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.
