ASSASSINS ORCHESTRATIONS

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 1:40pm

Why do the Tonys allow for the orchestrations to be nominated for this show, but not the score? It makes no sense. Are the orchestrations that different from the original production?

[JohnPopa]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 1:42pm

Wasn't the original done with just a piano, guitar and a drum or somesuch? I know the arrangements on the recording were greatly expanded from what was done at Playwright's Horizon.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 1:46pm

That's what I wanted to know. Thanks, John. I only have the OCR.

[ottawa_theatre]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 1:52pm

The Score would have qualified for a Tony nomination when it was originally presented. After that, it's the orchestrations which make a difference in the presentation over the years, but the original score doesn't change.

[SueleenGay]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 2:04pm

That was my question, Ottawa. So the orchestations for this production are totally new? Or are they the same as on the OCR?

[magruder]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 2:21pm

EXCEPT, neither Assassins nor Little Shop of Horrors were eligible for the Tony Awards for their Off-Broadway original productions, so Sondheim and Weidman have never been Tony-eligible for the score and book for Assassins, and by that same token, Howard Ashman and Alan Menken for the book and score for Little Shop of Horrors. It's a pitfall of this new Tony "classic" rule.

Assassins was performed with either three keyboards or two keyboards and percussion originally Off-Broadway. For the recording, Michael Starobin filled out the orchestration for as much as 28 to 33 musicians. I'd believe that the current Assassins orchestration is a modification of the orchestrations for the recording...but some things sounded a little different to me. (For those who have not been to Assassins yet, one of the distinct pleasures is hearing the orchestra, which is split in two, located on opposite sides of the house, in the boxes. You hear the live sound of instruments emanating from eiher side of you, instead of being piped in artificially from the pit. Very cool).

Updated On: 6/8/04 at 02:21 PM

[GovernorSlaton]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 5:49pm

The orchestrations sounded AMAZING in Assassins, especially with the two sides. I was very happy it won, and I'm usually not excited by the technical awards.

[secret-soul]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 7:50pm

Yes, it's different. It's more of a full orchestra now and they play from both the house left and house right balconies. The conductor does his job from the house left side.

[Jon]

Posted: 6/8/04 at 8:03pm

To clarify:

The original Off-Broadway version was just two keyboards and percussion. Starobin did orchestations for the original cast album. He has done completely new ones for this revival.