Last night the pit for the Five Flags Theater joined the cast of Joseph in tech week. A cavalcade of fond memories from Phantom of the Opera came back to me when I sat down in the pit, nestled "snugly" between the drums and the piano, with all my mutes, oils, and other odds and ends. This time around I am being smart, and I'm bringing my tuner to all the rehearsals and shows. While I played Phantom, it always seemed like my pitch started out alright. Then about halfway through, intonation would just start getting a little... funky. Now I have a way to really check myself, to see if I'm the problem or it's happening somewhere else. Last night I was staying well centered, but I did notice during end it was starting to raise a bit.
One of the big differences I realized between Phantom and Joseph last night was, now I'm going to get a lot better at counting rests! I've always heard how horn can take a "backseat" role during pit orchestras, and after playing Phantom I couldn't see where people were getting that. Simply playing another Andrew Lloyd Weber score, now I realized what everyone else was talking about. Now, I'm not putting down Joseph at all, when I do play it's fun and interesting music, but during most of the jazz stuff I'm just fine letting the saxophone take care of it.
Opening night for Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat is this Friday at the Five Flags Theater. It's being produced by an up and coming theater company here in Dubuque, IA. I've had the pleasure of working with these directors throughout my time here, and all I can say is their work is brilliant. From school groups of all ages, to professional casts, they put on a great show that is second to none.
Hope to see you there!
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