Quique
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Music Box Tour OrchestraWhat happened to it?!
I saw the tour on April 6th and was supremely disappointed with the orchestra. Here it is! 
Violins - Jennifer Choi, Martina Zelikovich
Cello - David Mergen
Bass - Noah Cope
Flute/Piccolo - Lisha McDuff
Flute/Clarinet - Silvio Scambone
Clarinet/Eb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet - Roman Cisneros
French Horn - Edward Ferguson, David Denniston
Percussion - Donald Spinelli
Keyboards/Synthesizers - Cynthia Hoxie, Edwin Milam, David Robison
Tour orchestra back in 2003:
Violins - Susan Perelman, Valdimir Polimitidi, Karen Jones, Nancy Roth, Sally Berman
Viola - Diane Gilbert
Cello - Miguel Martinez
Bass - Tim Christensen
Flute/Piccolo - Patty Kaufmann
Flute/Clarinet - Jim Ercole
Clarinet/Eb Clarinet/Bass Clarinet - Mike Grego
Oboe/English Horn - Jonathan Davis
French Horn - Brad Kintscher, Stephanie Stetson
Trumpet - Marissa Benedict
Percussion - Michael Brothers
Keyboards/Synthesizers - Deborah Heath, Cynthia Hoxie, David Robison, Edwin Milam
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Quique
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Quique
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Well!!!
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Phantom On A Budget
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Well what? You bumped a thread twice with angry faces when it's already at the top of the forum...did it really bother you that much?
The Tour has a core group of musicians that travels with the show. Extra musicians are hired locally as needed for the run. Perhaps the acoustics were poor, or perhaps they were simply not as good as the ones you heard in 2003.
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Quique
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I was throwing a tantrum cos nobody answered my question, lol.
Anyway, it wasn't the acoustics, cause I was sitting 2nd row center.. They've simply reduced the orchestra, as you might have noticed had you looked at the two orchestra listings I posted.
I'm pissed that they continue to undermine orchestras and reduce them in order to maximize profits. Phantom is still packing them in. They do not need to cut corners. They can afford a proper orchestra that does not synthesize its brass!!! Grr.
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Mungojerrie_rt
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A small orchestra can work well. It allows each instrument to stand out and not be just lost in with the others. It can also give the music a more raw sound which can also be very effective.
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Quique
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In this case, the reduced orchestra sounded awful. The strings were barely audible. The absence of the oboe and english horn was very noticeable, but not as bad as that synth brass--it was the worst thing I've ever heard. Absolutely cringe-worthy.
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mantarnia
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| Quique wrote: | | In this case, the reduced orchestra sounded awful. The strings were barely audible. The absence of the oboe and english horn was very noticeable, but not as bad as that synth brass--it was the worst thing I've ever heard. Absolutely cringe-worthy. |
Have you also thought that in the case of a tour that they may not have room for a bigger orchestra in some of the venues. This is also the reason why the west end "les mis" orchestra shrank when it moved from the palace to the queens.
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Mistress
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| Mungojerrie_rt wrote: | | A small orchestra can work well. It allows each instrument to stand out and not be just lost in with the others. It can also give the music a more raw sound which can also be very effective. |
Look at the Sweeney Todd revival...ten actors who all played their own instruments...it worked very well.
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Quique
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| Mistress wrote: | | Mungojerrie_rt wrote: | | A small orchestra can work well. It allows each instrument to stand out and not be just lost in with the others. It can also give the music a more raw sound which can also be very effective. |
Look at the Sweeney Todd revival...ten actors who all played their own instruments...it worked very well. |
I beg to differ.
And the Phantom engagement I saw was held at a massive theatre with massive orchestra pit. There is no excuse!!!! 
Lucky that I am not such an admirer of the Phantom orchestrations, or I would have grrred my way through the show.
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Phantom On A Budget
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| Quique wrote: | I was throwing a tantrum cos nobody answered my question, lol.
Anyway, it wasn't the acoustics, cause I was sitting 2nd row center.. They've simply reduced the orchestra, as you might have noticed had you looked at the two orchestra listings I posted.
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Amazingly enough I actually did learn to count years ago. I hardly needed your listings to know that orchestras have been scaled down; having seen the Tour as much as I have in the last seven years or so has afforded me plenty of opportunities to figure it out for myself.
While it may be painful for some of the audience who demands a larger sound (rightfully so, as I prefer richer music as well), in some ways we should be lucky to have a live orchestra at all. Ridiculous though it may seem, imagine the horror that would exist if those who had wanted to eliminate musicians in on Broadway had their way.
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Quique
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Wow, what a bitchy response. XD I didn't mean to come off sarcastic before, but if I did, that wasn't my intention. I get really ticked off about these things and may have seemed upset at you and others, but I wasn't. So, yep.
Anyway, I guess I'm the type that would rather see them sack the stupid chandelier before touching the orchestra. They can save lots of money that way, lol.
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Fantine
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Why are people immediately ticked off when someone has critisism about their favorite show? Oh I mean, the size of the orchestra of that show. Grow a back bone people.
