The 9-piece orchestration used here is the same that was used at the Menier, and at the Boston run at the Huntington Theatre in 2017 (which was the same production with that same damn negative space set, and including the original Menier Frank and Charley), and I assume the current Overture has the same horrid cut we heard in Boston and in the London filming (leaving out all of "Good Thing Going"). The orchestration is indeed a bit smaller than the available rental version (developed specifically for the 1994 revision), but only by 3 players - it's missing a 4th reed, a 3rd trumpet, and synth. But I believe Tunick himself tailored this orchestration and made some substantial changes from the 1994 version, so it's not quite interchangeable even with that earlier version (and certainly not with the 1981, which has very different music in many places). So no, unless Tunick himself were to expand things out again, we're not liable to see a larger band for this production. Or the rest of the Overture.
BTW - the official version of the Overture in the 1994 version does leave out "Rich And Happy" to the end, but it does include "Good Thing Going" from the original version, with a piano solo for the first section instead of the iconic tuba solo in the original. So ostensibly any other production of the show will still include that, unless they make unauthorized cuts.
Meanwhile, I suppose we should count our stars that it's as big a band as it is, especially for off-Broadway. :-( |
