The first time I did Legally Blonde, it was with 3D Theatricals in October 2013. I was playing one of the Keyboard books, which meant I was using MainStage.
After finishing the programming, I decided to count the number of patch changes because I could tell that there were a LOT of them. The final number was 320.
Normally, a keyboard book for a show will run 150-200 patches. Some shows have a lot fewer. "Company" has 75.
When I did Legally Blonde for NoSquare Theater in 2024, the music director pointed out there were "a LOT of key changes" in the score. So I decided to count them.
Final number? 115 in Act 1, and 71 in Act 2 for a whopping total of 196. "Chip On My Shoulder" in Act 1 has 32 key changes alone.
The moral is clear: If you don't like playing in lots of different keys, then maybe Musical Theater isn't for you.
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