chromolume 09:14 pm EDT 07/25/22 | |
| In reply to: re: What are the most difficult shows for pit musicians? - AlanScott 04:26 pm EDT 07/25/22 | |
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| I've never heard that either. One story from the original pit books that I may have posted about here before - and this comes from first playing the pit piano book for a summer youth production back in 1981, when the orchestra parts were still in manuscript, and seemingly the ones from the original production. (The infamous cuts that Robbins made in Somewhere and the prior section in the ballet were still there, all circled, which is often a way to point out notes that shouldn't be played.) For the Somewhere reprise (as Tony dies), with Maria starting a cappella, there was a note in the pit piano book to play a D# cue for Maria "on the gunshot" (and then very quietly again just before she sings). So that's how they snuck her the note - the gunshot masked the sound of it. :-) As a high school kid at the time, rather disappointed that I couldn't simply watch the scene onstage and get emotionally "into it" because I had to watch carefully for the gun, nevertheless I took my job very seriously lol. When MTI redid the books and computerized them sometime later, that instruction disappeared. A shame, because it feels like a bit of the show's history is gone. I adopted that same idea a few times for productions of Oliver, of all things. Not liking the intro for As Long As He Needs Me, and thinking it would be much more effective if she started the song a cappella, I found a way to sneak her her starting pitch as Sykes strikes her to the ground just before the song. Always worked, and it got rid of the intrusive "here's the song cue" feel that the intro gave to the scene. |
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