Have you ever been to a brainstorming meeting, with some people defending silly ideas, others afraid to bring up good ones, some laying in wait for a weakness, some encouraging the flow of discussion? It seems a bit like a dance-- possibly a tango, with the posturing, the stops, the flourishes...

This song frames a brainstorming meeting in which the exciting idea of entering the giant inflatable Christmas yard figure business is first discussed.

There are seven named singers in the song, and in the play there are male and female characters, but if the song was performed as a stand-alone gender does not really matter, and it could be done with more or fewer singers. There are a couple of sections where four- and five-part SATB and SSATB harmony is called for, so it is best to have at least one person on a part. This song potentially could stand alone, but it makes much more sense in the context of the play.

It would be possible to perform this piece using just the rehearsal score, but it is recommended that you use as much of the orchestration as you can.

The song is intended to be performed with the pit orchestra for the show, and 20 pieces are recommended:

Flute
Clarinet 1 & 2 (one each)
Tenor Sax
Trumpet 1 & 2 (one each)
F Horn 1 & 2 (one each)
Trombone 1 & 2 (one each)
Violin 1 & 2 (two each)
Cello
Keyboard (Acoustic Grand)
Guitar (one player: steel sring acoustic)
Electric Bass
Drum Kit (one player: guiro)
Percussion (one player: wood block, tympani)

Since this is written for a pit orchestra, no substitute parts are included.

MP3 sound sample: entire piece (synthesizer/midi).



A PRETTY GOOD IDEA by Tom Kirkland, for vocalists with 20-piece orchestra, comes in a pdf file of 555K, including a nine-page vocal/piano rehearsal score, twenty-nine page orchestral score, twelve two-page parts, one four-page part, and a license page, sixty-seven pages in all. Performance time should be about four minutes.