Skip to main content ↑ ↓
Topic: And now for something a bit different... (Read 15661 times) previous topic - next topic

And now for something a bit different...

G'day all,
I'm still on a high from last Saturday night (Oz time).

Just finished a VERY short season (7 shows) of G&S "Pirates of Penzance" (the Papp version). Had the opportunity of playing the 'bone part in the orchestra and had an absolute ball.

The show was put on by the "Wyong Musical Theatre Company" and they did a first rate job. The following article was printed before the show started.

http://express-advocate-wyong.whereilive.com.au/lifestyle/story/pirates-life-for-wyong-players/

The young lass in the right, Suzanne, has a wonderful soprano voice which she used very effectively as "Mabel". The guy in the Middle, Mat, played Frederic and has a good strong voice too. Did a terrific job.

The chap who played Major-General Stanley, Marc Calwell, did the most amazing job of the Major-Generals song and in the final show let it really rip for the "very fast" reprise. I'm told he managed to shorten it by 30 seconds! - All I know is my slide was smokin' !!! His articulation has to be heard to be believed, the audience absolutely erupted calling for more in the middle of the show! They didn't get it of course as it would have interrupted the flow of the show but it was exciting just the same. We sold out every show (well almost, a couple of shows {2 or 3} were about 10 seats short of sold out) and for the last two shows we had to bring in extra seating.

The whole presentation was truly excellent and considering the limited budget was really very, very well done. The entire cast were fantastic and though I've highlighted a couple of the leads, they couldn't have done nearly as good a job were it not for the supporting actors. A really first rate job!

Most of you probably don't know but the majority of my playing is in my church, which I quite enjoy but can sometimes be limited in variety. Recently I've been able to expand on this, firstly with a student big band ('bout 4, maybe 5 years ago) and now musical theatre. This is my 4th show playing in musicals in less than a year, 3 with Gosford Musical Society and this one with Wyong. I'm really looking forward to more opportunities and hope to play "Cats" later this year (the current 'bone player is trying out for the pit choir - hope he gets it as it will leave the chair open), and Mikado early next year, both with Gosford. Wyong are doing Grease next and I don't think there's a 'bone part :(

The pit at Gosford is, unfortunately, UNDER the stage, is very small, and we can't see squat. The Wyong theatre is much plainer, but the orchestra sits in front of the stage (we had a catwalk around us so we were actually in the MIDDLE of all the action for Pirates) and could see everything as well as being able to interact more effectively.

It's all very exciting! Can you tell I had a good time?
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #1 –
Congratulations, Lawrie!  Sounds like fun.  I've played about 10 pits and loved doing it.  I know how you feel.

Hope Cats lands in your lap!

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #2 –
Quote from: Lawrie Pardy –
All I know is my slide was smokin' !!!
Nothing like following a vocalist into uncharted waters in front of an audience for expanding your technique. You just can't simulate it practice.
Registered user since 1996

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #3 –
Playing in the pit for G&S is great fun. I used to play horn, usually sight-reading as a sub, in the Lamplighters productions in San Francisco. I met my second wife, a mezzo, at a cast party after one of the shows.
Carl Bangs
Fenwick Parva Press
Registered user since 1995

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #4 –
Quote from: Rick G. –
Nothing like following a vocalist into uncharted waters in front of an audience for expanding your technique. You just can't simulate it practice.

Ain't that the truth.  A good part of the 'bone part in this song is a vamp (crotchets in alla breve): low Eb (Nearly 2 octaves below middle C) to Bb (a 9th below middle C).  Slide positions T3 to 1 (T means operate the F attachment valve - this uses the Thumb of the left hand) - can't be played as written on a straight tenor which bottoms out at the E - misses by a semitone.  There's lots of other bits as well, but that's a recurring motif.  The whole thing's staccato and it can be quite difficult to get the horn to speak quickly when you're that low, especially at the speed we were travelling :)

We generally played the first half at about minim=120, and the "very fast" reprise normally at around minim=200, but for the final night I have no idea how fast we were going except that it was way faster than that - and when I got to the quavers...  Man, my tongue just ain't that quick!  In hindsight I might have tried a "flutter tongue" but I didn't think of it at the time.

