 The Doublers BBoard
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Author: ClariTone
Date: 2006-08-05 02:17
Hello!!!
Just wondering what your favorite musical(s) is/are to play and what books you enjoy the most. I'll go ahead and start.
Hello Dolly - Reed 1 & 2
Crazy For You - Reed 2
Clayton
Post Edited (2006-08-05 02:20)
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-08-05 13:02
My favourite show to play is The Producers. I subbed on Reed 5 (bari/bassoon/contrabass clarinet/Bb clarinet). I'd love to play Reed 2 or 4 sometime.
I love Sondheim shows. I've done Company and A Little Night Music. Night Music has no saxes; only WW's, but there's still plenty of doubling.
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Author: rcnelson
Date: 2006-08-05 14:47
As far as music styles, Promises, Promises was always fun. Did 2 different productions, one in 1975, the other in 1982. Reed 4: bari, clarinet and flute.
Overall, MAME ranks way up there. Played Reed 1 a long time ago (piccolo,flute, alto sax, clarinet). I believe I'm doing another production in March 2007, not sure which book.
The very first musical I ever played in was Kiss Me Kate. However, I would love to sometime play the 1999 revival orchestration. Much more suited to my tastes.
Speaking of Sondheim, did A FUNNY THING HAPPENED ON THE WAY TO THE FORUM this past March. Reed 3, clarinet/tenor. Would have liked to have had more tenor to play but was definitely helpful in getting my clarinet chops back in shape.
Ron
Selmer Mark VI tenor (1957), Selmer Mark VII alto (1975)
Buescher True Tone soprano (1924), Selmer CL210 Bb Clarinet, Gemeinhardt 3SHB Flute, Pearl PFP105 Piccolo
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-08-06 04:39
I forgot...I've done Funny Thing...Forum as well. Love that show.
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Author: melearly
Date: 2006-08-06 12:16
Another Sondheim vote Into the Woods! (bassoon book - no doubling unfortunately)
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Author: ClariTone
Date: 2006-08-06 19:30
Fiddler on the Roof is also a Number 1 in my book. I did Clarinet 1 and there was no doubling there either, but it still is a GREAT show!!!
Clayton
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Author: DressedToKill
Date: 2006-08-07 14:39
West Side Story, Reed III, baby :-)
(Piccolo, Flute, Oboe, English Horn, Tenor Saxophone, Baritone Saxophone, Clarinet in Bb, Bass Clarinet)
Now *that* is doublin'! :-D
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2006-08-08 21:46
West Side has no peers; it's the best, hands down. I've played Reed One several times.
A little-known show with delightful music is She Loves Me, written by Bock and Harnick. They were quoted as saying that it's their favorite show that they did, even above Fiddler.
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-08-16 14:30
Well, I could go ahead and post the list, but that might reek of bragging (I've done about twenty or twenty five different shows over the years, with multiple performances of each plus some repeated up to five times). While not up to the numbers our New York Local 802 brethren have accumulated, it's still a pretty respectable total for someone who has spent most of his life out "in the sticks".
So, I'll limit myself to the "top favorites":
Threepenny Opera:
Very exposed parts in the "bandstration" version (Reed 1 (clarinet and alto) and Reed 2 (clarinet and tenor). Interesting harmonies from the dawn of "modern music". Lots to watch on the stage. Not likely to be encountered at the high school level, and a little dated for commercial runs, but still popular with colleges everywhere. It's the source of the "Deathsinger's Song", which you probably know as "Mac The Knife".
A Funny Thing Happened On The Way To The Forum:
An old, many times repeated, favorite (at last count, I've done this for no less than eighty performances, including two runs where I was called in as a sub at the last minute). Bass clarinet, clarinet and (very little) baritone. There are parts that I can motor along on the bass clarinet once I get the pitch and the rhythm going right. I'd love to do the "new" version (with the much expanded "House of Marcus Lycus" stuff), but I've not seen it out in the sticks yet.
(One time, I had to sight read the hair raising solo at the beginning of "Free", this when the Reed 2 player didn't show up until the second act. Written in Mostel's key (which translated to seven flats on the Bb clarinet), it can be done, but it's not something you'd like to sight read, I assure you...)
