Posts tagged muzak

A Comparison of Castle Forecourt Stage Shows of the Past and Present

Back in the early decades of jazz, live bands in the form of big bands used to accompany wedded couples’ first dances, senior high school proms, or even mere socials involving the joys of social ballroom dancing. Of course, at Walt Disney World, from its opening day on October 1, 1971, particularly on the stages of the Magic Kingdom, show bands used to accompany the song-and-dance troupe known as the Kids of the Kingdom who used to do some theatrical acts with Disney characters known by memories of people who cherish them. Orchestra pits in school productions of known musicals used to set the scenes of the onstage ongoings and glitz.

Currently, things have changed since show bands used to accompany revue performers and big bands used to accompany couples doing the foxtrot. If you have been to the Magic Kingdom between 2001 and now and you have watched the shows on the Castle Forecourt Stage (in front of Cinderella’s Castle, with the current show being Dream Along With Mickey), chances are that you have neither seen a live band with brass and keyboards nor an enclosed “orchestra pit.” Sadly, to add to the grief of those of you who solely want live music in shows, even at amusement parks, you’re out of luck since last Christmas season -  Mickey’s Twas the Night Before Christmas (with the articulated faces of  Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Chip, and Dale) was the last show to feature such accompaniment, and its seasonally resident Galaxy Palace Theater in Tomorrowland is currently supplanted over two months ago with the former show, Stitch’s Supersonic Celebration, which features what most live music purists hate – muzak.

I know what you are really thinking – you might have applied the term to ennui-inducing music in elevators as “elevator music,” or the cheese oozing out of the speakers in Walmart (I have to admit that I loath this place so much!). To me, muzak is also a staple of most live shows, including ones featured at Walt Disney World. I have to assume that not everyone likes the idea of using prerecorded tracks in theatrical productions – one Englishman is one of those people who dislike this concept.

Adrian Bradbury, a cellist, took his family to see a professional account of the recent musical hit, Wizard of Oz, which played last Christmas at the Lowry Theatre in Salford, Manchester. He gave the matinee a negative review not because the singers are off-key, but a prerecorded track accompanied it! He sued the venue and won nearly $218 in the cost of the tickets and over $80 in damages. To add to the fun, his family, like him, are mostly musicians as well, with his father and twin brother both clarinetists, and composer Harrison Birtwistle compared it to a karaoke in a statement regarding the case, thus backing the musicians up in a battle against piped music. Even worse, the tap-dancing sounds are out-of-sync with those on the muzak – and that left the family utterly disappointed.

Imagine if the man were to be onboard one of the two Disney Cruise Line vessels and saw, say, Toy Story: The Musical on the Disney Wonder – he’d be very ticked off because of the piped music, despite the pyrotechnics that were used to give children the illusion of Buzz Lightyear flying or the LCD screens of the action figure’s television advertisement played to its respective reprise of “To Infinity and Beyond.” Then again, he’d sign on to a review site and give the ship a bum rap. I favor the ship fleet over others (thanks to the presence of greetable Disney characters) despite the fact that their shows use prerecorded tracks, but it is not alone in that kind of entertainment. One reviewer who sailed on the Costa Magica would have agreed with Bradbury, had he sailed with him, that her shows used muzak as well, but he did not seem to care much. A majority of other cruise lines, Carnival included, use some sort of stage band, with all the keyboards, drum sets, guitars, electric basses, saxophones, trumpets, and trombones trying to compete for your attention as they set the moods for the scenes in their spectacles. On the Disney cruise ships, the presence of musicians grouped in the pit or off to the side are really absent, and I think that in their case, it distracts them from the onstage magic, yet those against muzak would be least likely to sail on them.

So, were the Bradburies the only ones experiencing musical theater with muzak? Of course not – over five years ago, I watched (and performed as violist in the school orchestra before the show) my middle school’s production of Once on This Island. I really did not care for the prerecorded track accompanying peasant Ti Moune’s ill-fated relationship with millionaire Daniel Beauxhomme, but after seeing the show (as well as the rehearsals), I since that time have ached for a professional account of my favorite musical of all time, maybe accompanied with a live orchestra if I’m extra wistful. Fate knows how writers Lynn Ahrens and Stephen Flaherty would react if it were accompanied by a backing track…

In the midst of an ill economy, many theatrical groups, school, community, or even professional, setting up their theatricals are wondering what would accompany their performers as the sing, dance, and act onstage. If their budgets are really tight, then they turn to those minus-one-like tracks on CD or USB, and the orchestra pits or even the pianist would be left to more affluent campuses. That’s the cost-saving aspect of them, but there are many factors that make them feasible. Compared to live musicians, tuning and intonation problems would be virtually deficient if they implement it – there would be no musical director constantly telling the clarinetist to adjust his or her tuning barrel or wrong notes played by the trumpeter. In contrast, backing tracks detract from the sonorous experience the theatergoer would really expect, and it sounds cheap in comparison with just a few musicians plucked from band. Also, it is more like child’s play, because the contributions of many people who are working on the show can determine the quality, and as implicitly mentioned by most longtime Disney fans who go to Walt Disney World and have a soft spot for it, the stage shows at the Magic Kingdom have declined in caliber since the closure of Tomorrowland’s Galaxy Palace Theater in late 2008, thanks to the presence of piped music in them. Despite the convenience and feasibility it gives, most people say it would degrade the show mostly or even completely.

I’m really not against backing tracks in staged productions, but I feel that there is a time and place for them. It’s completely OK for dance recitals, amateur talent shows, and such, but as for theatrical productions, it should be used in very rare cases (such as those of schools who are grappled with very severe budget cuts). I neither really believe that the lack of live bands in the shows featured at the Walt Disney Theater would hinder me from going to a vacation involving a Disney cruise nor the absence of them in most live shows since late last year would hamper me from going to Walt Disney World. But then again, if Dream Along With Mickey would be replaced with a new show on the Castle Forecourt Stage in the future, I’d find it a hair better if it involves live music wafting out of the orchestra pit players’ saxes and trombones as if Disney Mania (a show in the 90’s that features the Kids of the Kingdom, Disney characters, and live music) just got revived – just have the designers, directors, and choreographers retain the articulated faces of Mickey and his kin as they did in Mickey’s ‘Twas the Night Before Christmas before its residential theater got razed…

What do you think about the issue of pre-recorded music in stage shows – are they a boon to money belt-tightening theatrical companies and school drama clubs or are they making it look like karaoke, as Birtwistle pointed out in the lawsuit against a prestigious theater in his native England? If you are a longtime tourist of Walt Disney World, would the stage shows on the Castle Forecourt Stage have been better if they had a live pit band instead of a backing track? Please tell your stories and opinions about the issue in the Comments section, and as long as it’s clean and not defamatory, profane, or on the verge of spam, I welcome all opinions expressed.