A Snap, A Set and a Song - Musical

It's time again to link up with Thea at A Snap, A Set and A Song for this week's theme of Musical. This is a very special theme for me and my family, as you will see. We have been involved in many aspects of music for most of our lives.

Why not stop by A Snap, A Set and A Song and link up with your own Snap, Set and Song?

The Snap

If you have read my recent post, All You Have To Do Is Dream (and if you haven't, why not?),  you would know that I have now spent a lot of time in show pits - first as a violist, and then musical director/conductor. Ever wonder what it looks like in the pit with the orchestra? While each venue is different, and some "pits" are actually just spaces near the stage, here is a look at one in which I have worked. The larger shot was taken while the stage and sets were still being built. You can see my script on my left and my score and notes in front of me. You may also notice the set of claves and the slide whistle on my stand. Yes, I even got to play a few instruments during this show. (Little Shop of Horrors)

In the insert, you see me (thanks to my son taking this picture) actually conducting during a performance. (This was an unusual set-up as most of the band was actually behind me here.) You can also see a bongo drum to my left which I played as well.

The Set

This set shows just some of the involvement of my family in music. I concentrated only on the musical theater aspect and not some of the other bands that we have played in - together and separately. 

Going clockwise - me (and my viola) in a show pit ... my wife and I at the Tony Awards presentation at Radio City Music Hall in NYC ... my son and daughter at an early rehearsal of Guys and Dolls (my daughter was visiting and decided to sit in) ... my son coming from backstage after his final college performance in Chicago (The Musical, not the city ... note the soprano & tenor saxes, the clarinet and the stand to hold them all) ... me conducting one of my show bands.

The Song

This week, you will notice that all three parts of this post are "home-grown" so to speak. (No chance of us picking the same video this week Thea.) This is closing night of Fiddler on the Roof at the Snug Harbor Cultural Center here on Staten Island. That is my son on clarinet and my daughter on flute. This has special meaning for me as it was the final performance of the final show my daughter would play in a pit band for me, as shortly after this night she moved to Florida.

Teens, High School, Theater - A "Good News" Story

Usually when you read about teens in the news, it isn't good. Today I share with you a very good story about teens, their high school, and the largest theater on Staten Island.

Every spring, high schools here traditionally put on a musical. It usually involves a lot of students in the orchestra, the cast, and the technical crew to put it on. Generally the quality is pretty much what you might expect from a high school performance, and unless you are a parent, relative, or friend of someone involved in the show, you take little note of it.

This spring, however, one particular high school here on Staten Island was getting a lot of attention regarding their Spring Musical. Susan E. Wagner High School was performing Les Misérables, a very ambitious show for a high school to produce - even the slightly condensed school version. Yet, the word was that the show was far beyond the quality that one might expect from a high school production. Having been involved in musical theater myself for more than 40 years (as a musician and musical director) I considered going to see it, even though I do not have a child in the school. (Well, not as a student at least - my son is a science teacher there.) But, I never got around to it.

Then, something totally unheard of happened. The custodians of The St. George Theater, a nearly 100 year old landmark theater, went to see a performance. They liked what they saw so much that they decided to produce two performances at the St. George. This high school show would be performed in a classic theater, with a professional technical crew! The theater would arrange for and pay the rights for the two performances, the technical staff, and the transportation of all the sets from the school to the theater. I might mention now that this theater sits only blocks away from the ferry terminal where you would take a short ferry ride to get to Manhattan, and Broadway itself. These high school students would indeed be performing in the shadow of the Great White Way!

When my son called to say that he was getting tickets for him, his wife and some friends, and would my wife and I be interested, I immediately said yes.

Before the show started, the producers came out to say a few words about how they had seen the show at the high school and were so impressed that they decided to offer the school the opportunity to perform at the theater. They introduced the Deputy Boro President who also said a few words, but then introduced yet another dignitary - the Chancellor of the New York City Public School System ... the largest school system in the country. This was indeed a big event and all of the big guns were coming out. The fact that he came this evening - despite what you may think of his agenda - showed that he did indeed see this as a very positive thing for NYC's schools. It was wonderful seeing children honored for something positive for a change.

The show itself was all it was touted as being. The voices of the principal characters were very strong and the parts were all well sung. I was particularly impressed with the student playing Javert, a role which calls for a very powerful voice and performance. He was all of that and more!

The sets were not what you would expect of a high school production. Each set was a work of art, and they even had the signature revolving barricade.

The staging was on par with the rest of the production, and even some of the more difficult choreography pieces from the original show were kept and simplified so that this cast of non-professionals could perform it with the same effect as you would have seen on Broadway.

But of course, my favorite part of a show is always the orchestra and this one did not disappoint. The musical director - the assistant principal in charge of the music and performing arts departments, a former classmate of my own kids, and a musician I have performed with in the past - put together a full orchestra including all the necessary voices from strings, to brass, woodwind and percussion, which sounded totally professional.

There were times I totally forgot that I was watching a high school show!

As good as the show itself was, the story here was how the community, in the form of our most prestigious theater, recognized the good things that the faculty and students of Susan E. Wagner High School had accomplished. With the bad rap that teens and schools have been getting lately, it's important to see the positive side as well.