Drew Cohen

Customers have reported to MTI that a company not affiliated with MTI has approached MTI customers pitching its pre-recorded accompaniment tracks to be used in connection with MTI shows. There are a lot of good reasons to resist such a pitch, both artistically and from a legal standpoint (i.e., several authors have confirmed that the "karaoke" company has not obtained permission to make the tracks and has not paid any royalties to the authors). Qualitatively, though, I think the below letter from an MTI customer explains why better alternatives, like MTI's OrchExtra, should be explored. Enjoy: Thanks so much for your assistance today. I wanted to let you know what a resounding success our experience was in using OrchExtra. Im usually the musical director for our productions, and as such, am usually pretty dead-set against canned music. Brother, was I mistaken! OrchExtra was extremely effective, giving our (comparatively) small theater a full, rich Broadway sound. Cuts, cues, and pickups were all handled easily, as well as the ever-popular vamp til ready situation found often in live theater. The music did not sound fake or electronic, nor did it come across as recorded. Since tempo and orchestration are both customizable, the music followed the performers, just as it should. And I guess the real telling point was that no members of the audience made any comments to the negative about the music. Had there been any disconnect between the orchestrations and the live performers, wed have heard about it. So in the best tradition of good tech in a show..it mustve been right, because it didnt stand out. And because OrchExtra didnt stand out, our show DID! Thanks, again.

What are the biggest obstacles to putting on a musical in your school? Sometimes it's the budget, sometimes it is just finding the time. But other times, it might be getting support from other teachers or even the principal. The good news is that once you do put on a show, everyone sees the value in having done it. It is one of the few projects where students work collaboratively, as do teachers and staff. Also, it's a rare opportunity to get a pat on the back from the parents, PTA and prinicpal (who gets credit if a child does well in math? The child, of course!). So overcoming those initial obstacles is worth the effort. Any suggestions as to what they are and how to deal with them?