What a RUSH!
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #5 –
Quote from: Carl Bangs –
Playing in the pit for G&S is great fun. I used to play horn, usually sight-reading as a sub, in the Lamplighters productions in San Francisco. I met my second wife, a mezzo, at a cast party after one of the shows.

So I have learned - to my pleasure.  An especially good experience in your case I would hazard to guess :)
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #6 –
Aah - The roar of the greasepaint.
Goodonya Lawrie!

I've had only a few experiences in the pit.
The longest was 10 days and it started to lose it's flavour after 3 performances - I was glad when we got to the end.
Mind you it was on a riverboat on the Yarra accompanyinga dance show.
Some funny things happened - but that's another story.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #7 –
A week ago I did a concert with my group.
There was also my friend that plays trombone with pistons.

I don't know for sure, but I suppose the drummer enjoyed the wine at the dinner before the concert.
He started all the pieces at a quick pace... then he accelerated!
The singers had lot of troubles trying to sing all the words of the songs at that speed.
Of course the feeling of the songs was simply not existent: only speed.

As Lawrie said: What a rush!

What's more: when the songs finished, the drummer was either still since at least a couple of bars or still playing alone. We didn't get any final right!

Bah! I can say it was by far our worst concert in ten years.

But what a rush!

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #8 –
Quote from: Barry Graham –
Aah - The roar of the greasepaint.
Goodonya Lawrie!

Thanks Barry.

Quote
I've had only a few experiences in the pit.
The longest was 10 days and it started to lose it's flavour after 3 performances - I was glad when we got to the end.
Mind you it was on a riverboat on the Yarra accompanyinga dance show.
Some funny things happened - but that's another story.

Maybe you'll share it some day...

BTW - I got the Cats gig - (picture a big bearded bloke doing a silly "happy dance" - oops, watch out for that new hole in the floor...) - I'm not half pleased...  Pick up the 'bone charts on Friday, or perhaps Monday.  :)
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #9 –
Quote
BTW - I got the Cats gig
Great news - you are about to become a "pit viper".
Pity it's Andrew Lloyd Webber!!

Quote
Maybe you'll share it some day...
Here's the story....

Melbourne Moomba Festival 1973
We were booked to accompany a song and dance troupe on a riverboat on the Yarra River over 10 days during the festival.
The band consisted of Trumpet, Trom, Clarinet, Banjo, Tuba and Drums.
The rhythm section pre-recorded their parts so that the dancers could rehearse in advance so they only had to mime their parts in live performance while the front line had to play their parts live.
The show opened with a couple of vocal numbers and then the full troupe came on stage to perform an up-tempo dance version of "Old Man River".
At this point the show lighting was turned up and the on-board generator couldn't cope.
The lights dimmed and the tape recorder started to slow down dropping the pitch.
There was no way we could keep in tune.
The dancers to their credit continued to perform in what must have appeared to be a slow-motion version of the original dance until we all broke up.
From then on we abandoned the tape and played live.

On the following Saturday 5 members of the riverboat band were also booked in a big-band backing a twilight concert at the Myer Music Bowl about a half mile from the riverboat pickup point.
The concert was scheduled to finish a half hour before the riverboat left the dock so we thought we could make it on time.
Of course the concert ran overtime.
We packed our instruments and ran down to the boat staging only to see it disappearing down the river to where the show would start.
Luckily we were able to flag down a police launch and set off in chase.
The transfer of 5 out-of-breath musicians and their instruments midstream was a hairy experience I'll never forget..
The Tuba player breathed a sigh of relief - he was the only one of us to embark on the riverboat and was wondering how he was going to support the show playing solo.

--------------------
Barry Graham
Melbourne, Australia

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #10 –
Quote from: Barry Graham –
The lights dimmed and the tape recorder started to slow down dropping the pitch.
There was no way we could keep in tune.
Let's hear it for digital recording. It would either maintain the tempo and pitch or quit.

