has anyone done a musical?

MadMark5 · #1 09-21-2007, 03:13 PM

hey folks,
a friend of mine is performing in a local theater production of Miss Saigon, and they were having trouble finding a bass player for the pit. he knew I'm currently in a new band that isn't gigging until jan and asked if I would be available.I gave him a price which I thought was a tad high per show hoping they would turn me down. he's a good friend so I didn't want to flat out say no since he's in a jam, and I need the money, but I was a little nervous since I've never done this sort of thing. anyway the production company came back and agreed on my price, so i guess I'm in...
has anyone done a musical before, and if so could you lend some insight? I have no idea what I've gotten myself into. the run is for 7 shows over 3 weekends. I'm getting all the sheet music and symphonic recording tonight, and I'll have 2 rehearshals before the first show at the end of october.I'm gonna be using my own rig, my ampeg porta250 and porta
2x12. not sure if the pit is going to be miced with overheads or what. thanks in advance.....

xlows · #2 09-21-2007, 03:21 PM

Just know the music very well and you should be fine. This gig is all about making the vocals sound good, so let the sound people manage you in the mix how they'd like to. Really, as long as you're very comfortable and solid with the music, you'll be just fine.

MonetBass · #3 09-21-2007, 03:48 PM

If you can read music/charts, you'll have no problem. Just get to know the songs well beforehand.

It's fun providing the mood for a show that is going on behind/in front of you. I've done "Anything Goes" (bass) and "Man of La Mancha" (classical guitar) and had a blast doing them.

Dave Martin · #4 09-21-2007, 03:55 PM

Yep - as long as you can read music, you'll be fine. if you can't, it might be tricky (though in a community theater production, you might get away with it if you learn the songs well).

I've done a few musicals, plus I used to sub some of the shows in our now defunct theme part. I'll admit that I was sightreading on the first rehearsals of the musicals (Fiddler, Music Man, Annie Get Your Gun), and I was sightreading the park shows on the first performances that I played. But I enjoy that sort of thing...

Jeff Martinez · #5 09-21-2007, 03:56 PM

Know the music. Be open to everything the director and sound engineer has to say... especially about volume and tone. It's their show, not yours. Most important, have fun. I've enjoyed every pit I've played in.

MadMark5 · #6 09-21-2007, 04:20 PM

heheh i suck at sight reading so I'm going to chart everything out before hand and practice to the recording, or at least I hope to.
thanks for all the insight. I'm actually feeling a little better and excited. it'll be nice to add this to the resume.

Morfman6 · #7 09-21-2007, 04:28 PM

+5 on know the music....my first musical was Gease and my reading was not that great so I had to hide away and almost memorize the book.....really it wasn't the songs that were difficult but the quiet, random, and seemingly non-musical changes in interludes and between dialog really made second guess myself alot.

when you start to relax, the pit is one of the funniest places in the world and the gig can be pretty fun. PS, stay away form rogers and hammerstien shows unless you like to count rest measures.

Jon Simonoff · #8 09-21-2007, 04:28 PM

I've done lots of shows. Damn Yankees, I love you You're Perfect Now Change, Urinetown, Crazy for you, All Shook Up, Something's Afoot, Little Princess, Wizard of Oz, Calamity Jane, and Oliver. I might have forgotten one even. My advice would be to work really hard with having the general form of the song down. Musicals can have lots of cuts and stuff which make them a challenge if you don't have the music down pretty solid. On the plus side, the bass part is usually a 2 feel kind of style so it's not like you have the hardest part by any means. Spend time learning where the song changes that feel, or has a bass fill and you'll be set.

WJGreer · #9 09-21-2007, 04:36 PM

I did many of them in college - A Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum, Heartbeats, Lost Armadillo Cafe, La Cage Aux Folles, and some minor ones within the University curriculum.

Great, low pressure work. You'll probably be in a pit out of sight. The tunes, as has been said, will most likely be two-feel I-V stuff, with perhaps some unison passages here and there. You want to act like you are in an orchestra (because you are), and really work with the conductor - dynamics, cues, etc., he or she will be your lead and see you there.

As for the sound, who knows - you could have a DI out, or there could just be some condensers above the whole orchestra picking everything up. Mostly you won't be placed in a position to have to worry about it.

I hope you enjoy the run and get a chance to do some more theater in the future. It's a very different and interesting musical experience. I met some of the strangest, most colorful, and quite frankly alternative people in that scene. It was totally broadening.

Best luck!

**Thor** · #10 09-21-2007, 04:38 PM

It will be some work, but you will have a ball.

I agree with the above, you will be working with a
director or band leader whose job it is to shape the sound.
You will need to follow the directions carefully, bring a pencil
and annotate your charts as you go. Pencil so you can
erase or make it bigger.

I played 6 string acoustic in Oklahoma, so I got to support
the opening song solo, jump in the pit,play there, then up
on stage and play along there as well. I had a blast.

This was community theater. The downsides were:

The paino was painfully untunable. To my ear. I mean piano.
The pianist/leader was a local piano teacher. It shocked me
she didn't work to get a better instrument in the mix.

The cellist was always flat. She claimed that when the exit
door behind her opened, it threw her out of tune when a
cold air blast came in. Actually, she was never able to tune
the thing to begin with. Hurt me like chalk on the chalkboard.
She was unpaid however.

The paid drummer was a prima donna. He would wait till the
lights went down and whip into the pit from the parking lot,
sticks in hand, to hit the first beat as soon as he got his butt
adjusted on the seat. I think he actually waited in the parking
lot to time this particular "I'm so great I can be unprofessional"
statement. I thought it was pretty bogus.

