West Side Story?

Have to agree with the musoes on the difficulty of this score. It's a nasty one- even in the full orchestral version. Most Berstein is. However, I think that possibly the criticism levelled at the show was mostly spot on. It sounds like the band were not on top of the score, neither were a lot of the singers. It was very useful to hear from the band that the producer (who is obviously an idiot) tried to do the show on minimum/no music calls (let me guess, the musoes were being paid!). However, I think you better served your cause by simply stating these facts, instead of going off at people who have given an honest opinion of their experience of the show. ummm, the rest of the stuff coming up simply shows me that a bunch of amateurs (and not the cast) were involved in this. Bad/unsuitable venue, band in at the last minute, and getting their music on the day or day before, cast not knowing their music after 4 months rehearsal, 8pm calls starting after 830- and full cast not available until 3 rehearsals before the show?!! In any show this is bizarre, but in West Side it's a death wish. Someone should be shot, from the producer to the director to the MD for allowing any of this to happen. If the cast weren't going to be up to it, you should have seen this early on (in auditions?) and either done some more work-or more effectively- some judicious sacking. An MD with as much experience as claimed should have known better than to let a producer and/or director force them to run this show without any music calls for the band. I'm sorry, but I don't think any amount of talented or skilled stick waving grants exemption from this responsibility to the composer, the musicians, the music and the paying public. I too have done many productions both amateur and pro, as a muso, actor and MD, and never had any experiences remotely close to many of those discussed. My only hope is that no member of the public was forced to spend hard-earned money going to see an obviously ill-prepared production. You don't mind so much when you know everyone is doing their best, but lack of adequate preparation is simply not good enough. It does nothing for the rest of the industry trying to get audiences in. Thus endeth my rant. Neville It's the simple things stupid...