ADD: Save Live Music on Broadway- Now!

Posted: 5/16/11 at 8:51am

https://www.broadwayworld.com/article/Save-Live-Music-On-Broadway-Campaign-Launches-Protests-PRISCILLA-20110515


Priscilla=piped in music??

the horror.

Funny- i recall CONTACT winning Best Musical in 2000.
Wasn't the whole show canned?
How do Tony voters allow something like that to happen?
It may have been a great show-or a dance show- or a special event....
But canned music should have disqualified a best MUSICAL category.



anyway....I am all for this.
It's time people start calling out these producers trying to save a buck or two for not wanting to bring in live musicians. shame on them.

and Kudos to Marc Shaiman for threatening to walk out of Catch Me- if they canned music.

i respect him more than I already do.

https://www.nytimes.com/2011/05/16/theater/broadway-union-takes-on-priscilla-over-recorded-music.html?_r=1&ref=theater


add SAVE LIVE MUSIC ON BROADWAY to your Facebook page NOW!!!

https://savelivemusiconbroadway.com/


Updated On: 5/16/11 at 08:51 AM

[Mr Roxy]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 10:10am

Naturally the money that is saved will be used to reduce ticket prices . Wink Wink Nudge Nudge

How about virtual actors? A bare stage lets your imagination work. No lighting is green theater by saving on electricity.No costumes is avant garde.The possibilities are endless.

Updated On: 5/16/11 at 10:10 AM

Posted: 5/16/11 at 10:34am

I can't believe that in 7 years, the full price of an orchestra ticket has increased 50 dollars.


And they still refuse to pay an orchestra?
the nerve.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 10:57am

Has Priscilla been doing this since previews? I remember seeing the conductor pushing buttons on a box in the pit and wondering what it was. Is he running the pre-recorded music?

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 11:02am

“This is not an orchestral show — it’s a show with disco music,” Mr. McQuinn said. “We’re not motivated here to save money or kill jobs. I simply don’t know what I would do with violinists or string players or other extra musicians if we were required to have them. And, yes, I’d rather not have to pay four or six or eight more musicians to basically sit in the pit and do nothing.”

Disco music was full of strings! That was one of its trademark sounds. I can't believe Gary McQuinn said that. Makes it sound like he has never actually listend to disco music and is in this just for the money...oh, wait.

Updated On: 5/16/11 at 11:02 AM

Posted: 5/16/11 at 11:13am

a string arrangement is one of the vital musical essences of most of the musical careers of donna summer, gloria gaynor, early madonna, alicia bridges, and everyone else's music they borrow from in that show.

Posted: 5/16/11 at 11:19am

I know no one wants to see jobs eliminated but in modern life technology has made certain jobs replaceable. Producers aren't running a charity, they're running a business, and if certain jobs aren't needed, it's understandable that they be eliminated. Rightly or wrongly, orchestra musicians have become obsolete. Unless the musicians are on stage, live music does not add to the experience since the audience can't tell if the music is live or not. That may sound like sacrilege to some, but it's a fact. Play a show with taped music and ask the audience if they noticed a difference. They won't.

I don't think it's fair to try to force producers to pay people who aren't needed. It's that mentality that partially created the fiscal mess the government is in. For example, the postal service loses billions every year but will never be closed because of all the lost jobs. No one wants to see jobs disappear but capitalism is based on exchanging compensation for a service that will aid they employer. If the service is not aiding the employer, it is reasonable for it to be eliminated. The producers are putting their money on the line with the show and it is fair for them to try to keep costs down while not hurting the show. It is not fair to force them to continue paying people who aren't needed just because it's seen as the "right thing" to do.

[Eris0303]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 12:21pm

Where were these folks when the producers of Marvelous Wonderettes fired all of their musicians in order to use pre-recorded music. And sometimes not even correctly. I recall a performance where an the ending of a song replayed while they were already getting ready to start the next song.

[Moneyspider]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 12:23pm

I thought it was neat having a band onstage in Catch Me if You Can but I also get it's a matter of economics. I assume it's just a matter of the orchestra getting paid for a single studio session instead of each performance. I remember hearing how the theme song for Bonanza was rerecorded for each season it ran on tv.

[uncageg]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 12:33pm

spider, I see what you are saying but they are eliminating live music and charging more money to see a show. A lot of us can tell if the music is live or not. At least I can for the most part. Electronic strings sound different.

Posted: 5/16/11 at 1:01pm

electronic strings? are they playing the "strings" on a keyboard (MIDI instrument)?

i thought they just recorded people playing "real" instruments and then are pressing play during the show instead of having it recreated live during the performance. If they're using recordings of real instruments, people shouldn't be able to tell the difference since either way they're only hearing the music through speakers. if they're recreating "real" instruments using electronics then i completely agree people will be able to tell the difference and it would harm the production.

and i completely agree that removing live musicians wouldn't reduce ticket price at all and i'd much rather see the musicians get the money than the producers. i don't want to see people lose their jobs either but really, anytime technology aids society, some manual laborer (which live musicians kind of are) is probably losing his job.

[DooWahDiddy]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 8:57pm

But it's not really "aiding society", is it? I see where you're coming from, but I really think you're underestimating just how important it is to hundreds of thousands of people. I mean, if you really don't care whether or not the music is live, then why don't you go to Lincoln Center and listen to a recording of Beethoven's 5th? After all, if the strings were recorded using real instruments then it shouldn't matter, right?

You're being awfully narrow-minded about the power of live music, and about what makes Broadway great; that it's not the exact same show every night. Your statement "live music does not add to the experience" is your opinion. Please stop presenting it as a fact.

[TheatreFan4]

Posted: 5/16/11 at 9:03pm

Priscilla really does have prerecorded music? For shame Priscilla.

[roadmixer]

Posted: 5/19/11 at 5:51am

Check out the EXCELLENT sounding Sister Act which includes real strings coexisting nicely with disco. It can be done!