In the pit
I have been fortunate during my life to do some things that are a little out of the ordinary. One of my proudest periods was when I was a member of the mice that lived in the pit. That is, the group of musicians who sat in front of a stage or below it and provided the sound for an ongoing show. Think Broadway musicals because that is the way that I look at it. I was in the pit for either four or five different shows my memory grows dim for some of it. It takes a long time to get a show from let’s do all the way to bring down the curtain. Months of practice with musicians that may or may not be familiar with the task at hand. Now usually I was in the percussion chair which meant that I had lots of toys to play with and lots of time to count measures. There is nothing worse than tacet at 100. The usual scenario was that you would get chosen to be a member of the pit and then you have practice all the time I hate to say every day but it felt like it and the worst were the sectionals when you sat down and played along for one part of the show with one group of instruments. Looking at you clarinets. And then as we get closer to the counter being done we would prepare for our time to shine. Not that anyone could see us because we were in the pit. I never had to learn a dance step or sing along with others. I could just bang on my drum or play with my base or play the flute. I would love to try some of these things again because there is a sense of comradeship that grows among those who live in the pit we have seen the worst that theatre arts has to offer. There are a lot of people who think they can sing and dance but who fall short of the edge. In the worst cases they would literally fall into the pit with us although that did not happen often. The tunes as we call them stay with you for the rest of your life I cannot hear the opening bars of any of those shows without having them come back to mind in their entirety. Yes I know the words even though I never had to sing them. Therein lies the true fate of the members of a pit orchestra. We know all the lines there it ever ever having to save them.
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