Saturday 11 August 2007

Musical Director's Notes.

This blog has been requested by James, as he feels that his constant blogging is getting a bit boring. Having read them, I agree and will attempt to rectify the situation.

First, a round up of directorial news:

1) The absence of Delyth Jones has led to near anarchy on stage, with some ad-libs of epic proportions, and the transformation of the final scene into something resembling a roller-disco. I'm looking forward to hearing what could be the longest ever session of director's notes when she returns.

2) In light of the on-stage anarchy, I am starting to fear what people will start doing to the music as soon as I leave. We've already had suggestions of an operatic Robin Cook cadenza, and a Robin Cook descant over the Blair Babes. I hope I can trust James in his preciousness over his music to ensure nothing too bad happens when I leave, but who knows?

3) The direction of the show has been praised as "creative" in the Edinburgh Evening News, although criticised for "relying somewhat too heavily on pre-recorded music". Bit of a slap in the face, as there are two stressed and sweating musicians at the back of the auditorium. Maybe they thought the cast were gesturing to a CD player during their bows.

4) After being told by Ian that "no-one knows who you are, so no-one's going to come and see us because your name is on the flyer", imagine my satisfaction when I received a 'phone call from the Music Manager of the Really Useful Group, saying they'd seen my name on a flyer and were coming to see it. Imagine my greater satisfaction when said Music Manager very much liked the show. Yay!!!

5) One comment received by James said that the "chatter from the musicians at the back" somewhat spoiled the performance. I didn't know that pre-recorded music could chat.

A few stressful moments with the backing tracks aside (such as the performance in which they decided to mute themselves at random intervals), the music is getting tighter and better with each performance. Yesterday was the best show so far (Del, 1, 2 and 3 were fine...), and I'm hoping we can reproduce such form for the next performance in about an hour.

3 performances until I leave...

No comments: