My main gig for the spring is playing the Broadway musical, Fun Home, at the CAA Theatre in Toronto. I’m covering woodwinds and guitars for it.
The original woodwind book is flute/English horn/clarinet/bass clarinet/tenor sax. The original guitar book is acoustic, electric, 12 string acoustic, 12 string electric, nylon string.
The combined book I'm playing for the production is English horn/flute/clarinet/bass clarinet/acoustic guitar/electric guitar. Effects are minimal; all I need is wah and tremolo.
The acoustic I'm using is a BC Rico (not Rich!) RW-2a. It was made in Japan in the late 70's. It's equipped with an L.R. Baggs Lyric pickup. That runs into an L.R. Baggs Venue preamp/DI.
The electric is my Godin SD with EMG strat pickups. Stompboxes are a Korg Pitchblack tuner, Boss Auto Wah, and a Source Audio Vertigo tremolo pedal. The ZT Lunchbox is my monitor for rehearsal, but I may end up running direct with a Joyo American Sound as the amp sim.
Here's the cast on The View, performing Come To The Fun Home:
We moved into the CAA Theatre in Toronto today. I’m using my S&P 12-string for the acoustic numbers, as the jangly goodness is called for in several numbers.
Yep, I cut my teeth on community theatre shows 40 years ago. Sadly, they pay the same or less than they used to, even though they sink a ton of money into sound/lights/costumes.
I’ll only do professional theatre these days. Decent money, and pension contributions as well.
@Merlin you animal. That’s crazy awesome. To pull that offf. No kidding. Hats off man. Ripping through that many parts with that many instruments is ridiculous. And I’m sure you do it with ease. I’m a bit jealous.
Historically for woodwind players on shows it’s expected. Likewise, guitar books on shows often have the player doubling on acoustics, electrics, mandolin, banjo, and utilizing all manner of effects. It’s still a bit of an outlier to be combining woodwinds and guitars.
It would be fun to do a straight guitar book on a show. I’ve got my banjo ready to go!
Once, when asked if I did percussion, I replied in the negative and then qualified it with "it depends what". I don't consider myself a drummer, but I can keep time like any other musician, and have a small collection of rhythm things, hand drums, shakers, wooden spoons, etc. All they wanted was some modest djembe and were providing a piece of sheet steel to emulate thunder. Sure, I do percussion. I am the God of thunder!
If memory serves, while still in high school I played guitar, helped lead a vocal chorus, and played a giraffe. Head on, sing with some little kids, head off and into the pit to strum a bit, head on, herd some kids around, head off and into the pit again. Sometimes you just have to take a job for the sheer surrealism.
How common is it in musical theatre for musicians to play live along with recorded tracks? I was at a production lately that I thought must have been doing this.
How common is it in musical theatre for musicians to play live along with recorded tracks? I was at a production lately that I thought must have been doing this.
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