Kaitlyn Sandvik and Jenny Levine
Art, Entertainment and Technology Editors
Before rehearsal for the school musical begins, student musicians in the orchestra pit fill the auditorium with a disorganized hum of rhythms and beats. These musicians have worked for weeks on mastering the act of merely becoming vehicles for the enhancement of the overall theatre production. Understanding that the goal is not to be noticed is only one of the challenges these musicians face while playing below the stage.
The student musicians spend countless hours in the pit. Whether they are playing scrabble while waiting for cues or meeting individually with various members of the NCHS music staff, they dedicate their time to enhance their own careers and give the NCHS theatre department that award winning touch.
Many of these musicians developed their interest in music in school music classes. “I play bass trombone, I started freshman year after picking it up in middle school because of the musical requirement and went from there,” senior Chazz Lucenti said.
After initially learning one instrument, some of the students chose to experiment with others on their own. “I play clarinet, bass clarinet, tenor saxophone and the drums, while I’m currently teaching myself the guitar,” junior Kyle Street said. “For sax, drums, and guitar I decided to teach myself so I could be in the jazz band but then go on to start my own band.”
Because many students partake in independent music practice and hold a high level of passion for music, returning to theatre music can pose a challenge to some. “Usually theatre music is fun to listen to but not so fun to play, it is typically long and classical,” Kyle said.
However, others said that they found working on this year’s production of Thoroughly Modern Millie interesting. “I got to explore a lot of new playing styles within a semi-familiar jazz context, and a lot of the music was really exciting and our director actively encouraged me to have fun with it,” sophomore John Bemis said.
Musicians below the stage must also learn to play without being able to watch the scenes they are playing for. “As a drummer I can’t see what’s going on on-stage at all, so the experience is completely auditory, I absorb it differently and am forced to imagine the visual aspect in my head,” John said.
Seeing the development of the production from casting through to the final performance is an experience unique to the performers and musicians. “The audience sees the play one or maybe two times, we see the progress that goes on. It’s more exciting because we started off rough but we’ve worked up hard up to the the last day, so it really pays off,” sophomore flutist Jackie Monzon said.
While performing in musical theatre, some musicians approach musical pieces differently than how they might typically approach a song. “You can’t think about how you’d play it but how the performer needs it to be played,” Chazz said. “Everyone’s looking at the performers, but if you mess up everyone will be looking at you.”
Kyle agreed that there is an added pressure that comes with playing in the orchestra pit. “The audience might be able to enjoy it more but those of us in the pit get nervous about messing up which might also mess up the work of the actors,” he said.
Sometimes the added pressure can lead to musical falters. “On the last number I was playing and for some reason it sounded as though the singers were getting off time, until I looked up and saw the conductor counting about half the speed I was going,” John said. “It’s moments like that where you really can’t take time to start over, you just have to keep going.”
NCHS band teacher, Scott Cranston, who performed on the hit Broadway musical, The Lion King, said a pit musician should be neither seen nor heard. “No one should ever notice the music in the pit, they should either say wow that sounded great or they should just not be aware,” he said.
Regardless of the unique challenges that student pit musicians face, a key virtue that has helped the orchestra in the most recent musical, Little Women is patience. “You’re accompanying something greater than yourself, it’s not based on your needs but on the stage,” Mr. Cranston said. “You have to be mutually supportive of the actors on stage.”
