Stashing Broadway Pit Orchestras in the Basement

The New York Times recently investigated a new trend in professional pit orchestra practices – hiding them several rooms (or floors) away from the live action.

In many New York shows this year, such as “Carrie” and “Spider-Man,” orchestras are finding themselves far from the stage, left to play along to closed circuit televisions. The practice is allowing theatres to sell high-priced tickets in up-front seats where the pits used to be, or to use the space for more elaborate stage designs. The article gives an up close account of Spider-Man musical supervisor Kimberly Grigsby’s group in action: “Grigsby uses a joystick on her podium to pan cameras inside the theater to follow the flying sequences in the show and to zoom in on actors during certain scenes.

Full article here at the New York Times.