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  • 1.  West Side Story

    Posted 06-10-2014 15:32
    I have limited space for an orchestra....and no pit.  The script calls for a "large" orchestra.  My band director asked me to find out what's the minimum size orchestra for West Side Story?  Any advice is greatly appreciated

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    Kristin Simeone-Myhre
    Everett WA
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  • 2.  RE:West Side Story

    Posted 06-11-2014 02:22
    I just did West Side Story this year and for the first time ever used canned music. A few reasons: 1. The music is hard. Really really hard. Beyond most high school musicians unless they spend pretty much the whole semester on it. Can it be done? Yes. I'm just picky about it sounding good. 2. The music is highly nuanced and if you cut instruments out, it sounds kind of empty. If your choreographer is any good, they will be choreographing with all accents and details of the music and you don't want those to suddenly be missing. 3. An orchestra that big is also loud and can drown out vocals. Another local high school did it a few years back and had their orchestra do it. There is a reduced instrumentation, but it still has 18 different parts. If you have any questions I'd be happy to help. I adored directing this show. ------------------------------------------- Heather Brandon Bakersfield CA ------------------------------------------- Sent via Higher Logic Mobile
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  • 3.  RE: West Side Story

    Posted 06-11-2014 11:44
    MTI very helpfully lists the complete orchestration for its shows on their respective information pages within the site.

    Here's the breakdown for West Side Story: http://www.mtishows.com/show_detail.asp?showid=000077

    The full orchestration is for 28 players, and the alternate scoring is for 19.  Keep in mind that MTI offers rentals of what it calls OrchExtra, which can fill in missing parts when you don't have players to cover every single part.

    As has already been mentioned, however, this show has the reputation - even among professional musicians - of having one of the most difficult orchestral accompaniments to play among all stage musicals.  One group in my town used to stage a musical every summer with local teenagers, using a teenaged orchestra.  For West Side Story, they chose to hire members of our local symphony orchestra instead.

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    Jeff Grove
    Theatre Teacher, Aesthetics Department Chair
    Stanton College Preparatory School
    Jacksonville FL