Guys And Dolls:
Along the lines of Forum, only not quite as often. I've done perhaps forty shows of this, almost always on the bass clarinet/clarinet/baritone book. Good sax parts, lots of great bass clarinet playing (particularly in "Marry The Man Today", only marred by too many iterations of "Follow The Fold" and the never-ending "Crap Shooter's Ballet".
Hello, Dolly!:
This is another old favorite, more for the music than for the show itself. Excellent bass clarinet parts, demanding clarinet parts (on the "Waiter's Gallop" in particular; keeping all three clarinets in synchronization is difficult) plus the ever popular "train music" played on the baritone
The Music Man (note the correct title):
I'm not a fan of Meredith Wilson by any stretch of the imagination, but this one holds a special place in my heart solely for the lead soprano clarinet part on "Eccentric Couple Dance" (the extension of "Shipopi!") that is stuffed into the Reed IV book. Did the copyist pick up the wrong sheet of music when he scored this one? I don't know, but whatever happened I'm glad that it did.
(This show is also notorious for having the bassoon part shifted over to the bass clarinet in the extended sections of the "Marian The Librarian" dance number. (It's a repetitive figure on the bottom of that instrument, and I've known a number of otherwise excellent bassoon players who have trouble pulling it off for the two or three minutes that it is played.))
Company:
Here included for the three great dance numbers ("You Could Drive A Person Crazy", "What Would We Do Without You" and the one under the sex scene with the stewardess towards the end, titled "Tick Tock"). A wide variety of musical styles in all three, with "What Would..." having an exhausting clarinet, bass clarinet and soprano sax part, and the sex scene one having two baritone saxes chugging along in a brassy, jazz-based motif under the modern dance taking place on stage.
Also fun for the exposed Eb soprano clarinet part under "Poor Baby", which I've ended up playing on every production save one, since those alto guys and gals don't seem to own their own.
Superman! The New Musical:
Seldom done, although for the life of me I can't understand why. Lots of "hits" ("You've Got Possibilities", "You've Got What I Need, Baby" both came from this show), a campy plot line, and fantastic, jazzy music. Particularly interesting is the clarinet lead during the "Entracte"; how anyone can play that part is beyond my ken. It reminds me a lot of Bye, Bye Birdie, only with less of a bass clarinet part.
Fiddler On The Roof:
Fun in the versions that I've played, since the Clarinet I book contains the bass clarinet part, which means that I got to do the extended "Bottle Dance" solo. Other than that, bo-ring!
And, of course
West Side Story:
Mostly clarinet (even though you get the "all sax" impression from listening to it, it's still mostly clarinet and bass clarinet), but with some neat sax parts. I've always played the book with clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor and baritone (there are, I believe, three books with bass clarinet overall). Excellent jazz idiom stuff for the baritone, very little tenor playing (and all of that in the first act), and the usual difficult Bernstein clarinet writing (or was it Sondheim who scored it out?). A very moving bass clarinet obbligato at the end when everyone is getting killed off.
For musical value, I'd rate the Bernstein shows that I've done the highest of all. (I finally got Wonderful Town under my belt last spring, and I've also done Candide and West Side Story (two productions of the former, four of the latter).
Those are just the high points in a sea of mostly forgettable shows, the playing of many of which was just as much work as carrying a hod. I may have done a good job of playing the music, but I did not have a good time doing it.
Even there, some experiences stand out above the others. How about two productions of Once Upon A Mattress, all on bass clarinet, in less than five months? Gag me with a spoon. The only good thing there (other than the paycheck, of course) was that I only had to carry one case to the job.
I once had to do Carousel twice during six month's time, in the process playing through enough dream sequences and poorly scored ballet stuff to put one in one's grave. (I had to pull out (by hand) half of a cracked tooth during the intermission of one performance, adding to the misery; however, just playing through the ballet sequence caused me more pain than the remaining half of the tooth.)
Stuff like that those, or like Sound Of Music, will be encountered by all who do these meldings of music, art and theater, but they are nowhere near as fun as the ones from the golden age of the musical (say 1955 through 1980).
