Odd orchestra locations/configurations

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?

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

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 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

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

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

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.

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.).

It was used in The Kind and I as well.

Does the Kerr have an orchestra pit?

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

What was the set up for Bright Star?

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.

I did mean upstage. Whoops!