Comments on: Seussical the Musical – Orchestra and Musician Notes

By: Chelsea

Chelsea — Sun, 03 Jan 2016 09:38:08 +0000

Thank you so much for all this information! I am directing the show at a small school and normally use students to play when possible. Everyone has asked or answered all the questions I have! In my seven years of directing, I have never found such a valuable resource!

By: Tim

Tim — Fri, 04 Sep 2015 04:59:33 +0000

Would any know of a full orchestral conductors score rather than just a piano/conductors score?

By: askland

askland — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 16:04:58 +0000

Oh – another tidbit. My latest original musical is premiering in September 2013, PAN the musical (http://www.PanMusical.com) – It is scored for a live band (Oboe, Clarinet, Tuba, Key 1, Key 2, Bass, Drums). I will be playing Key 1 and giving cues to musicians, but will be giving NO cues to singers on stage. This is partly because of the logistics, there is no pit in our theater for the premiere run so we are located on the side House Left. But also no cues because the singers are well rehearsed and don’t need them. Now, I did orchestrate the score myself so I was able to incorporate clear cues for all entrances. In this scenario, I love not cueing the singers. I like that they can focus on their performance and not have to keep looking to downstage center.

By: askland

askland — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 15:59:52 +0000

Hi Ben,
Well, I’ll start by saying it’s very sad to me when shows do not use live musicians, but that is slowly the direction that many theater groups are going. Many theater groups now take advantage of programs like Main Stage to use interactive sound tracks and fewer live musicians in their productions. Having also been on the production and budget side of producing shows, it is an unfortunate necessity in this economy as ticket sales fall.

The second sad news is yes, it is true that a conductor is not needed if you are using tracks. As a fellow conductor I commiserate with you on that.

The conductor is needed with live shows to control tempos and keep everything on track. If you are using a CD soundtrack then the cues are always set, so no need for a conductor as long as your cast is well prepared.

Last year I premiered one of my new musicals “Witches!” (http://www.WItchesMusical.com) and because I felt the musical requirements were too diverse for what I needed from local players, I programmed the entire soundtrack in Ableton Live. If you’re not familiar with that software, think of it like a CD player with the added capability to do vamps on the fly, repeats, fermatas – all triggered to the live action on stage.

My cast was very well prepared in rehearsal to know what the audio cues were for their entrances. I sat in the back of the house with the stage manager and triggered the whole show without cueing any of the cast. There was not a single dropped entrance that I recall from the entire run.

Thought I’d add that I did hire professional musicians for the soundtrack, so musicians still got work from the run and the soundtrack had a “live” feel, not just sequenced midi junk.

The second thing to keep in mind is to satisfy your director, because the director is always right. That’s the one rule of theater, and a good one if we want to keep working. 🙂

Bottom line, rehearse your cast mercilessly with the soundtrack in rehearsals so they can get their entrances without any cues – and you should have a successful run.

Now, let’s figure a magic way to get more ticket sales so theaters can get back to using live musicians!

By: Ben

Ben — Mon, 09 Sep 2013 03:02:34 +0000

Hi everyone. I’m the musical director for a high school production of Seussical JR. Our Theatre director told me we would not be using a pit band for this production (which is odd for us) and that we would use the accompaniment CD instead. She also says that she doesn’t think that a conductor is necessary because we are using a CD. As a musical director, I must say I disagree because actors still need cues, and our conductor always helps call the show. What is your opinion? Should she have a conductor, or should the actors do it on their own?

By: Ryan

Ryan — Mon, 27 Aug 2012 04:14:37 +0000

How would you rate the difficulty and play style of Keyboard 2? Is it just chords? Are there moving lines? I ask this because I would like to perform in the orchestra for this musical, but as there is no horn part, I am resorting to piano. Being self-taught, I am not anything close to a virtuoso by any means. I can locate all notes easily and play at a comfortable tempo, but I would just like to know if that part gets complicated at all.

Thanks!

By: Warwick

Warwick — Mon, 16 Jul 2012 01:32:47 +0000

I’m really keen to get a hold of that overture too please!
(neither of the links work now)

Thanks in advance,

Warwick

By: Phil

Phil — Mon, 16 Jan 2012 07:15:39 +0000

Hello, would you be able to re-upload the overture if you’re still ok with sharing it?!
Thanks!
Phil

By: Matt

Matt — Sat, 10 Dec 2011 11:33:40 +0000

Hi Brad,

Could you plese re-upload the seussical overture if possible plese, I am currently MD’ing a production out here in AUS and am very keen to have the overture played!!!!!

Regards,

Matt

By: Brad Bosenbeck

Brad Bosenbeck — Wed, 06 Jul 2011 21:53:46 +0000

Hi everyone,

Here is an updated, revised and cleaned-up version of the Seussical Overture materials (The previous link has been terminated):

http://www.sendspace.com/file/tfexrp

Enjoy!

Regards,
Brad