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Author: Danielle
Date: 2001-10-18 18:45
A pit orchestra, although I define it as "pure fun," is the orchestra that plays the music for a musical, or other things like it. I've done (amatuer, obviously-although I'd love to do a broadway pit) pits for West Side Story, Music Man, Once Upon a Mattress, A Chorus Line, and Leader of the Pack (a lesser known revue of Ellie Greenwich (sp?) songs). Usually, woodwind players double-clarinet and bass clarinet, clarinet and flute, clarinet and oboe, clarinet and saxaphone. Things like that. It's fun sitting under stages :-D
Danielle
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Author: Bob Curtis
Date: 2001-10-19 02:21
Back in the "ancient days" of live performances in theaters in many of the towns across America these performances were usually done in a movie theater. Down in front there was a lowered section just in front of the stage -- the pit. It was here that the orchestra of various instruments sat and played the accompanying music for either the shows (silent movie days) or the live performances done on the stage. The pit orchestra was the members of this ensemble who played for the actors and singers on stage.
I played in some of these and they were fun, but very demanding as there was rarely any time for a break, only a couple of measures depending upon what insgtrument(s) you played. I have had to play clarinet, bass clarinet, sax, flute all on one evenings peformance. It was a job just to keep up, but it was fun!!
There is a traveling pit orchestra which does live performances of original movie scores from early Charlie Chaplin movies while the movies are being shown on the screen. I have forgotten their name, but if they perform in your area be sure to see them. They are great!!
Bob Curtis
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Author: willie
Date: 2001-10-19 04:38
Most of the old style Vaudeville style pit orchestras included a piano, trap set, banjo or Dobro guitar, string bass or tuba, a couple violins, saxs, trombones, cornets. They were small but could cover most of the music fairly well. Some were a bit larger and had additional horns for the bigger shows.
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Author: Mario
Date: 2001-10-19 16:50
When I was a university student, we did "Sugar", the broadway musical that inspired the movie "Some like it hot" with Marilyn Monro, Tony Curtiss, and Jack Lennon (a fabulously funny movie btw if you can find it).
Just to recap the story, our two male characters (one playing the sax, the other the string bass) witness a mob killing in Chicago. In order to hide from these goons, they desguise themselves as women and join an all-female touring jazz orchestra. Naturally, the lead signer of the band is sultry Marilyn Monro, who bonds quickly to her new "female" friends and become very close and friendly. No need to say that the two guys are totally out of themselves. They both decide to try to wow Marilyn by leading a double life: Female at night, exciting suiters at day, with Marilyn seeing both, and confiding her fantasies to her two closest "female" friends at night while snuggling up in their railway car bed wearing revealing nighties.
The show is fill with great music and with some neat saxophone solos when the sax playing character in front and center (I played clarinet and sax then).
Just to keep ourselves from launghing and rolling on the floor during rehearsal and performance was a challenge in itself. What a lot of fun!
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Author: Todd Wees
Date: 2001-10-19 18:17
Just a note on the film "Some Like It Hot" and the musical "Sugar". The Billy Wilder-directed film (1959) preceded, and presumably was the inspiration for, the musical (1973).
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