One other thing: I've been initialing the books that I've played for over thirty years now. (I do it in very small lettering, inside the rear cover right up at the spine, noting the month/year and my initials (a superimposed capital T over a capital S.) In all of that time, with all of the repeat productions done during that time, I've only once seen the same book twice (in a production of Mame, and it was not one of the "frequent fliers" either.
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
Post Edited (2006-08-17 16:04)
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Author: Mark Charette
Date: 2006-08-16 14:40
Terry Stibal wrote:
> Well, I could go ahead and post the list ...
You darn near did ... I think the post was looking for a singular rather than plural so more people would add their favorite one ...
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Author: Jaysne
Date: 2006-09-09 02:51
Wow, Terry, very impressive. You're the first person I've run into who has also done "Superman." I did it in high school with a limited pit: Piano, drums, sax/clarinet player (me), and flute player. One song I did like was "We Don't Matter at All." (This production was memorable in that during one of the performances, a large cardboard scenery backdrop started to fall, headed straight for Lois Lane; the guy playing Superman ran over, raised his arms and prevented it from hitting her on the head!)
I once did two different productions of Kiss Me Kate in six weeks. The already tedious "Why Can't You Behave" grew even more so each night.
Post Edited (2006-09-10 23:52)
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Author: Caco185
Date: 2006-09-21 02:51
I am currently playing Reed II for A Funny Thing for touring company, and it is quite a fun book!
Other favorites are Les Mis Reed II (clarinet, flute, alto sax) and Beauty and the Beast Woodwind I (flute and clarinet)!
Dale Huggard
Clarinet Performance Major, Michigan
Buffet R-13 - Silver plated
Genussa Excellente
Spriggs Floating Rail Ligature
Vandoren V12 #4
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Author: John J. Moses
Date: 2006-09-25 21:30
That's odd:
I've played both shows on Broadway, and I remember the Books being:
LES MIZ
Reed 1, Flute, Picc.
Reed 2, Oboe, EH
Reed 3, Clarinet, Alto Sax
Maybe you did a Tour version?
BEAUTY
Reed 1, Flute, Picc.
Reed 2, Oboe, EH
Reed 3, Clarinet, Flute
Reed 4, Clarinet, Bass Clar, Flute, Picc.
Reed 5, Bassoon, Contra Bsn.
JJM
Légère Artist
Clark W. Fobes Artist
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Author: BG ★2017
Date: 2006-09-26 02:49
We are currently doing a regional tour of Beauty and the Beast, two week run in Dayton, OH. The reduced orchestration (18 players) uses only three woodwind books.
Reed 1 Flute/Piccolo
Reed 2 Oboe/English Horn
Reed 3 Flute/Clarinet/Bass Clarinet
You will hear, on occasion, something resembling a bassoon coming from one of the three synthesizers!
I have played this same instrumentation before on national tours in both Cincinnati and Columbus.
Also, do a Google search for Brad Pimentel woodwind doubling in Broadway musicals. It has many of the Broadway shows listed along with a complete breakdown of the woodwinds required for each book.
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Author: Terry Stibal
Date: 2006-09-26 20:50
Odd the addition of Sweeney Todd. My former next door neighbor, an excellent bassoon player and now-resident of Tulsa, did this one in college and she was positively disgusted with it. For a through-sung musical, it always impressed me with the way it was structured, the way the music actually participates in the show (rather than just being there, like it is in Forum. Very operatic, only with more of a story and certainly more passion. But, she hated every minute of the week-long run.
I've always liked it as one of Sondheim's more clever works (and full of neat parts too, like those of Pirelli the barber and Beadle Bamford - I particularly like the way they were worked into the Bows at the end of the show), but have never been in a position to play same. Due to the parochial nature of the crowds down here, it's not often done. But, neither is Threepenny Opera, so what are you going to do?
I thought that maybe she was religious or that there was some other taste objection to the show (after all, it is about grinding up people and making them into meat pies). However, she was pretty "cool" (particularly for a bassoon player), so I think that her objection was simply to the style of the music.
Sondheim can have this effect on people - they either "get" his shows or they "don't". I've known people who hated Forum (which I view as a timeless classic), those who detested Assassins (one of his best, in my opinion), and even those who got worked up about Gypsy (me; it must be the traces of The Mer that are all over that one, but other than "Gotta Have A Gimmick", I could take it or leave it).
leader of Houston's Sounds Of The South Dance Orchestra
info@sotsdo.com
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Author: Merlin
Date: 2006-10-02 00:49
Faves to play?
