Pit orchestra

However, because of financial, spatial, and volume concerns, current musical theatre pit orchestras are considerably smaller (20–30 musicians at most, including a maximum of around ten string players).

Orchestration varies with each show based on the type of music that will be performed, such as jazz, classical, or blues.

Musicals also tend to have a number of styles which can range from a soulful ballad to a syncopated funk tune to a driving hard rock song.

The rehearsals are led by the conductor/music director, who sets the tempos, starts the songs and musical interludes and indicates pauses and endings of sections.

Although members of a pit orchestra are not required to demonstrate great stage presence, and they may work out of sight from much of the audience, they can generally be seen from the balcony seats and are thus required to adhere to standard rules of dress and appearance (e.g., formal clothes) [4] Preparation by musicians in a pit orchestra consists of much more than attending rehearsals.

Performers often listen to a recording of the show to learn the tempos and playing styles, particularly if there are sections where the pit orchestra has complex parts which depend on the onstage actors or singers' parts (e.g., a big orchestra chord might have to coincide with the firing of a prop gun onstage).

In some cases, one or more members of the pit orchestra may have to appear in costume on stage with their instrument and play music as part of a scene.

Note that the owner who holds the license to this show was originally Samuel French, Inc. until 2013 when Music Theatre International purchased the rights to it.

The score was orchestrated by Sid Ramin and Irwin Kostal following detailed instructions from composer Leonard Bernstein, who then wrote revisions on their manuscript (the original, heavily annotated by Ramin, Kostal and Bernstein himself is in the Rare Books and Manuscripts Library at Columbia University).