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1975

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Ottawa Andrew Huggett 1975 Les Grands Ballets 5_edited.jpg

CONCERTS & EVENTS

January - Studies,  London, England.

January - Romeo & Juliet rehearsales  in Montreal.
February - CBC "Mostly Music Live" TV Show, Ottawa.

February thru June - On tour with Les Grands Ballets Canadiens in Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Ontario, and Quebec.
July - 9 shows at the National Arts Center, Ottawa.

July - Record Romeo & Juliet soundtrack, Ottawa.
August - Toronto University, Toronto.
October/November - Erindale College Toronto, Trent University Peterborough, Pembroke, Barrie, Winnipeg.
December - Return to London.

LISTEN WHILE YOU BROWSE

ROMEO & JULIET

Harry Friedman
 

The Huggett Family was musically diverse. By 1975, they had made inroads into the world of folk, pop, baroque, and early music and were happy to take on the new challenge of playing Canadian composer Harry Friedman's modern score for Romeo & Juliet. Friedman's music exploited the limits of instrument and player alike. 

Leslie - voice, recorders, krummhorn
Margaret - voice, percussion
Andrew - voice, recorders, krumhorn, rauschfieffe, baroque oboe, lute
Jennifer - voice, recorders, viol, cello
Ian - recorder, viol
Fiona - recorder, viol

ROMEO & JULIET

Incognito, the artistic director of Les Grands Ballets Canadien, choreographer Brian MacDonald, and Canadian composer Harry Freedman attended the Huggett's last Toronto concert of the '74 season. Brian and Harry were producing a new ballett and, after checking out the Huggett's show, asked the Huggetts if they would be interested in performing Harry's music live on stage as part of a new production of Romeo & Juliet.

 

The Huggetts said yes, and soon after their return to London in late 1974, parcels of Harry Friedman's music started to arrive, and the Huggetts set about learning the score. 

 

The music presented new challenges. It randomly changed keys, time signatures, and instruments and generally exploited the full range of renaissance instruments in ways that traditional renaissance composers had not. Harry's score required virtuosic performances from all players on all instruments pretty well all the time. 

 

For the Huggett children, this was not a problem. Their rigorous training at the hands of their parents and teachers included taking on new challenges all the time. Such is the nature of music lessons. Once the student masters a set piece, the teacher assigns a new one of slightly greater difficulty. Mastering Harry Friedman's score was simply business as usual.

 

Ironically, it was far more difficult for Margaret, and particularly Leslie, to come to terms with the new music. Leslie had come to music comparatively late in life. While he had a solid grounding on all the Huggett's instruments, by 1975, there was always one of the children who had "surpassed the master" and was more proficient. By this time, Leslie played a musically supportive role within the group and spent much of his time, not moving technically forward like the children, but on matters of general direction, business development, and on-stage hosting. 

On occasion, during rehearsals, the roles of teacher and student were reversed, with the children offering Dad advice on how to deal with some of the more challenging technical moments.  Notwithstanding these challenges, the score was mastered by the time the Huggetts arrived in Montreal to start rehearsals that were quickly followed by performances in Ontario and Manitoba. 

Playing for the dancers required precise awareness of the stage action and strict adherence to tempi. There was no conductor, and the responsibility for setting the correct speed usually fell to Margaret, who Harry Friedman had tasked as the primary percussionist. Another unique aspect of the production was that the musicians had to synchronize with pre-taped actors reciting critical lines from the play. These occurred at crucial plot points in the ballet. The Huggetts were adept at meeting the dancer's expectations, except on one lone occasion when Andrew, who played the music for Romeo's opening solo, missed a repeat leaving dancer Alexandre Béline in silence, midleap, and alone on stage. Immediately following the performance, Andrew rushed to proffer his apologies which Alexandre graciously accepted.

The Huggetts bussed from town to town with the dancers and stayed at the same hotels. Members of the family took up knitting, a hobby many of the company used to pass the time on the road. Jennifer, Leslie, and Fiona started to "take bar," the compulsory daily warmup for all dancers.

 

Romeo and Juliet lasted an hour and fifteen minutes. It was followed by a 20-minute intermission during which Andrew changed into contemporary clothes and joined the pit orchestra on bass guitar for Tam Ti Delam, a ballet based on the music of Gilles Vigneault. 

 

Touring with Les Grands Ballets was a wonderful experience for all the Huggetts. When it was over, they invited the entire cast and crew to the Aylmer cottage for a goodbye meal which Margaret, Jennifer, and Fiona cooked single-handed.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family The Huggett Family also contributed to the successful marketing of the ballet. Ballet management leveraged their reputation in markets where they were well known.

The Huggett Family also contributed to the successful marketing of the ballet. Ballet management leveraged the Huggett's reputation in markets where their name was well known.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family Ian offers father Leslie some sage birthday advice. Whereas the children were used to tackling new and more challenging music as their learning progressed, Leslie, whose responsibiliteies within the group extended well beyond the musical, found Harry Friedman's score challenging. 

Ian offers father Leslie some sage birthday advice. Whereas the children were used to tackling new and more challenging music as their learning progressed, Leslie, whose responsibiliteies within the group extended well beyond the musical, found Harry Friedman's score challenging. 

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family The Huggett Family, stage left, provide the music for Romeo & Juliet. Quick changes of instrument were required throughout the performance.

The Huggett Family, stage right, provide the music for Romeo & Juliet. Quick instrumental changes were required throughout the performance.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family Les Grande Ballet - Bows.jpg

Curtain calls in front of an enthusiastic audience in Montreal, the hometown of Les Grand Ballets Canadiens.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family Contemporary Canadian composer Harry Friedman.

Contemporary Canadian composer Harry Friedman. Harry's music used renaissance instruments in entirely new ways.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family Harry Andrew and Brian_edited.jpg

Andrew, Harry Friedman, and Brian MacDonald. The latter's ballet was an inspired interpretation of the age-old love story that seamlessly combined the traditional with the new: contemporary music played on old instruments with traditional costumes by Maxime Graham, a modern set by Ted Bieler, and modern lighting by Nicholas Cernovitch. 

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family Andrew Huggett waits for the show to start. He is the first to walk on stage playing, on the recorder, a beckoning hail that summons the rest of the company. This is followed by the singing by dancers and Huggetts together of "What is Love," music by Harry Friedman, to Shakespeare's words.

Andrew waits for the show to start. He is the first to walk on stage playing, on the recorder, a beckoning hail that summons the rest of the company. This is followed by the singing by dancers and Huggetts together of "What is Love," music by Harry Friedman, to Shakespeare's words.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family The menu. Margaret and the girls prepare a goodbye meal for Les Grands Ballets Canadien.
Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family The menu. Margaret and the girls prepare a goodbye meal for Les Grands Ballets Canadien.

The menu. Margaret and the girls prepare a goodbye meal for Les Grands Ballets Canadien. They did not get enough beer.

Ottawa Manotick Andrew Huggett The Andrew Huggett Family A publicity shot of the Huggett Family shot in their Romeo & Juliet costumes.

A publicity shot of the Huggett Family in their Romeo & Juliet costumes.