[TPIN] Re: BARNUM

[Michael Fox]

Geoff,

Funny you should ask.  I've played the Ringling Brothers Barnum & Bailey 
circus many times and have always found it a challenging gig.  It starts 
with a downbeat at around quarter = 240 to 280 and pretty much goes on a 
lot like that for around 2.5 hours straight (3 shows on Saturday and 
Sunday, btw).  The good news is that the lead book is doubled, and 
you'll be switching lines with with your standmate.  The other good news 
is that your sight reading will improve immensely from the experience!

At the ITG Banquet Saturday night, a bunch of us were getting to know 
each other when Wayne Bergeron sat down at our table (second time that 
week I found myself sitting next to Wayne!).  He was talking about early 
career gigs and the Circus and Ice Show (Ice Capades) came up.  Many of 
us had played both shows and we all agreed that the one-handed page 
turns through the Circus gallops (really fast) , paso dobles (unending), 
and other tunes, even with the doubled book/shared workload, it is one 
of the more challenging gigs of all time. 

I heard a long time ago that Keith Greene (legendary circus trumpeter 
who could play "double A's" with one hand on the horn while counting off 
the next tune) said that Vinnie Di Martino was the most phenomenal 
circus book sight reader.  I asked Vinnie about it when he came to our 
school for a clinic, and he said he practiced sightreading fast, to 
improve his "circus chops".  Sounds obvious, but few of us would think 
to do it, I think!

Moral of the story from Wayne (and the rest of us) - share your book 
judiciously, lay out whereever possible, recognize that the mic's are 
very hot, don't freak out and enjoy the ride as much as you can.  Remind 
yourself 1/2 way through those 3rd shows on the weekends, that this gig 
doesn't last forever and won't happen in your town again for another 
year and "enjoy" it!

Michael