Whether it’s an improvised song, a show comprised of songs (a revue) or a long-form musical – make it a priority to learn how much is enough, because too much can be deathly. As my composition and arranging teacher, Dick Grove, once said of songwriting, “The longer your song, the greater will be its tendency to suck.” The same is true of any form of entertainment – to report that a movie was “long” is almost as bad as saying that it was just horrible.
Well, there we were in the Mediterranean Sea – the Impromptones on Crystal Cruises. Our act was such a hit with passenger audiences, we were honored with an invitation to perform a special, late show for the captain and crew. This promised to be especially fun because we could be off-color and irreverent in ways that would be unacceptable for passengers but perfectly fine for crew. It was to be the gloriously no-holds-barred, “Impromptones After Dark.”
Our basic cabaret-style show was 45 minutes to an hour, with the final 15 minutes occupied by a mini-musical. For this exclusive, command performance, the theatre swarmed with eager crew, captain, ship’s officers – all of them possibly the envy of those who had to work instead. And on with the show! We got off to a sparkling launch and everything was cool for quite some time. Song after song was hilarious, audience-pleasing and frequently “not for passengers’ ears” without actually becoming profane. We were killin’ em.
Then it came time for the finale, our mini-musical. None of us ever understood quite why this one was so difficult to conclude, but we didn’t manage to do it…for perhaps an hour and a half. Possibly longer – no kidding, it was unimaginably interminable. About 45 minutes in, audience members began to sneak away because, you know, it was late. As it got much later, they exited by the busload. When our mini-musical finally maxed, the laughs had been few for quite awhile and the audience fewer. We took our final bow to lackadaisical clapping by a handful of yawners.
The next day each Impromptone received a note at his stateroom on the captain’s stationery, saying that our special show was “the talk of breakfast.” Mercifully vague, I thought.
So when you work hard at polishing your improvised songs and musical shows, please place great importance on structure and arc. We all know that the best possible performance leaves an audience wanting more.
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