shows that work with just a piano

I played 'Charlie Brown' in a production YAGMCB with ... just a piano as accompaniment. It was a VERY minimalistic production, we used black boxes for desks, the brick wall, etc., etc. It works VERY WELL, actually. LITTLE SHOP OF HORRORS might leave a bit to be desired (from both the performers AND the spectators), but that's just my opinion. URiNETOWN -- Hmm. Toughie, toughie. Piano alone COULD work, but it wouldn't do the score all that much justice. How big would your cast(s) be for this future mounting anyway?

Quilters.

I was in a production of Urinetown with a piano, a keyboard and drums.

Some other shows:
The Musical of Musical...the musical!
Last 5 Years
Forum
How To Succeed
Songs For A New World
Closer Than Ever
I Love You, You're Perfect, Now Change!
Ruthless
Reefer Madness, I guess
Tell Me On A Sunday

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I've seen The Fantasticks about 5 times, and if I'm not mistaken they never used anything BUT a piano, right? God, I love that play.

Yikes! I shudder to think of QUILTERS with just a piano. The show actualy has NO piano part whatsoever. It is written for guitar/banjo, fiddle, hammered dulcimer and bass, and should have that authentic, rustic country sound.

Most ABSURD piano only musical - RENT. Right?

I've seen The Fantasticks about 5 times, and if I'm not mistaken they never used anything BUT a piano, right? ?

I believe it was originally written for just piano and harp, and that is what they always used off-Broadway. I've seen it done with drums (and someting else, I forget what) and no harp. I think there is even a fuller-instrumentalized version. But this would be a very good candidate for piano only. (Although the harp underscoring is beautiful.

Updated On: 3/31/07 at 05:35 AM

That's just my signature. I hope you didn't take it personally.
Unless you are a bitch, in which case it's ON!

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"That's just my signature. I hope you didn't take it personally.
Unless you are a bitch, in which case it's ON!"

That happened to me once. Some person on this board read my signature and thought I was making a threat.

By the way, I think a really scaled down production of Sweeney Todd would work with just a piano.

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Wasn't the SWEENEY revival pretty much a scaled down production?

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Just about any revue will work with just a piano. THE FANTASTICKS was indeed written for piano and harp, but you can get by with just a piano. If you're feeling adventuresome, there are other things in the Jones/Schmidt canon that are pretty much piano only: BONES, CELEBRATION (a sadly neglected work, IMHO), ROADHOUSE, and of course I DO I DO. If you're willing to do a little research, there's a revue based on the cartoons of Jules Feiffer that's also in sore need of revisiting, particularly these days (somehow, those things he wrote about in the 50s and 60s are back all in their obsessively crazy wonder). I LOVE YOU YOU'RE PERFECT is a cute show but falls apart in the middle of the second act; still, it would work.

Insofar as scaled back works, if it's done intelligently and with concept, it can be done. SWEENEY pretty much hit the mark. There was a minimalist MY FAIR LADY in Chicago that was incredibly well done, and the small-scale revival of PACIFIC OVERTURES was a tiny gem. Like everything else, it depends on how you approach it.

Now, is it fair to someone who's spending a hundred-plus bucks on a ticket? IMHO, no. But that's another issue altogether.

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Lucky Stiff works really well with just piano.
And I've seen Into The Woods done really successfuly with 2 pianos and percussion.
I also think Romance! Romance!, Closer Than Ever and Falsettos could work well with just one piano.
I think it all comes down to how accomplished the pianist is and how much experience they have in bring out all the orchestral colours on a piano.

And I also second Fantastics and I Do, I Do!!!