When the lights dim in the audience and the curtain opens for a show, there are plenty of things to look at. Between costumes, sets, lights, and the choreography, a person could see a show ten times and notice something different every time. But there’s something that typically can’t be seen from the audience: just below the stage, there are usually musicians providing all the music. LSHS’ production of The Music Man is no different. During all of the eight shows, about 30 LSHS band students sat underneath the stage and played all of the music.

Being in the pit is hard, there’s no sugarcoating it. During the shows, running about two hours long, the students are not allowed to leave from underneath the stage. However, that’s not even the hardest part about being part of the pit – in fact, the hardest part of joining pit starts from the very beginning of the process: the time commitment.

“These kids do jazz, these kids do AP classes, but on top of jazz, they do wind ensemble, they do pep, and now they’re doing pit,” Neil Proff, the director of the pit, said. “I mean, there are some kids who are literally going the same hours of the day that I am.”

On top of homework, kids in the pit spend pretty much the same amount of time at the school as the actors themselves. Not to mention, they put in countless hours of practice at home. Junior Helena Balbirona, who plays the trombone, said, “Once dress rehearsals start, I have no hopes for doing hours and hours of homework. I just want to sleep!”

One of the other difficulties with being in the pit is “the music,” as sophomore clarinetist Kyra Shelton, puts it. “It’s really complex. There’s like, so many complex rhythms, and then there’s like, key signatures that are really weird.”

Both actors and musicians agree that the complexity of the music is a challenge.  Balbirona, who also played in the pit for last year’s production of Hairspray, agrees that while “The Music Man has easier keys,” it is more difficult than Hairspray because “there are lots of syncopated hits written on upbeats in weird time signatures like 12/8 or 6/8.”  

The recent remake of Hairspray made it easier for the musicians because it was more familiar; whereas the classic The Music Man was less familiar.

“[Hairspray] definitely had more well-known songs, whereas I had to look up The Music Man to hear the soundtrack,” Balbirona said.

Balbirona also said that being in pit has given her a “sense of independence, individuality and improvement”.  Both Balbirona and Shelton agree that their sight reading skills have greatly improved thanks to the complexity of the music.

“This is the most difficult Broadway pit to put on,” Proff added.  “The music is so, so difficult.” The students make the songs sound so natural and easy, but behind this is hours upon hours of work.

But doing pit is not all hardships. Because of the copious amounts of time they have to spend practicing together, the musicians often become very close to each other.

“Some of the people I sit next to, I don’t really talk to in normal, daily life,” Shelton said. “But now that I sit next to them in pit everyday, and we talk everyday, I do consider them friends now, and I see them in the hallways and stuff, which is nice because I’ve never really done that before [with regular band].”

As for their favorite song to play, “Shipoopi” seems to be the winner. “There are lots of really fun licks or phrases,” Balbirona said. The large, upbeat dance number is definitely a crowd pleaser, and the music reflects that! “In the middle, I get to wail [with my instrument]. It’s so fun,” Shelton said.

The experience of being in pit is unlike anything else. “You don’t have to be in the cast to have a lot of fun with the musical,” Shelton says. “Pit is such an amazing experience. If I hadn’t done it, I wouldn’t be the person I am.”

You can listen to the hard work of these students pay off at The Music Man, which is still showing the 16, 17, 18, and 19 of November at 6:30 in the PAC. Tickets are $8 with ASB, $10 without and for general admission, and $5 for children.