On the Live Music issue (LATP vs. 802)

actually occurred.

Broadway musicians are at the top of their field, among the best players in the country. Do lovers of theatre music really begrudge giving an average of 6% of the cost of a ticket (between $1.45 and and $6.21 per ticket) to get such phenomenal talent as appears in Broadway orchestras? Are they willing to put up with players who are less than the best, supplemented by machines? (From information published at the Save Live Broadway site, based on League figures)

Any statement by the League about their desire to put the decision about orchestra size in the hands of the composers and musical creative staff is beyond disingenuous; it's downright prevarication. Here's a typical conversation between a producer and a composer about orchestra size:

PRODUCER: What were you thinking of for the orchestra?

COMPOSER: Do you mean instrumentation or orchestra size?

P: Size.

C: Well, I was hoping for something pretty large to go with the sweep
of the story....

P: How large?

C: Um, well, we demoed it with an "orchestral conception" of 17
pieces... er, but, um, I guess we could get it to 14 with doubling.

P: Could you do it with 7?

C: I suppose it's possible, but to get the sweep--

P: Okay, you get 4.

And whereas the "Special Situations" clause allows for orchestras of reduced size when the creative team feels it is artistically appropriate, the minimums are one of the only lines of defense to protect the creative team's ideal of a reasonable size. Look, if there was an elimination of minimums with a corresponding graciousness and generosity on the part of the producer towards orchestra size based on artistic needs, there would be no objection to the loss of minimums. But face it, cost reduction is an overriding objective in budget creation, and artistic requirements that are beyond the understanding of a producer do not factor in. (I know of a situation which involved a producer so ignorant as to not know the difference between a musical director and an orchestrator.) The bottom line goal of a majority of commercial productions is to turn a profit. The quicker the better. Convincing the financial team of the value of adding eight, five, or two string players is a losing battle. Why hire five, when the synth can play all those parts? (The League of American Theatres and Producers: "Taking the 'Theatre' out of 'Commercial Theatre.'")

The best argument against the League's argument that it's acting in the interest of the composers and creative teams is the existence of a statement from the very creators the League claims to be protecting.

STATEMENT FROM BROADWAY'S MUSICAL CREATIVE ARTISTS
from the

The copyright of the article On the Live Music issue (LATP vs. 802) in Theatre is owned by Steven M. Alper. Permission to republish On the Live Music issue (LATP vs. 802) in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.

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