I just finished a run of the musical South Pacific at the Blumenthal Performing Arts Center here in Charlotte. This was the touring version of the Lincoln Center revival that opened in 2008. It’s a great show that has really held up over time. I had forgotten how much great music (Rogers and Hammerstein) came from that show and the orchestrations (Robert Russell Bennett) are fantastic. The show was somewhat unusual in that it was completely acoustic. No synths at all which is all but unheard of in modern times but was obviously the norm in the 1940’s-1960’s. The pit contained a large complement of strings winds and brass which in most other touring shows are somewhat covered or enhanced by several keyboard synth players. As a result the pit was very quiet sonically and I felt as if I were playing an orchestral gig.
I was the lone percussionist and it was a pretty large setup with mallet instruments and timpani incorporated into a drum set configuration. Here are some pictures:
As with most shows I do I had to devise a custom setup since you have to play the mallet instruments and timpani within or in close proximity to the drum set parts. Not shown in the picture are a set of vibes and a marimba which are used very sparingly in the show. For more show info see “a tale of two shows” at my percussion site. This article discusses how to deal with and create complex setups.
Next show coming up is Wicked which I will be playing for a month starting in late May. I will post extensively on this show since it is a real challenge and the setup is huge!