Odd orchestra locations/configurations

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 9:29pm

What have been some odd set ups for orchestras on Broadway? I remember the big fish orchestra being behind the set on like a tower thing which was pretty cool and odd. Aren't the orchestra pits for Groundhog Day and bandstand both off center of the set? 

[JBroadway]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:01pm

I've seen a ton of shows where the orchestra was placed somewhere onstage, though I think that's common enough nowadays that it can hardly be considered odd. I think the most unique configuration I've seen was in Godspell at the Circle in the Square. I seem to recall each member of the band was scattered separately throughout the house. Then of course there are the shows where the actors ARE the orchestra, which I guess is a category of its own. 

Also I know for Drood and She Loves Me at Studio 54, they put the orchestra in the boxes. I think I've seen other shows do that, but none immediately come to mind. 

Updated On: 6/28/17 at 10:01 PM

[BroadwayRox3588]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:17pm

Bright Star. The orchestra setup was just wonderful, and one of the (many, many) things I miss about that show.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:20pm

Currently on Broadway, The Great Comet's orchestra is in the heart of the set, in the onstage audience banquets, in the boxes, and roaming the audience throughout the theatre.

The Lion King has two (of its five!) percussionists in the boxes.

[Mr. Nowack]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:32pm

I really liked having the orchestra in the boxes at SHE LOVES ME and I believe it was that way at HOLIDAY INN too at the same theatre.

One of the worst and most bizarre Ive seen was a college production that had the strings, woodwinds etc in the traditional pit location and the brass waaaaay up in the balcony. I get the concern brass will overpower the winds and strings but you literally could barely hear the horns.

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:47pm

Amelie's band was in the boxes at the Kerr. On Your Feet is backstage (and then there is the single percussionist that comes on right before Conga). DEH is in a tower upstage right. Waitress is in the upstage left corner (which I was in partial view seats the first time, so I didn't know that until the very end). 

 

My favorite to look at is the location of the drums. I think it is Wicked that has them on a completely separate floor, but I could be wrong. It's been a while since I was backstage.

 

I second loving the set up for Bright Star. 

[Willie4316]

Posted: 6/28/17 at 10:51pm

asmith0307 said: "Amelie's band was in the boxes at the Kerr. On Your Feet is backstage (and then there is the single percussionist that comes on right before Conga). DEH is in a tower upstage right. Waitress is in the upstage left corner (which I was in partial view seats the first time, so I didn't know that until the very end). 

My favorite to look at is the location of the drums. I think it is Wicked that has them on a completely separate floor, but I could be wrong. It's been a while since I was backstage.

I second loving the set up for Bright Star. "

Idk about Wicked but I know for a fact Kinky Boots has their drums in the house right back corner in another room inside the Hirschfeld 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 12:31am

asmith0307 said: "n Your Feet is backstage (and then there is the single percussionist that comes on right before Conga). 

My favorite to look at is the location of the drums. I think it is Wicked that has them on a completely separate floor, but I could be wrong. It's been a while since I was backstage."

Do you mean the On Your Feet band is *up*stage? They play pretty prominently on a tracking bandstand, though there are additional musicians who are remoted.

Wicked has a separate room for percussion.

Many shows had/have the orchestra entirely remoted, either in the trap room or scattered elsewhere in the building.

[leighmiserables]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 12:44am

Fun Home squeezed their band into a corner, which I always found interesting. But I guess there really is no good place to stick an orchestra in Circle in the Square.

Right now, the "weirdest" configuration would definitely have to go to Great Comet, if only because everything about the way the show is set up is weird. Folks are in the boxes, roaming the theatre, center stage, and so forth. For the life of me I can't figure out how they manage it all. 

I also enjoy Waitress's configuration, with the band upstage left. Not super weird, but it somehow adds to the atmosphere of the show. 

Updated On: 6/29/17 at 12:44 AM

[NoName3]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 12:46am

I'm open to correction but I believe the lackluster Ragtime revival (actually the DC production moved to NY) had half the orchestra in the pit and the rest in a different building, following the conductor over a closed circuit connection.

Updated On: 6/29/17 at 12:46 AM

[Lot666]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 12:59pm

If I recall correctly, the band for American Psycho was situated in the boxes.

[broadwaygirl10]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 1:04pm

Come From Away has their orchestra behind the clusters of trees on both sides of the stage and they come out onto the open area of the stage occasionally. Bandstand has part of their orchestra under the stage SR (kind of next to that point thing) and the 5 onstage actor-musicians. The SITPWG revival had the orchestra onstage behind a scrim 

[LYLS3637]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 1:10pm

leighmiserables said: "Fun Home squeezed their band into a corner, which I always found interesting. But I guess there really is no good place to stick an orchestra in Circle in the Square."

 

So true. GODSPELL had them scattered throughout the audience. I sat next to the bassist. It was very strange.

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 2:04pm

It's not really an odd location or configuration, but I love how the floor of the thrust part of the stage at the Vivian Beaumont can slide back and forth to reveal the orchestra.

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:11pm

Since Studio 54 doesn't have a pit, every musical there has had to have a nontraditional orchestra setup, usually in the boxes (all those mentioned so far and also Sunday in the Park With George) or onstage (Cabaret, Sondheim on Sondheim, etc.).

[Tag]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:29pm

It's not really an odd location or configuration, but I love how the floor of the thrust part of the stage at the Vivian Beaumont can slide back and forth to reveal the orchestra.

Is that standard there, or just for South Pacific? 

[GeorgeandDot]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:32pm

It was used in The Kind and I as well.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:34pm

Bart doesn't like to mess with a good thing. 

[RippedMan]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:45pm

Does the Kerr have an orchestra pit? 

Next to Normal had their pit in the house-set scaffolding. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:46pm

Yes it does

[cknick]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 4:51pm

What was the set up for Bright Star?

[saxpower]

Posted: 6/29/17 at 9:54pm

The original production of Falsettos had the orchestra on a platform above the set.  It was in the Golden, so i don't know it there was a traditional pit.   For the "teeny tiny band" bit, the lights came up on the platform, where the whole band stood up and waved at the audience (which got a laugh and a round of applause). 

[HeyMrMusic]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 1:31am

For Bright Star, core members of the band were located on a platform/set piece that moved and spun around the stage (the platform acted as a house, bar, other locales throughout the show) and at various points, the musicians would inhabit the scenes and be on a train with cast members or be among the cast in group scenes. Additional musicians were stationary on elevated platforms on either side of the stage in the wings.

At the Kerr, the orchestra for A Little Night Music was on an elevated platform in the stage right wing. (But yes, there's a pit as the orchestra for Gentleman's Guide was down there.)

The orchestra for the most recent La Cage Aux Folles was in the boxes I believe.

[hork]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 1:38am

I liked how American Idiot did it, with the musicians spread out all over the stage, on several different levels (with the cellist waaaay up at the top).

[asmith0307]

Posted: 6/30/17 at 5:02pm

I did mean upstage. Whoops!