Thoughts From Playing in a Pit Orchestra

I was recently offered the opportunity to play in a pit orchestra for a local theater’s performance of Cinderella, music by Rodgers and Hammerstein! The group was made up mostly of retiree musicians from my community, so me and the other trumpet player were the youngest in the group! I have never performed in a pit orchestra but have always been interested in doing so. Whenever my family and I go town to see performances, my sister and I always spend before the show and intermission spying on the musicians down in the pit! This was such a unique experience in my musical journey and I wanted to share my thoughts with you all.

Order of events:

1. Rehearse with the orchestra: 3-4 times, no cast

2. Dress rehearsals with cast: 1 week, four hours a day

3. Perform! 7 showings

Learning the music for this show was difficult to do in such a short time, but I was motivated by the skill level of the adult musicians around me and the kindness of the music director.

Working with adults:

Initially I was a little apprehensive about working with adults (being accustomed to working with students), but the other musicians were very professional as well as super kind. They were always attentive (unlike my experiences from high school band) and highly focused. The adults were not hesitant to give the conductor feedback and suggestions which was new to me. One thing I noticed was that the adults were more sensitive to criticism than adolescents. When the conductor would stop and ask them to change something, oftentimes the adults would try to find an excuse for their malperformance. I was so grateful that the adults treated me and the other highschooler with such kindness and I felt inspired to continue playing in pit orchestras later in life.

Working with singers in live theater:

This was the most novel part of the pit orchestra experience for me. I have never played accompaniment for a performance and as such learned to adapt my musical style. Challenges included: matching tempo with actors who rushed/dragged, as well as jumping ahead in the music when an actor skipped a line. To alleviate the challenge, our musical director wore a headset and gave all orchestra members headphones. She could talk to us using her headset and tell us measure numbers and tempo. This was EXTREMELY useful during the show. I could also hear the electric piano and the singers voices in my ears to synch better with the other musicians. However, using the headsets was also challenging because it was more difficult to hear my own playing and evaluate myself. The compromise was to keep one headphone on, and the other tucked behind my ear.

Benefits from the show:

Playing in this production gave rise to some immediate improvements in my playing. These include:

• Improved tone

• Greater playing stamina

• More concise warm up

• More confidence on stage/stage presence

Drawbacks from the show:

• Less time free time

• Less sleep

• Old habits of tongue stopping reemerging from lack of confidence

A taste of the life of a professional musician:

I feel so grateful to the orchestra for giving me this opportunity! Playing with the pit meant I was playing a lot more than usual and one weekend I played the show four times! The whole experience gave me insight into the life of a professional musician. Professional Broadway orchestras will play the same show five nights a week, twice a day, for YEARS! I only played eight showings but rehearsed the show far more times and felt that it gave me a small scale taste of what a professional show musician would play. 

Conclusion

I would recommend playing in a pit orchestra to any musician (with some free time)!