The Producers
A Little Night Music
Company
Thoroughly Modern Millie
I'd love to do Sweeney Todd some day...
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Author: Steve B.
Date: 2006-10-29 00:54
Seesaw
Sweeney Todd
A Chorus Line
City of Angels
or anything arranged by Billy Byers or Jonathan Tunick
(those guys really know how to write for woodwinds)
Steve
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Author: Loralie
Date: 2006-12-30 03:02
I've done the following that I've liked
Les Mis (reed 1)
Wonderful Town (reed 4--fl/picc/tenor/cl)
The Music Man (fl/picc)
Seussical (fl/picc/cl/al. sax/sop. sax)--I don't own a soprano so I ended up doing all 12 measures of it on cl
Jane Eyre (fl/picc/alt flute/recorder)
I'd really like to do the Producers someday, as well as A Chorus Line and Ragtime
I'm doing the reed 1 book from Thoroughly Modern Milie (fl/picc/cl/al. sax/sop. sax) and the clarinet book from Into the Woods
Speaking of Into the Woods, does the clarinet part call for an A or a Bb clarinet? Or both? If anyone could answer this I'd really appreciate it
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Author: Nitron
Date: 2007-01-02 14:14
Into the Woods calls for both clarinet in Bb and in A. With one exception (if I recall correctly), everything is transposable, although I managed to find an A clarinet just before the show opened. The book is mostly in Bb, however.
Approximately how difficult is the flute stuff in reed 1 of Seussical? Only 12 bars of soprano? I was hoping for much more than that :P
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Author: Loralie
Date: 2007-01-02 14:46
I personally don't think that the flute part in Seussical is particularly difficult. A lot of it is also piccolo, and it is highlighted by itself a great deal. There is more flute in the second half of the book and more piccolo in the first half if I remember correctly. There isin't that much clarinet in reed 1 either, its mostly flute, piccolo and alto sax.
Thanks for the Into the Woods information
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Author: Nitron
Date: 2007-01-02 15:52
No problem
I'll probably go with Reed 2 then, since I just started working on flute and don't have a piccolo. Oboe is annoying, but tolerable.
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Author: johnnymo0829
Date: 2007-01-05 01:17
i played reed 3 for jekyle and hyde and loved it. alto sax, clarinet and bass clarinet.
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Author: Erik713
Date: 2007-02-18 15:03
As a conductor, Chicago was my absolute favorite. I love the music in the show. It's thoughtful, witty, and just plain fun.
As a player, 1940's Radio Hour (tenor sax, clarinet, and I sang a line not in the book) is probably the the most fun book I've played. The music is all old standards, and the band is actually involved in the musical as characters.
If you like klezmer music, Rags is a good one, too.
There's never a shortage of work out here in northern NJ! Now...if I could just get to Manhattan...
Erik
~~~~~~~
~Woodwind doubler - sop./alto/tenor saxes, clarinet, oboe, English horn, flute/picc.
~Woodwind Teacher
Post Edited (2007-02-18 15:09)
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Author: oboeidaho
Date: 2007-04-05 18:57
I loved playing Beauty and the Beast (reduced orch - book 2 ob/eh)
Has anyone ever done Secret Garden? We did it with just winds, harp and trombone, and a couple keyboards (community group - read: playing for free). However, it was unusually good players for such a group, would love to play it again.
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Author: davyd
Date: 2007-06-13 04:05
Most difficult, artistically: Sunday in the park with George (which was also my first exposure to Sondheim).
Most difficult, technically: Kiss me Kate (revival version). By comparison, the original is a piece of cake. (Not West side story? No; I could learn KMK; I couldn't learn WSS.)
Most repetitous: Evita.
Reeds least essential: JC, Superstar. Apart from the oboe obbligato in "I don't know how ..." and the duo flute cadenza prior to one of Judas' songs, reeds are decidedly unimportant.
Longest time to sit there doing nothing: 1776. In Act I, there's a dialog break for 30 minutes. This they call a musical?
Hardest to read books: Something's afoot.
