Well I understand A Chorus Line not having and overture, because then the show wouldn't seem as real. You could count the audition process as an overture if you'd like. It's all music, almost no singing...
I think it was Sunny Hill or Sunny Farm. It was a Kern and Hammerstein show that was about New Orleans. It opened similarly to Carousel, which did not have an overture. I think that Ms. Lopez is forgetting a few crucial shows before Chorus Line without overtures- Cabaret and Company for example.
"A Chorus Line" has an overture, Bennet decided to not use it, and therefore it's not in the show, in any format. Back when the revival's recording came out there was an article in the NY Times about the loss of the overture, and while "A Chorus Line" is usually credited as the first, I want to say there were 3 or 4 shows prior that did not have one. Does "Company" have one??
"A Chorus Line" has no overture because Bennett wanted to acquaint the audience with the dead silence that meets auditioners as they're waiting for their audition to start.
""A Chorus Line" has an overture, Bennet decided to not use it..."
Are you sure about that husk_charmer? It has always been my understanding that an overture was ruled out very early so it doesn't seem like any energy would have been wasted on creating one. (And I think the ACL "overture" that Marvin Hamlisch plays in his concert performances is pure schtick.)
I was gonna say Carousel...I guess you could say it's the first very well-known musical to not have an overture. It's funny, I'm reading a book analyzing the music in the best musicals, and I just started Carousel, and read about the Carousel Waltz and why they decided to do that in place of an overture and why it worked. Rodgers was never a fan of overtures, he always felt that there was too much brass and not enough strings, so the only parts you could hear are melodies that are blasted. There's this whole debate about whether the Carousel Waltz was originally written for this radio program, but anyway...it introduces all the major musical elements that makes the music to Carousel so distinct.
And let's not forget West Side Story in terms of shows without overtures long before Chorus Line. (Even though the production that's currently licensed does include one, the original just started with the Prologue. Bernstein wrote the overture but then decided not to use it).
"If there was a Mount Rushmore for Broadway scores, "West Side Story" would be front and center. It snaps, it crackles it pops! It surges with a roar, its energy and sheer life undiminished by the years" - NYPost reviewer Elisabeth Vincentelli
Ms. Lopez is forgetting a few crucial shows before Chorus Line without overtures- Cabaret and Company for example.
There you go, ljay.
"You never really understand a person until you consider things from his point of view - until you climb into his skin and walk around in it."
To Kill A Mockingbird
morosco- It was written with the intention of being there, but was cut before it started at the Public...it has since been tweaked into what is played at Hamlisch's concerts.
""A Chorus Line" has an overture, Bennet decided to not use it, and therefore it's not in the show, in any format. Back when the revival's recording came out there was an article in the NY Times about the loss of the overture, and while "A Chorus Line" is usually credited as the first, I want to say there were 3 or 4 shows prior that did not have one. Does "Company" have one??"
I read that article. It was ridiculous. It obviously gave no mind to the purpose of an overture as anything other than 3 minutes of music at the beginning of a show. Anyone who has seen A Chorus Line would know that an overture would feel completely out of place there.
Anyone who's heard the Chorus Line overture also know how poor it is. Hamlisch has never been a good overture writer. The "They're Playing Our Song" Overture is terrible as is "Smile"s.
If you're talking Broadway, the 1903 BABES IN TOYLAND at the torn-down 59th Street Majestic Theatre had no Overture: after 30 seconds or so of introductory music the Prologue began in pantomime.
>Anyone who's heard the Chorus Line overture also know how poor it is. Hamlisch has never been a good overture writer.<
Usually, the Overture is the work of the orchestrator, not the composer. The composer might have a hand in the routine or layout, but very few composers actually did the actual work.
>The "They're Playing Our Song" Overture is terrible<
The Overture is really a brief play-thru of the title song, but the Entr'acte is pretty special. Is that what you are calling "terrible"? Quite a bit of They're Playing Our Song was orchestrated by Ralph Burns, who I don't think wrote a bad chart in his life.
Begin at the beginning and go on till you come to the end: then stop.
Usually, the Overture is the work of the orchestrator, not the composer. The composer might have a hand in the routine or layout, but very few composers actually did the actual work.
I thought that the music arranger wrote it. I know Glen Kelly wrote it for The Producers.