Gigs and Instruments
Theater gigs are certainly not the only thing I play, but certainly the only thing I’ve ever kept track of. I suppose it’s easier to remember the shows I’ve done as opposed to great wind band pieces or orchestral pieces. I got serious about playing when I was 15 (rather, I suddenly got good), and played in wind bands and orchestras a lot in high school. But, as they say in A Chorus Line, life really began with my first pit.
Shows that I have done (and the number of times, if more than once):
- Anyone Can Whistle
- Anything Goes
- Brigadoon (2)
- Bye Bye Birdie
- Cabaret (2)
- Carnival
- Carousel (2)
- Cats
- Crazy For You
- Fiddler on the Roof (3)
- Guys and Dolls
- Hello, Dolly
- HONK!
- Into the Woods
- Kiss Me, Kate
- The Last Five Years
- Les Miserables
- Lil’ Abner
- Mack and Mable
- Music Man (2)
- Oklahoma (2)
- Oliver
- Once Upon a Mattress
- Peter Pan
- Pirates of Penzance
- Seussical
- Singing in the Rain
- South Pacific
- Sweeney Todd
- Sweet Charity
- Three Penny Opera
- The 25th Annual Putnam County Spelling Bee
- West Side Story (7!)
- The Wizard of Oz
- You’re a Good Man, Charlie Brown
Coming up:
- Footloose
- Once on this Island (tentative)
- Kiss Me, Kate
Shows I really, really, really want to do (other than all of them):
- Any and all Sondheim shows
- Beauty & The Beast
- Camelot
- Chicago
- Evita
- Hair (the 2009 revival)
- Man of La Mancha
- West Side Story (can’t get enough of this show)
We’ve done some rearranging in the house, and now I have a combination office/music room. I have tons of sheet music, concertos, method books, reeds, straps, cds of repertoire, excerpt books, and, most important, instruments. The instruments I own are:
- Piccolo
- Flute
- Alto Flute
- Eb Clarinet
- Bb Clarinet (two of them, actually)
- A Clarinet
- Low C Bass Clarinet
- Soprano Saxophone
- Alto Saxophone
- Tenor Saxophone
- Oboe
- English horn
- Bassoon
- Keyboard
I also have access to a Bari Saxophone, which I play frequently. I hope to get one next year or so. I really need my own. I’d love to purchase Endicott’s, which is the horn I use, since I love it so much, but I doubt they’d sell it. However, once I get a bari, my collection will be complete! I will own every woodwind! Well, okay, not a contra-bass clarinet, and not a contra-bassoon. At some point, I will need to start upgrading my horns, starting with my flute, Eb clarinet, and bass clarinet. They’re all good enough, but the flute is a student model, the Eb is the cheap plastic Bundy I purchased right before I got married, and I need a professional low C bass clarinet that can withstand the amount of playing I do on it. Oh I wish I could get top-of-the-line for all of them!
