Good morning, all! I wasn't aware of the orchestral dissension, but I have to say, in behalf of the band, I'll bet not one of them has been in the throes of a new production wherein new material is thrown at them daily and there is practically no rehearsal time to talk through or play through the cues.
It ain't easy from their end or my end. They like to be on top of things, they now have a million new sheets of ridiculous squiggles, some lasting a second before they have to jump without warning to another page with one bar of sound effects. while the MD has already started playing something else. It's hard work. I'm sure when they all agreed to play, they thought they'd get a completed book of parrts to play from.
I try to accommodate them as best I can, but I have no time and no assistant to edit or reduce these bits onto one or two pages or to write in the dialogue cues. Last night, when we should have talked through the new pieces, the band had to deal with the sound ladies who should have been to the sitzprobe to familiarize themselves a bit with the score and maybe ask a few questions. I'm sure the question is "who's paying me to do this?" and that factors the decision.
I have to say, I've been spolied at Goodspeed, where the players all know from so many shows that they're getting things thrown at them throughout early previews.
On the other side of the coin, following my early morning meltdown, I accomplished agreat deal yesterday, not as much as I wanted, but I could not have done it without our DR Adrianna Patti or the lovely Merrill Grant who helped me enormoulsy with photocopying, paper cuttiing and getting the books in order. I have another day of this madness: several adjustments in existing cues, a new and shorter overture, some help to cue The Brain in his singalong, and hoepfully the last of the incidental cues.
Up and away!
