Here are some rehearsal photos from Bye Bye Birdie which I conducted at McIntyre Hall (Mount Vernon, WA) in November 2007.
This was what I called the “keyboard army”. We had three keyboardists covering piano, strings and percussion bell parts. I opted use synth strings in favor of having a full sax and horn section. The music for Bye Bye Birdie at the time was supposed to sound rock, but it’s really more of a big band Broadway type sound.
Full cast rehearsal with partial orchestra at a local gymnasium. Note to self, orchestra rehearsals do not work well in gymnasiums…
First run-throughs with the pit orchestra.
I think this is one of the orchestra members, Kyle, playing video games…