If other shows were done like sweeney..

what instruments would you assign the roles if you were to doyle-ify it

Rent: (hard to do since theres not alot of instruments in their band to begin with)
Mark- keyboards
Roger- guitar (obviously)
Angel- Percussion
Collins- bass,percussion
mimi- guitar
maureen- keyboards, bass
joanne-keyboards

DRS:
Lawrence- piano, violin, Banjo(for "Oklahoma?")
Freddy- Tuba, Percussion, Guitar
Andre- Piano, Trumpet
Muriel- Violin, cello
Christine- flute, cello
Jolene- Trumpet,percussion

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I'd give them all kazoos.

Its funny when you think about how many Sondheim shows really lend themselves to this method.

I think the John Doyle method would work exceptionally well with Assassins.

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OY! Please no more shows where the actors play the instruments. Musicians need work, too!

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^I definately agree with you...I could see the charcters playing the instruments I've listed above, but it would be campy in them and awful...it doesn't work for most shows...especially the ones I listed above, IMO. I look at this as a fun way to try to match up instruments to the personalities of characters.

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jimnysf, I agree

Sunday i was gonna say the exact same thing. It was intresting...ONCE

John Doyle, in addition to Mahoganny, Lucia di Lammermoor and Amadeus, is working on Stephen Sondheim's A Litle Night Music. Sondheim said that he was looking forward to it, having seen a previous actor-musician production of the show, it is a perfect show for this approach.

I was also going to add that Doyle has already directed an award-winning production of Fiddler on the Roof, which was a brilliant rethink of the show.

If other shows were done like Sweeney, I wouldn't pay money to see it. I expect a full orchestra at any show I go to, with live musicians playing the orchestra parts, and the actors on stage acting, doing their lines, etc. Not both at the same time.

Wow, you don't know how diffuclt Doyle and Travis' jobs must be until you try to distribute the orchestral parts among characters in a show.

FOLLIES
Phylis- Violin, Clarinet
Ben- PercussionDrums, Piano
Sally- Oboe, Flute
Buddy- Trumpet, PercussionDrums
Carlotta- Trombone, Cello
Hattie- Bass, Violin
The Whitmans- DrumsPercussion
Stella- Trumpet, Tuba
Heidi- Harp, Violin

The younger counterparts can play in a song their respective counterpart is in. For example, durring "Could I Leave You?" You Phylis could play the violin. In some cases, they actors will play while they sing. (Ex- "Broadway Baby", Hattie could play the violin solo while she sings.)

Wow, I'm going into too much detail about this. Sad it isn't happening.