Opening Night - First Musical

[SparBZ]

Well my first musical is tonight -- OPENING NIGHT. The show is Urinetown, I'm all pumped. I know the music very well. I'll get a picture of the set up and everything, all that good stuff. Show starts at 7:30, will end around 9:45-10ish.

Any suggestions? Warming up, not falling asleep, not ****ing up. I have a big song, the second song of Act 2, which is a huge swing song, the show stopper of the piece. I can play it fine, I just don't want to **** it up. Suggestions?

[GooseFilms.net]

Relax, its a high-school musical production. Nobody's expecting Broadway.

[SparBZ]

Its more so of self-gratitude then what other people are expecting. I have higher expectations for myself then other people do of me.

[Retarded Chipple]

Relax. If you think about ****ing up, you will **** up.

If you get to a tricky section and think "oh sh!t, don't **** up" then for some reason you will **** up. If you relax through it, you stand more chance of not messing up :)

[Gary Lover]

Ah, I remember playing for my first musical in high school. They can be very fun! It is definitely a different playing experience than most, as often times you are playing the SAME THING night after night. It is interesting to note how automatic your playing becomes, and how engrained into your brain the music becomes after so short a time. Often times as drummers we can add variation and flavor to different playing situations, but this can be very different. There might be some places that variate, but the actors and other musicians really depend on exacting consistancy to make them feel more comfortable and give them one less thing to worry about.

I think these are the musicals I have done over the years:

Annie
Little Shop of Horrors
Les Miserables
Fiddler on the Roof
You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown
1776
The Rocky Horror Picture Show
The Music Man

Rocky was by far the most fun.

Good luck! It is a great playing/learning opportunity and I wish you the best! Let us know how it works out.


Gary :thumb:

[Cocytus]

First musical I ever played in was Grease. I almost fell asleep a couple times, and I had to stay up late for rehearsals on the week of my exams, but fun nonetheless. I also kept a stock of food with me in case I got hungry during the show. It was a pretty great experience. Except for the male lead. He was BAD.

Ah, good times...

Anyway, as long as you don't fall asleep during the show, you'll be set. Stretching is good too. The throne can be quite uncomfortable if you sit there without stretching.

[goalieman92]

hey. just relax and remember, they won't know if you f*ck up. they don't know the music.

If you do, don't stop, just keep playing and make it fit.

[SparBZ]

Well, yesterday was great, and tonight was even better. I nailed the jazz groove like it was no ones business. Tomorrow night is gonna be rockin'.

[Gary Lover]

Glad to hear it is going well!

Keep up the good work.


Gary :thumb: