The schools are booking musicians early this year. A month ago I picked up my first spring show, Sister Act, and yesterday, Chicago (Teen Edition) landed in my inbox.
I've never played the former, so becoming familiar with that one will be a good thing. The latter, however... Oy! It will be my fourth time in four years playing that damned teen edition. Every time I do it, I think less of that version and less of the schools and audiences who embrace it. The sanitizing of the material, from the huge cuts in script and score to the incredibly lame substitutions for language and situations, make it a chore to sit through while biting my tongue. It must be a sure-fire seller, is all I can think. But I just don't get it.
Will I have fun playing it, though? Absolutely. Great music that's a challenge. Every time I do it it's like re-learning it, getting my fingers back into shape for it and working the tough passages daily. I've played both piano books and I'll be back on Piano 1 this time around. That's good because it has more to play, AND doesn't have the accordion part which many of us have to play on synth. I'm hopeful we'll get one of the people around here who plays the real thing. The scary thing is that the piano books in the full version of the show, while much the same as these, given what's included, have so much more challenging music - and I've never played that one.
