The Pit in Penn’s Production of “The Music Man”

For a musical to come together, the cast, tech crew, and pit all work together to make an enjoyable show for the audience. The cast performs on stage, the tech crew works behind the scenes, and the pit plays the score for the musical underneath the stage.

A pit in a musical is an orchestra made up of strings, woodwinds, brass, and percussion. They work with the cast to make sure that the music matches up with the singing and dancing and with the tech crew to make transitions during songs and acts go more smoothly.

This year’s musical, “The Music Man” has 24 songs, and because the musical is all about a band, it features many long and complex songs.

Some songs that are featured are 76 Trombones, Shipoopi, My White Knight, and Marian the Librarian, which accompany the cast while they sing, act, and dance. The pit also plays an overture, which is played before the musical, and exit music, which is played as the cast bows and exits the stage.

During tech week, the pit, along with the cast and tech crew, practices for long hours after school doing practice shows, altering parts in songs to match the cast and work with the transitions better, and making sure that everything is in place.

Although playing in the pit can be a very stressful situation sometimes with tensions running high, everyone enjoys playing in the pit and the same goes for senior violinist Bella Grove. When asked what her favorite part about pit was she responded by saying, “Everything about pit is my favorite. It’s awesome.”