On Jun 17, 2006, at 4:31 PM, John Howell wrote:
Part of my orientation is that we've been pretty conservative and done mostly shows that are older, sure-fire, and will draw good audiences. "Annie" may be the latest we've done, and that's approaching 30 years old. And even though "Kate" falls into that category (opened in 1948), this is my first experience with a modern Broadway orchestration.
I've been biting my tongue about this ever since this thread started, but I can't stand it any more. Why in the world would anyone do a reorchestrated version of *any* broadway musical if they possessed the forces and money to put on the original version? More to the point, why would anyone *attend* such a performance?
Yes I know Cole Porter didn't do his own orchestrations, but the one that was done in his name is clearly what he wanted, to the extent that it is extensively detailed in the vocal score. By contrast, the original scenery, blocking, etc. are only vaguely specified in any of the published performance materials. That is because they were not integral to the work itself--but the orchestration clearly is.
If you want to do Cole Porter's _Kiss Me Kate_, do Cole Porter's _Kiss Me Kate_--not somebody else's travesty of it. That the perpetrators of these kinds of things know that they are doing wrong can be deduced from the fact that a) fuller orchestrations are always laid on for the critics and b) the reorchestrations are never advertised--at least, not in any type you can read w.o a magnifying glass.
A few years back I attended a B'way "revival" of _On the Town_ only to find that the orchestation (Bernstein's! His very own!) had not, in fact, been revived. To my eternal shame I did not march right out of there and demand my money back; but I did vow: never again. Goodbye for good, Broadway--until you come to your senses. I'd rather see an honest highscool production.
Andrew Stiller Kallisti Music Press http://home.netcom.com/~kallisti/ _______________________________________________ Finale mailing list Finale@shsu.edu http://lists.shsu.edu/mailman/listinfo/finale