So, you may meet some players that are challenging to work with.
Be the best that you can be, and let the leader deal
with the rest.

All in all, I think you will find it a rewarding experience, I did.

skb5string · #11 09-21-2007, 04:54 PM

As stated many times, sight reading and know the charts. I've played tons of musicals and "pit jobs" I think they are really fun. A good band helps, I've done some where other members, drums piano ect were not ready for that so rehearsals were a bit trying. One thing to remember as a pit member is that the rehearsals (unless its just the Orch) are really for the cast members, lighting and sound. At least they can end up turing into that. I've been to dress rehearsals where it was the first time the cast ever made it through the whole show all at once. So it's up to the band members to know their stuff and most of all be flexable to changes. The directors may find that the sence change music is not long enough and they may ask for more time or some situations like that so just be ready for anything. I love it though, I'll take a pit show anyday over a bar gig. Just my 2 cents. Good luck and have fun. Oh - Always, always keep and eye on the Orch leader/Director. Very, very important

WJGreer · #12 09-21-2007, 05:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by skb5string

I'll take a pit show anyday over a bar gig.

+1

enim · #13 09-21-2007, 06:41 PM

Being in the pit is pretty fun, especially if your among friends as musicians.

Tips: Learn the songs, not only from music, but by ear a bit too. chances are you'll be rocking back and forth from the root to the fifth below. You gotta be the rock, more so then the piano or drummer.

You'll be suprised, by the way, how many jokes you can make without making noise.

fenderhutz · #14 09-21-2007, 06:44 PM

I did Wizard of Oz in a pit as well as a Disco Revival Musical. Good good times.

Dave Martin · #15 09-21-2007, 11:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by enim

prised, by the way, how many jokes you can make without making noise.

The last show I did, the trumpet player and the trombonist were text messaging jokes to each other all through the show...

MadMark5 · #16 09-21-2007, 11:25 PM

wow, seriously, thanks to everyone who posted. it's been a big help. man I love this place....

shostkontrabass · #17 09-21-2007, 11:47 PM

As the others have said, just make sure you know the music and you will be fine. I have done quite a few pit shows, and they are always 2-3 rehearsals and then showtime. Everyone always has their part learned, so it's never a problem. In all reality, pit orchestras, or at the least the ones I've played in are really fun places. A lot of the people have been playing in the pit for a lot of years and all know each other, it's a really friendly environment; you'll have lots of good stories once you're done.

Good idea bringing your own rig, sometimes playhouse bass amps have really old paper speaker cabs = not the sound you are used to.

Just have fun with it. It's always really cool to realize on closing night that you have all the lines memorized but have still never seen the actors. This isn't the case if there are video monitors or if you get a spot in the pit where you can peer onto the stage when you aren't playing, but I personally have only been able to watch the actors on one occasion.

rfclef · #18 09-22-2007, 01:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OKStateBass66

If you can read music/charts, you'll have no problem. Just get to know the songs well beforehand.

It's fun providing the mood for a show that is going on behind/in front of you. I've done "Anything Goes" (bass) and "Man of La Mancha" (classical guitar) and had a blast doing them.

I did "Anything Goes" on tuba for a teacher friend's HS production...

CamMcIntyre · #19 09-24-2007, 09:23 PM

I've done a few musicals thus far [it's my dream gig].

Full productions: The Wizard of Oz, Grease, The Mystery of Edwin Drood, And Then Again..., and then later on this semester i'm onboard to do the school production of Starting Here Starting Now.

I've also played bits and pieces from a wide variety of musicals.

Know the music like it has been said. When i'm learning the music for a gig [whether jazz, rock, or pit] i put the music on my iPod and listen to it none stop. This way it even gets into my subconscious. The people above that said learn the song too, not just the music-i agree with entirely. There's been several times where the Music Director opts to have us extend sections, play offs, add extra beats, etc.

Miss Saigon is actually one of them that i have played bits and pieces from. It was a lot of fun. I feel inclined to ask-are you a doubler or just electric? Whether or not I double/which bass has been mostly an issue of how big is the pit/area that we are playing. I always leave the call up to the MD. When i was playing for my high school musicals-i always played electric bass because if i played upright, i'd be sticking up over the edge of the pit the entire show.

In college thus far i've done just upright as it's what was called for in the book. I don't recall if Miss Saigon is a mixed DB & BG book or just one or the other.

Amp wise? Definitely ask the music director. I've used everything from my own amp [SWR WM12] w/a DI, to just a DI. Granted-the just a DI was when i was playing DB in a 6 piece pit of all acoustic instruments.

A summary: i love theater gigs. I'd take a theater gig over nearly any other gig [like-i'm having a hard time thinking of a gig i'd rather take].

scottbass · #20 09-24-2007, 09:37 PM

Everything said here is correct:
Playing for a musical is a gas.
You've gotta know the music extremely well.
The bass keeps the whole thing together, especially the little interludes. You have to lead those little things.

Here are my unique tips:

The WORST thing that can happen is getting lost. The second worst (and related) thing is having your music fall off the stand all over the floor. Punch holes in everything and put it in a three ring binder. Put tabs on the pages to help you turn them quickly. Put bigger tabs on some of the pages to identify where each song starts. Get some of those spring-loaded clothes pins to hold loose pages to the music stand and to hold the three ring binder to the stand.

Make sure you have a stand light. Make sure it works. Make sure you (or someone) has an extra bulb for it.

And finally, bring a pencil. Bring 2 pencils in case one breaks. There will be cuts, repeats, etc. to mark. You will want to write the director's instructions, especially concerning volume and tempo.

HAVE FUN! If you know the music very well going in, it's guaranteed to be the highlight of your year - at least musically.