musical "meme-ham" [pun intended...]

OK...trying again....
this time, in "honor" of all the
"hours I've spent, with a horn or score in my hand"...
in the "pit ", "on risers" or "on the stage"...
"in costume", basic black or "orchestra black"
the meme you have been waiting for...
hours in the making...no expenses spared...

the meme for thespians & singers & musicians & dancers
& actors & roadies & tech-ies & stage door junkies...

appearing on this very blog...

The "On-Stage" meme....

[all members of AFTA,AGMA,AFM, etc...be kind...]

1] What is your favorite show to "watch".... ?

I've only "seen" them from the pit, in my mind....
better than any could be staged

2] What was your favorite production to be involved with ?
.....so many...
opera : Butterfly...La Boheme...Carmen
musical...Man of La Mancha or Ain't Mis b'havin',
symphonic Mahler 1 & 5, Verdi Requiem, Rutter Gloria..
choral...Rutter Requiem, Brahms Requiem, Mahler 2,3 & 8,
Valentine Requiem, Fauré Requiem, Lessons & Carols
ballet...Nutcracker, Swan Lake

3] Can you say anything positive about the movie versions of stage classics ?

people got "work"...[M of LM, film reeked...]


4] What was the first film you remember seeing ? When ?

Peter Pan, first-run at a drive-in movie with my Dad, 1951


5] Did you see many films growing up ?

no...lived in the country...going in to town for a movie...didn't happen..


6] When did your family get a TV set ?

I was in 2nd grade, so 1955 or 56



7] Do you remember listening to programs[drama, comedy] on the radio ?

yes...The Lone Ranger, Dragnet, Gunsmoke, Jack Benny, Amos & Andy,etc..


8] When did you first "perform" in a public place ? Where ?

1st grade Christmas program for school, sang "Hark, the Herald..."
I was just 6 and unafraid...


9] Did you take music lessons as a child ? On what ?

Mom tried to teach me piano, the fundamentals of music "stuck",
the piano...not so much
trumpet at school from age 9...
had first real trumpet lesson in college...
took voice lessons in college and piano again
[poor Mr. Elliott, suffered long...]

10] Did you enjoy performing for others ?

yes...if I felt secure
and didn't have to "memorize"
then I would fall apart,
and not in a good way...


11] How important was music to you as a child/young adult ?

music was everything,
although I could not have put it in words...
I lived for "band", "choir" and later "orchestra"...
I merely marked time between
honor band/orchestra and music camp...
I was always singing, if only to myself...


12] What kinds of musical groups did you participate in growing up ?

see # 11...anything and everything I could be in...
also in plays in 8th grade and high school drama club...
was always part of the crew for the class plays
and the one musical we did my Sr. year,"Brigadoon"
[I did sets, costumes, sang in the chorus
and played lead trumpet in the pit [my 1st time...]

13] What instruments [including voice ] do you still play now ? Do you enjoy it ?

I sing and play trumpet[ and all it's kith & kin..]
I wouldn't still be doing it, if I didn't love it...

14] What else, musically, would you like to do that you haven't done, or learned to do yet ?

I always have wanted to be in a small group
that does folk music [Simon & Garfunkel, Seekers,PP&M...]
I'll probably never get to though...


15] Have you appeared "onstage" in any productions ? List them & your "role"...

My only "on stage" role
[...but who'll play the trumpet if you...]
was as Chio-Chio San's mother
in the chorus of Pucchini's Madama Butterfly,
Music From Bear Valley, 1982 [?]

16] Do you want to direct ?

been there, done that...sort of still doing that...
in bits & pieces...

17] What work [play, musical, opera, ballet, symphonic work]
have you never been involved with
that you would like to "be involved with" ?

Jesus Christ,Superstar...
[although colleagues tell me it's a killer to play]


18] What does "canticum, ergo sum" mean to you ?

the meaning of life, itself...after my faith...


19] Performing what work [see # 17 ] has been your favorite experience ?

Mahler's 8th, Chicago Symphony Orchestra & Chorus,
Carnegie Hall, NYC,20 min. SO...
WOW !

20] How many "musicals" do you know the lyrics to, by heart ?

probably less than a few years ago...then, at least 12 -15
if I played them, I knew them...


21] Do you know the difference between "The Nutcracker"
and "the Nutcracker Suite" ?

yes... the former is the entire ballet,
the latter, a few of the most popular
musical selections from the ballet
[Greatest Hits, as it were....]
generally played by orchestras, in concert,
without dancers present...

22] In what languages were the following originally written ?

Messiah[Handel] (English)
Requiem [Fauré] (Latin)
Nutcracker[Tschaikowski] (trick question...
only singing is "ooo" & "ahh")
Othello[Verdi] (Italian)
Tosca[Pucchini] (Italian)
Magic Flute[Mozart] (probably German...
because of the origins, but maybe also Italian, too)
West Side Story[Bernstein] (English)
Chichester Psalms[Bernstein] (Hebrew)
Fiddler on the Roof[Sheldon] (English, with some Yiddish..)
Ninth Symphony[Beethoven] (auf Deutch !)

