![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() Since the development of electronic keyboards, which can augment other instrumental players or outright replace multiple players with just one keyboardist, AFM has struggled to keep the large, orchestral pits of yesteryear alive. The development is the latest in a long battle between producers and AFM over Broadway pit sizes. Here Lies Love would stand alone as the first inarguably musical theatre production on Broadway to not use live musicians. More recently, the also-dance-heavy The Little Prince performed without any live musicians, though, like Contact, the piece was not what most would call a traditional musical theatre production. Contact, which won Best Musical at the 2000 Tony Awards, performed entirely to pre-existing, pre-recorded tracks-though the production's designation as a musical rather than a dance show drew critique from many in the industry, since there was no live singing. The use of pre-recorded tracks is not entirely without precedent. And last year, KPOPhad only four musicians in its pit. The former situation is far more common on Broadway, where in recent years we've seen shows like American Psycho mounted with just three credited musicians and a conductor. Productions wishing to use less than their theatre's minimum can either apply to the union for special permission, or hire non-playing AFM members as if they were part of the pit. But AFM is circling a petition, urging signatories to "say NO to canned music on Broadway" and calling Here Lies Love "a direct attack on Broadway audiences, a direct attack on the professional musicians of NYC, and a direct attack on the long tradition of live music on Broadway."ĪFM typically enforces orchestra minimums set for each individual Broadway house, which is dependent on the theatre's size-the minimum at the Broadway Theatre is 19 musicians. Our request for comment from union representatives was not returned by time of publication. Local 802 of American Federation of Musicians (the union representing Broadway instrumentalists) President and Executive Director Tino Gagliardi told The New York Times, "e're not going to stand by and let this happen. The decision has predictably drawn criticism from Broadway musicians. (It should be noted that earlier stagings included some of the musical's cast playing instruments in two musical numbers and there is also a live DJ.) "The music for Here Lies Love was inspired by the phenomena of 'track acts,' which allowed club audiences to keep dancing, much like this production aims to do," continues Bryan-Brown. In a statement to Playbill, Bryan-Brown calls the choice "part of the karaoke genre inherent to the musical and the production concept." Here Lies Love contains an electronic and disco-inspired score. The musical, according to production spokesperson Adrian Bryan-Brown, has always performed with tracks since it was conceived in 2006. The move is a watershed moment for musical theatre on Broadway, with the production set to arguably become the first major Main Stem musical to dispense with live music when previews begin June 17 at the Broadway Theatre. According to a report in The New York Times and confirmed by Playbill, the upcoming Fatboy Slim- David Byrne musical currently plans to perform without any live musicians, electing instead to use pre-recorded tracks for accompaniment. Here Lies Love, already planning to make history with Broadway's first all-Filipino cast, looks to be making history somewhere else: the orchestra pit. This story has been updated to include a new statement from the creative team of Here Lies Love. ![]()
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