Question about touring productions musicians- Page 2

[katonkeyz]

Posted: 8/31/16 at 1:05am

@callmejorge

The Beautiful Tour uses the exact same orchestration as Broadway.  There are no live strings in either.  They added/used a live section specifically and only to record the cast album.

[broadwayguy2]

Posted: 8/31/16 at 1:47am

Okay, a couple of things (and I am trying not to repeat.)

1. Re: ticket cost. LOCAL PRESENTERS set the ticket price, not the tour producer. Also, they (generally) try to scale prices to be similar for similar types of events throughout a season, in order to simplify for their audiences. That is not a scam. If we want to argue about ticket prices, that is a separate and valid matter.. Please, let us discuss because I have a MONOLOGUE.

2. Re: Traveling musicians and local hires. When hiring local musicians, as started previously, they must rehearse independently, then have one play through with the conductor before joining the cast for sound check just prior to the first performance in the venue. The logistics of that are fine enough when a tour is in a spot for a week or two (or more at a time), but grows impossible when you have a schedule with split weeks and one nighters. Shows that move often tend to travel with their full orchestra in tact, for a big part, because of that.

3. Re: Reduced orchestra sizes for non-Equity tours. It is not so simplistic. A non-Equity tour can have a very active move schedule, meaning that the band must all travel with the show. That is terribly expensive and, sad to say, they are the one element that can actually be replaced with technology. A greater issue is venue logistics. You may have seen a non-Equity tour in a big theatre, but the next day could see them in a cafeteria in a whistle stop town where the venue has no pit and cramped quarters backstage with nowhere to fit the band... That has to be accounted for.

Updated On: 8/31/16 at 01:47 AM

[Plannietink08]

Posted: 8/31/16 at 3:38am

In the UK it's always a mix of people who stay with the entire tour and other musicians brought in. In my experience, usually the musicians who are brought in are referred by other members of the band or are a go-to person who have worked with the production company before.

I have a few friends who are based regionally and often play in various tours along side their day jobs when the show stops in their city.

[Demitri2]

Posted: 8/31/16 at 12:36pm

Unfortunately I was duped like Mike Costa seeing the tour of RAGTIME at the Hershey Theatre in PA. There was something dead about the orchestra's sound. After about ten minutes my partner whispered to me, "I don't think there's an orchestra." Yes, we were hearing the singers accompanied by canned music.

 

Afterwards I spoke to the person at the box office and she confirmed there were in fact musicians but only two behind the scenery. One ran a synthesizer and the other the recorded music machine. Note there was no mention of this beforehand or in any of the e-mails I received soliciting the show. And as Mike mentioned, orchestra tickets were at $90 which was the same price I had paid for BOOK OF MORMON there previously.

[EricMontreal22]

Posted: 8/31/16 at 12:53pm

I somehow was not aware of this for years, until I saw the equity tour of the Chorus Line revival in Van where the orchestra sounded great, but of course as is usual with the show, is hidden with a scrim over the pit. So I was shocked to see four orchestra members listed in the program and not more until a friend who worked at the theatre explained. (It was a ten day or so stop over.)