Klarinet Archive - Posting 000004.txt from 2008/06

From: "Karen Sams" <karensams@-----.net>
Subj: Re: [kl] A new kind of doubling (and tripling and even more)
Date: Sun, 01 Jun 2008 18:46:42 -0400

The most recent production of Sweeney Todd on Broadway was the same way. I
believe Patti LuPone, who was in it, plays the tuba. Not sure who the other
actors were and what they played.

Karen

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From: "Daniel Leeson" <dnleeson@-----.net>
Sent: Sunday, June 01, 2008 6:36 PM
To: "klarinet@-----.org>
Subject: [kl] A new kind of doubling (and tripling and even more)

> 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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