I Dreamed A Dream Ending

It was re-orchestrated in 2010 for the 25th anniversary tours and before that it was re-orchestrated in 2004 when it moved from the Palace Theatre to the Queen's Theatre (now Sondheim), which has a considerably smaller pit. Actually this time it wasn't really re-orchestrated, they simply cut a lot of musicians. Harpists always pay the highest price and they're the first to be cut - I think The Phantom of the Opera is the only show that still has a harp in the pit (at least in London). I think they just started using the scaled-down version for tours and the first Broadway revival.

In 2004 Cameron Mackintosh said ""The main thing is that the show has been re-scored for the smaller orchestra with the new keyboard systems — a quantum leap forward in technology. So the majority of the players are now front-line soloists, the rank-and-file element has gone. So the show is articulated as if by 40 soloists. You can hear things that you’ve never heard before outside of the concert hall". This is a bit generous tbh and the reduction of the strings in particular was very noticeable and definitely not an improvement.

imeldasturn said: "I think The Phantom of the Opera is the only show that still has a harp in the pit (at least in London)."

As of November 2019 (not long before the shutdown), Phantom Broadway still had a harp in the pit. I'm sure that musician will be eliminated by Cameron Mackintosh in London (and New York as well, if he gets his hands on the Broadway production).

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Updated On: 4/5/21 at 09:12 AM

My God, that Aretha Franklin ending gets me laughing every time, lol.

But seriously, a harp is one of the easiest things to emulate on a keyboard. I'm not familiar with a clarinet/trumpet ending, but if anyone did that it was surely a choice, not a necessity. A real harp would be one of the first things to go if you're being forced to scale down the orchestra, but I subbed on the recent national tour and played the harp part (on the keyboard) at the end, solo.