The musical shows thread

[bassybill]

What shows have you guys who get theatre work done? Share your experiences.

My list...

Fiddler on the Roof - challenging in places. Good fun (as are most shows, to be fair).
Bugsy Malone - great fun for kids.
Les Mis - zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz...
Sound of Music - see Les Mis.
Thoroughly Modern Millie - some very catchy numbers, fun to play.
Wizard of Oz - again, fun for kids.
Grease - 'nuff said.
Annie - not as bad as you might think.
Little Shop of Horrors - a bassist's dream. Funky!
Oliver - some nice tunes in this.

[Hoover]

Of Thee I Sing
The Threepeny Opera
Godspell
Phantom Of The Opera
Jesus Christ Superstar
Born To Sing
When You're One
...plus a ton of reviews & excerpt-type variety shows.

[bassybill]

So, how does the gig usually get done? I tend to get given the dots a week or so before and maybe spend a hour or three looking them through. Then it's often just one band call straight before a full dress rehearsal (ironing out all the stage direction and stuff), first night 24 or 48 hours later.

This always seems to get us though without any major disasters, but it has to be said that the band usually sounds a lot tighter two or three nights in.

[tplyons]

When I was working with the local high school, practice started a month before one night a week, two weeks later it was two nights a week, and the week of the performance it was every night.

I've done
* Guys & Dolls (alto sax)
* Gypsy (tenor sax & clarinet)
* Sound of Music (fretless electric)
* Footloose (electric bass)

[geeza]

Shows I've done:
Wizard of Oz
The Fantasticks
Godspell (two different productions)
A Chorus Line
Tobacco Road (ok - it's not a musical, but the director wanted some music in places, so a couple of us recorded some bluegrass and old CW standards)

[WashburnBasser]

I just finished playing Urinetown.

[BassChuck]

I can't remember them all, but here are some.

Fiddler on the Roof
Les Mis
Sound of Music (X3)
Oklahoma (X5)
South Pacific X2
Guys and Dolls
Grease X3
Threepenny Opera
JC Superstar X3
Music Man
West Side Story X3
Godspell
Pumpboys and Dinnettes
My Fair Lady
Funny Girl
Roar of the Greasepaint
Fantastics
Little Mary Sunshine

There's more..... I'm doing "Little Shop" in August

[bassybill]

^^^ You're going to enjoy that one! I'm doing Little Shop for my second stint this month. Some really good finger funk type stuff in that score, nice fluid lines.

The company I did Millie with this year is doing Annie Get Your Gun next year, so I'm hoping to snag that gig as well.

[WalterBush]

Lessee, my first paying work was doing theatre stuff...

Oklahoma
Paint Your Wagon
Bye Bye, Birdie
West Side Story (difficult! Awesome fight scene scores, though)
Seussical the Musical
Singin' in the Rain (complete with real rain on the appropriate song)
Once on this Island
Beauty and the Beast (Disney version...fun score, and they built a 15 ft castle on stage, and stuck us on one of the parapets)

Seems to me that I'm forgetting a couple, but there it is.

[JTE]

I've only done a few for high school shows. My sons (now 27 and 31) were big into HS theatre. The older one in fact is a free-lance lighting designer/tech. So when they needed electric guitar or bass for a show and none of the high school students were ready or available I'd do it.

I played guitar for "Little Shop of Horrors" and "Bye Bye Birdie". At the first tech rehearsal for "Little Shop..." I figured that they should have had me play bass instead of guitar, as one of the HS music teachers was playing bass with her left hand on a cheap electric piano.

The most fun was playing bass for "Jesus Christ, Superstar". Great drummer on the gig, and the music was fun.

jte

[rockitmarty]

Originally Posted by bassybill

Little Shop of Horrors - a bassist's dream. Funky!

I just did bass for this show at my college...and you're right, I think I had the most fun out of anybody in the show!

[CamMcIntyre]

I've done:

The Wizard of Oz (electric bass)-high school
Grease (electric bass)-high school
Starting Here, Starting Now (electric & upright)-college
The Mystery of Edwin Drood (upright)-college
The Wild Party (Lippa) (electric & upright)-college, twas a blast
High School Musical (electric)-subbed in last weekend of a civic run. Got the music 3 hours before my lone rehearsal. Was a lot of fun.
My Fair Lady (upright)-first paid pro show
Damn Yankees (upright)
Gentlemen Prefer Blondes (upright)
Zombie Prom (electric) for a Jr. High school. Those kids did awesome.
Evita (electric)-we're getting ready for our last 4 shows. We're on our second extension. It was scheduled to close in April...got a few weekends in May and then we're doing these next two weekends of just Friday/Saturday shows.

[One Bad Monkey]

The ones I've done in the past year have been...

The Full Monty (elec) - summerstock, currently running
Joseph & the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat (elec) - summerstock
Bye Bye Birdie (elec) - local high school...this one was a wreck, due to the lackadaisical attitude of the director
All Shook Up (elec) - local high school
West Side Story (urb) - local university
A Chorus Line (elec) - civic theatre
Rocky Horror Show (elec) - summerstock, with Fee Waybill of the Tubes
Rent (elec) - summerstock, a highlight to play (still have half of it memorized)

Upcoming shows:

Tommy (elec) - summerstock Jul-Aug
Civil War (elec) - summerstock Aug-Sept
Evil Dead (elec) - community theatre Sept-Oct
Undecided musical, possibly Little Shop (not sure) - high school (she's good about securing her "favorite musicians" early) Jan-Feb '10
Chicago (urb) - local university Mar '10
Rent (elec) - community theatre Apr '10
Jeckyll & Hyde (not sure) - civic theatre May '10

Depending on the music director, I'll either get the music a month early with a CD of the show, or a week prior. I'll usually give it a cursory look, and if I need to work on anything (like I did for Rent), I'll make sure it's down well before I set foot at the theatre.