23] True or false : all chorus members in a production
should apply their own make-up, if they are capable
[ie. trained...]

depends whether or not orchestra members
can watch and thus be amused....
or, even better, "make-up" should be videotaped....
so orchestra members don't have to arrive
4 hours before "curtain"...
but can still be amused....

24] What happens in the "wings", should "stay in the wings".... yes or no .....?

absolutely, positively....[ no cell phone cameras, either..]
ditto with "in the pit..." or the "Green Room"

25] Part of the "theater experience" includes :

rehearsal tights with "unfortunate runs",
people who must effect "quick", complete costume changes in the wings,
seeing prop swords, etc. sail past your head into the "pit",
stand lights with 5 watt bulbs, covered with dark blue gels...
director's "notes,w/ changes after the dress...
key changes,[aka transpositions...], necessitated by laryngitis or other cast substitution...
AC on full blast, in January, blowing only into the pit...
actors, who generally wear glasses, falling into the pit,
and landing on a 'cello...

Do you have any to add ?

...that pretty well covers most of it , without a violation of # 24....

26] The worst "scourge" of the artiste, musical or otherwise, is :

a] the accompanist who never follows the conductor in the performances
after sticking like glue in rehearsal....
b] the lead who never gives a cue line the same way twice...
c] the conductor who never gives a cue, at all...
d] the stage manager who thinks that they are a god,
and look for ways to prove it...
e] the un-cut, urtext, original composer's score version of anything,
that takes more than 4 hours to stage...
f] all of the above...

"f", plus some.....[see # 24...]

27] Which have you found "more annoying" ?

a] members of the "large" chorus, with an early call,
have found the orchestra parking, and used it all...

b] members of the "orchestra" are complaining to the world that
"singers" parked in the "musician's" lot....

c] stage hands have been in the Green Room
and ate everything, before the sound check was over...

d] actor/ dancers have stood outside the singer's entrance,
smoking, as the singers were entering...

e] string players and percussionists are having a lavish picnic
during the intermission, driving the wind players crazy...

f] the trombone player who sits in the far corner of the pit,
and is always the last person to get to his place, "in the pit"...

g] having the Italian lyrics for the chorus of Madama Butterfly
running through your head, when you're trying to get to sleep...

h] having a "senior moment" when someone asks the "call time"....

all are annoying, however.....

"a" is bad , if you have a lot to carry or there is no other parking...

"b" is bad if you're a singer who is also a "musician"...
[there are some of us who take umbrage at singers not being
considered "musicians" by some instrumentalists ...]

"c" is bad under nearly all circumstances,
unless you're a stagehand, in which case, "score"...!

"d" is bad if you breathe air, unless,of course, you also smoke,
in which case, now you're "jones-ing" and it's call time...

"e" is really bad if you're one of those who can't eat before you play...
especially when they offer you food...knowing that...and laugh...

"f" is really bad if you sit right in front of the entrance/exit
and you've finally been able to position yourself,
and all your stuff, then he enters, with all his stuff,
crawling over you and kicking your stuff,
every rehearsal & performance.....
just before the downbeat...
right when you have to play...

"g" is really bad if you're performing the opera
in English or if you have to get up at 0-dark:30 AM...

"h" is really bad if you are the chorus manager,
orchestra manager, stage manager or director


28] What is your favorite "on stage" moment, to this point ?

see # 19, although I've had a couple of absolutely magical,
musical moments at church in the last couple of years...

29] There is a special place in Hell for ______________ who ____________ during __________. [fill-in the blanks]

singers/orchestra members /actors/ dancers.....hog the bathroom stalls....
pre-concert or post concert...changing clothes....
if there are no changing areas, I can understand, but it's still hard on those who need to "go"

30] What's the worst thing that has happened, you've seen happen or you're afraid might happen, during "Bows" or curtain calls ?

in the dress for "Promises, Promises",while playing "Bows",
my stand partner turned pages quickly,
accidentally hitting my trumpet, which split my lip open...


31] My worst nightmare regarding a production is .............

some major natural disaster during a performance...fire, earthquake...
narrowly escaped a tornado [1/2 mile from the path]
during a concert in Mississippi, on tour, 1977...


32] My re-occurring nightmare regarding a performance/rehearsal is....................................

I'm late and can't find my car, where my instrument & music are,
so I can't get to the first rehearsal of something very important...
for which I am being paid a lot of money...
actually, I get there...my instrument/music don't...


33] I have been affected by a production/concert being cancelled due to an "act of God", yes or no ?

yes... JFK assassination [1963],
severe storm cancelled my school Holiday Concert 1992,
I was at a rehearsal on the evening of 9/11/2001

34] Explain # 33...

1963 half-time show [yes, they were "productions"]
everything stopped in this country then...
1992[I think...] severe wind & rain caused
unsafe driving conditions, power outage, localized flooding
2001 SSO reh. none of us wanted to be there...
but "the show must go on..."

35] I do what I do in the theater BECAUSE :

a] it is/was my job...
b] it is/was fun.....
c] it is/was something that is "inside" me and must be expressed...
d] I love/loved it and can't imagine life without it...a dream come true...
e] other [please explain...]

....all of the above and I've been blessed to be able to
"live my dream" for as long as I did....