Yay! Bill Wagner and the Guys are a Go!

Well, great news! I finally had a conversation with Bill Wagner yesterday evening to discuss the music budget for Godspell. I'd re-sent him the email from about a month ago, detailing the offerings we were making for Musical Director, Accompanist, and band members.

First of all, Bill is a VERY busy guy. He has at least TWO big trips scheduled for this year, and his work at Nordhoff High School in Ojai keeps him very busy. I can relate to and respect that. He also acknowledged that the school's email filter was indeed very aggressive, a situation which seems to have been remedied since December.

He responded positively, pleased that the budget would allow us to have four musicians, a goal we've both had since our initial discussions. He's already arranged for the guitarist and drummer (two former students), and he's waiting to hear back from the GREAT bassist we worked with on Little Shop of Horrors in 2004. It's pretty much a go.

He agreed to review the production schedule and identify all conflicts in a separate email, as well as give me the mailing address for CDs and other materials for him to review. We talked a bit about the revised orchestrations, and I clarified a concern he had regarding his need to re-orchestrate anything: I assured him he wouldn't. I also detailed the three versions of the score that we'd be pulling from (the core rental materials, Dan Schachner's expanded guitar, bass, & drums, and Alex Lacamoire's full re-orchestrations), and told him some of the limitations we'll face regarding the Lacamoire arrangements, namely that there are about three additional instruments used in his scores that we won't have.

EXCITEMENT! That's what I feel. The first major component has snapped into place, and I couldn't be happier. There might be a few hiccoughs regarding accompaniment for auditions or rehearsals, but we're good.

We also talked a bit about the extension run in Moorpark. So long as it's in August, he should be fine with the timeframe.

YAY!

- Sean