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jewish-music
Broadway shows
- From: Fred Blumenthal <xd2fabl...>
- Subject: Broadway shows
- Date: Fri 21 Mar 2003 16.37 (GMT)
The youth group at my shul performs a Broadway show almost every Spring,
and I've been playing piano in the pit "orchestra" most years. This has
been educational for me, and I've set aside much of my anti-Broadway
snobbishness. But I've long contended that it would be possible to not
only find musicals by Jewish composers, but also some with Jewish content.
So I'm grateful for this discussion. We did do "Joseph and the Amazing
Technicolor Dreamcoat" one year, and I agree that the music didn't seem
very Jewish, but I thought it was hilarious when someone in "biblical"
costume broke out in an Elvis Presley number. And if we stick to shows
without religious/ethnic content, we should at least explore some of the
lesser-known Gershwin shows.
I don't think the problem of key signatures of 4 to 6 flats is unique to
any one show or composer, but rather customary for this kind of music. For
one thing, it accomodates the woodwind and brass players, if not the
strings or keyboard. But it also seems to have a "separating the men from
the boys" effect on who can perform it. My own talents at the piano are
neither 0% nor are they 100%, so I agree that 5 and 6 flats can be a
nuisance.
Fred Blumenthal
xd2fabl (at) us(dot)ibm(dot)com
- Broadway shows,
Fred Blumenthal