When I was about 12, the town drama club (or whatever you want to call it) in the small town that I lived in at the time did the Broadway version; I was a trombone player in the band. (I actually do play the trombone.) I can't remember many of the details, but my impression was that the con man's assistant, the young guy "from the wrong side of the tracks" whose name I can't remember, put the band together and got them doing something that resembled playing. I think that there was even a line in there somewhere alluding to him holding practices. I can't remember the name of the piece that we played at the end, but it was a lot simpler than "76 tombones". And we were instructed to play it badly.
I've never seen the movie version, so I can't comment on it. |
