Live Music on Broadway: A Dying Breed?

Live music on Broadway is being threatened, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

The Council for Living Music, teamed with a group of Broadway composers and musicians and representatives from the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and The Juilliard School, has begun a campaign called “Save Live Music on Broadway” after recent shows have opted to replace live musicians in the orchestra with recordings.

In a statement on their website, the campaign criticized both a 2010 revival of West Side Story and the recently opened Priscilla, Queen of the Desert for cutting back on live orchestras in favor of recordings “to squeeze out a few extra dollars in profits.”

“Some Broadway producers apparently don’t care about the critical interplay between musicians and musical performers that gives Broadway shows their special emotional spark,” the statement read. “They would rather insult your taste with recorded music than give you the live show you paid for and deserve.”

West Side Story reportedly cut five performers after 500 shows and replaced them with a synthesizer, while Priscilla has musicians playing along with a recording in what the campaign and numerous critics call “synthetic to the core” (Time Out New York) and “karaoke-inspired” (The New York Times). The campaign also cites numerous other negative reviews.

The Priscilla crew, however, defended their use of recordings to The New York Times, as it fits the theme of the show as well as the synth-pop musical vibe.

“This is not an orchestral show—it’s a show with disco music,” said Garry McQuinn, a lead producer of Priscilla. “We’re not motivated here to save money or kill jobs. I simply don’t know what I would do with violinists or string players or other extra musicians if we were required to have them. And, yes, I’d rather not have to pay four or six or eight more musicians to basically sit in the pit and do nothing.”

On Monday, the Council for Live Music released a 704-person national survey, The Broadway Musical Theatergoer Study, which they say confirms that Broadway audiences want live music. 92 percent voiced their disappointment in shows without live music, and some even said they would not buy tickets if they knew a show’s music was pre-recorded.

The campaign’s supporters include Joseph Polisi, president of The Juilliard School for Dance, Drama and Music, New York Philharmonic concert master Glenn Dicterow and Metropolitan Opera Orchestra assistant concert master Laura Hamilton. Composer Stephen Sondheim even chimed in with a video on SaveLiveMusicOnBroadway.com.

“Every audience is privileged to see a very specific performance that nobody will ever see again,” Sondheim said. “It’s the aliveness of the orchestra that makes the evening unique and allows for the interplay between the audience, the stage and the pit, which is necessary in every musical.”

“Save Live Music on Broadway” launches this week as the group hopes to catch the attention of Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League.

This article was originally published on AllMediaNY.com