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Topic: A bit of a challenge! |
Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 2 Nov 2002 10:08 am |
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As I've been away from home for a total of more than five months of 2002 playing the steel, I thought I'd 'take it easy' for once and accepted a job here in my home town playing regular guitar for a six-week 'run' of 'Evita' - that was before I saw the charts!!!!
Oh, well - I'm committed now. It will be nice to get a pay-check AND sleep in my own bed, even if Andrew Lloyd-Webber's fascination with changing time-signatures every other measure is giving me nightmares! (Pretty ordinary music, too, once you get past all his 'booby-traps...)
I wonder if there's a chance of working some steel into this show?
Wish me luck, please!
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Roger Rettig |
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Skip Mertz
From:
N.C. (deceased)
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Posted 2 Nov 2002 9:12 pm
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| Hi Roger, you just reminded me to go in and work out "Don't Cry for Me, Argentina" on steel. How you been? Skip |
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Nathan Delacretaz
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 4 Nov 2002 7:14 am
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Hey there Roger,
I'm an old theater music guy myself (Grease, Godspell, etc) - never done any Webber, though. He does love time sig. changes, huh?
My neighbor is a theater drummer and he did Evita a couple years back with a really talented and established teacher/player named David Hamburger - he writes for Guitar Player and teaches at those national guitar workshops, etc... Anyhow, I don't know David's instrumentation for that production, but he is an accomplished lap and pedal steeler, so you might email him and get some tips - he's a really nice guy and a helluva musician. Check out his site and get his email address: http://www.davidhamburger.com |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 5 Nov 2002 1:20 pm
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Thanks, Nathan.
That's an interesting web-site!
'Evita's going well, I'm happy to say. One tune has finger-style arpeggios in a fast 7/8 (with a bar of 6/8 every so often!) - that got my attention! I guess I'll be a better player - and 'reader' - when it's all behind me....
I'm playing half the show on my G&L 'Asat' and the rest on my 1947 OOO-18 Martin - no steel, I fear, 'though the theatre IS doing a Patsy Cline-type show next Summer, so I think I've managed to book my spot on that one! They're doing 'Grease', too, and I've already done that one before. (I do like the idea of more time at home.) I must admit to feeling pretty pleased with myself for managing to pull this off - I had my doubts when I first laid eyes on the music!
My first steel guitar show gig was the London/West End 'run' of 'Best Little Whorehouse..." in '81 - that one started out scary, as the New York steel guy who originated the parts had just played the songs mostly by 'ear', but some copyist had written every lick he'd played in full notation! That then became the standard 'book' for the show, and still is - I did it again in NC two years ago.....
Those bubbly E9th fills look pretty hard when they're put in 'tadpole mode'!
It's the 'tech run' tonight - I hate those! Stop/start/stop/start!!!! I'll take a good book with me.....
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Roger Rettig |
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Nathan Delacretaz
From:
Austin, Texas, USA
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Posted 6 Nov 2002 8:23 am
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Roger,
That all sounds like a lot of fun. Yeah, those theatre folios they pass out with that very important-looking dark blue ink and copyist's handwriting still give me a little case of the heevie-jeevies, but you're right - it makes you a better player and reader!
That Patsy Cline show will be begging for steel - congrats on landing that one....and I sincerely hope I never have to see steel parts written in traditional notation! At least not without some heart medication...
Sounds like you've done quite a bit of what hackers like me call "legit music work!" ha ha - that's great and very inspiring. I'd like to get back on that track. As a 30-year-old who has spent the better part of 10 years in clubs & bars, the idea of getting back into theater, maybe commercials, etc. sounds great - my wife might appreciate it too! But for now, I'll endure the smoke and noise as long as I can play a little music.
Keep us posted on the play....
Nathan |
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Roger Rettig
From:
Naples, FL
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Posted 6 Nov 2002 8:00 pm
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Funny you should say that, Nathan - since moving to the US in early '98, I've played NOTHING but theatrical musicals, including twelve different productions of 'Always - Patsy Cline', and all on steel...
I've yet to get a gig playing in a bar somewhere - I wish I could, just so I could play some different tunes!
Incidentally, the Naples Dinner Theatre (where I'm doing 'Evita' and where we just had our opening night, by the way) have just decided they're also doing "Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" - my lucky year, eh?
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Roger Rettig [This message was edited by Roger Rettig on 06 November 2002 at 08:03 PM.] |
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