Today starts our last week of shows for 9 to 5. And for this particular show, I've actually learned a lot; most of it is style of playing and getting the right instruments.
1) Playing woodwinds for a classical show and a contemporary show are on opposite ends of the spectrum. When I played Wizard of Oz last summer (clar/bs clar/bari), the woodwinds often blended in with each other. There were some solos I had with the clarinet but other than that I blended in with the other players. The bari sax part often stayed on the lower range and only once did it hit the altissimo range (in The Cyclone underscoring). 9 to 5, on the other hand (clar/t sax/bari), kind of represents the backup band for a 70's song. I had a ton of solos, mostly in the tenor sax. The clarinet part was used in ballads but was used in some upbeat songs. The bari sax had a lot of notes in the altissimo range; it was also the only instrument I used to play the music for the first ten minutes of the show.
2) Sometimes covering a bass clarinet part on a soprano clarinet is not right. This created quite a fuss on this thread, but my conductor specifically told me to use the instruments he wanted me to play on. And besides, there's not much bass clarinet in the book either and due to limited space I couldn't use it. But from the people who replied on this thread I've learned that sometimes a bass clarinet is put into the score because of its tonal color. I never knew that in all seriousness. But next time when I get a woodwind book that calls for bass clarinet, I'll do my best to acquire one.
Well, I guess that's it. This was a great show. Catchy music, great dialogue, all that jazz. It was a great thing to cap off my summer before I head out to college. I've learned a lot about music styles and apparent common sense. Can't wait to be in the pit for my next musical (or maybe even be musical director/pit conductor)!
