Klarinet Archive - Posting 000003.txt from 2008/06

From: "Daniel Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Subj: [kl] A new kind of doubling (and tripling and even more)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:36:17 -0400

I am a fan of Steven Sondheim. So when Netflix put "Company" on the instant
watch (meaning you just watch it on the PC and there is no charge for this
additional service), I watched the show. It's a musical, as are all of
Sondheim's pieces, but there is not band in the pit.

The singers and actors are all one would expect from a Broadway show, namely
pretty girls with great singing voices, and neat guys who can sing very
well. So where the music come from. That's the doubling part.

Everyone in the casT plays a musical instrument, some more than one, and
they play them very well. I couldn't figure out how they would get a cast
like that. Did the go to music schools and look for singing actors, or did
they go to an acting school and look for musicians. What is more, the
breadth of the instrumentalists is such that there is a violin, a cello, a
bass, three saxes (who also double on flute), two french horns (who double
on trumpet), a tuba (played by a really nifty blonde), two or three
different piano players, a trombone, clarinet, and I stopped counting. And
they all play their instruments very well.

All the actors/singers/musicians are on a platform that is flush with the
audience and the show is absolutely brilliant in conception and execution.
Among the tunes that I have heard but never in context are "You Can Drive a
Person Crazy," and "Side by side by side."

So I see this piece of Sondheim's as a way for instrumentalists to get
singing work, and singers to get opportunities to play with an orchestra.

If you have NETFLIX, take a look at it. The title is "COMPANY." Absolutely
brilliant piece.

Dan Leeson
dnleeson@-----.net
SKYPE: dnleeson

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