Every year during the school musical, crowds of viewers go up to the front of the stage during intermission, where you can hear audience members say “oh my gosh” and “whoa” after learning there is an orchestra beneath the stage. 

Over 30 band and orchestra students went below the stage to be a part of the pit orchestra this year, playing a live score to accompany the actors onstage for this year’s five performances of the musical “Fiddler on the Roof.”  

Pit orchestra, or “pit” for short, presents a unique experience for high school musicians as a different form of performance than programs such as Symphonic Band or Jazz Ensemble. Kevin Egan, band teacher, is the conductor for pit, and one of his favorite parts is how the musical  forces students to adapt on the fly.

“The fun part is watching high school musicians be flexible,” Egan said. “We get into the pit for dress rehearsal week, and all of a sudden, ‘oh, this music doesn’t line up, we need more music there, because the scene change is taking longer.’ If we have too much music, then we do a good job of just what I call melting, we just fade away. We’re forever adapting.”

Midori Mehandjiysky, senior, plays fiddle for the musical and is featured on stage for moments of the performance as the “fiddler on the roof”. She reaffirms the necessity of flexibility in pit and highlights the differences between pit and other orchestras.

“It’s a lot of sight-reading,” Mehandjiysky said. “In chamber orchestra, when we prepare for our concerts, we get our music, and then we practice it together every class, and then on our own. But for this, you can’t really practice the whole thing because there’s so much music, so a lot of it is adapting together.”

In addition to needing the skill to adapt on the fly, Egan believes musicians in pit need to be able to work well in a team. 

“It’s as big a ‘we’ thing as I think we can offer at a school, because there are so many different elements, so many different factors,” Egan said. “I don’t do the sound, I don’t do the lighting, I just try to help and make sure my part of it is the best possible thing. And I think that’s a great lesson for anybody.”

Delaney Runyan, senior, plays flute and piccolo for the musical and views the team aspect as one of her favorite parts.

“Even though the days [of rehearsals] are long, it’s really rewarding,” Runyan said. “You’re getting to make music with your friends, and it’s a whole production. It’s not just the actors, or just us [pit musicians], or just the tech group; it’s all of us. It’s all of our efforts put together. [In] the end, it’s super rewarding, and you all get to have fun while doing it.” 

“Fiddler on the Roof” has not only brought together students, but teachers as well. Nancy Monson, science teacher, doubles as a pit musician this time of year, playing piano with the rest of the students.

“It’s fun because it’s definitely a different way to interact with students, being there right with them,” Monson said. “It’s just kind of a fun, collegial environment, where I can be with students and where they can see a teacher with them as a fellow musician.”

Fiddler has posed a challenge to some musicians this year, as the score sounds different from what students are accustomed to. Compared to last year’s “Cinderella,” the music is much slower and downbeat.

“The culture of the show is a Jewish and Eastern European population in the early 1900s, and so the music is very Yiddish-sounding,” Monson said. “So there are a lot of minor chords. It has this sort of sadness and melancholy sound to it.” 

Although the music might not sound very happy, musicians emphasized their excitement for pit and the musical as a whole.

“Pit orchestra was always a special thing to me,” Runyan said. “It’s super magical. It’s really fun, you know, watching everyone look into the pit and say ‘oh my gosh, there’s a band.’ And then also getting to see the actors and the tech crew celebrate, I feel like it’s just really good vibes overall.”

Egan echoes these sentiments, saying that the musical, and how it forces students to go outside of their comfort zones, is really enjoyable for him to get to watch.

“We like to remind people that it’s educational theater,” Egan said. “This isn’t Broadway; this is people who are either just starting or who are trying to be as professional as possible, so while the adults are helping, it’s still a student production. Are there mistakes? Absolutely, but that’s what makes it fun.”

Students say another thing that makes pit fun is its annual traditions. This year, students made a bingo card for Mr. Egan, with the squares featuring some of his most common tropes as a conductor. To wrap up the season, the pit took part in Cookie Closing, where students and teachers all baked homemade cookies and competed for the most delicious one.

“We have Cookie Closing on the matinee,” Runyan said. “And so everyone will bake their own cookies. Nothing is ever store-bought; you have to make it yourself. It’s kind of a way to send off the musical and appreciate it and how fun it was, and we all just eat cookies and celebrate.”

Looking beyond the musical, which held its final show on Nov. 15, Monson is playing piano for a holiday sing-along at the Ale & Cider House in Old Town on Dec. 10, and pit students are playing in the orchestra and band concerts on Dec. 10 and Dec. 16, respectively.