Very accurate
10/6/2013 5:38:21 PM
I purchased this piece to use as an audition piece for a summer theater camp, and I was not disappointed. Difficulty - Average. A tenor or baritone with a strong voice should find this is a good piece, and comfortable range-wise. As is typical with Webber’s musicals, the accompaniment isn’t difficult, and very playable. Arrangement - Excellent. I have seen a few other versions of this number, and all of them are in B-flat by default (and can’t be changed to another key). This number is always performed in C major in every performance of the show I’ve heard (national tour, cast recording, and the movie), and this one keeps the key. The original accompaniment from the musical focuses heavily on the keyboard, and this version sits well on the piano. Accuracy - Almost perfect. The lyrics were 100% accurate to the musical, and the piano part is more or less the exact same as it is in the musical. There were a few issues in the rhythms in the vocal parts, but nothing that could cause the piece to be unusable. In the verses, the ‘ah’s in the children’s part aren’t straight eighth notes like they are in this version, and the pickups in the melody for the bridge are all eighth notes, not the sixteenth notes shown in this version, but both are minor and singers who know the music will probably sing it the way it is in the cast recordings.
