Broadway shows

[Fred Blumenthal <xd2fabl...>]

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