Klarinet Archive - Posting 000644.txt from 2005/06

From: Karl Krelove <karlkrelove@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] Fiddler Clarinetist
Date: Thu, 30 Jun 2005 20:42:07 -0400

Well, it certainly *could* have been done with video monitors in the
front apron, although they were well hidden from the audience it it was
done that way. The conductor had a perfectly clear view of the actors
and the entire stage, just no eye contact unless the singer happened to
be looking directly across from stage left.

I was especially interested in how the ending of Sunrise, Sunset worked
with its ritardando leading into a short caesura. It sounded clean, but
I wasn't sure who was leading whom. I guess, though, when you do 7 shows
a week for months (or years) on end, tempo changes and fermati can
pretty well become a conditioned reaction from everyone - after all,
some shows are accompanied by a recorded or synthesized track and
everything is of necessity exactly the same every performance (I've
often wondered what happens in the ice shows that travel in the U.S. if
a skater falls and throws the whole routine off - the synth and voice
tracks just keep going, I guess, as though nothing happened).

Karl

Geoff & Sherryl-Lee Secomb wrote:
> As MD of a number of amateur productions, we use cameras and monitor
> screens for these kinds of situations. Last year I did West Side Story,
> with no direct contact with the cast, as they saw me and I saw them via
> TV only! Next year, as it happens, I am also doing Fiddler.
> Cheers,
> Geoff
> AUSTRALIA
>
> ----- Original Message ----- From: "Karl Krelove" <karlkrelove@-----.net>
> To: "Klarinet" <klarinet@-----.org>
> Sent: Friday, July 01, 2005 9:01 AM
> Subject: [kl] Fiddler Clarinetist
>
>
>> I was in New York yesterday to see the revival production of Fiddler
>> On the Roof at the Minskoff Theater. A phenomenal production
>> all-around. For the klezmer bit in the wedding scene, they brought a
>> clarinetist on stage in costume. He played wonderfully, and I thought
>> after his bit was over that I saw him go off stage to get rid of the
>> clarinet and then, I thought, come back on as one of the background
>> characters in the rest of the scene.
>>
>> Does anyone know (1) who the clarinetist is, (2) if he also plays
>> clarinet in the pit orchestra (which is seated upstage right in full
>> view) or he only plays the klezmer part.
>>
>> The Fiddler himself also inhabits the stage throughout the show,
>> playing a wirelessly miked violin. I wondered how much control the
>> orchestra conductor actually has over tempos and entrances, since he
>> is about midstage and all the way to the right (next to the wing) so
>> most of the time neither the leads, the chorus nor the Fiddler is
>> facing him.
>>
>> Anyone know?
>>
>> Karl Krelove
>>

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