Author Topic: PEOPLE: Musical Director Issues - Multiple Problems  (Read 4044 times)

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shkspr

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PEOPLE: Musical Director Issues - Multiple Problems
« on: Aug 04, 2009, 11:27 pm »
Situation: Mostly young cast, musical director that can't seem to read music. Holds musical rehearsals with no warm-ups, without correcting music mistakes, plays voice parts using MIDI files on a laptop and steamrolls through music rehearsals. There is also no guidance on vocal technique so that many people (again many young actors) are over singing and stressing their voices.

The director is not getting involved with the musical aspect of the show and the issues do not seem to be on their radar.

What can I do as stage manager to fix these issues before the parts are memorized incorrectly and these voices are damaged because of the lack of direction from the musical director?
« Last Edit: Dec 15, 2009, 01:19 am by Rebbe »
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sievep

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Re: Musical Director Issues - Multiple Problems
« Reply #1 on: Aug 04, 2009, 11:50 pm »
This gets me riled because of lack of teaching.  I once worked on an opera in an educational setting where one of our singers completely ruined his voice in the course of a single performance (much strain led up to that night).  He couldn't finish the performance and hopped on a plane later that week to his home country to figure out what to do with his life now that he couldn't sing again.

Similar to a TD spreading a box of nails on a dance floor and telling the dancers to have at it, it's an unsafe situation.  The voice is fragile and while some may argue that it's up to the singers to stand up for themselves, if they don't know any better yet, you should stand up for them.  Your name is on this production as well, and so, diplomatically, I would say something.  If direct communication doesn't solve it, get a producer or someone else involved. 
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kiwitechgirl

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Re: Musical Director Issues - Multiple Problems
« Reply #2 on: Aug 06, 2009, 02:11 am »
Wow, that's a tough one.  Is there someone in the cast who can bash out warmups on the piano?  They don't really even have to be able to play, just to know some warmups and be able to hit the next starting note in the sequence.  If there is, get them to come in a bit early and take warmups - I usually find I have at least one person in a cast who can take warmups (and the MD loves it - if he's running late I get a text saying "can you please get so-and-so to take warmup"!).  And I think sievep is right - you have to stand up for your singers.  It's difficult to do, and you have to be really diplomatic about it; can you get one or two of the more experienced cast members to back you up?  I'd phrase it in as non-accusatory a fashion as I can - "some of the cast are finding their voices are feeling very strained, they would really appreciate it if you could give them some help with avoiding this."  As for learning parts incorrectly, maybe use the fact that he's using MIDI and ask for the cast to be given copies of the files so they can do some work on it themselves with a guide.  If none of this works, then yeah, you need to go to a producer or someone higher up.

SMrose

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Re: Musical Director Issues - Multiple Problems
« Reply #3 on: Aug 06, 2009, 10:34 am »
Geee.... (other than the music director's ability to read music) this sounds like a show that's going on in a local community by me right now.
What's your background in music--if you don't mind me asking?  Certainly sounds like you know things regarding this area.
The director should absolutly be involved w/ the musical aspects.  What part of director is he/she missing??
A show won't be at it's best if the singers stress voices and over sing let alone not be ready for opening because they aren't comfortable with the music or just plain don't know it!
I agree that it may take a producer getting involved for the best interest of the show.

shkspr

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Re: Musical Director Issues - Multiple Problems
« Reply #4 on: Aug 06, 2009, 11:39 am »
Thank you all for the input. I did discuss this with the director and they told me they agreed with me and they were happy to have the validation that they weren't the only one who thought there was an issue.

We discussed the issue with the MD and they started the evening with warm-ups. The director did stress the point that the actors are responsible for learning their parts and if they felt they needed extra work, to find some way of learning the music.

The director also stressed that we will be focusing more on singing and dancing in the next two weeks so those are steps in the right direction. We still have the issue of the kids over singing so if that is still an issue tonight, I will mention that we should focus on learning the parts rather than "belting" the songs at this point. Baby steps. :)

Thanks again for the replies. I love this forum!
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