Longest-seeming Act II: Pal Joey. When you meet a completely new major character in the 3rd scene of the second act, you know you're not going home any time soon.
Worst edited books: Mystery of Edwin Drood.
Best ensemble writing: City of Angels.
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Author: D Dow
Date: 2007-06-15 18:55
Cabaret...
West Side Story...
and Sweeny Todd
David Dow
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Author: Erik713
Date: 2007-06-17 01:49
Just got done with a month-long run of Falsettos. I'd never really heard of the musical before I played it. It's a played through musical with piano, keys, drums, and ww (flute, oboe, clarinet, alto). It was a nice challenge, and I really enjoyed the music. It's certainly now up there in my fav's!
~~~~~~~
~Woodwind doubler - sop./alto/tenor saxes, clarinet, oboe, English horn, flute/picc.
~Woodwind Teacher
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Author: Al
Date: 2007-06-21 04:09
What's the bass clarinet part like (Reed 3) in Sondheim's A Little Night Music?
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Author: rcnelson
Date: 2008-07-31 13:17
I think I may have a new favorite: THOROUGHLY MODERN MILLIE. Performance #4 of 7 is tonight, we close on Sunday afternoon. We are doing it with 2 woodwind players covering the 4 books, with custom versions of the books. I'm doing most of the lead flute sections and the piccolo, a lot of the lead clarinet, along with soprano, alto and tenor as needed. The music is terrific, even if a bit demanding. And the number of doubles to have ready is an extreme challenge. But I'm having fun with it.
Ron
Selmer Mark VI tenor (1957), Selmer Mark VII alto (1975)
Buescher True Tone soprano (1924), Selmer CL210 Bb Clarinet, Gemeinhardt 3SHB Flute, Pearl PFP105 Piccolo
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Author: Grabnerwg
Date: 2008-10-27 22:19
RAGTIME
I got to play in a production of Ragtime this summer. Yes, this was the notorious production that made national news. The sponsor, the Village of Wilmette, canceled the production due to the language in the book, language that was essential in expressing the crudity of racism at the time.
Luckily, new sponsors and a new venue were found and "the play went on", resulting in a very fine production with standing room only audiences every night.
I got to play Book 3, which was all clarinet and Eb clarinet. I never played Eb in a musical before. It was quite a challenge as some of the Eb parts were under vocals and required a high level of dynamic control. It was a workout, but very enjoyable musically.
Walter Grabner
www.clarinetxpress.com
New prices on world class mouthpieces
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Author: krs
Date: 2010-05-17 19:58
My favorites have to be Ragtime (reed 3 - love that Eb clarinet klezmer stuff), Urinetown (just one reed book - soprano, alto, Bb and bass clar), Beauty and the Beast, and Chicago (reed 3).
I'd play any of these again in a heartbeat!
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Author: Mike S.
Date: 2010-08-17 03:47
My definite favorite shows I have done would be:
HAIR- one book( piccolo, flute, clarinet, baritone sax) Great show, and it was mostly baritone, with some clarinet, flute and piccolo here and there.
King and I- Reed III: Oboe/optional English horn. I also filled in and played parts of Reeds II(Flute/Picc), Reed VI(Clarinet III/Bass clarinet), and Reed VI(Bassoon) all in the same production. We had someone cover Reed I and someone on Reed IV.
Annie- Reed I with parts of the other books here and there.
Sound of Music- (Flute/Clarinet). It was an easy read of a show, but it was something to do at the time.
The Wedding Singer- Reed II(Flute, oboe, EH, tenor sax, baritone sax). Fantastic 80's themed show, and it was an easy read for me.
Beauty and The Beast- Reed II(Oboe, EH). One of my dream shows to have played. I also covered parts of Reeds I(Picc/flute) and Reed III(Flute, Clarinet, Bass clarinet) when our other reed players weren't there.
I have done other shows, but these are my top favorite six to have done.
-Mike
Recorders(SSAT), piccolo/flute/alto flute, oboe, clarinets(Eb/Bb/bass), saxophones(SATB)
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Author: gsurosey
Date: 2010-08-18 21:43
In college, I played Reed I for "Big". Mostly flute/piccolo with clarinet and 1-2 alto sax parts (didn't play sax then).
Rachel
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