Re: Broadway shows

[allen watsky <awatsky...>]

I was at a session yesterday, spot # 8 came up and it was 60 seconds in  Db , 
double flat accidentals, weird mordents , Feh . Every one looked at the 
arranger, and he quietly made the adjustments to the program , as we went on to 
cut spot #9, when we were done we read the newly transposed part right off the 
computer screen. Call us wimps, we got out W/O going over time and it can be 
moved to Db if necessary on the hard drive.Pro Tools and Sebalius saved the day.
  ----- Original Message ----- 
  From: Fred Blumenthal 
  To: World music from a Jewish slant 
  Sent: Friday, March 21, 2003 11:32 AM
  Subject: Broadway shows



  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