Well, looking back...I HAVE seen it, but I'll honestly say I don't remember paying intense attention to the orchestrations of GG...on the one hand that could mean it wasn't anything extraordinary, but it also could be that I simply wasn't paying attention the way I did to the others for some reason...
But to my memory, if there's one show that Company deserved the nom over, it was GG. Having just seen Lovemusik, I can say without a doubt it deserved the nomination, and to win, as it likely will. Not only were the orchestrations splendid, but so important that different instruments got to stand up while playing.
I think Tony voters might have felt the same way about 110 as I did, that being in a theater where you could see the instruments, visually see, not only hear the orchestrations, gives you a bigger appreciation for them. Any time I'm in such a theater, at least as a musician, at times in the show, certain instruments grabbed my attention away from the show...granted Audra was there to steal it right back but still...perhaps because of that, I feel 110 without a doubt deserved its nomination, even if it is the same magnificent composer.
Now, in a traditional sense, I too wasn't that impressed by Company's orchestrations, though that is likely a biased response, as prior to seeing the revival, I had just studied and wrote a paper about the specific music and orchestrations of the original production, and its particular relevance to the play, and I was disappointed when seeing the revival that quite a few of the specific orchestrations I had written about were changed...
While I also feel that Sarah might have had a more difficult task as she was dealing with less people and less instruments, and so the job that Donna explained the orchestrator having to do in a Doyle production might have been a little harder...I do have to say she made a point I hadn't thought of. Though I'm sure many of the Tony voters hadn't considered that and just looked at the orchestrations traditionally, I wonder if that deserves consideration...I mean it deserves some sort of consideration without a doubt...but when voters see "best orchestration" they unfortunately may still think of it in terms of traditional best orchestrations.
Sorry, I think this was a ramble that actually doesn't really make a point...
Does anyone else agree that if Company should replace a show in this category it should be GG? Taking away the point that Tunick was nominated twice? Do you think voters might have been swayed by the visual orchestra in 110 as I was?
Either way, thank you very much Chica for providing that link, it made me think of the lack of nomination in a way I originally hadn't.
ETA: "rilliant. A nomination for Company in this category would have redefined what "Best Orchestration" meant - not for the "prettiest" sounding score, but the orchestration that best supports the plot of the show."
Excellent, excellent point. Though I would argue that best doesn't necessarily mean prettiest--consider the orchestrations for the non-pretty songs in West Side Story like the Rumble or A Boy Like That--certainly not pretty, but effective. I think traditionally, best orchestration means the orchestration that best supports the music, but in Company, that support comes from not quite a traditional sense, and still certainly stands to redefine Best Orchestration.
"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
Updated On: 6/1/07 at 11:06 AM
