Music--Live vs. Pre-recorded

When working with Shakespeare material one of my first considerations technically is the soundtrack of the show.  For me so much of the storytelling comes not just from the words that are said but by the actions the characters take and the visual storytelling that compiles.  It is a supreme connection between the audio and the visual that gets the storytelling alive and in the mind of the audience.

A huge facet of that for me and my productions is music.  The music of a production can make or break it.  The first Shakespeare show I directed was told in a very modern setting with very contemporary music.  I have also worked on Shakespeare productions with traditional Elizabethan music, modern pop music, country music, and techno/rave/punk music.



Approaching Merry Wives of Windsor, I knew it was going to go one of two ways:  either the show would be set in an era-free, fairy tale-esque setting or it would be set in the American West.  With the more non-specific setting, I would have used a wide cross section of contemporary and modern pop music to help set and tell the story.  With an American West setting, I would lean on folk and traditional music of that era; it was a dream to have live musicians playing the guitar, harmonica, mandolin, banjo, fiddle, etc.

I really wanted to have live musicians, because of the uniqueness that can bring to a particular production as well as the excitement a band can generate amongst cast, staff and audience.  Pre-recorded music can be nice, because then it is always the same from rehearsal to performance.  But nothing can beat the thrill that live musicians can bring to a production.  It feels like theatre.

Once it was settled that I was setting the show in the American West, the style of music fell naturally in line.  I knew I wanted to use the traditional songs and sounds/instrumentations of the American West.  Songs like Darling Clementine, Home on the Range, Turkey in the Straw, Git Along Little Doggies, Shenandoah, etc. would be thrown into the mix.  Careful consideration would also be taken for the material that could come from a hymnal.  Of the utmost importance to me is that the music stay traditional and never venture into Country and Western.  Been there; done that.

For instrumentation, music without lyrics works best, and fortunately there are many different recordings available of this music.  Most of it not good.  I really had my heart set on a live band.  Fortunately, a former student is a part of a folk music group, The Whipstitch Sallies.  Their instrumentation is right in line with the musical sensibilities I was searching for.  Plus, I trust the theatrical sensibilities of my former student.  She intuitively knows what works.  The last selling point for me was that they were all women.

There is much that is said in the script about gender roles:  empowering women to be more than just pretty faces, victimized by the callous or jealous whims of the males in their lives.  I liked that the music, which becomes a driving force for the audience would be delivered by women.  It's a nice echo of the themes of the show, and a powerful visual reinforcement.

Now all that remains is to form the musical cues....