Like it is of any significance.
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Quique
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Yeah, not attacking the show, in case anyone thought that. Yes, the ugly synth brass bugged me, but I still enjoyed the show itself. I wouldn't have seen it 34 times by now if I didn't. And please don't take my angry smilies so seriously.  However, I do apologize, Phantom On a Budget, if I came across bitchy myself.
I admit I can be a bit overbearing about the whole orchestra thing, but that's cause I know live music will most likely soon be a thing of the past. It's just one of the things that makes a live performance so unique and special to me and it's sad that they're relying more and more on machines to cut costs. I can't stand that cheap, electric sound. It's like having a thorn stuck in my side whenever I hear a nasty synth squawking in the pit below. And after what they did to Les Mis, I can't help but feel the need to continue beating this dead horse.  It's one thing for a school or community production to augment their pit with machines, but I feel ripped off when a hit like Phantom does. 
On a lighter note, the Hannibal slave master fell flat on his face. XD Poor thing. It looked like it must have hurt a lot. He looked pretty shaken up and disoriented by it afterwards.
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mantarnia
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| Quique wrote: | | Mistress wrote: | | Mungojerrie_rt wrote: | | A small orchestra can work well. It allows each instrument to stand out and not be just lost in with the others. It can also give the music a more raw sound which can also be very effective. |
Look at the Sweeney Todd revival...ten actors who all played their own instruments...it worked very well. |
I beg to differ.
And the Phantom engagement I saw was held at a massive theatre with massive orchestra pit. There is no excuse!!!!
Lucky that I am not such an admirer of the Phantom orchestrations, or I would have grrred my way through the show. |
Yes but you have to take into account the whole tour, not just one venue.
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Quique
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I'm aware that venues vary in size and some might be limited as to how many musicians their pits could accommodate. I'm just displeased with the choices they made for the engagement I saw, whether it was the tour's or the venue's decision is irrelevant to me. I'm also aware that orchestra size and quality vary from city to city and length of run.
The 3rd NT of Les Mis used to use synths in place of strings for short stops. I hated that so much, but understood that hiring local musicians for only a week or so was not very feasible. I'm not as unforgiving as I seem.
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Phantom On A Budget
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No worries, Quique, I apologize as well. That's the problem with communicating via text.
It's unfortunate to see the orchestra get cut down/synthesized. It's been a couple of years since I saw the Broadway production, but I'm sure they're in the same boat as the Tour regarding the reduction of musicians. Hopefully, though, we'll never see a day when the orchestra is completely eliminated. I can't imagine that the performers would ever agree to that, for infinite reasons.
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Sweeney Hyde
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Quique, I am just as appauled by the orchestra size issue as you are. A synth-brass? WHAT?
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
When I saw the show at the Kennedy Center last summer this was the orchestra:
Violins: (9)
Jennifer Choi, Zinoviy Bogachek, Jessica Fan, Julia Grueninger-Cox, Martha Kaufman, Eric Lee, Susan Midkiff, Victoria Noyes, Margaret Thomas
Violas (2)
Evelyn Harpham, Uri Wassertzug
Cello (1)
Robert Newkirk
Bass (1)
Frank Cranovale
Horn (4)
Peter de Boor, Robert Odmark, John Peiffer, Geoff Pilkington
Woodwinds (4)
Steve Bates, Lora Ferguson, David Jones, Stephani Stang-McCusker
Trumpet/Piccolo Trumpet (1)
Fred Irby III
Percussion (1)
Michael Brothers
Keyboards (3)
Cynthia Hoxie, Edwin Milam, David Robinson
Keyboard Sub (1)
Jarrell Crowder
It was wonderful.
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Phantom On A Budget
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Sweeney Hyde - agreed. They were in top form at the Kennedy Center. Probably the best I've heard them in awhile.
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Quique
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| Sweeney Hyde wrote: | Quique, I am just as appauled by the orchestra size issue as you are. A synth-brass? WHAT?
Disgusting. Absolutely disgusting.
When I saw the show at the Kennedy Center last summer this was the orchestra:
Violins: (9)
Jennifer Choi, Zinoviy Bogachek, Jessica Fan, Julia Grueninger-Cox, Martha Kaufman, Eric Lee, Susan Midkiff, Victoria Noyes, Margaret Thomas
Violas (2)
Evelyn Harpham, Uri Wassertzug
Cello (1)
Robert Newkirk
Bass (1)
Frank Cranovale
Horn (4)
Peter de Boor, Robert Odmark, John Peiffer, Geoff Pilkington
Woodwinds (4)
Steve Bates, Lora Ferguson, David Jones, Stephani Stang-McCusker
Trumpet/Piccolo Trumpet (1)
Fred Irby III
Percussion (1)
Michael Brothers
Keyboards (3)
Cynthia Hoxie, Edwin Milam, David Robinson
Keyboard Sub (1)
Jarrell Crowder
It was wonderful. |
Wow!  That must have sounded gorgeous! 
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