I recently received an email from a young aspiring Broadway musician, still in high school but yearning for the opportunity to connect with a seasoned professional who might give a tidbit of advice on how to succeed in this area of the music business. It made me ponder how much any up and coming music student knows about the inner workings of the Broadway pit.
The first show I played on Broadway was Beauty and the Beast. I had just moved to New York City and contacted everyone I knew, trying to get work. How lucky to find that my colleague needed another harp sub and generously offered for me to come in! To this day, I remember the terror of realizing I had to learn the entire book in a week, watch from the pit twice before playing my very first show without a single rehearsal. Not only that, but your first show is literally a live audition for the conductor to "approve" you to play more shows. Talk about pressure!
Thankfully, I played well enough to pass the conductor's test and it led to playing on more than 10 shows over the years, two of them my own chairs, including The King and I, Cinderella, Wonderland, The Pirate Queen, On A Clear Day You Can See Forever, Follies, and Carousel. In February, 2022, I will be returning to the Barrymore Theatre for the brand new musical, Paradise Square.
This is live theater, where anything and everything can happen on stage and off! Playbill offers a witty account of actor's onstage mishaps here from pants splitting, forgotten song lyrics, to having a banana peel stuck to a costume. I've had smoke machines that blow right into my face, fake snow that sprinkles on the harp, and occasionally, a rogue prop that lands in the pit. Basically, you have to be ready for it all and stay cool as a cucumber in order to land your cues.
Since the harp is usually positioned in a corner of the pit, sometimes with an obscured or completely blocked view of the podium, your music stand will have a small monitor on it to view the conductor. This takes some getting used to if you've never done it. Nowadays, there's usually a conductor's video that a member of the pit records so that subs can rehearse on their own while watching the baton; this is invaluable.
A great pit experience occurs when the camaraderie amongst musicians is lighthearted and fun. The colleagues you perform with become your show family so a positive attitude (and some shared chocolate at intermission) goes a long way.
I can’t wait to return to the Great White Way and be a part of New York City’s renaissance post-pandemic. Hope to see you at the Barrymore Theatre, starting Feb. 22nd for previews!