Do You Hear the People Sing?
You will if you go to a production of Les Miserables on June 25-27 (or thereabouts, we're a little mixed up on dates but that should be at least partly right). More importantly, you will not only hear people sing, but you will hear me flute. Yep, thanks to some wheedlings and wanglings of a dear friend, I shall be fluting in this production.
Have I mentioned that I had never even touched a flute until June 2008?
By the time the show's in production, I will have been playing for barely over a year. It's a little intimidating, the thought of being surrounded by legitimately professional musicians while I honk my flutey-horn like I know what I'm doing. I fear that my newness will be glaringly obvious to "real" musicians. But really, I couldn't have a better musical with which to be initiated. I've been listening to Les Mis since I was 13...that's twenty years, folks. I know the entire score by heart. This is a huge advantage. I haven't had an opportunity to look at the score, but so far I have picked up some of the flute parts by ear.
What's particularly interesting to me about this whole process is how utterly new it is to me. When I played piano, I never accompanied anyone. Piano took a backseat to my other interests which, at that time, were singing and dancing. I was always ON stage, never BELOW it. I get the chance to view the theatre from a completely different angle, literally, as part of the orchestra. Although the orchestra provides a very beautiful skeleton of a show, the singing, dancing and acting are the bone, the muscle, the flesh. The focus for most people I would guess would be the singers. My job is going to be to support them, and if I do my job well, I won't be noticed much at all. If I screw up, though... Well, that's unfortunate.
But I've got lots of help going into this and it'll all be great! I can't wait! And there were rumors that the orchestra would actually be in costume on stage. So much for being able to hide in the pit.
Have I mentioned that I had never even touched a flute until June 2008?
By the time the show's in production, I will have been playing for barely over a year. It's a little intimidating, the thought of being surrounded by legitimately professional musicians while I honk my flutey-horn like I know what I'm doing. I fear that my newness will be glaringly obvious to "real" musicians. But really, I couldn't have a better musical with which to be initiated. I've been listening to Les Mis since I was 13...that's twenty years, folks. I know the entire score by heart. This is a huge advantage. I haven't had an opportunity to look at the score, but so far I have picked up some of the flute parts by ear.
What's particularly interesting to me about this whole process is how utterly new it is to me. When I played piano, I never accompanied anyone. Piano took a backseat to my other interests which, at that time, were singing and dancing. I was always ON stage, never BELOW it. I get the chance to view the theatre from a completely different angle, literally, as part of the orchestra. Although the orchestra provides a very beautiful skeleton of a show, the singing, dancing and acting are the bone, the muscle, the flesh. The focus for most people I would guess would be the singers. My job is going to be to support them, and if I do my job well, I won't be noticed much at all. If I screw up, though... Well, that's unfortunate.
But I've got lots of help going into this and it'll all be great! I can't wait! And there were rumors that the orchestra would actually be in costume on stage. So much for being able to hide in the pit.