I have a similar story. ~35 years go, I had to accompany a singer to Cat Stevens' version of Morning Has Broken. All went fine during "dress" rehearsal, but during the actual performance, someone decided to bring the lighting way down. I was reading the music from the overflow spotlighting of the singer. When she stopped, the stage manager killed the spotlight, leaving me totally in the dark...
Registered user since 1996

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #11 –
G'day Barry,
mate, what a great story.  I would've loved to have seen it!  Very good of the Melbourne "fuzz" to give you that lift too.

Quote
Great news - you are about to become a "pit viper"

Actually I've heard that the orchestra is to be in the wings for this show as there'll be lots people moving through holes in the stage from the pit and there won't be room for us.  Wish they'd put us in front!  Still, I rather like that "pit viper" appelation - might get a T shirt done up that way - could even be a good name for a band...

G'day Rick,
hmm, not such a good dress rehearsal was it...  :)
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #12 –
Quote
the stage manager killed the spotlight, leaving me totally in the dark...

In a concert two years ago, exactly when I was starting playing the most difficult part of the whole concert, the guitarist turned on the smoke machine on my side...

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #13 –
I feel quite abashed after reading of your varied musical talents and experiences! As a humble singer in classical chorus items it has always been a thrill to perform in a live show in front of a good audience. Even such old stagers as the Hallelujah chorus can raise the spirits!

Tony

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #14 –
G'day Tony,
mate, if I may "Teach grandma how to suck eggs", the performance is the thing (Didn't Shakespeare have something to say about that?).  Whether or not there are good stories, or talents you admire (or not...) or whatever, being able to enjoy entertaining others in a public venue is, for me, and I suspect most others in this game, the real drawcard.

There is a sense of fulfilment that nothing else provides.  The roar of the crowd, the applause, that fleeting moment of euphoria when their appreciation is being expressed.  Mate, it's worth all the work involved in preparation.

My business provides services to other businesses and people: I'm in the IT industry.  Our whole purpose is to provide services that keep their systems going.  My father was a refrigeration mechanic (amongst other things) so I guess my family has a "service" history to it.  This service provision is what makes me "tick".  Finding opportunity to do it in music, and now especially musical theatre, is a real buzz, 'cos believe me, after about 25 years of it I'm really over computers...  If I make a mistake in my part when playing it is an annoyance, if I make a mistake with someones systems, well, I'm very conscious that I could cost them their business...  I prefer the lesser stress of the musical performance.
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #15 –
Quote
Some funny things happened - but that's another story.

I played Guys and Dolls in a teen-age production more than 40 years ago.  There's a fight scene set in a Havana bar, and of course the tables were those huge wooden spools the phone companies use for phone lines.  One got tipped over and rolled off the stage onto the tuba player,* dented the heck out of the instrument.

(* We were kids, so we used a tubist because we didn't know any bass players).


There's always been a concern about light from music stands in the pit being too bright, especially during blackouts when they change scenes.  One company always insisted we wear black so the light wouldn't reflect up.  Once I was told that in the production the previous year, a black cloth was stapled over the pit as a blackout curtain.  Unfortunately, the stage itself was also black, so during a production number, someone danced off the lip of the stage into the pit.  

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #16 –
Great stories David!

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #17 –
Yup, I agree with Barry. 
I plays 'Bones, crumpets, coronets, floosgals, youfonymums 'n tubies.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #18 –
Thanks, guys.  I friend I have these days is a tubist, and I don't think he plays musicals, but he's prepared.  He has a candleholder welded onto the front of his tuba "just in case" he needs extra light.

... or in case we play some light music

... at a bright tempo.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #19 –
Boom Boom !!

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #20 –
No, Boom Boom was a star hockey player when I was a youngster.  This guy's name is Jim.

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #21 –
(Long post)

Having not checked into this forum for a long time ...

Lamplighters: 

   ...  There are so many fond memories of your wonderful G&S productions when I lived in SF in the 1960s.

   ...  The Ruddigore where the ancestors stepped out of their pictures on the wall (they had stood stark-motionless behind scrims) was perfect.  Only a cliche in other Ruddigores, you handled it with tension and spookiness, through lighting and the music's dramatic pace.  I'll never forget how well that was managed.

