Free

[steveshack]

Posted: 11/23/06 at 8:45pm

Ever since our first off-Broadway musical, The Last Session, opened in 1997 I've tried to find new and creative ways to use the Internet to (I admit) promote our work. Back then, the Internet was young and few people were learning how to use it. I set what turned out to be a landmark idea: a diary/blog. It was, in fact, the first blog ever created for a theatrical production (that I know of).

This time around, as we prepare to open on Nov. 30th at a brand new off-Broadway theatre on 47th Street, I thought it might be fun to do something else I've never heard of anyone doing before: I'm releasing, for free personal use, a copy of the entire score. My goal is to get people singing my songs, of course.

(Last week, I debuted our big love ballad, "How Do You Fall Back In Love?" at a singer/composer salon run by musical director, Mark Janas, at the Rouge Wine Bar down in the Village. Several singers in the room asked me if the could learn the number and perform it around town. I was very honored that they asked -- and Jim and I are going to be back there this Sunday night around 9:30 or so.)

So, for anyone here who is a singer or a musical director. Or perhaps you're looking for new song or two for auditions, you can go to the link below and freely download either the entire score or just individual songs. The most "celebrated" song, critically, in the several years we've been doing the show around the country is the aforementioned "How Do You Fall," but "Beyond The Light" is a good blues number. The songs are either in pdf or Word format.

Enjoy! And let me know what you think! (Also, a few of the words are show-specific, so if you want me to change a few of them for more general purposes, let me know.)

You can HEAR several of the songs at http://thebigvoice.com/music.

The Score of The Big Voice: God or Merman? Updated On: 11/23/06 at 08:45 PM

[TheatreDiva90016]

Posted: 11/23/06 at 8:58pm

Wow! This is what this web site and the internet are all about!

Big kudos to you!

[NathanLaneStalker]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 1:17am

Wow is right! Thanks steveshack!!!

[steveshack]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 7:30am

I'm so happy you guys approve. Someone on another Board criticized me that this is shameless self-promotion. Well, duh! I freely admit it! But I'm at least offering something in return. And I've always used the Internet in ways no one had used it before me. Someday, I'll be a big star and then they'll be glad they downloaded it.

I did notice that the title of this thread was changed. I didn't change it, so I assume the moderators did?

Steve Schalchlin
New York Big Voice Video Blog

[Yankeefan007]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 8:14am

Shameless Self-Promotion is what life's all about! I took a look at the score last night (I don't sing - I play) and it was very nice. Kudos.

[steveshack]

Posted: 11/24/06 at 9:02am

Here's to Shameless Self-Promotion!

>I took a look at the score last night (I don't sing - I play) and it was very nice. Kudos.

Thank you! I come from a band/club/church (same thing!) background, so we normally never wrote out full scores for our songs, just lead sheets for the other band members. When our show, THE LAST SESSION, played off-Broadway and was optioned by Sam French, the producers hired someone to do a "take-down" of Bob Sillman's piano playing for the show. While Bob did a great job, it wasn't always what I would have done, but French wanted an exact copy of the stage performance (which I understand).

This time around, I decided to write out the entire score myself. For all those music majors with doctorates in composition, probably not a big deal. But for me, because I'm an improvisational player, I'm never really quite conscious of the exact notes. In my mind, when I'm playing -- I sing and play during the show -- I don't really think about what my hands are doing. They just go to the right chords. Know what I mean?

I would appreciate very much letting me know if you find passages which are particularly clumsy or difficult to read. We intend, after opening, assuming we have a "run," to replace ourselves in the cast and I definitely want this to be playable for future actors in this role.

Thanks!

Steve Schalchlin
Composer/lyricist of THE LAST SESSION
and THE BIG VOICE: GOD OR MERMAN?
New York Big Voice Video Blog

[best12bars]

Posted: 11/25/06 at 1:20pm

Bump!

http://www.playbill.com/news/article/103694.html

Very cool, steveshack!


EDIT: BTW, what the hell happened to your header?? Thread headers have been acting really weird lately, deleting words and adding "re:" on the front, for some unknown reason.

Updated On: 11/25/06 at 01:20 PM