Monday, 24 November 2008

More Than I Bargained For

The call from Mr. Thomas was kind of out of the blue. He asked if I was willing to play for the MCC H.S. production of Cinderella. I thought for a second of La Cenerentola, that opera by Puccini, until he said it was by Rodgers and Hammerstein. A little more reasonable. I didn't have a lot of time to answer, but I asked for a few details and if I might see the music first.

We'd have a full pit orchestra. Three nights of rehearsal so I'd have some familiarity with the music. Not a lot. Three day performances. One for the high school students, one for the middle school students, and one for the elementary school students. Then the two evening performances. The question is, was I up to the challenge?

And... it WAS tough. This score was an orchestral reduction, which are a trick to play. There are more notes than any pianist, no matter how talented, can actually play. It's simply physically impossible to play all of them. It requires reading a ton of notes, distilling them into something that's playable and still sounds like something that the cast will recognize (since my instrument was amplified into the house as well as the stage) and not make TOO many mistakes. The last part, I'm not too sure about but Mr. Thomas was pleased. Together, the pit orchestra pulled it off.

And by God's grace, the jobs are coming in faster now!

-Elementary school program in Muskegon on December 12
-(Follow the Star on December 13 & 14) - NOT MUSIC
-Lifted Voice leads music at church
-Wedding at Church on January 4
-Ludington Campus Life coffehouse on January 9

I'm almost worried I'm going to start double-booking myself soon...