4,188 posts
|
Post by TallPaul on Aug 2, 2022 13:49:29 GMT
By my fourth or fifth visit to 42nd Street, I knew the drill and knew where my seat was, so used to arrive with just minutes to spare. As I walked along Maiden Lane, there would always be musicians going through the Stage Door at the Adelphi, with perhaps 10 minutes to curtain up.
|
|
|
Post by properjob on Aug 2, 2022 17:24:12 GMT
The musicians seem to have their own rules. They don't hang around for long afterwards either. A good ten years ago now I saw a very good tour of west side story at the Birmingham Hippodrome. The MD came up to the stage for his individual bow and then walked forward indicating the pit to acknowledge the orchestra. The problem was in the time it had taken to get to his bow all but one of the musicians had left leaving an empty pit!
|
|
3,557 posts
|
Post by Dawnstar on Aug 2, 2022 20:23:55 GMT
There was a time members of the pit would be propping up the closest bar til beginners! I've heard that orchestra members at the ROH & ENO, mostly the brass players who often have long gaps between playing in many opera scores, were known to pop out to the nearest pub during performances in the past! Nowadays you can still often see the brass players entering & exiting the pit during performances but I imagine going for drinks mid-performance is (probably) no longer considered acceptable so they just have to sit around backstage.
|
|
|
Post by firefingers on Aug 2, 2022 22:49:13 GMT
There have been pubs where the stage manager has to ring the landline to get the orchestra out of the bar and into the pit. Drinking on the job is not that common any more (at least in such an obvious way) but as long as it doesn't affect their performance it tends to be fine. Only other performers I've worked with who seem to be allowed to have a few drinks are comedians, which I guess is as it is all on them and if the show goes tits up because they are hammered it doesn't significantly affect anyone bar them.
|
|
1,462 posts
Member is Online
|
Post by inthenose on Aug 2, 2022 23:13:29 GMT
There have been pubs where the stage manager has to ring the landline to get the orchestra out of the bar and into the pit. Drinking on the job is not that common any more (at least in such an obvious way) but as long as it doesn't affect their performance it tends to be fine. Only other performers I've worked with who seem to be allowed to have a few drinks are comedians, which I guess is as it is all on them and if the show goes tits up because they are hammered it doesn't significantly affect anyone bar them. Yeah, this matches my experience. And professional wrestlers - they like a drink or ten.
|
|