   ...  The Mikado where Katisha's entrance could have been the end of the world -- not exaggerating it in any way.  You handled it with lighting, and with choral work that shook like thunderbolts in a hurricane.  No other Mikado I've seen -- major companies, no need to mention names -- has ever achieved that dramatic impact.

Funny -- one can do G&S as slapstick as so many do, sadly, and it fails utterly.  You Lamplighters knew how to respect and stimulate the intellect of your audience, and they cheered you for it afterward.

I recall a Boston Academy of Music 'Mikado' that was so bad ... as the audience crowded out afterward, through the foyer toward the street, there were grim looks everywhere.  My eyes happened to meet another person's there, and we only shook our heads.  It was awful.  And that was after their Trial by Jury done in a 20's vamp style that was juvenile slapstick.  Harsh words, to be sure.  Sadly, but thankfully, that group are no more.  They didn't know, and didn't learn.

But back to Lamplighters:    _Your_  Mikado was a treasure.  Serious enough to let the humor sink in, and to let the irony make folks relish the delight of thinking about it, until the next musical number carried them away.  You did G&S at its finest.

Superb.  Thank you, Lamplighters.

After one Lamplighters' Mikado, I remember a discussion with the cast (they always assembled in the lobby to meet the audience after the performance), in which Pooh-Bah mentioned how hard it was to be 'fresh' for a Friday night performance.  All the cast members had day jobs, and doing a Friday night gig was hard after the work week.  But Saturday night and Sunday matinee were fun for all the cast.

I asked if they'd ever considered Utopia, Limited.  Pooh-Bah told me they'd tried it once and it bombed.  I asked about The Grand Duke.  Pooh-Bah said they'd read through it and decided it would be a disaster.  You've got to believe Pooh-Bah.

They did a Princess Ida that brought out the best in that -somewhat secondary- G&S work.  Not a stunning commentary by Gilbert, but Sullivan's music was lyrical and soaring.  It was easy to see why it didn't rank with the top 'hits', but the Lamplighters' fortitude in bringing in to the stage showed their dedication, as well as their artistic depth, especially in the singing.

   ...  Iolanthe was, well, what can one say.  I've seen two since, and they pale.  As in other Lamplighters' G&S, you let Gilbert have his say.  No slapstick or vaudeville.  One blinks at Gilbert's lines, reflects, and then grins.  Then Sullivan takes it on to melody.

   ...  And your Sorcerer had a scene that made folks in the front rows startle when John Wellington Wells's spirits popped forth.

Those are the 'dramatic' recollections.  Beyond those, such singing.  Soloists and chorus.  Truly superb.

There's been only little approaching your Lamplighters' G&S, for many years.

One carp.  I attended one HMS Pinafore in which I think Captain Corcoran was drunk at the beginning of the second act.  Not so fine.  That would be about 1966 or so.  Perhaps he had tippled between acts.  His first act was good.  His second act opening solo sagged away and got lost.  I had brought guests to their first Lamplighters production.  I walked out.  Maybe I should stand corrected, and would be happy to do so.

But that's just one missed tick over a long set of years.

What fond memories have been stirred by the earlier posts in this forum.

Again, thank you, Lamplighters, for such memories.

Joe

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #23 –
Well before there was Boris Becker, there was Boom Boom Jeffrion (sp?). if I remember correctly he played for the Montreal Canadians of the National Hockey League. Thank you David for that trip back to my youth. Hadn't thought about Boom Boom in years.

Regards
Keith
Illigitimi Non Carborundum

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #24 –
Joseph André Bernard Geoffrion, Bernie Geoffrion, or Boom Boom.  Played on the same line as Maurice (the Rocket)  Richard and Jean Beliveau.

Those were the days......

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #25 –
Thank you for the correction of the spelling Robin. As a lifeliong Bruins fan I remember that powerful line of the Canadians all to well.

Keith
Illigitimi Non Carborundum
 

Re: And now for something a bit different...

Reply #26 –
Just found an old video I made when I accidently got a PC camera for Christmas--the giver didn't know the intended receiver had a camera built in.  At any rate this is a recording of the Indian Bell Song from Lakme, end if it anyway.  Enjoy (or not): Bell Song

It's on Scriptorium.
Since 1998