Orchestra spillage into boxes...

I've noticed at a few productions this season where the orchestra is shoved into the mezzanine box seats. Prior to this year I didn't venture to theater much, so I don't know if this is a new trend or something that's been occurring often.

I find it a bit disorienting to hear two different sources of sound, rather than one source emanating from the orchestra pit, combined with the obvious amplification. I found this to most noticeable tonight at West Side Story.

So, is this a new thing? Does it make a difference where the orchestra is placed in a theater?

They have stuck them in the boxes at Studio 54 for quite a few shows that I have seen there, most recently, Pal Joey.

I noticed that at Studio 54 when I saw Threepenny in the balcony. It sounded alright to me, I was closer to the house left box so it did sometimes sound like I was hearing two orchestras perform across a room.
What I find interesting is how the orchestra is conducted that way.

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It all comes down to real estate. The smaller the pit the more rows of seats to sell.

Every theatre has a different "pit space." Some of the older houses have deep pits and could accommodate as many as forty or more musicians and some can only accommodate as few as twelve or eighteen. Yes, it is about "real estate" in today's Broadway theatre. Look at the sizes of the original orchestrations from some of the large musicals of the 1940's, 50's 60's and even 1970's. Even the number of musicians required for specific contracts with certain Broadway theaters has shrunk from previous times. The fact that West Side Story has 30 musicians is amazing. I looked at the Stage Specs for the pit at the Palace and it really isn't a deep pit. It only goes 9 feet back from the front to the rear of the pit, so they may have had no other choice but to place the percussion instruments in the right and left boxes. At Studio 54, the original orchestra pit had been filled in with concrete from the period dating back to when it was used as a TV Studio. The Roundabout wants to make the pit function-able again, Jonathan Tunick has talked about this before. I thought the orchestra in the Studio 54 right and left boxes for ASSASSINS worked very well. The sound designer plays a major role in the balance of sound for every musical. They will work on getting WSS sound just right by their Opening Night. It will likely sound great. City Center has a pit that is 18 feet deep from front to back and can easily seat 60 musicians. The Broadway, Gershwin and Majestic Theaters have deeper pits than many other Broadway Theaters and thus can accommodate larger orchestras. The Majestic Theatre has a pit that is 22 feet deep from front to rear of pit.

110 in the Shade had orchestra in boxes at Studio 54. Do they do that with all their shows?