By Jill Colvin
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
MIDTOWN — A coalition of Broadway musicians has launched a campaign against the new musical 'Priscilla Queen of the Desert,' slamming the production for using a canned soundtrack to cut the number of live musicians.
According to the newly-launched Council for Living Music, the new musical is cheating theater-goers by employing nine musicians instead of the 18 typically used at the Palace Theatre. In addition to some brass instruments, the strings section is provided entirely by tape.
"In recent years some producers have begun to slash live orchestras and replace musicians with recordings or synthetic music to squeeze out a few extra dollars in profits. Meanwhile, ticket prices continue to rise," charges the flashy 'Save Live Music On Broadway' campaign, which in backed by the local union as well as composers, musicians and members of the New York Philharmonic, the Metropolitan Opera and the president of Julliard.
Local 802 president Tino Gagliardi said a move away from live orchestras would undermine the entire Broadway experience.
"Audiences deserve experiencing the unparalleled beauty and power of live music," he said. "We’re talking about the diminishing of an American art form."
But producers say their music choice is purely artistic and say they're doing nothing wrong.
"This sound is very specifically related to the music of 1980's drag shows in Sydney, which is the setting for the show," said musical spokesman Adrian Bryan-Brown, who noted that the same number of musicians has been used in all productions of the show.
Charlotte St. Martin, executive director of the Broadway League, a group that represents theaters and producers, also defended the play and dismissed the union's claims.
"This was an artistic decision of the show's creators, and is in no way indicative of an overall industry trend," she said in a statement.
Broadway theaters have each agreed to use a minimum number of union musicians in their productions, with that number varying by theater. In cases where a theater wants to use less than the minimum number for a specific production, they have to apply for a waiver from a neutral third party picked by both sides.
In this case, the producers of Priscilla Queen of the Desert were successful in getting the waiver.
The union is currently challenging that decision, and both sides are now waiting to sit down with an arbitrator, who has final say, they said.
In 2002, producers staging a revival of the "West Side Story" came under fire for replacing five musicians with pre-recorded music, the coalition said.
The musical "Contact," which won a Tony in 2000, also drew fire when it became the first musical to forgo a live orchestra for pre-recorded songs.
